Smartphone Audio Quality

Just wanted to start a thread on how you think your smartphone sounds. Everybody has different music tastes, but every phone can only push so much out it's jack.

Please include which smartphone you have, which custom software mods you're running (if any), which equipment you're using, and which app you like to listen with.

I'm going to start with mine. I have a Galaxy Note 5. I'm not using any audio mods, my headphones are a pair of Bose AE2w (wired), and my app is Google Play Music.

I have to say, in the past Samsung has had some great sounding phones. The OG Galaxy S and it's Exynos 3110/Wolfson 8994 pair were amazing. Then came the voltage mods in the kernel space that made that phone pump some SERIOUS volume. Then the SII with it's terrible Yamaha DAC. They moved back to Wolfson on the Exynos SIII models with the WM1801 and it was inferior to the WM8994, but it still put out some good sound with a modified kernel. The S4/S5 were just meh in my honest opinion. Nothing special. Then we have the S6/N5... Wow. (Also, I'm not including anything about the Snapdragon devices because, in comparison, they're far inferior. The Snapdragon S4/S5 in particular were terrible. If these OEM's would realize that they need to stick a damn amplifier with the Snapdragon DAC, it would be a much improved situation.)

Not since the OG Galaxy S has a Samsung device had the output voltage to drive a pair of Bose AE headphones. But the Note 5/S6 changes that. Clear, warm, detailed output at really great volume levels. I can finally say that Samsung has something that competes with an iPhone, volume and quality wise. I've tried to trip it up with huge amounts of bass, bleeding treble... all kinds of stuff. It just handles it. All of it. Take for instance Beyonce's "Partition" album edition. The first bit of the song is nothing but massive booming bass, tambourines, and voice... perfect quality even at max volume, and that's quite loud. A few phones ago, I was so tired of getting Android devices with subpar output power that I went and bought a FiiO E12 Mont Blanc amp. I can say now that I really don't need it with this phone.

 

I have the HTC 10 so I don't really need to go into the audio, the DAC is excellent.

My Note 5 was good too but my Captivate still to this day has better audio thanks to that amazing DAC.

 

HTC 10 seems to have a pretty good DAC. I havent tried the latest S7's or iPhones. But i love the quality on my M8. Specially when paired with the FiiO E10

 

My M8 GPe with Viper4Android was, to date, the best sounding phone I've ever owned. Plus it had a massive 8V RMS of output power. That's simply amazing.

 

I had an M8 as well, I loved that device.

 

I have been with LG for a while now, and the audio is good. Audio was good on my Samsungs too. I would not say the audio is the best from any phone, because they aren't. Maybe one with a DAC could do better... However, hooking up a small amp like a FiiO makes a world of difference!

 

Just got the Letv Max 6.33" 128GB model. I bought it mainly for the screen size and the Hifi audio. I use the custom Evolution ROM and the stock Letv music app since it has features specifically for the Hifi chip. I use a pair of Xiaomi dual-driver earphones, and the sound is simply amazing

 

I have sony xperia z3 which has good sounds along with the powerful stereo sound. I am technically nil so that i can not say much about that. Would you confirm what other facilites it has.

 

I have an Samsung S3 it has an Wolfson Dac, I use it for mp3 and audio books these day`s

I also have the original HTC M7 One, The first HTC with 2 large front speakers and Beats Audio, It`s still my main phone as it`s still amazing.

John.

 

Samsung Galaxy S7 with Volume, Dual Speaker mods with root and it sounds great. Samsung also has a personalized adapt sound feature among others including uhq upscaler, surround, and tube amp pro. That being said, I'm definitely not a sound aficionado or audiophile, but it suits me just fine.