Smartphone Audio Quality Testing
by Chris Heinonen on December 8, 2013 5:15 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Audio
- Mobile
- Tablets
- Testing
Right now we have full data on four phones and partial data on a few more. We are working to compile as much data as possible to provide an overall look at the quality of audio from smartphones available today. The largest difference in current models is the power of the headphone output as some are much better equipped to drive more demanding headphones than others. As we compile data on more and more products we hope to see more differences arise.
We also have not seen much difference with different loads applied to the headphones. We will continue to test all three sets of headphones but the data here is for the Apple Earbuds. If different loads provide different results, then we will certainly report those different numbers in the future. It also appears that running Android phones in the automated routine causes the 20 kHz tone to be left out of the frequency response test. Humans usually can't hear this, I certainly can't, and so there isn't a huge amount of real-world ramification to this. It causes the reported THD+N to exclude that tone and provides a better result that phones that play it back. For the future, this will be done manually.
Here are the four phones we currently have, and more phones are being tested and reported on as quickly as possible to be added here.
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cheinonen - Monday, December 9, 2013 - link
No, for the initial set I used basic Apple earbuds that everyone has. I do have AKG K701s to test them on as well, and plan to do so going forward.charltonv3x - Sunday, December 8, 2013 - link
Curious how the test result gonna be for XPERIA Z, ZU, and Z1 against Lumias :)and...can it be used to test ASUS Xonar Vs Onkyo soundcards or other audiophile soundcards...
cheinonen - Monday, December 9, 2013 - link
It can test anything. I use it to test Blu-ray players, preamps, amps, receivers and more. The report it spit out for a receiver for me today was well over 150 pages.Impulses - Monday, December 9, 2013 - link
Testing some other gear might be interesting context wise... i.e. How does a smartphone compare to a Xonar DGX or STX, or to some of the cheaper amps out there (O2? Magni?). Adding stuff like the venerable SanDisk Clip Zip might be even more relevant as far as comparisons go, since that's a great $30 solution for anyone with a phone with disappointing audio.lookit77 - Wednesday, December 11, 2013 - link
+1 for using the SanDisk Clip Zip as one of the benchmarks.mrnuxi - Wednesday, December 11, 2013 - link
Even better than a SanDisk Clip Zip is the older SanDisk Sansa Clip+, which can be found quite cheaply. Here's what will give you a fantastic audio experience:1. Add a 32gb microSDHC card to the Clip Plus with your music encoded as flac (the Clip+ supports flac [lossless] playback.
2. Install the excellent RockBox (http://rockbox.org) replacement firmware.
3. Add the superb FiiO E6 headphone amp. Note: beware of counterfeits on eBay!
4. Use decent or better headphones (at work I use Grado SR60; cycling I use various good quality earbuds).
5. Enjoy your music as you've never heard it on a phone or iPod.
Morgifier - Sunday, December 8, 2013 - link
This is great information, thanks!I have a Nexus 5 and when I plug headphones in I usually listen to level 6 or 7 (out of 15) and have found the audio quality to be to my liking (vs. my old Samsung Galaxy S2).
However, typically when I listen to mobile devices via an amplifier I would turn the device up to MAX volume and then modulate volume via the amp - this does not seem to be the best case for the Nexus 5, I guess stop 12 would be the best volume.
Is amplifier clipping a common occurrence for mobile devices? I consider this a design flaw, i.e. max volume available for the device should be prior to any clipping.
ruzveh - Monday, December 9, 2013 - link
To be honest i have heard many smartphones through one of the best earphones and headphones i dint like the sound quality from any of the smartphones that i have heard compared to the ones that my mp3 players deliver. This is where i hate my smartphone and still love my media players.Can mobile companies take a note on this?
ruzveh - Monday, December 9, 2013 - link
And the fun is we dont get quality DAC for the premium we pay for these phonesshaolin95 - Monday, December 9, 2013 - link
I hope we get to see how the Xperia Z Ultra performs even though I have not seen a review for the phone itself so I guess not much of a change there :/