Audiophile Phones (Or phones with decent audio output)

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by Rotijon, Apr 27, 2017.

  1. burnspbesq

    burnspbesq Friend

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    Specifics, please. My experience with iOS 11 has been completely different from what you describe.
     
  2. burnspbesq

    burnspbesq Friend

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    Drag and drop albums or tracks to playlist in iTunes.
    Hook up device.
    Sync.

    If that’s too many hoops for you, that’s about you.

    And there’s a simple (albeit time-consuming) workaround for your tags issue.
     
  3. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Yeah, first convert from FLAC to AAC or ALAC. Then export XML to iTunes. Then screw endlessly with your metadata. You missed a few steps. f**k that noise. The fact that once you finally get the files into the delightful iTunes ecosystem in a format that Apple deigns to support, you still need to f**k with it due to not supporting the same tags as everyone else. just makes it not worth the effort. Bad ecosystem is bad. I'll continue syncing to a better device that supports more formats, mounts as mass storage and understands tags.
     
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2017
  4. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    On my SE I get shitloads of telephony problems on iOS 11. I don't know wtf is going on.

    I need to get my hands on an Xperia XZ1 compact to see how good it is as a small phone. Hoping it supports 400GB microSD cards which might make it my backup. I need to check pixel 2 LDAC and USB C support but the cost is apple level prohibitive right now.
     
  5. Vansen

    Vansen Gear Master (retiring)

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    Off topic a bit, but from your comment @zerodeefex, should I not update my phone to iOS 11 then?

    I've been dragging my feet on getting both of my iPhone 6S up to date on OS versions. My work 6S is working perfectly, but my personal 6S has been slow and unresponsive at times over the past month or two now.
     
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2017
  6. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    It feels weird to see you say that. I would have expected you to be able to access newer Android hardware in a slightly ninja manner.

    Regarding LDAC, are there any good pocket LDAC receiver/DAC/amp boxes out there yet?
     
  7. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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    Other than LCD black not being totally black and being somewhat annoying when reading at night, and the classic Sony should-be-good-but-isn't camera, the XZ1C is the best small phone out now IMO. Feels amazing in the hand and lasts forever.
     
  8. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    I'm on Android, not the hardware team. They are another OEM to us. Some engineers have pixel 2s on the team to work (just like we do with every other OEM), but there's no reason for me, a product guy, to have one. I could get one but it would be a waste IMO.

    No good pocket receivers. I might hack up the MMCX dongle to have a 3.5mm jack instead, though. It would be awkward because of the curved shape but still pretty slim.

    I would if you can back out of it. I need to take the latest update (I've had 2 since I updated to iOS11) and hope that it improves things. The SE is really fast for a little phone.

    I have been using Sony's small phones for years. I might end up in a situation where I can only carry one phone, though, in which case it will be a bad purchase for me since the camera in the Pixel devices will be more important as I have little kids.
     
  9. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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    Yeah, in somewhat similar shoes (want a good camera, but don't have kids), I was hoping for a long time that a Sony Nexus was coming so some HDR+ magicks and non stupid processing could be found on Sony camera, but with the HTC Pixel subdivision acquisition etc I can only hope Sony wakes up their idea.
     
  10. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Also the unlimited photos storage is a godsend. The pictures from my rx1r II are big as hell and I hacked it to auto backup to photos. It's awesome to have such easy redundancy for my photo data. I used to have the photos on my server backup to glacier storage but this is 1000x times more convenient for quick crops and sharing.
     
  11. %20 Oddity

    %20 Oddity Friend

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    I'm not gonna add a screenshot cuz I'm not on an english OS, but it absolutely does.
    Just be sure to check the "album is a compilation" field in itunes if it's giving you lip.
     
  12. Priidik

    Priidik MOT: Estelon

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    @zerodeefex any luck assessing the zx-1 compact? I might be looking around for a tough compact that wouldn't suck.
     
  13. m17xr2b

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    Sould be a matter of synergy as well. I enjoy my s6 and hier 8.0 immensely more than the andros where the 8.0 sounds weird from the wm1a and the andros amazying.
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2018
  14. Mark McDonald

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    I just have a quick question for you guys; I'm not even sure I'm in the right place forum-wise, but here goes.

    I've tried using two different portable amp with my Samsung Galaxy S9+. For some reason when using them, my volume is even lower than when not using them. Seriously, my IEMs are much louder without the amps. I cannot figure out why this is. Anyone here know what the problem might be?
     
  15. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    Which amps, using what headphones, connected how?
     
  16. Mark McDonald

    Mark McDonald New

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    The amps I've been trying are the Fiio A5 and the Topping NX5. IEMs used were the Revonext QT2 and the Tin Audio T2 (I haven't even tried any of my full-size headsets with the phone yet). Amps were connected to the phone the headphone jack on both phone and amp (I don't see any other way to connect them, honestly).
     
  17. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    This is going to sound silly and I hope you don't take it as an insult or slight towards your attentiveness, but to my knowledge Samsung phones have a built-in limiter when the phono jack is used, so it could be that your phone is lowering output into the amp, meaning you have to crank the gain up more. Either that or whichever player you're using (stock or third party?) is doing it.

    Just going by specs the Fiio and Topping units should have enough power to drive IEMs to painfully loud levels. I know impedance curves can mess with how things sound but certainly not to this extent. Are you sure the connector going from your phone to the amp was secure? I've been in a similar situation a few times and most often it's been the case that I didn't get the plug all the way in.
     
  18. Mark McDonald

    Mark McDonald New

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    No offense taken at all; thanks for replying. I am sure both connectors were secure. I had no idea about the limiter function when using the headphone jack; I wonder if there's a way to disable it (can't find anything about it in my settings or developer options)? Also, the gain was up all the way both times (just because of the lack of volume).
     
  19. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    The way it usually works is you get a popup screen when you increase the volume past whatever the manufacturer arbitrarily decides is "too loud" for safe listening with their supplied IEMs/earbuds (or random easy-to-drive transducers).

    You mean to say that the Fiio and Topping were both cranked up? The A5 puts out 800mW into 32 ohms and the NX5 292mW into 16 ohms from what I can tell, which should be sufficient for IEMs unless you listen at extremely loud levels.

    On that note, what IEMs are you rocking, and how loud do you usually listen? A guesstimate is fine.
     
  20. Mark McDonald

    Mark McDonald New

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    I'm using the Revonext QT2 and Tin Audio T2 at the moment. I did look into the volume limiter function last night; of course it was hidden under the Bluetooth options, lol. To change it, I had to turn it to "on" and then raise the slider all the way up (so that there's no limiting being done). Sounds backwards, but whatever.

    I haven't had a chance to try the phone / amp out since I changed it yet, but I will tonight sometime. Will post results afterward.
     

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