Sony Xperia Z3 Audio Quality

[projectdork]

Welcome new account

Excellent! I am glad that I did not mistake it, and I knew many people assumed that I was speaking out of my butt crack (fan boy) when I said Z3 is better than any other phones such as Note 4 and iPhone 6/+. I got a little offended when some people kept saying it is personal preference....like my ears are elephant ears or so lol.....I am no audiophile, just an enthusiast and enough to tell the differences.

So I am glad that you also confirmed what I stated, and found it to be accurate. I am too looking forward to lollipops and that root. Unless by that time Oppo R5 or Meizu Mx4 pro come to the states with LTE.

Those two phones are the one that really pull my attention.

Don't worry your ears were not fooling you.I'm with you all the way in terms of the z3 sound quality. However I am curious to what the m7/m8 sound like. :3

From my understanding there is an lte version of the R5 now. I'm definitely going to have to give that a test run. XD

 

[Whitigir]

Don't worry your ears were not fooling you.I'm with you all the way in terms of the z3 sound quality. However I am curious to what the m7/m8 sound like. :3

From my understanding there is an lte version of the R5 now. I'm definitely going to have to give that a test run. XD

Well the thing is, the R5 lte doesn't fully support all bands in the US. It only support probably Att, and not T-Mobile. I emailed a few vendors in China and they confirmed Hspa+ will work, but no 4g.....

 

[Dragonz]

   
Hello to you to.
 
As far as these magic numbers GSM arena puts out, according to other reviews done by serious sound sites (such as WhatHiFi), the Z3 is among the best, if not THE best sounding phone on the market right now. So basically these numbers mean nothing. And as I own a Z3 and compared it to an One (M8) and an iPhone 6 plus, I'm absolutely convinced that you can't even compare it to the S4 mini. Z3 compact as well, as it is idenitcal inside with the Z3.
 
As far as bluetooth goes - yeah, anything that goes through bluetooth is compressed, don't know exactly how much, but if for instance your headset supports aptX codec (just read the manual/online specs) you'll get decent audio, probably as high as 320kbs Mp3s, but nowhere near high-res obviously.
 
As far as the (dual) DACs in the Z3, yeah it should be up to 96khz but that's not the important fact, the important fact is that the internals work in such a way that it makes the sound seem clear and lean, with good bass extension and a nice soundstage. Basically, numbers are more or less irrelevant (to a degree), which is clearly shown by those numbers GSM arena pops out (them being the last place you wanna go to check the audio quality of your phone). It sounds great, better in many ways than any other phone on the market, and it's capable of upscaling lower quality files to near high res, and natively play high res files, which sound spectacular, something that almost no smartphone can do right now, and the very few ones that do (LG G3) apparently do it much worse, as the guys at whathifi have compared them.

Thanks, that's good to know. Because I've generally used Cowon mp3 players, which I have experienced as very clean, though I didnt't get too much into the noiggles of numbers, but for a phone I wanted to investigate. Considering a phone has to do so much more, I was wondering on all the electronic interference.

The bluetooth issue is kind of a bummer. Even though while I'm moving around, on trains etc I guess I'm hearing background noise anyway but as a technical issue, I don't like the bluetooth further compresses. I do have many 320 files and only started to collect and re-encode some cd's to flac etc. 
It's not the z3c is a purist device, and so many people would use external dac/amps for better sound. I just found the Bluetooth thing more convenient.
Unfortunately the sony headset does not suppport apt-x, thought z3c does. I've heard its better at sending near cd fidelity sound.
 
I assume for atleast that GSMARENA do show that the z3c is good is quality and stereo cross talk is low and sound is clean. 
 
Thanks for the input. 

Essentially the noise, distortion (THD), and crosstalk results you want as low as possible (remember I higher negative figure is actually lower).

The GSM figures are a good guide, but once you get down to small differences you will never notice. They are useful to spot poor audio, a phone with a noisy output.

An personal example of this is the Galaxy SII. It's the only phone I've owned where the noise level was noticeable: I could actually hear noise from the processor when using the screen, very noticeable and very annoying! If you look at the results on GSMarena you can see from the IMD Noise levels:

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9100_galaxy_s_ii-review-597p8.php

If I'd known about this site at the time I wouldn't have purchased the phone.

 
 
Thanks for the input. It reaffirms what BenKatz says. The z3c according to info is great sounding device. My ears are not audiophile level, so I need advice to understand the qualities. I am using some recently purchased Sennheiser Momentums, so hopefully that the quality on the end of this path does justic to my collection.

Thanks for your input

 

[elektron]

The Sony Z4 Music variant should be announced in early March and sounds like a gamechanger.  And yes, the S-Master is in specs.
 

 

[BenKatz]

Seems legit. Also love the new Walkman interface. Makes total sense.
 
Quote:

  The Sony Z4 Music variant should be announced in early March and sounds like a gamechanger.  And yes, the S-Master is in specs.
 

 

[TheNoose]

Thanks goodness 'cos I just lost my brand new Z3 Compact, what a bummer....USD$640 burnt...

 

[TheNoose]

IN LOVING MEMORY...

 

 

[TheNoose]

Along with the 64GBSD Card...and clear hard cover case I had installed...

 

[NuckinFutz]

Thanks goodness 'cos I just lost my brand new Z3 Compact, what a bummer....USD$640 burnt...

That sux hard

 

[TheNoose]

Yes it does. Now I'm using my Samsung Omnia I antique phone again. And waiting for this new Z4

 

[Whitigir]

Lol...sorry to hear.

 

[TheNoose]

Lol...sorry to hear.

yeah thanks mate

 

[runner84]

This "Sony Z4 music" sounds very nice, but what about the other Z4 they also got the S-Master chip in?
Does this S-Master chip sound so much better?
 
4 inches for a 2015 phone is a bit less isnt it? 
Z3 Compact 4,6 is perfect for me, it should not be smaller.

 

[Whitigir]

This "Sony Z4 music" sounds very nice, but what about the other Z4 they also got the S-Master chip in?
Does this S-Master chip sound so much better?

4 inches for a 2015 phone is a bit less isnt it? 
Z3 Compact 4,6 is perfect for me, it should not be smaller.

From what I heard, rumors so far, and from one of those Vietnamese site which leaked the correct info about Z3.

1/ Z4 will has S master chip set
2/ Z4 will cost much more, even compare to the iPhone....around 1200$ +
3/ Z4 will will be the last flag ship from Sony to be released in 6 months cycle. They are losing money.
4/ Z4 will be that much expensive, and therefore they will release Z4 music. Which fuction would be of raw Music and phone call only. Will be cheaper, lower specs, but about as good in music output.
5/ Z4 will music will be the IPod-phone call device, which people has been asking for years from Apple :mad::mad: so don't expect it to have good screen to surf web or play apps...etc. it is as they said...portable , phone, high quality music. It will be a crazy device, as I will jump on it.

 

[TheNoose]

Thanks Whitigir for making the basic model sound more attractive, as I care little for apps other than the basics and phone function, but with great sound is very appealing...something to look forward to...
 
Yes Sony has been bleeding money for some time and like many second tier phone & electronics companies has made a huge investment into hires (a leading role you can say) with so many lines of products that I am amazed how they are ever successful financially. Sony sometimes feels like spray the market and see what sticks...