Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 Edge Sound Quality

[ZMan2k2]

  Here's a comparison of the S6 and S5:
 
The ear piercing highs a more tamed in the S5 compared to S6 and tolerable. Although it still has more treble than the Note 3 and S4, there's also more warmth than the S6 and the upper lows and lower mids are much more present so you get larger, warmer bass. The mac mini 2012 does a better job than any of these, with very smooth mids, lows and no piercing highs.  I think I'll stick with the S5 for now. Apparently Samsung thinks upping the treble and screaming vocals are considered better sound. The highs are getting more and more pronounced from S4, to Note 3, S5 and then S6.
 
Also, a note about the display color. The S5, like the S4 and Note 3, has darker deeper more saturated reds and a warmer display. This is more pleasing to the eye and I think the S6 took away some of the magic of the AMOLED by making the colors brighter and less saturated. In a store with bright lights, you could probably fool somebody by telling them the S6 is a new type of IPS LCD.

Sounds like I'll just keep my S5.  I love the removable and upgradable memory, and I don't mind the plastics of the phone.  I don't need to spend $1000+ CAD to get 128Gb of memory, so I can take my music collection with me on a phone that doesn't sound like it's better than my already loved S5.  Thanks for the comparo.

 

[macronox]

Bingo! I'll need to do some more testing, but it appears the culprit is Samsung and not the Wolfson DAC or Amp. I used the LG tone bluetooth stereo headphones to do a comparison between the S6 and Mac Mini 2012 streaming Spotify over bluetooth with all three supporting AptX codec. This let's us bypass the DAC and AMP in the S6. The shrill sibilance and lack of upper bass on the S6 is even worse using the bluetooth headset compared to the Mac Mini. The DAC should be great if Samsung one day decides to stop messing with the sound before it gets to it.

 

[Duncan]

In other news, the geekbench results are quite impressive...

S6 vs M9...





Can't help but notice though that the S6 (edge) screen seems to refresh slowly (hence waves on the pictures)

 

[macronox]

In other news, the geekbench results are quite impressive...

 

 
Doesn't surprise me.The phone is very smooth and responsive.

 

[obsidyen]

I think you should give Touchwiz 6 months to draw a conclusion that it's responsive... Touchwiz is known to get laggier over time.

 

[macronox]

  I think you should give Touchwiz 6 months to draw a conclusion that it's responsive... Touchwiz is known to get laggier over time.

 
I don't use the TouchWiz launcher, although I don't really know if not using it makes a difference considering the background processes. I use go launcher ex. Overall, the software feels a lot leaner and more polished. 

 

[obsidyen]

   
I don't use the TouchWiz launcher, although I don't really know if not using it makes a difference considering the background processes. I use go launcher ex. Overall, the software feels a lot leaner and more polished. 

I see, I think that would solve the Touchwiz problem.

 

[Duncan]

Agreed,I normally,regardless of Android device end up on Nova launcher

 

[obsidyen]

Agreed,I normally,regardless of Android device end up on Nova launcher

 
I have a Sony Xperia Z1 Compact now and I think it's got a pretty good launcher. I'm just thinking of what I should buy next, HTC One M9 disappointed me with its terrible camera and battery life. Also the screen is below average quality. S6 has bad audio from both headphone jack and speaker. I think I'll buy the next iPhone but I want to see LG G4 and Xperia Z4 before deciding. So far, new flagships are terribly flawed in one way or another.

 

[dazzerfong]

   
I don't use the TouchWiz launcher, although I don't really know if not using it makes a difference considering the background processes. I use go launcher ex. Overall, the software feels a lot leaner and more polished. 

The problem with TouchWiz (at least, in the past) isn't just with the launcher: it's everything. The launcher is only a small part of TouchWiz, but I'll be honest, it does have a much better impression than all the other Galaxy's so far.
 
 

   
I have a Sony Xperia Z1 Compact now and I think it's got a pretty good launcher. I'm just thinking of what I should buy next, HTC One M9 disappointed me with its terrible camera and battery life. Also the screen is below average quality. S6 has bad audio from both headphone jack and speaker. I think I'll buy the next iPhone but I want to see LG G4 and Xperia Z4 before deciding. So far, new flagships are terribly flawed in one way or another.

 
Z1 Compact FTW. Top notch phone in a small package.

 

[Duncan]

Depends what you want from your sound...

Was (and probably still will) going to compare M9 / S6 / iPhone 6+, but all I've ended up doing this morning is going around in circles - each have their advantages and disadvantages...

Might be placebo, however had an OTA update for the S6, and I swear it is a bit better now...

 

[macronox]

Depends what you want from your sound...

Was (and probably still will) going to compare M9 / S6 / iPhone 6+, but all I've ended up doing this morning is going around in circles - each have their advantages and disadvantages...

Might be placebo, however had an OTA update for the S6, and I swear it is a bit better now...

 
Would you agree that the Samsung equalization applied on the S6 is V shaped or even check mark shaped? 

 

[Duncan]

Would you agree that the Samsung equalization applied on the S6 is V shaped or even check mark shaped? 

For me, using shapes, I would say it is 'W' shaped...

 

[macronox]

For me, using shapes, I would say it is 'W' shaped...

Now that I think about it, W might be more accurate depending on the song. The vocals are both raspy and sibilant. 

 

[Duncan]

Now that I think about it, W might be more accurate depending on the song. The vocals are both raspy and sibilant. 

For comparison, to these ears, the M9 is 'V' shaped, and the iPhone 6 is '~' shaped... Quite annoying that there isn't a one size fits all approach...

I suppose I should be brave enough to run through the adapt sound test to see what happens,