Sony Xperia Z3 Audio Quality

[israikc]

Hello head-fi'ers.
 
I've been listening to my new Z3C and I have to say that the sound quality is excellent!
Sure, it may lack power to drive certain cans or iems, but everything else is top notch. The only other phones I have compared to my Z3C are a Samsung Galaxy Alpha and a Samsung Galaxy S5.
The Alpha has a little bit more power but lacks the details of the Z3C, while the S5 has this weird noise when playing music and using the phone for something else like playing some games or going through your friends' depressing facebook posts.
 
For these comparisons I used the Sony XBA-H1 and the TTPOD T1E on all 3 phones.
Also, it should be noted that both the Alpha and the S5 are their respective Exynos- based versions.
 
 
Besides sound quality, how can you not like flagship phone performance in a tiny (and very pocketable) package?

 

[m1ku]

  Hello head-fi'ers.
 
I've been listening to my new Z3C and I have to say that the sound quality is excellent!
Sure, it may lack power to drive certain cans or iems, but everything else is top notch. The only other phones I have compared to my Z3C are a Samsung Galaxy Alpha and a Samsung Galaxy S5.
The Alpha has a little bit more power but lacks the details of the Z3C, while the S5 has this weird noise when playing music and using the phone for something else like playing some games or going through your friends' depressing facebook posts.
 
For these comparisons I used the Sony XBA-H1 and the TTPOD T1E on all 3 phones.
Also, it should be noted that both the Alpha and the S5 are their respective Exynos- based versions.
 
 
Besides sound quality, how can you not like flagship phone performance in a tiny (and very pocketable) package?

 
now I really want to get that phone XD with that price, that sound quality, that battery life, that size, so awesome!!!

 

[israikc]

   
now I really want to get that phone XD with that price, that sound quality, that battery life, that size, so awesome!!!

It really is awesome!
Over here (Mexico) the phone really isn't cheap, costing about as much as other flagships with bigger screens, but you just can't beat the battery life and all the other seemingly small benefits over most other phones like water and dust protection.
 
Although most of us here at head-fi look for sound quality first and looks are often an afterthought (I mean, look at some of the DAPs, sure those A&K sound excellent but the design leaves a lot to be desired) along with some other features, I often prefer a well-rounded package.
 
Sure, the Z3C doesn't take the best pictures, it doesn't have the best screen nor does it have the absolute best design, but it really doesn't do anything wrong either. With this phone you aren't getting the best of everything, what you get is the best sound quality on a phone up until now along with some really good features packaged in a small and pretty device.
 
Of course, this is only my opinion, so do with that what you wish.
 

 

[m1ku]

  It really is awesome!
Over here (Mexico) the phone really isn't cheap, costing about as much as other flagships with bigger screens, but you just can't beat the battery life and all the other seemingly small benefits over most other phones like water and dust protection.
 
Although most of us here at head-fi look for sound quality first and looks are often an afterthought (I mean, look at some of the DAPs, sure those A&K sound excellent but the design leaves a lot to be desired) along with some other features, I often prefer a well-rounded package.
 
Sure, the Z3C doesn't take the best pictures, it doesn't have the best screen nor does it have the absolute best design, but it really doesn't do anything wrong either. With this phone you aren't getting the best of everything, what you get is the best sound quality on a phone up until now along with some really good features packaged in a small and pretty device.
 
Of course, this is only my opinion, so do with that what you wish.
 

 
Its only cost around $400 now, I suspect it might drop even more when they release the Z4 compact? Ya I was thinking about getting the G4, but maybe I'll wait a bit more to see how the new phones. Like oppo...so many phones to wait for this summer

 

[xkonfuzed]

I also own the Z3 and i concur, it has the best audio quality of all smartphones i have tried (Galaxy S2, Note 2, One M7). Has a kind of warm sound with a full, perhaps very-slightly forward midrange. Personally, power is not a problem for me at all as i listen to music at very low volumes and my portable headphones are not that demanding. 
 
I'm almost tempted to say that its as good as the iPad 4's (Cirrus chip) sound quality, but honestly its not quite there yet. The iPad is ever-so-slightly better in terms of dynamics. Its also more neutral than the Z3. 

 

[m1ku]

  I also own the Z3 and i concur, it has the best audio quality of all smartphones i have tried (Galaxy S2, Note 2, One M7). Has a kind of warm sound with a full, perhaps very-slightly forward midrange. Personally, power is not a problem for me at all as i listen to music at very low volumes and my portable headphones are not that demanding. 
 
I'm almost tempted to say that its as good as the iPad 4's (Cirrus chip) sound quality, but honestly its not quite there yet. The iPad is ever-so-slightly better in terms of dynamics. Its also more neutral than the Z3. 

 
After searching a bit, looks like the Xiaomi Mi3 uses a Cirrus chip (CS42L73) and by chance I have one beside me oh and the wolfson for the Nexus 5, but my nexus 4 is pretty horrible?

 

[atownmack]

Im pretty sure this has been addressed already, however this thread is deep! Can the Sony z3 play flac files without being converted into another format? IF so what is a good program to sync flac files? Currently I use windows media player, and at times foobar 2000. Foobar 2000 plays flac well, but I cant seem to sync my z3 with Foobar. If it can't play flac are there any androids that can? 

 

[Doku]

Im pretty sure this has been addressed already, however this thread is deep! Can the Sony z3 play flac files without being converted into another format? IF so what is a good program to sync flac files? Currently I use windows media player, and at times foobar 2000. Foobar 2000 plays flac well, but I cant seem to sync my z3 with Foobar. If it can't play flac are there any androids that can? 

Yes it can play flac, alac, dsd, etc.
I sync with JRiver, but the trick was to set the USB mode in mass storage and use an SD card. Alternatively you could use sony's sync software.

Edit:
List of file formats it plays:Audio playback, supported file formats: 3GPP, MP4, ADTS, AMR, DSF, DSDIFF, FLAC, Matroska, SMF, XMF, Mobile XMF, OTA, RTTTL, RTX, iMelody, MP3, WAV, OGG, and ASF

Pc companion Sony software for transferring music:http://support.sonymobile.com/global-en/tools/pc-companion/

 

[atownmack]

Thank you so much! I got it to sync in mass storage mode! Also is Flac considered Hi Res? I have a few files in flac format, and the hi res logo isn't showing up with the flac files, like it does with tracks downloaded from HD Tracks. Also can the z3 play audio with usb connection? I would like to listen to high quality files in the car with my usb input.

 

[elektron]

  I have a few files in flac format, and the hi res logo isn't showing up with the flac files, like it does with tracks downloaded from HD Tracks. 

 
FLAC is a format that can be used for either CD-quality (i.e. 16 bit 44.1 khz) or hi-res recordings - like those you can download from HD Tracks.  The hi-res logo should only show up for the latter.

 

[atownmack]

Can these existing flac files be converted to hi res? if so how? Forgive all the noob questions as I'm new to higher quality downloads.

 

[Doku]

You can, if you just want to see the logo, but the source isn't high res so it won't change anything except maybe file size. I got a few albums from around the net like Soundgarden's Superunknown in DSD. It does sound better on good headphones and spspeakers. Also some artists and studios offer higher than CD quality downloads like Aphex Twin has 24bit flacs from bleep.Com

 

[Doku]

Its only cost around $400 now, I suspect it might drop even more when they release the Z4 compact? Ya I was thinking about getting the G4, but maybe I'll wait a bit more to see how the new phones. Like oppo...so many phones to wait for this summer

There probably won't be a Z4 this year. The Z3+ was just announced and is quite nice. Some minor upgrades like faster cpu, quick charge, water proof USB (no dock), brighter more color accurate screen

 

[ThaPapper]

Evening music lovers,
 
Just got a Z3 dual sim and played some hi res WAV files with the app "Music Folder",
listening with Shure SE846 and Tralucent 1plus2, both with Ted Allen's copper litz cables.
 
Slightly bassy and though soundstage rather intimate, it presents a very life "xperiance"
Impressive!

 

[Doku]

  Evening music lovers,
 
Just got a Z3 dual sim and played some hi res WAV files with the app "Music Folder",
listening with Shure SE846 and Tralucent 1plus2, both with Ted Allen's copper litz cables.
 
Slightly bassy and though soundstage rather intimate, it presents a very life "xperiance"
Impressive!

 
Interesting. I actually found that the bass was a bit understated on sennheiser. I usually kick up the clear bass one notch on the Sony EQ. The Audio-GD NFB-11 does have a larger soundstage than the Z3 though. Usually I am out and in windy conditions when listening to music on my phone, so I don't notice as much.