Smartphone Audio Quality Testing
by Chris Heinonen on December 8, 2013 5:15 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Audio
- Mobile
- Tablets
- Testing
Many readers have been asking for audio testing on phones and tablets, and we are happy to be able to deliver it now. Because I live far away from Brian and Anand, I can’t easily access units they are reviewing so audio data may not run the same day a review is published. I do hope to be able to add it on to everything in the future so that all of our reviews will be as in-depth as possible, from processor to software, display to audio.
I also have to thank Audio Precision for their loan of the APx582 and their access to their offices and support staff. Without that these tests would not be possible. I also wanted to use their equipment as it is the reference standard for the industry and there can be no doubt about its quality. As I do a lot of AV testing as well, I found that more generic sound card methods of testing are becoming limited as the capabilities of products exceeds what they can easily measure. There are no such worries with the Audio Precision.
I also look forward to feedback from readers on the information here, and what else you would like to see tested going forward. Hopefully this will provide another set of data to help you determine if a product will fit your needs, and which vendors are trying to push performance in all categories.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
188 Comments
View All Comments
psuedonymous - Monday, December 9, 2013 - link
Any chance of a test/roundup of bluetooth receivers?Impulses - Monday, December 9, 2013 - link
I'd love to see that.deathdemon89 - Monday, December 9, 2013 - link
I do hope you consider providing the audio tests in the main review on the day it's published, as opposed to tacking it on later. I usually read reviews only once, i.e. on the day they are published and don't keep returning to individual reviews looking for updates, so this would be a major data point readers like me would not be able to take advantage of.DanNeely - Monday, December 9, 2013 - link
I wouldn't hold my breath. Chris H isn't a typical smartphone reviewer. As a result getting these results at initial launch time would require either buying additional sets of test equipment for the reviewers, buying an additional phone for Chris H to do audio testing on, or delaying the article to ship the phone to Chris H after completing the rest of the testing work.Audio precision won't let you see pricing information without creating an account on their website. That suggests it's painfully expensive and that getting multiple copies of the hardware won't happen. Getting multiple copies of the phone isn't cheap either and is probably not going to happen except perhaps for a few halo devices. With the peanut gallery raging about any reviews that don't make it out on release day, I'm doubtful that anandtech would choose to delay reviews for a few days for a specialized test.
Impulses - Monday, December 9, 2013 - link
Ehh, I agree, if it's not realistic to have this testing the day the review is out it's no big deal... If it's a deal breaker for you then you'd wait the same amount of time either way, and if it's not (probably the majority of readers) then there's no point in making the rest wait.xaml - Saturday, December 14, 2013 - link
"Chris H isn't a typical smartphone reviewer. As a result getting these results at initial launch time would require either buying additional sets of test equipment for the reviewers, buying an additional phone for Chris H to do audio testing on, or delaying the article to ship the phone to Chris H after completing the rest of the testing work."Or buying an additional Chris H...
cheinonen - Monday, December 9, 2013 - link
Having this on the day-of is going to be a challenge for a number of reasons.- Brian is in Arizona, and I'm in Oregon. If there is only a single review sample, I have to get it from him.
- As mentioned, the Audio Precision is ridiculously expensive. I think the APx 582 used starts at $19,000 before adding the HDMI, Bluetooth, and Digital modules I use (I need it for receivers as well). Audio Precision is just a few minutes from my house and they've been nice enough to let me come in, test everything there, and endlessly bother their QA people to get this right. However, as I have to come in I have to schedule that, and it takes time.
- That also makes it far easier to do a batch of these at a time than one at a time. If I had at APx at home it would be easier but right now that's not possible.
So we will try to get all the data, as fast as possible, into the system, but day-of is going to be a logistical challenge. I'd rather have it be accurate than be fast.
cheinonen - Thursday, December 12, 2013 - link
OK, I shouldn't say ridiculously expensive. However, the instrument we use costs enough that it's not feasible for us to have them for myself, Anand, Brian, and everyone else that needs one for testing. The Audio Precision gear ranges from $6K to $50K+ depending on what you need and the price still means we can't outfit everyone with one. So testing will happen as fast as possible, but likely won't run with the reviews when they are initially posted.Bobs_Your_Uncle - Monday, December 9, 2013 - link
This audio bench is a tool of truly significant value to anyone hoping to arrive at the best, most fully informed purchasing decision possible. Given the respect & high regard that AT has earned throughout the tech sector, this audio initiative raises the bar for more than smartphone manufacturers alone.Along these lines, does AT have any plans to initiate a similar audio bench for the various motherboard lines that have recently implemented enhanced audio capabilities?
These are very positive steps toward driving advances in fundamental, yet long neglected platform capabilities. However, as improvements in audio reproduction are realized, there will still remain one critical, & seemingly intractable obstacle to overcome; What's it going to take for the recording industry to give up on compression & adopt a regimen of decent mastering.?
It'd be a shame if the only thing audiophile-grade tech revealed was just how badly most studios butcher great music through compression & lousy mastering.
Impulses - Monday, December 9, 2013 - link
I think that battle's beyond Anandtech'srealm, though the more cognizant the average reader/listener is the better.