Beats Audio...

[tofu.]

Have anyone did an audio comparison between the 920 and 8x? I post a similar question in the 920 forum. I just want a non-bias review. thanks.

P.S. many people feel that beats is a ****ty gimmick to trick ignorants. What is rocking inside the 8X is not the beats equalizer, but the additional hardware amplifier inside it. Just saying.


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good info. i too was under the impression that it was simply some lame software EQ.

 

[nicooke]

Nope, Beats on the 8X I believe engages the internal amp, and does a bit of EQing too. But the amp makes a **** of a difference. I had Beats on my OneX which was just an EQ and the 8X kicks its ***. Now if they can just stop it randomly rebooting *angry face*

 

[runam0k]

Nope, Beats on the 8X I believe engages the internal amp, and does a bit of EQing too. But the amp makes a **** of a difference. I had Beats on my OneX which was just an EQ and the 8X kicks its ***. Now if they can just stop it randomly rebooting *angry face*

Take it back. I haven't had a single reboot.

I agree btw, the amp makes a heck of a difference. Great phone for music (erm, except for the OS!).

 

[tristan.rice]

Trying to figure out exactly whats going on with the AMP.

So from what I can tell, you need to have Beats active to use the AMP, correct?

Also the amp doesn't seem to kick in until after you exceed a system volume of 15.

It's not a noticable bump on my IEM's, but on my M50's I notice it instantly.

Overall I definitly appreciate the AMP and the sound quality. It sounds a bit better than the HTC Titan did with SRS Sound Enchancer turned on (which was waaaay better than the standard WP EQ/sound settings).

I just wish there was an equalizer like on the Lumia 920, and the option to manually enable/disable the AMP independant of using Beats audio.

Software update maybe? Would be good to see this stuff added in along with the missing HTC Lense apps etc.

 

[Winfonejunkie]

The Nokia 920's music capabilities are phenomenal. Having Dobly digital quality stereo sound and a full graphic customizable equalizer make this phone head and shoulders about the 8X IMHO

 

[tristan.rice]

The Nokia 920's music capabilities are phenomenal. Having Dobly digital quality stereo sound and a full graphic customizable equalizer make this phone head and shoulders about the 8X IMHO

For small headphones and IEMs I'm sure they both provide a comparable experience. For larger Monitors though, the AMP should give the 8X a pretty solid advantage of the 920.

I'd like to see Anandtech do a good audio quality comparison between the two.

 

[tofu.]

i wonder if you can open it up and switch out opamps. should be able to with a bit of soldering skill

and on a side note, i don't like the idea that it employs an EQ too. i want a (close to) neutral signal. let me do my own EQ depending on my headphones.

 

[nicooke]

Take it back. I haven't had a single reboot.



I agree btw, the amp makes a heck of a difference. Great phone for music (erm, except for the OS!).

people have taken theirs back and had reboots still

 

[runam0k]

people have taken theirs back and had reboots still

No doubt, but at least HTC will take note if a bunch of their phones are being returned.

Unless it's a complete pain in the ***, I'd take it back. There are plenty of 8Xs out there that aren't rebooting...

I took 2 (possibly 3) Lumia 800s back with reboot problems.

 

[nicooke]

It is a pain in the arse as I would have to send it back to Clove. If I could actually buy a Nexus 4 I would consider it though. Poor quality control, the store went down last night, skype is half of what was promised...

 

[PhilAd]

Beats is absolutely overrated ... my xperia s with walkman features has had a better/clearer sound output. It was not as loud as my new htc 8x (2.5V pre AMP) but the sound quality is not that good with beats. i would say it is normal stereo sound quality as you know it from many other devices ...
I didn't need to use an equalizer with my xperia s and Bose MIE2 or Sony EX510LP Headphones ... now i wish i would have an equalizer ...
if you want better sound quality you better go with klitsch/sony/bose/akg/sennheiser/beyerdynamic ... they re have even cheaper models which are better ...
beats is much too expensive ...

 

[jgraves4480]

You can get those beats headsets for under $15. They just slap a b on the side and jack the price. My wife has a pair of Sony and omg the bass and clarity r unbelievable!

 

[djSupport]

It sounds like a few people do not know what an amp is and does? well the noise or signal coming out of the phone passes through the amp and the amp adds more power to the signal, the benefit of this is the 8x can power bigger and more powerful speakers for example I had some sony 'extra bass' earphones and on my HD7 at 20/30 on the volume the bass kept breaking up because the phone couldn't power the extra bass part of the speaker! not a problem now and It can now power seriously big headphones. AMPS are used to turn a weak signal i.e. from a CD player in a nightclub and ramp it up to power the massive BASS bins and Tweeters etc in massive speakers. The only let down is the EQ allowing you to choose how you want to hear the power

Amplifier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[holyxiaoxin]

It sounds like a few people do not know what an amp is and does? well the noise or signal coming out of the phone passes through the amp and the amp adds more power to the signal, the benefit of this is the 8x can power bigger and more powerful speakers for example I had some sony 'extra bass' earphones and on my HD7 at 20/30 on the volume the bass kept breaking up because the phone couldn't power the extra bass part of the speaker! not a problem now and It can now power seriously big headphones. AMPS are used to turn a weak signal i.e. from a CD player in a nightclub and ramp it up to power the massive BASS bins and Tweeters etc in massive speakers. The only let down is the EQ allowing you to choose how you want to hear the power

Amplifier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And strictly speaking, amplifier in the 8X increases the Gain. And it means Voltage Out / Voltage In > 1. And since the amount of current through the amplifier is the same, you get a higher power, VI. However, it will come at a price - increasing gain will definitely increase noise, no matter how small it may be. Of course, the noise you get from the additional amplifier is much controlled and minimized.


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[pdch]

Sounds like there is a LOT of confusion here as to what Beats audio really is. First of all, for ALL beats phones before the 8x, Beats was implemented through software only. On devices such as the HP touchpad and other beats players (laptops, etc), Beats is an actual hardware implementation. Straight off of the website:

"We work with partners like HTC, HP and Chrysler to make sure that whether you're on your phone, computer or in your car you will get our signature Beats sound. We first start off by making sure your hardware is tailored to deliver the best possible sound quality. That includes considering things like: speaker location, adequate power supply, quality jacks, amplifier and digital to audio converter. Once we have the hardware right we then complement with Beats Audio software.

The Beats Audio tuning process holds the highest respect for the artist - never interfering with the track. In our opinion, there's nothing better than what the artist originally made in the studio.

Beats Audio software paired with tailored hardware ensures the best sound possible, one which meets the high standards of Dr. Dre. Without his stamp of approval, it doesn’t go out the door. Period. This is why we can deliver a listening experience that captures the essence of what was originally created in the studio."

Before HTC partnered with Beats, one of Beats goals was for all Beats products to channel 24 bit audio instead of the traditional 16 bit. This distinction has been removed from the page. I assume that the removal is the result of now allowing software only implementations (such as with the HTC Android sets). I would be very curious to find out if the 8x actually has the audio components separated from the rest of the device. I do know from using mine that the extra amp makes a huge difference when playing music through my nicer speakers. The full audible range is much clearer than with my previous handsets, and there is a major difference when beats is turned off.

The statement that beats is "just a bass boost" is entirely false. Beats is intended to give you as true a reproduction of the artists original recording as possible.

 

[holyxiaoxin]

^ 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.


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[gavlop]

used my over-the-ear beats headphones with songs download from the xbox music store.

i had to change my pants cause it was that good.

 

[drewho]

really hating the audio so far i'm afraid, desperately need an equalizer

 

[grantatrade2011]

i but htc xl with beats, beats are useless so lets see the htc 8x audio

 

[djSupport]

If your in the UK Go to Currys/PC World take your old phone and your new shiny 8x and go plug into some of the demo models of the Beats range and hear the difference compared to the audio out of your old phone! then you'll realise that this built in amp is one **** of a difference!