Lumia 930 / ICON music quality

[maverick786us]

I love the design of Lumia 930 / ICON. I read the review of ICON on gsmarena, and gsmarena always provides an honest review (not like phonearena who seems to be on payroll of Apple or sammy). About the music quality, they have mentioned, that its good, but sub-par for a flagship device. What is your openion on the music quality of ICON?I am already compromizing so many things, thats making me select 930 over 1520. 1) Lack of glance can be compromized.2) Small, sub-par speakers, and its placement on the back is something I hate, but I have to sacrifice for its amazing design.Lumia 1520 has excellent music quality. If Nokia does'nt improve the music quality of 930 with Windows 8.1 upgrade, then I believe, this whole year will be a disappointment for me. I might have to wait for a 1020 successor. What is your openion on the music quality of 930 / Icon?

 

[BlackZeppelin]

I'm with you and holding out for the 1020 successor. But am interested in hearing about the music quality of the 930 as it has some audio boasts in the specs.

 

[maverick786us]

I'm with you and holding out for the 1020 successor. But am interested in hearing about the music quality of the 930 as it has some audio boasts in the specs.

Audio boost is a software feature. How much can it enhance the small speaker of 930? Placement of speaker on the back is an odd concept, as you need a kick stand, or hold the device in your hand. Because if you place it on table, the sound will be blocked

 

[maverick786us]

Here is another example of Loudspeaker and headphone test and you can clearly see where Lumia ICON stands. Although I don't find the test of phonearena authentic, but the results might hurt Lumia 930 / ICON fans. I am one of them, who is eagerly waiting for Lumia 930. But looks like I might have to go for a green Lumia 1530. But I have to see how Windows 8.1 improve the video recording and low light images.

 

[AR2186]

I have yet to find a Nokia with good sound, they all seem to have low volume and the Dolby equalizer settings don't do much. My Icon sounds better than my 928, at least in the headphones, but my HTC One blows them all away (and the HTC 8x was great before I broke it). Don't get me wrong, I love my Icon, but if sound quality is important, wait for the WP version of the HTC One M8

 

[gapost]

I think the music, through headphones, sounds as good as most any phone. The sound is a little lower in volume than the 928, meaning you need to increase the number to get it to the same level. However, there is no comparison with the 8X, as that was the best sound I ever heard from a phone.

 

[Indistinguishable]

I think the music, through headphones, sounds as good as most any phone. The sound is a little lower in volume than the 928, meaning you need to increase the number to get it to the same level. However, there is no comparison with the 8X, as that was the best sound I ever heard from a phone.

It's really a lot more about the headphones than anything else. My Icon sounds the exact same as my wife's iPhone 5s.

 

[maverick786us]

It's really a lot more about the headphones than anything else. My Icon sounds the exact same as my wife's iPhone 5s.

How is it compared to Lumia 920 and 1520? I've tried in 1520, and the music quality is amazing. With 920, I find it average.

"Audio output could be better"

"The Nokia Lumia Icon is a reasonably loud performer when it comes to audio output, but it's far from the cleanest out there.

The Nokia smartphone did decently in the first part of our test, posting good, but unspectacular scores on most readings. However, its intermodulation distortion is rather high and certainly not what we've come to expect from a flagship.

Things aren't spotless when you plug in a pair of headphones either - some extra stereo crosstalk sneaks in, volume levels drop and the distortion remains high. Overall a decent performance, but one not quite worthy of a flagship."

 

[maverick786us]

Today I was shocked. One of my friend owns a 520, he upgraded to WP 8.1 developers preview. I was teaching him how to use Cortana and to my surprise, its speakers are way louder than my 920 speakers. Does ICON has >= loudness than 520? If yes, then 930 will be my next phone

 

[Chris Wayne2]

I don't think so, the 1520 probably has bigger speakers but who knows?, I don't see why the HTC speakers are so hyped, loud sound is not the same as good quality sound, headphones output quality on the smartphones is almost standard, I've read on Head-Fi that the iPhone 4s is the phone with the loudest headphone output but any amp can match that. My advice, get an amp and some good headphones. (aka not beats, not skullcandy, not SMS...)

 

[bayanii]

Speaker isn't that great volume wise, but its loud enough for me. If your decision is purely based on the speaker, I would wait. Waiting on a 1020 successor doesn't make any sense because it's a phone made for photography. Probably the HtC would make for sense.

 

[maverick786us]

I don't think so, the 1520 probably has bigger speakers but who knows?, I don't see why the HTC speakers are so hyped, loud sound is not the same as good quality sound, headphones output quality on the smartphones is almost standard, I've read on Head-Fi that the iPhone 4s is the phone with the loudest headphone output but any amp can match that. My advice, get an amp and some good headphones. (aka not beats, not skullcandy, not SMS...)

Can you suggest me a good headset?

 

[davesannie]

Why not the ones from Nokia ? The big one with Bluetooth


Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk

 

[maverick786us]

Why not the ones from Nokia ? The big one with Bluetooth


Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk

That beats audio from Nokia / Monster?

 

[davesannie]

Yup the looks are good and sound is very good according The reviewers


Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk

 

[hs k]

Get either portapros or px100. There is an entire thread at headfi for pointing out good head phones and their price range.

 

[maverick786us]

Yup the looks are good and sound is very good according The reviewers


Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk

I do have wired Nokia Beats Audio headsets, but even with my Lumia 920, I find the music quality to be good, but not great like Lumia 1520 or iPhone 4S. My other question still remains, how much loud is the speaker of 930/ICON? If it is louder than Note 2 or Lumia 720. Then I would consider it good. Because my Lumia 920's speakers are crappy.