Beats Audio...

[marbla]

I think the audio quality is pretty good for what it is.

I just did a quick a/b: lumia 800 vs. mbox2 + dedicated headphone amp vs. 8x with and without beats amp. For headphones I used my trusted K271 AKGs. I used 320 and 256bit mp3/aac files to test (e.g. Kurt Elling's "Dedicated to You" album and a few other things I'd actually listen to on the road eg. Robert Glaspers great "Black Radio" album).

All in all the mbox2 is unsurprisingly in a different league entirely (and there is much better gear than that still). The files just have a completely different clarity and separation than on the phones. That said the 8x with the beats enabled sounds quite a bit clearer than the other options (8x w/o beats, lumia 800) although they do noticeably lift the bass and treble a bit vs. the mids.

Let's cut to the chase: If you are at home and really want to get the most out of your music then obviously you aren't plugging those 150€+ cans into a phone. On the other hand I am quite happy with the quality for use on the road and I think that's where listening on a phone makes sense. Here I am quite happy with the 8x quality and the more "hifi" amplification helps me hear those bass lines in the train.

Of course that's just my preferences ;-)

 

[romeze]

I tried some beats audio headphones (not sure which but my friend always buys top of the line), and the sound quality was amazing. Actually had to have it on 8/30 in order to not bust my eardrum. We compared the sound quality from an iPhone 5 and Droid Incredible. Hands down the 8x is much clearer and produces louder sound with great bass of the three phones. The only thing that was weird is that there was no volume control from the headphones to the 8x like there was with the other two phones.

 

[MrCetirizine]

I've found the audio on the 8x to be better than any iPod I've ever owned but not close to the quality of my Cowon J3. Using Shure SE425 earphones.

 

[beachhoppr]

I thought it was going to be BS, however if you play some music and turn it on and off, the difference is very noticeable - in a good way

 

[pdch]

^ wrong. Beats is a software EQ for 8X. There is an additional amplifier(not BEATS) which helps to boost the gain. Beats, most often, makes music sound more bassy than it should be. And audiophiles do not use any EQ. We want to listen the music the way they produced it to be.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry, what was WRONG in my post. Since you are using an iphone, I take it that you do not realize that the amplifier turns on when Beats is enabled, therefore, the amplifier IS part of the Beats implementation. That said, I never stated in my previous post that the 8x used any further hardware implementation of Beats OTHER than the added amplifier. Please read entire posts before contradicting, iSheep.

No, the 8x implementation is not the same as in other Beats hardware implementations such as the HP touchpad or the other mentioned devices. I never said it was.

 

[mhult]

This is perhaps not really beats related, but I find the audio quality of the HTC 8X quite terrible. What bothers me in particular is the noise level, which is really high. My HTC Trophy wasn't perfect either in this regard, but much better. Note that I am a very picky listener who uses very sensitive headphones (Shure SE535). People who have ruined hearing and play through cheap headphones might not have a problem at all with the noise.

I am actually thinking about switching to a different device because of this. According to www.gsmarena.com, who measure the audio quality for everything they review, the Samsung Ativ has much better audio quality. They have not reviewed the Lumia 920 yet, but other Nokia devices have not fared too well in their reviews.

This is too bad, since I find the HTC 8X to be the best looking WP8 device yet. The Samsung Ativ is just plain boring to look at, and also too big.

 

[FrozenSoul]

I purchased a 920 (AT&T) for my wife, I bought an 8x (T-mobile) for myself.. We spent quite a bit of time playing' around and comparing apps, etc... as far as the audio goes, this is what we did.

we transferred audio via NFC between the phones..

we each have a pair of identical Bose earbuds, the right channel of the 8x went to me, the left to my wife, the right of the 920 went to my wife, the left to me.
With both flat (beats off, and the dolby/eq off) we played the exact same song on both devices at the same time.
With the volume low (about 5) the 920 seemed a touch louder, but both sounded the same, after increasing the volume (about 25-30) the 8x seemed a touch louder.
we then compared the Dolby/eq to flat 8x - dolby sounded better and a little louder
and then compared the Beats to Flat 920 - Beats sounded better and was MUCH louder, even after dropping the volume down to match, the sound was richer in the base and highs.
and finally Beats to Dolby... the beats sounded fuller at the same volume and could achieve much better sound quality when full volume (was much louder too, like 8x volume at 16 was about as loud as the 920 at 25).

My wife was very happy with the 920 up to this point and i was doubting my decision to get the 8x, we had compared cameras, bundled apps, storage, Battery life (the wireless charger is backordered so we don?t have that yet), nfc works great both ways. After we were done playing with the audio, she said 'I want your phone' and I said 'No way'.

It?s not scientific but that?s our real world comparison, hope it helps

-T

 

[marbla]

This is perhaps not really beats related, but I find the audio quality of the HTC 8X quite terrible. What bothers me in particular is the noise level, which is really high. My HTC Trophy wasn't perfect either in this regard, but much better. Note that I am a very picky listener who uses very sensitive headphones (Shure SE535). People who have ruined hearing and play through cheap headphones might not have a problem at all with the noise.

I am actually thinking about switching to a different device because of this. According to www.gsmarena.com, who measure the audio quality for everything they review, the Samsung Ativ has much better audio quality. They have not reviewed the Lumia 920 yet, but other Nokia devices have not fared too well in their reviews.

This is too bad, since I find the HTC 8X to be the best looking WP8 device yet. The Samsung Ativ is just plain boring to look at, and also too big.

The noise level thing is strange. With my cheap earplugs I can hear a higher noise level with the beats on. However with my AKG cans on I don't at all.

 

[drewho]

Is it possible for someone to produce a graphic equaliser app, or is the audio locked out from app development?