Beats Audio

[ImAdrian23]

I've made several test with and without B.A. turned on and I cannot tell the difference... Can someone tell me what exactly is B.A. doing? Perhaps my device B.A.'s feature is "broken"/"bugged"?

 

[theprawn]

Are you using headphones for your testing?

 

[winphoneaddict]

Beats accents and increases the lower frequencies in the music, as well as increases the overall volume and fidelity of the songs. Gives the music a greater "dynamic" range so to speak. I really like it. It will only be active though when you plug a set of headphones or ear buds into your phone. The higher the quality of phones or buds, the greater the improvement.

 

[Coffee]

For me the Beats setting on is a big difference - I appreciate it even more with videos than pure audio. The increased volume makes this the first phone I haven't had to max out to hear in public areas like a caf? or work.

 

[ljt1984]

There is a definite difference with it on but it only works with whatever you have plugged into the headphone socket.

 

[tampacoder]

Do we need a beats headset to get the full experience?
Sent from my HTC6990LVW using Board Express

 

[Jonadam23]

It definitely makes the sound much louder and more crisp. I can clearly hear the music when the volume is at 1/30. When I crank volume up to 30/30 it hurts my ears its so loud, and I only have a 15 dollars pair of Phillips earbuds! I can only imagine how well the music would sound if I had a slightly higher quality pair of headphones.

 

[mundyb]

I'm gonna go against the grain and say that I detest BA in this phone. I keep it turned off and still I get the toast notification and a sound to remind me that I have the crappy BA turned off! HATE IT!haha

I have a pair of Audio Technica studio over the ear headphones for home listening, and a Bose sound system in my vehicle and I think it sounds like crap with BA turned on. What I really want is a Line Out from the device. For "real" listening I will still use a PMP. I say "real" because I'm tired of the terrible quality of compressed music. Ok, I'm a bit of an audiophile, there I said it. I feel better now.

What BA does do ok is spoken content, podcasts. I'll turn it on for that and turn it back off for everything else. Even at that I will usually have to lower the bass setting on my stereo. More bass and volume does not equal better audio quality.

Streaming is neat, quick, and convenient but it sounds horrible. No amount of post producing of the audio signal is gonna fix that. Good quality sound can be had on the cheap but you do have to insist on the best source material CD or LP and a decently clean playback system. Spend a little more for a good set of headphones and use the iPod you all still have lying around with good rips of your source material.

In the immortal words of Ron White "You can't fix stupid". I say, you can't fix bad source audio.

 

[shinygerbil]

I don't understand your point. Beats Audio aside, you're basically saying that the 8X sounds worse because the music you chose to play on it has been ripped from a poor quality source? Well, put some audio from a good quality source on your 8X then. And keep Beats turned off if you prefer. (For certain types of music it definitely doesn't help, but in general I find it to be pretty acceptable.)

Sure, you can't fix bad source audio, but you can use good stuff instead.

On top of that, you then recommend an iPod for audio quality?!

I'm sure I am misunderstanding your post...but I can't see what else you could be trying to say.

 

[mundyb]

BA is like the "Special Sauce" on a Big Mac. You can throw salad dressing on a poor hamburger to make it more palatable, but Conde Nast will never do an article about it, with or without. The 8X is, primarily, a streaming device given its low internal storage, non-expandable memory, and new features with Xbox Music. You can't pour BA on top of that and expect it to suddenly produce magnificent audio. Sure if you have higher quality stuff on the device it will sound better, but still not great.

iPods, Zunes and several other PMP's have a feature called "Line Out" available through the dock connector on the device (Apple has done away with this in the Lightning Connector). Which I mentioned is what I would have preferred HTC had done instead of BA. Line Out gives you an unaltered signal out of the device, bypassing the DAC on board. So, yes I'm saying you can get much better quality sound from an iPod and a Fiio headphone amplifier than can be had out of any mobile phone that I know of.

Just as an aside, did you realize that the original iPod Shuffle had the best DAC that Apple ever put in one of its devices?

 

[marbla]

Just as an aside, did you realize that the original iPod Shuffle had the best DAC that Apple ever put in one of its devices?

Well you can't make something out of nothing. There us a reason that good gear is expensive and big, I don't see where apple (or HTC for that matter) could put good preamps in that small package

 

[ImAdrian23]

You are all confusing me. Yes, I'm using the headphones that I got from HTC (that came with the phone) and I cannot make a difference between a song played with Beats Audio and the same one played without it turned on.
However I listened to Shewolf (Sia ft. David Guetta) and I paid attention to the beat and I think it was more intense with Beats Audio turned on.

 

[morpheus1982]

You are all confusing me. Yes, I'm using the headphones that I got from HTC (that came with the phone) and I cannot make a difference between a song played with Beats Audio and the same one played without it turned on.
However I listened to Shewolf (Sia ft. David Guetta) and I paid attention to the beat and I think it was more intense with Beats Audio turned on.

I think the point is....The headphones that come in the box are rubbish, hence why you are have trouble telling the difference, or failing to appreciate it. Get some earbud type ones at least. Results will vary depending to price paid, but you do not have to part with much money to get decent sound.

 

[juanitoriv]

I didn't get any headphones. I use my old school Sony over ears when I'm out and about. Same ones I used when DJ'ing at raves. Beats makes a difference over stock, and this will sound weird, but when I first plugged in to now, the quality has gotten better. I know that makes no sense on solid state tech, but it IS very true.

That said, I DO miss the SRS enhancements from my Radar. Was great sound!!

 

[shinygerbil]

I found SRS to be basically a counterpart to Beats - basically all it did was turn up the treble. Always sounded too tinny and crackly IMO.

The 8X, Beats or no Beats, has given me more clarity than any other pmp I have ever used. Less distortion and more range - I hear more detail in my music whether it be highs or lows. Sure, the iPod Shuffle may be the best iPod of the bunch, but surely that's not hard when all you're comparing that to is other apple devices. My iphone, my other phones, various other portable music brands, they've always lacked something. The 8X is obviously not perfect but for a slim portable device with some portable headphones it does well. If I want hifi quality I use a hifi..

 

[juanitoriv]

You got it shiny. I like the way you think!! Beats has been working great on some Wobble house though.

 

[SRRAE]

It also depends on the music you are listening to.
When I listen to Alex Clare which has already got lots of base there is no difference. When I listen to MJ or Queen there is a big difference.

Try changing the style of music you are listening to.

 

[juanitoriv]

It also depends on the music you are listening to.
When I listen to Alex Clare which has already got lots of base there is no difference. When I listen to MJ or Queen there is a big difference.

Try changing the style of music you are listening to.

Dude, I'm an entertainer, drummer, bassist, DJ, singer, songwriter, emcee, producer & poet. I love all music!! I'm just in this mood these days.