[MajalGuy]

Hello, in a few months I will probably invest in a quality headset for music (probably an athm50). My main music listening device is my phone - a Samsung Galaxy s4. My question is- will my phone bottleneck the quality of the sound I will get with a quality headset? If so, are there any decent smartphones out there that won't do so? Thanks!

 

[inthere]

Hard imagine a smartphone beating this one out: https://www.marshallheadphones.com/mh_uk_en/london-phone

Samsungs are pretty bad out the box, they can sound better and highly customizable though

 

[Swolenasty]

The best choices would be HTC M8/M9 or an iPhone 6. I hear the new Galaxy S6 is a huge improvement in sound quality over the previous models as well. Their sound quality is decent as far cell phones go but even they are beat by a simple $100 DAP like the Fiio X1. I wouldn't worry too much with the source as long as your sound files are 320 mbps or FLAC and that you have maybe a small portable amp to go with it.

 

[cel4145]

Look for GSMArena reviews of phones you are interested. They do audio measurements which can help you to compare different phones.

 

[MajalGuy]

Hard imagine a smartphone beating this one out: https://www.marshallheadphones.com/mh_uk_en/london-phone

Samsungs are pretty bad out the box, they can sound better and highly customizable though

This phone's specs aren't particularly good tbh. Also I don't think it's supported in my country.

  The best choices would be HTC M8/M9 or an iPhone 6. I hear the new Galaxy S6 is a huge improvement in sound quality over the previous models as well. Their sound quality is decent as far cell phones go but even they are beat by a simple $100 DAP like the Fiio X1. I wouldn't worry too much with the source as long as your sound files are 320 mbps or FLAC and that you have maybe a small portable amp to go with it.

I'm staying in the android realm (itunes is terrible). Most of my music is indeed 320 mbps or FLAC. So you're saying I shouldn't worry about the source and just stay with the galaxy s4? or is there an amp I should get to optimize its sound quality?

 

[cel4145]

So you're saying I shouldn't worry about the source and just stay with the galaxy s4? or is there an amp I should get to optimize its sound quality?

An amp alone only helps with sound quality if your phone is not able to easily drive your headphones to your listening volume. If you find the phone is at or near its maximum output capability, then they dynamic peaks of songs might be distorted and/or squashed. Adding an amp would help in that circumstance. Otherwise, all an amp will be doing is amplifying the sound quality of your phone--same sound quality.

Otherwise, you need a DAC/amp to bypass the internal sound output of your phone.

 

[pifidelity]

I think your main potential bottleneck would be power output which could be solved with an amp, but that depends on which headsets you plan to use with your phone.
In terms of sound quality, I'm under the impression most phones would perform within the same class.

 

[Swolenasty]

The ATH-M50 isn't a super transparent headphone, neither is it very detailed because of this it's relatively forgiving of the source. It's a decent can at it's price point but as long as you're playing high quality sound files you are getting almost the full extent of what the can has to offer. It has a low impedance meaning you'd be able to use it even without an amp out of a portable device. I wouldn't bother with an external DAC because it is unlikely that you will notice much of a difference and it will just end up being a waste of money. Save that money for a better can if anything. You don't even need an amp for it if you are really reluctant although personally I'd probably buy one of the portable Fiio amps like the E 12 or E7.

 

[cel4145]

In terms of sound quality, I'm under the impression most phones would perform within the same class.

Check out GSMArena's phone reviews. There is quite a bit difference in phone SQ performance, based on the measurements that they provide.