Which WP has the best Audio ?

[Rickosw]

Hi

Out of curiosity, which Lumia Phone (exclude Windows HTC One M8) is about to match up with these 5 Android Phones?

Are there any particular Audio features found in Windows Phone that is better Android?

What are the key aspects / things to look in a good audio smart phone?

Phones for audiophiles: 5 Android handsets with quality sound processors


cheers!

 

[someone2639]

The HTC 8XT and 8X have Beats audio. WP also has an equalizer.

 

[pankaj981]

The HTC 8XT and 8X have Beats audio. WP also has an equalizer.

Windows Phones do not have an equalizer, Lumias do

 

[Rickosw]

Windows Phones do not have an equalizer, Lumias do

Equalizer only works with wired headphones ? ie Bluetooth headphones cant access this function ya ?

 

[pankaj981]

Equalizer only works with wired headphones ? ie Bluetooth headphones cant access this function ya ?

Yes, unfortunately equalizer doesn't work over Bluetooth but only over wired headphones. I'm not sure about Beats audio for HTC WPs though, I had one for a short span but never tested it

 

[Pete]

Beats audio or an equalizer won't do anything to improve the sound quality of the audio - they will only serve to distort the the sounds to emphasise certain frequencies. Beats audio puts salt & pepper & ketchup on your food in a way that will please most folks, the equalizer will hand you the condiment tray and make you use all of them in varying degrees. Personally, I prefer to eat my food the way the chef cooked it.

I don't recall seeing any articles that dealt with the quality produced by the audio chips on Windows Phones, it'll probably take some research to find something on audio related websites.

 

[bseuivafom]

Well you could argue that a lot of music now the artist intends it to be served with a lake of hamburger helper lol

Srsly though most of the phones are pretty much of a muchness in terms of actual sound quality... I.e. Good enough. The M8 is good, as is the 930. The only discernible differences for most will be two things:

Impedance mismatch: Certain earphones can cause 'enhanced' hissing with some handsets because there is an impedance mismatch between the two. This happens most often with very low impedance earphones with high isolation.

The EQ. A lot of people make the mistake of 'moar bass and a scratchy treble' for 'quality' but it is definitely a change in the sound.

 

[fatclue_98]

This is so subjective that it can't be discussed properly. Humans have varying frequencies they can or can't discern properly. For example, those dog whistle apps they have on all the platforms. I can't hear a thing but when I use it, my wife and daughter scream at me. As you can see in my avatar, they're not dogs. The older fellas here will agree with me that the "remastered" tracks of yesteryear don't sound the same digitally as they did on vinyl. For these and other reasons, be happy with what you get from a phone. If you're an audiophile, look elsewhere.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

None. While fatclue is right in terms of how subjective a topic this is, this question can still be answered.

No Lumia has good audio capabilities for music playback. This has been a weakness for years, with much of it falling on MSFT's control over the APIs. Even the equalizer that they threw in doesn't give that much control over the audio. For Lumia users, your best best is a good pair of headphones and tweaking the files how you want before loading them onto WP.

 

[xandros9]

GSMArena's reviews often have things like in-depth audio quality reports.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I did some research about equalizers. The main point of equalizers is to compensate for speaker placement and stuff in a room (furniture, drapery) that might alter the sound, or to compensate for poor quality headphones. Equalizers are not designed to dramatically alter the sound as it was recorded and mastered by the engineer. Unless one recorded something in a garage without a professional engineer, chances are the "flat" sound is how it was intended to sound.



Audiophiles suggest keeping the settings flat. Chances are you'll get used to the sound if you have decent speakers/headphones. If not, the proper technique is to decrease unwanted sounds, not increase wanted sounds. So if you want more bass, keep the bass flat but decrease the treble and midrange. Just increasing bass will result in a muddy bass sound.

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 via Tapatalk

 

[EspHack]

well it doesn't matter if you really want the best quality, high end Bluetooth headphones have their own DACs and stuff, rendering your phone's sound chip useless, as it becomes a simple streaming box, since we don't have a choice in our phone's internals, that's the best way to deal with it

 

[Guytronic]

Which WP has the best Audio?

As far as output and the ability to drive high impedance headphones the Lumia 521 I found to be stellar.

 

[Rickosw]

Hi,

will getthing something like this SB E5 help ?

primarily using it to listen to Internet Radio (SKY FM / DI Radio, Pandora), Youtube videos, download MP3

Exclusive hands-on with the Sound Blaster E5, Creative's new 24-bit/192kHz USB DAC and portable headphone amp - HardwareZone.com.sg

 

[dorelse]

Not sure I understand the logic of excluding the 1 or 2 phones that could actually stand up to your query?

​HTC One for Windows & HTC 8XT (Beats & Boomsound Speakers)

 

[ratsttam]

Not sure I understand the logic of excluding the 1 or 2 phones that could actually stand up to your query?

​HTC One for Windows & HTC 8XT (Beats & Boomsound Speakers)

One can have good speakers, but a poor DAC (Digital Audio Converter). I didn't do any research on the Windows phones, but using my Koss Pro headphones, the 8xt never sounded quite right, even though without the headphones, it was spectacular.
The best two devices I've ever had, would seem to come from left field as far as audio quality goes.
1: The origional Sansa Clip (2gb).
2: Sprint Samsung Epic 4g (slider keyboard). This had the Wolfson DAC chip.

Audio engineers don't use headphones or speakers when testing the "quality" of a DAC. They output (a SIN sweep if I recall correctly) to a scope, where the quality can be quantified mathematically, and any variance can be noted. Of course, this doesn't always equate to the best sounding audio FOR YOU, as each pair of headphones, speakers, and even the room you're in, can alter the sound profile.

 

[mprebich]

Agree with ratsttam.

In a smartphone, the DAC (digital analog converter) is a $5 component (probably even less). To obtain the best listening quality using your smartphone, pair it with an external portable DAC. These range from $50-$100 (off ebay) to $1000+ (audiophile quality). Most portable DACs also include a headamp (headphone amplifier) and a good one is able to support any headphone/earphones on the market.

Now, back to Lumias. They do not produce digital audio output. So, you are out of luck. You can still use a headamp, as I do, which will better drive teh headphones and generally give you better performance from whatever you are using.

I have been posting on this topic regarding Lumias since I got my 920, and neither Nokia, Microsoft, MS hardware, no one, will even give me an answer. FYI. You can do this in Windows, and both Andriod and iOS are compatible wth external DACs.

When you think about it, this is not additional functionality. It is simply a software function to bypass the internal and tell the phone to output a digital signal.

Let's keep our fingers crossed for teh next "flagship".