W950i sound quality

[niknik]

Anybody has a SE W950i and wants to comment on the sound quality?

 

[niknik]

Anybody out there?

 

[gabes]

I've own the W950i since last November, wow nearly half a year already!
From the stock earbuds, they are bass heavy but not much else.

Then I got a pair of v moda vibe, was travel around Europe for a month using them. It really made a world of difference, I had the eq set to dance and I really liked it. Mega Bass is crap, the mobile can't really handle it, and distorted the sound.

However, the vibe was probably too sensitive and was picking up some background sound (another weakness of the w950i). So I give the vibe to my dad and got a pair of sony ex91sl.

The ex91 solved the background problem, but again a little bass heavy in traditional sony fashion, but at least the now mids are alot better now.

But back to your original question, the sound quality is probably as good as a 3G ipod or the 1G nano with stock buds, but as soon as you move up the price point (headphone) you will find the w950 is let down by not having a dedicated sound processor (it runs a ARM9-based Philips Nexperia PNX4008)

As a mobile+DAP there is no better at the moment till the iphone comes around.

 

[niknik]

Thanks for sharing

I had the W950i also. I tried it out for a couple of days with my ER-4p -but it was not very good. Probaby the lack of soundchip you refer to. I sold it again pretty quickly although being a nice looking phone in my oppinion.
From what I've been reading the Nokia N91 should be a step up..

 

[<GNEFF> killbot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gabes /img/forum/go_quote.gif As a mobile+DAP there is no better at the moment till the iphone comes around.

I beg to differ. On a cost/performance ratio I find the W950i scoring very low. You NEED to bring that crappy handsfree as the handset does not have a standard 3.5mm jack. Sound quality is crap. Sound like going down the highway at 60mph in 2. gear. Strained at best. Lousy buttons to boot.
The sound walkman phones are walkmen in name only. All style no substance. And they all hiss like h*ll!

There is only one true music phone on the market. The Nokia N91. Exellent build quality. Standard jack, and sound that rivavels my old Iaudio M3 and Sony MZ-R35 minidisc. And very low hiss.

I have an E65 and E70 at the moment. Both are better then the W950i in all but interface. And they don't claim to be music phones or Walkmen.

 

[james444]

Seems to me there must be different versions of the w950i The sound quality of my w950i is far from crap. Yes, there is minor static skipping tracks, but at mid volume levels the audio quality rivals my best mp3-players (iAudio U3, iRiver E10).

However, this is not true for high volume levels, because with some headphones the bass sounds uncontrolled and there's audible distortion. Still there are some IEMs that go along fine with the w950i, like the ATH-CK7 and especially the Future Sonics Atrio M5, which IMHO is one brilliant sounding IEM.

My personal conclusion: w950i audio quality is fine, but the inbuilt amp is too weak to drive most headphones to decent levels. Therefore I tried amping the w950i with the MiniBox-D, and this combo blows my iAudio U3 out of the water...

 

[gabes]

I have to agree with james444, because I compared my w950 with my brother's 4G ipod (20GB U2edition) and my dad's 1G nano (2GB), all with the same tracks and with their respective standard headphone, and I can tell you the sony is actually a little better. It's only when you pair the ipod with better headphone, when they really shine comparing to the w950.

 

[starz]

compared to the samsung Z5F, the W950i sounds boomy. I found myself straining to make out details. Tested with a PX100. The bass on the PX100 paired with my samsung player sounds just fine. Kind of a disappointment. I've never owned a sony player before, but if this is their signature sound, then I probably wont be buying players from them in the future. The lack of dedicated headphone jack is also a miss. Granted, I got the w950i for business use. It's great for that purpose.