[eulenfalter]

Hello, this track sounds horrible on my iPhone XS and Macbook Air M1 (speakers), but not on my headphones (HPP-200 (48ohm) @M1 MB Air 3.5mm out.

Could somebody explain please why this happens with some songs but not others?

 

[Davesrose]

Hello, this track sounds horrible on my iPhone XS and Macbook Air M1 (speakers), but not on my headphones (HPP-200 (48ohm) @M1 MB Air 3.5mm out.

Could somebody explain please why this happens with some songs but not others?

Listening to the track on my 2019 MBP, it sounds fine to me. Perhaps the track sounds thin on your devices (that have smaller speakers than my MBP)? Might be for some songs, you'd prefer larger speakers for delivering a fuller range.

 

[bigshot]

I just listened on my iPhone and MacBook Pro and it sounds OK. Do you have the volume turned up too high? Maybe it would sound better at a lower level in a quiet room.

 

[gregorio]

Could somebody explain please why this happens with some songs but not others?

I’ve come across this. It’s not at all subtle, sounds like massive overload distortion and can occur even when the volume isn’t at max, although it does need to be quite high.

I don’t know for certain why this is, I can only guess and there’s a fair chance I’m wrong. The small speakers particularly in phones are obviously going to have a problem with bass. It sounds to me as if they have tried to reduce the issues by applying a resonant filter and/or a limiter. This works reasonably well much of the time but if the song happens to have peak levels at a frequency that coincides with the peak of the filter resonance, you get a large amount of distortion. This freq varies with different phones, even different models by the same manufacturer but typically is around 200Hz, sometimes a bit higher or lower. It’s seems to be particularly noticeable with unaccompanied acoustic guitar and piano.

Again, I’m only guessing based on what I’m hearing. Although certainly it sounds like some sort of limiter causing overload distortion somewhere because you can hear the “pumping” of a slow release limiter. One way to test the hypothesis that it’s a resonance, would be to apply a moderately narrow notch filter and slowly sweep it through the freq range from around 160Hz to about 240Hz to see if there’s a freq at which the distortion stops. Unfortunately, I don’t know of any system wide parametric EQs for IOS.

G

 

[danadam]

Omg, that's really bad. Here's video of Samsung S8, iPhone 6S and iPhone XS Max: https://mega.nz/file/9gRkAY7T#eGqMhgOdRCzAUl_58S0aRtpC3XKvKeRfiXswl1_u_KQ

 

[eulenfalter]

Thank you for the video, this is exactly what I meant!
I wonder what the cause is!
It also sounds rather bad depending on volume on the MBA M1 too. I can listen to other stuff at much higher volumes with the MBA without such distortion. It might have to do with certain instruments, yes, in combination with other reasons (??).
Thank to everybody for the input -- I encourage everybody to listen to the vido danadam has provided. It's exactly what I mean.

 

[bigshot]

The iPhone 6 came out 9 years ago, and the XS is 5 years old. Perhaps they've been used heavily and have gotten wet sometime in their past. I have an iPhone 12 that's fairly new and that track sounds fine on it. But it's a tiny little speaker in a phone. You can't expect high quality sound. You can use headphones for that.

 

[eulenfalter]

Interesting info about the iPhone 12. Though the Air M1 is rather new too.
My question was more about: Why just this track. 99% of music sounds fine on the iPhone XS and M1, but this particular track causes massive problems with both - but non with my HPH200 headphones. I just found that noteworthy - thanks for all your input, again.

 

[Davesrose]

If I listen to this song through my iPhone 12 Max, I do hear a buzzing with some passages. If I put my ear up to each speaker, it's more emphasized with the ear speaker on top. Almost like the song is creating some resonance between the speakers and rest of the phone causing the distortion. If you're hearing the same thing with a MB Air, then it might be the same thing: on my MBP, it sounds completely fine (maybe its case having more room).

 

[bigshot]

As far as phones and super thin laptops go, I think you folks are expecting more out of a speaker the size of an M&M than you should. It's not hifi. A tiny speaker isn't going to fill a room with sound or compete with street noise. But if you turn up the volume loud to try to do that, it's going to squawk. If you want to hear it in good quality, plug in headphones.

 

[danadam]

As far as phones and super thin laptops go, I think you folks are expecting more out of a speaker the size of an M&M than you should.

I don't see anyone here expecting much, but rather being curious why the thing happens on some songs but not others.

 

[bigshot]

The tiny speaker has problems with the dominant frequencies in that particular song?