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audio quality and camera quite a bit worse than razr m?

can it be so? according to
http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_razr_i_xt890-review-828p6.php
http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_razr_i_xt890-review-828p7.php
thought the audio chip and camera nternals would be the same

alpha beta gaga said:
can it be so? according to
http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_razr_i_xt890-review-828p6.php
http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_razr_i_xt890-review-828p7.php
thought the audio chip and camera nternals would be the same
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Different SoC's have different DAC's (Digital-to-Analog-Converters [Audio Chips]). Exynos, for example, has the awesome Wolfson DAC, which you can use the Voodoo Audio mod with. The Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 has a different, but still very good one. So yeah, it makes sense that this Intel one [probably] has a different DAC considering you're talking about an entire system on a chip. The camera, however is independent and has nothing to do with the SoC. So if Motorola decided to use a lesser quality camera on the i than the M, that was an independent decision.

alpha beta gaga said:
can it be so? according to
http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_razr_i_xt890-review-828p6.php
http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_razr_i_xt890-review-828p7.php
thought the audio chip and camera nternals would be the same
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personal experience is that the i has a better camera than the M, but that both are mediocre. Kind of hilarious that the i had a dedicated camera button for a shoddy camera.
-Sent from my Razr i on AT&T.-

Product F(RED) said:
Different SoC's have different DAC's (Digital-to-Analog-Converters [Audio Chips]). Exynos, for example, has the awesome Wolfson DAC, which you can use the Voodoo Audio mod with. The Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 has a different, but still very good one. So yeah, it makes sense that this Intel one [probably] has a different DAC considering you're talking about an entire system on a chip. The camera, however is independent and has nothing to do with the SoC. So if Motorola decided to use a lesser quality camera on the i than the M, that was an independent decision.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're talking about Exynos 4412.
Don't confuse it with 4210 which has the worst audio chips ever made in mankind. (Yamaha)

Livebyte said:
You're talking about Exynos 4412.
Don't confuse it with 4210 which has the worst audio chips ever made in mankind. (Yamaha)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm talking about the current-gen model. I've had the Epic 4G Touch when I was on Sprint (it had the Exynos 4210) and yes it was really bad (flat-sounding). I was trying to illustrate a point though.

maybe not quite as techincal as the gsmarena review but certainly not a 'poor' camera here
http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/smartphones/1294792/motorola-razr-i

Can anyone that owns the Razr i please comment on the audio quality? I'm planning on buying this phone, but I listen to music on my phone for hours every day and am buying a new phone, because the audio connector on my Desire is bust. I'm only interested in the sound quality through headphones.

i've just compared it to the gnex. not great i'm afraid. quite a bit of 'hiss'. a few seconds after play comes to a stop, you'll hear a nasty 'clicking off' sound. not quite sure what it is but it is not there on the gnex. i really wanted to love this phone but audio quality is a let down. for that reason alone, i'll be sticking with my gnex and returning the i tomorrow

You've got to be kidding me, how hard can it be to get this right.

I disagree. I am not an audiophile but I find the sound pretty much as good as any other device I have had. There is hiss when not listening to anything but it seems to go away when I am listening to something.
Anyway, I really think its ok.

The Jones said:
There is hiss when not listening to anything but it seems to go away when I am listening to something
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is true, you'll only notice it on quiet areas of songs. but those same areas have no hiss at all on the gnex. i'm not trying to big up the gnex here but quality of audio output via headphones is pretty important to me and the hiss i find is unacceptable

Honestly I haven't noticed a hiss when listening to things. I mainly listen to podcasts which have lots of quiet sections and little music. I will turn my ears to the potential hiss next time my headphones are plugged in.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

Just got my new XT890. Excellent phone. Have played some MP3s and haven't noticed any problem till now. This phone has much better sound quality than my previous Huawei. Also the results of sound measurement in gsmarena review are similar to those of HTC One X review:
I think the methods of sound quality measurements aren't very accurate and strongly depends on the environment, measuring equipment and event on the specific phone unit (I think such type of benchmarks should be repeated on several units to control convergence of results).

MotoXT890 said:
Just got my new XT890. Excellent phone. Have played some MP3s and haven't noticed any problem till now. This phone has much better sound quality than my previous Huawei. Also the results of sound measurement in gsmarena review are similar to those of HTC One X review:
I think the methods of sound quality measurements aren't very accurate and strongly depends on the environment, measuring equipment and event on the specific phone unit (I think such type of benchmarks should be repeated on several units to control convergence of results).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not scientific with my sound reviews but from my personal experience my XT912 RAZR sounded "meh" quality.
My HTC One S sounded great, probably because of the whole Beats thing.
My RAZR i is on par with my HTC One S for sound quality.
This is all done from me driving around in my '97 Olds with a Cassette to MP3 adapter so take it with a grain of salt... but I am happy with the quality
Nice name by the way

Could it be, that only some handsets are affected? Because a few people complain about the quality, and a few say it's completely fine. And only one reviewer mentioned the problem. I had the obnoxious clicking sound when a track stopped on the Desire aswell, and I would really love, if the Razr i wouldn't have that problem. Could a beter set of headphones help? Me buying this phone is riding on this, because I really love it so far, a compact all-rounder, that has a lovely design, and is something special.

alpha beta gaga said:
i've just compared it to the gnex. not great i'm afraid. quite a bit of 'hiss'. a few seconds after play comes to a stop, you'll hear a nasty 'clicking off' sound. not quite sure what it is but it is not there on the gnex. i really wanted to love this phone but audio quality is a let down. for that reason alone, i'll be sticking with my gnex and returning the i tomorrow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
update: the tables have turned! i had a 2nd razr i delivered over the weekend. this unit has no noticeable 'hiss' as described above. not sure if the 1st unit was defective or something moto have amended in newer batches? either way i'm more than happy with the audio quality now on the replacement razr i and can fully recommend it to others. i'll be keeping the razr and returning the gnex yes the gnex is still marginally ahead audio quality wise. but the trade off with having a device that can store my entire music collection on removeable sd vs slightly lesser audio performance is well worth it imo.
both units were from reputable online retailers.

Oh dreaded Moto! Defy speaker problem repeats itself? Can you check serial numbers (and other info) on the stickers on both boxes? Perhaps they've different manufacturing dates.

it is not the loudspeaker. i'm talking about listening with headphones. i'll look at the boxes later at post back

Yeah, Defy problem wasn't exactly this one, but it was massive and annoying and moto had to admit the issue later.

alpha beta gaga said:
it is not the loudspeaker. i'm talking about listening with headphones. i'll look at the boxes later at post back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
& what serial number it has?

Wolfson is disappointing

After all that effort to get an n910c. The Wolfson is disappointing. Not only is the output lower than the Qualcomm note 4 (post update), the audio is dull and flat.
I have a nexus 6 as well and that is better that both versions of the note 4. The volume output is slightly higher but the sound quality is leaps and bounds better than the Wolfson in my note 4.
Note: I am referring to the headphone output. The speakers on the n6 are undoubtedly better. I don't think that needs any explanations.

I adjusted a few settings and the sound is unreal on my note 4 (n910U)

Mind elaborating? I don't plan on rooting.

Don't really understand people complaining about volume, full stock output is hurting my ears. That's an artificial limit anyway as you can raise it and yes you need root.
On the sound itself... you need really expensive equipment on that to objectively come to a conclusion. Try playing with Adapt Sound.

The headphone output on the N910C/U (Exynos models) is hardly dull and flat. Quite contrary in fact. To my ears, it is very neutral and accurate. Those looking for artificially thumping bass or extreme V shaped audio characteristics will need to do some tweaking to achieve the colour of sound they desire. For those that want to enjoy true and accurate sound however, the Exynos Note 4 is one of the best sources available on the market, surpassed only perhaps by Sony's Z3 and the latest iPhone models.

I do have a beyerdynamic a1 and t1 but I would like to carry the phone around and use it with iems.
Are there any equalizers that are not limited to certain music players without root? I.e. equalizers that work in the background and blankets all audio output.

Not true
smacman said:
The headphone output on the N910C/U (Exynos models) is hardly dull and flat. Quite contrary in fact. To my ears, it is very neutral and accurate. Those looking for artificially thumping bass or extreme V shaped audio characteristics will need to do some tweaking to achieve the colour of sound they desire. For those that want to enjoy true and accurate sound however, the Exynos Note 4 is one of the best sources available on the market, surpassed only perhaps by Sony's Z3 and the latest iPhone models.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to disagree. I have a note4 w wolfson dac and the sound output thru both of my erphones and IEM is terrible compare to my old iphone6, ipadMini, ipod shuffle and ipod touch. The sound is not as dynamic and lively and crisp as with those devices .

BlackRamen said:
I have to disagree. I have a note4 w wolfson dac and the sound output thru both of my erphones and IEM is terrible compare to my old iphone6, ipadMini, ipod shuffle and ipod touch. The sound is not as dynamic and lively and crisp as with those devices .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some settings that you should look into such as dynamic leveling and output. The Wolfson DAC's are objectively better than the rest. Lots of benchmarks around this. I'm not so sure about its performance in regards to sound chips on the iPhone though because they specifically focus on audio quality quite a bit.

What audio DAC chip does the Note 8 use?

What audio dac chip does the Note 8 use? Former note 5 and 7 owner here. I love the dac on my LG v20(note 7 replacement)! Will I be disappointed when my note 8 arrives?

Coming from the lg v20 u probably will be.. I've owned must top end galaxy phones and the DAC does let me down, its not awful but nowhere near as good as the lg ot htc...
Sent from my SM-G950F using XDA-Developers Legacy app

The S8+ DAC is great. I am no audiophile, and can't compare to the V20, but it sounds great to me. And I believe the same DAC from the S8 is in the N8. I think there was another thread here that had that info earlier today or yesterday.

teegunn said:
The S8+ DAC is great. I am no audiophile, and can't compare to the V20, but it sounds great to me. And I believe the same DAC from the S8 is in the N8. I think there was another thread here that had that info earlier today or yesterday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the LG V20 and the Note FE, the V20 is in a different league when compared to last year's Note.

jah said:
I have the LG V20 and the Note FE, the V20 is in a different league when compared to last year's Note.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like I said I can't compare to the V20. The S8+ seems to have better sound than the Note 7, and I expect the Note 8 to also have better sound since the Note 8 is the same as the DAC on the S8+ (I believe). Whether it is on par with the V20 I can't say and from others have said here doubtful the Note 8 will be as good as the V20 in this area. But for me it is more than good enough if it's on par with the S8+.

I've had the Note 7, V20, and S8+. I can say that the N7 audio sucked. The V20 was amazing. The S8+ sounds just as good from what I can tell. When I got the N7, it was terrible. I was afraid that the S8+ would be equally bad, but it's not. It's a world of difference. I'm using Westone W4R between all 3 devices.

EvoKnvl said:
I've had the Note 7, V20, and S8+. I can say that the N7 audio sucked. The V20 was amazing. The S8+ sounds just as good from what I can tell. When I got the N7, it was terrible. I was afraid that the S8+ would be equally bad, but it's not. It's a world of difference. I'm using Westone W4R between all 3 devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My wife has a Galaxy S8 and with high res music above CD quality the V20 is much better.

Hi, the V20 had quad ES92B ESS Sabre DAC's. In terms of technical sound reproduction the V20, on paper, is superior to the Cirrus logic (Formally known as Wolfson) DAC on the Exynos Note 8 however............. IN terms of sound reproduction there are numerous factors that affect the end result IE, what we hear.
The amplification process and, of course, the ear buds or head phones in terms of a mobile device. Not to mention the source material and the ambient we are trying to listen in.
In general the V20 should outshine the Note 8 IF all parameters are equal. In real life seldom are said parameters equal. To that end to truly hear the difference we would need to be in a studio with identical volume presets, head phones, high end source material and music genre.
For a mobile device that is not really meant to compete with dedicated Hi-res portable players costing hundreds of euros, I think most of us including the so called audiophiles like me will be happy taking into consideration we won't have to carry around a second device. I guess its the same with the cameraphiles who will be happy with taking less accurate pictures BUT not having the need to carry a dedicated canon DSLR?
Ryland

apologize for the following question-
how does note 8 stack up against htc10,...i know i know it's a silly question, yet curious, i haven't tried the v20 quad dac ... people highly praise it though
i'm just a simpleton ...i was earlier a edge plus user, had to switch because of samsung not giving memory slot.
music+camera are my main priorities , but miss the deep blacks of sAMOLED.

What about bluetooth audio?
I use a Samsung bluetooth dongle with high quality earphones & the FE sounds fine. How about the V20 or Note 8?

Good question. Does the Note 8 have Apt X?

V20 has aptx HD which is amazing as long as you a headset that supports aptx HD. I don't believe the Note8 will have aptx HD as Samsung use their own UHQ codec.

The s8+ had Atpx, so the note 8 should have.

Ryland Johnson said:
Hi, the V20 had quad ES92B ESS Sabre DAC's. In terms of technical sound reproduction the V20, on paper, is superior to the Cirrus logic (Formally known as Wolfson) DAC on the Exynos Note 8 however............. IN terms of sound reproduction there are numerous factors that affect the end result IE, what we hear.
The amplification process and, of course, the ear buds or head phones in terms of a mobile device. Not to mention the source material and the ambient we are trying to listen in.
In general the V20 should outshine the Note 8 IF all parameters are equal. In real life seldom are said parameters equal. To that end to truly hear the difference we would need to be in a studio with identical volume presets, head phones, high end source material and music genre.
For a mobile device that is not really meant to compete with dedicated Hi-res portable players costing hundreds of euros, I think most of us including the so called audiophiles like me will be happy taking into consideration we won't have to carry around a second device. I guess its the same with the cameraphiles who will be happy with taking less accurate pictures BUT not having the need to carry a dedicated canon DSLR?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will be a looooong time if ever before phones catch up to DSLR's. It will be a long time before phones catch up to dedicated audio players, because as you said they can't provide the necessary amplification (especially without significant distortion).
Back on topic, if the international Note 8's carry the Cirrus logic DAC's, what will the US (Qualcomm 835) Note 8's carry? What does the US S8/S8+ carry? I assume it will be the same. The V30 and it's quad DAC comes out soon, too. I don't think the Note 8 will match that one, either. However, I want my S-pen. So, I just want to be good. I don't expect V30 greatness.
Back off topic, a few people mentioned AptX in this thread. AptX makes Bluetooth audio less awful, but it's no replacement for a quality DAC and wired headphones. It shouldn't even be part of this discussion.

jah said:
V20 has aptx HD which is amazing as long as you a headset that supports aptx HD. I don't believe the Note8 will have aptx HD as Samsung use their own UHQ codec.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@home said:
The s8+ had Atpx, so the note 8 should have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aptx and AptxHD are two different things. As far as I'm aware, AptxHD is only available for Snapdragon SoCs, so the international Note 8s will almost certainly not have AptxHD.
---------- Post added at 11:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:31 AM ----------
allargon said:
It will be a looooong time if ever before phones catch up to DSLR's. It will be a long time before phones catch up to dedicated audio players
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Click to collapse
Very true but that wasn't his point. The cameras and audio output for phones have advanced to the point where they're 85% as good as dedicated devices (DSLRs and audio players) and most people can't justify carrying another bulky, inconvenient device just to get that extra 15% performance gain. Maybe the Note 8 camera(s) can't match the latest DSLR cameras but it might be a match for a DSLR from 5 years ago, which is still pretty damn good and exceeds most people's needs.
I was tossing up between getting the Note 8 and the V30 because whilst I wouldn't say I'm an audiophile, I do like my music to sound awesome. The Quad DAC was pretty tempting but none of the major carriers in Australia stock LG phones (except Telstra and **** that) so I would've had to buy it outright. There's also the matter of perspective. I'm coming from a Note 3, so while the DAC in the Note 8 will undoubtedly be inferior to the DAC in the V30, it will still be a huge step up from what I'm used to. If I want some extra oomph in my music, I'll use my Fiio Q1 (and Viper4Android).

Torquemada288 said:
Aptx and AptxHD are two different things. As far as I'm aware, AptxHD is only available for Snapdragon SoCs, so the international Note 8s will almost certainly not have AptxHD.
---------- Post added at 11:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:31 AM ----------
Very true but that wasn't his point. The cameras and audio output for phones have advanced to the point where they're 85% as good as dedicated devices (DSLRs and audio players) and most people can't justify carrying another bulky, inconvenient device just to get that extra 15% performance gain. Maybe the Note 8 camera(s) can't match the latest DSLR cameras but it might be a match for a DSLR from 5 years ago, which is still pretty damn good and exceeds most people's needs.
I was tossing up between getting the Note 8 and the V30 because whilst I wouldn't say I'm an audiophile, I do like my music to sound awesome. The Quad DAC was pretty tempting but none of the major carriers in Australia stock LG phones (except Telstra and **** that) so I would've had to buy it outright. There's also the matter of perspective. I'm coming from a Note 3, so while the DAC in the Note 8 will undoubtedly be inferior to the DAC in the V30, it will still be a huge step up from what I'm used to. If I want some extra oomph in my music, I'll use my Fiio Q1 (and Viper4Android).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that aptx and aptx HD are different! Aptx HD headphones are very rare. The aptx codec is not limited to certain SoC as the headphones i have are not SD!
See this about Android O and LDAC and aptx.HD
http://www.androidauthority.com/bluetooth-audio-android-o-758401/

jah said:
I know that aptx and aptx HD are different! Aptx HD headphones are very rare. The aptx codec is not limited to certain SoC as the headphones i have are not SD!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, you are correct. Aptx HD is a Qualcomm product and I naturally assumed that phones that don't use a Qualcomm SoC wouldn't have this ability. My bad.

Sound chip in Note8 (SM-N950F) - Cirrus CS47L92

Pubbaa said:
apologize for the following question-
how does note 8 stack up against htc10,...i know i know it's a silly question, yet curious, i haven't tried the v20 quad dac ... people highly praise it though
i'm just a simpleton ...i was earlier a edge plus user, had to switch because of samsung not giving memory slot.
music+camera are my main priorities , but miss the deep blacks of sAMOLED.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the HTC10 could drive headphones harder than ANY portable device on its own that I used and sounded pretty good at it too.
And the faded looking LCD is the reason why I punted it. Compared to my Note5 it made me sick.

allargon said:
It will be a looooong time if ever before phones catch up to DSLR's. It will be a long time before phones catch up to dedicated audio players, because as you said they can't provide the necessary amplification (especially without significant distortion).
Back on topic, if the international Note 8's carry the Cirrus logic DAC's, what will the US (Qualcomm 835) Note 8's carry? What does the US S8/S8+ carry? I assume it will be the same. The V30 and it's quad DAC comes out soon, too. I don't think the Note 8 will match that one, either. However, I want my S-pen. So, I just want to be good. I don't expect V30 greatness.
Back off topic, a few people mentioned AptX in this thread. AptX makes Bluetooth audio less awful, but it's no replacement for a quality DAC and wired headphones. It shouldn't even be part of this discussion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, Thanks for the reply. I don't know for sure what the snap dragon use I understand they have their own system and the DAC is possibly part of the SD processor? This would need research and as I will be purchasing the International Xynos mobile I don't follow the SD programme. Sorry I cant be helpful on the SD mobiles.
Regards, Ryland.

Audio quality

How's the audio quality on the S10 with headphones (bt and wired)? I've rooted and used viper in the past because the built in eq usually caused a volume decrease,regardless of the phone I had.

kheltek said:
How's the audio quality on the S10 with headphones (bt and wired)? I've rooted and used viper in the past because the built in eq usually caused a volume decrease,regardless of the phone I had.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have wired earphones. Quality is top notch. Also volume is high enough. I use klipsch r6m and Sony extra bass xb75
Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

Would love for someone to take some measurements of frequency response, distortion, output impedance, etc.

https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s10-review-1903p3.php
https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s10_plus-review-1901p3.php

Coming from a LG V30 which has a hi-fi built in DAC for its headphone jack...this thing sounds tinny to me. Even with dolby atmos enabled. Funny thing is, I had a $15 usb c dongle just for curiosity and the sound quality is actually better using that. I think unless if they have a built in high quality DAC, then it's unnecessary for phone companies at this point to keep the headphone jack since a cheap dongle actually provides better sound quality than a basic headphone jack does. The sound quality I got from the dongle was a lot closer to my old LG's quality, it's punchier than the S10's jack.

Mudig said:
Coming from a LG V30 which has a hi-fi built in DAC for its headphone jack...this thing sounds tinny to me. Even with dolby atmos enabled. Funny thing is, I had a $15 usb c dongle just for curiosity and the sound quality is actually better using that. I think unless if they have a built in high quality DAC, then it's unnecessary for phone companies at this point to keep the headphone jack since a cheap dongle actually provides better sound quality than a basic headphone jack does. The sound quality I got from the dongle was a lot closer to my old LG's quality, it's punchier than the S10's jack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about companies keep both usb c and headphone jack to make everyone happy [emoji16]
Sent from my Mate 20 Pro

Mudig said:
Coming from a LG V30 which has a hi-fi built in DAC for its headphone jack...this thing sounds tinny to me. Even with dolby atmos enabled. Funny thing is, I had a $15 usb c dongle just for curiosity and the sound quality is actually better using that. I think unless if they have a built in high quality DAC, then it's unnecessary for phone companies at this point to keep the headphone jack since a cheap dongle actually provides better sound quality than a basic headphone jack does. The sound quality I got from the dongle was a lot closer to my old LG's quality, it's punchier than the S10's jack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange, for the most part the headphone jack quality is miles better than almost any dongle I've used in my situation. And I've used literally ALL if them. From Razer, Google, htc, Huawei, xiaomi etc. The only thing that Trump's the headphone jack for me is the Shure usb-c dongle/cable for my se846s. Distortion free and balanced in that situation. Though I do miss plugging them into the headphone jack of an old LG V20 or HTC 10, nothing mobile-wise ever beat that. Ahhh the memories, lol.

Nothing in the world is better than a phone running viper. There just is no substitute in any way. That is literally the only thing I have wanted root for and have missed. I still run an old note as a second phone because it has viper and all my Spotify playlist backed up. if somebody came up with a way to utilize viper without rooting I would have the perfect phone.

I've been using this phone (S10 Snapdragon 855) and doing some tests and looking at other peoples' research for a while now, and I've realized a few things.
1. The S10 (SD855) has a high quality audio codec onboard, but it doesn't work with the headphone jack! To sum it up, the high-res direct_pcm output only works with 3 devices: None of which are the headphone jack.
Code:
Device 1:
- tag name: Aux Device Out
- type: AUDIO_DEVICE_OUT_AUX_DIGITAL
Device 2:
- tag name: Usb Device Out
- type: AUDIO_DEVICE_OUT_USB_DEVICE
Device 3:
- tag name: USB Headset Out
- type: AUDIO_DEVICE_OUT_USB_HEADSET
2. Using a 60 Hz test file and 30 Ohms resistor, I was reading 0.5438V without load and 0.5095V with 30 Ohms load, giving an output impedance of 2.02 Ohms.
3. SD855 version of the S10+ seems to measure better than the Exynos version, and I wouldn't be surprised if this held true for the S10. This information is available in Anandtech's review/comparison of the S10+ SD855 and S10+ Exynos.

QuadraKev said:
I've been using this phone (S10 Snapdragon 855) and doing some tests and looking at other peoples' research for a while now, and I've realized a few things.
1. The S10 (SD855) has a high quality audio codec onboard, but it doesn't work with the headphone jack! To sum it up, the high-res direct_pcm output only works with 3 devices: None of which are the headphone jack.
2. Using a 60 Hz test file and 30 Ohms resistor, I was reading 0.5438V without load and 0.5095V with 30 Ohms load, giving an output impedance of 2.02 Ohms.
3. SD855 version of the S10+ seems to measure better than the Exynos version, and I wouldn't be surprised if this held true for the S10. This information is available in Anandtech's review/comparison of the S10+ SD855 and S10+ Exynos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Andrei (Anand writer) is also a member of xda. You could reach out to him and see whether his units can access the pcm, or whether there's a hw/sw limitation in place.

Prevalent on S10e as well
I can confirm that the audio quality from the headphone jack on the S10e seems to be lacking quite a bit as well. I haven't been able to try decent USB-C headphones on it yet, but I was able to compare it to my old S9 using the same headphones with the same equalizer settings and MP3's (I know - lossy, but I'm just testing audio output here). It is very noticeably less punchy, tinnier and overall cooler than the S9's bassy, warm and full sound.
This is a huge disappointment. I really hope this can be fixed with a software update soon, or even a root. It doesn't sound awful per say as is, but in comparison to previous phones I've had, even dating back to the iPhone 4s, this is pretty unacceptable. The worst part is that no one is saying a thing about it. I must have watched about 20 S10 and S10e reviews at this point and there's even a guy who calls himself an audiophile who fails to notice it. Samsung won't do a thing if no one says a word, no?

AnonimusDinonicus said:
I can confirm that the audio quality from the headphone jack on the S10e seems to be lacking quite a bit as well. I haven't been able to try decent USB-C headphones on it yet, but I was able to compare it to my old S9 using the same headphones with the same equalizer settings and MP3's (I know - lossy, but I'm just testing audio output here). It is very noticeably less punchy, tinnier and overall cooler than the S9's bassy, warm and full sound.
This is a huge disappointment. I really hope this can be fixed with a software update soon, or even a root. It doesn't sound awful per say as is, but in comparison to previous phones I've had, even dating back to the iPhone 4s, this is pretty unacceptable. The worst part is that no one is saying a thing about it. I must have watched about 20 S10 and S10e reviews at this point and there's even a guy who calls himself an audiophile who fails to notice it. Samsung won't do a thing if no one says a word, no?
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I compared lg g6 with quad dac sabre to the s10e sd855.
On stock without Dolby atmos and few tweaks in settings selected on s10e, the lg is the winner but it comes at cost with less battery life.
When you select Dolby atmos and few tweaks (see below) the sound of sd855 is much more balanced/neutral/warmer than the lg g6 and I prefer it overwhelmingly.
Prior there is a void in the lower/upper midrange on stock.
The tweaks
Choose the adapt sound and choose under 30 years old it helps provide some boost to the gain.
You can also select uhq up scaler and select the first one for more air and if your select bandwidth it's a bit more fuller but less air. I like the air first one (bit upscaling)
The Sound
The lg g6 quad dac has too much filtering whereas the snapdragon with tweaks sounds more balanced/ neutral ymmv.
The Sabres bass is also more muddy than the sd855. The mids and top are more isolated / airy in the sabre dac but the difference il can be made very close.
Happy listening and the enjoy the sound. Love the s10e and sd855.

S10 series with Exynos has dedicated AKM DAC and dedicated headphone amp. You would call it high end DAC. Same as on Note 9, S9, Note 8, S8.
S10 series with Snapdragon uses the Snapdragons SOC build in DAC and headphone amp.
The lack of sound quality or the sound compared to USB-C audio adapters which is differ has nothing to do with audio quality in general with the audio component of the phone. The frequency curve is flat (neutral). And the sound is high resoluted. I used my Beyerdynamic T90 and Sennheiser HD 700 to get an idea of it. The sound components that Samsung uses are very good, only the LG G or V series uses such components but with a better implementation. But S10 series suffers in some interferences. This is why the lab measurements are not as good as they could be like on Samsung S9. But you will not hear impairments with cheap or casual headphones combined with lossy sound sources like spotify or mp4, mp3, ogg.
If your sound sucks the you could use better headphones, an EQ or a dedicated headphone amp. Samsung uses lots of software and oversampling with higher bitrate and frequencies. So you will not get full neutral or bit by bit sound out of the headphone jack.
I use the Exynos version with AKM chips. And for my taste the audio quality for a smartphone is outstanding.

Where did you read that exynos uses akm dac?
If you read the anandtech article on sd855 v exynos in s10 it states:
The Snapdragon Galaxy S10 continues to showcase excellent results with what was in line with Qualcomm’s Aqstic line of DACs over the last few years: a very clean output with very little noise.
Exynos Galaxy S10+
Switching over to the Exynos Galaxy S10 however we’re seeing some pretty shocking results. The phone uses a Cirrus Logic CS47L93 audio codec chip which has actually been used in Exynos variants since the Galaxy S8. Unfortunately in recent years this was surpassed by Qualcomm’s audio chips, and in particular the Galaxy S10 suffers from a pretty bad implementation. Here we’re clearly seeing noise components that are not part of the reference 1KHz signal, with a particularly odd 250Hz component. The measurements were done in sequence with just re-plugging the input from the Snapdragon to the Exynos under the same conditions. Audio output level was calibrated at near -10dbV / 312.5mV RMS on both devices.
In practical terms, there is audible difference between the two as the Exynos unit sounds warmer (in a bad way) and more muffled. The Snapdragon achieves higher clarity and the sound stage appears wider. This was my subjective evaluation using the same Samsung’s included AKG headphones on both units, both having the same software audio settings.
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---------- Post added at 03:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:37 PM ----------
Also, I'll add my best sounding settings using sd855 using Qualcomm.
Select adapt sound under 30 and the following:
Some may prefer auto under Dolby atmos, experiment what you prefer.
Happy listening.

xlr8me said:
Where did you read that exynos uses akm dac?
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Sorry it's a Cirrus Logic CS47L93 IC (DAC, ADC, ... combination chip), not from AKM. Still of a very good speficiation. I have mistaken it with another hi-fi device which I am currently examining.
I did a 30 minute A/B comparison with S10e Exynos headphone out and a JDS Labs O2+ODAC (DAC+headphone amp) with Sennheiser HD 700 headphones.
Both devices sound exactly the same. No wonders here. They should!
But the S10e Exynos lacks a little bit of resolution which might be interpreted by some people as lack of transparency. Which also tends to mud the bass region a bit. Kick drums disappears into the background a little. Kick drums have not the clear and tight punch as they should. Plus the highs somewhere above 8000 Hz tend to hiss sometimes, not often, which are barely hearable, only with my HD 700. This might be the interferences which i spoke of, might be other components and radio waves that have influence to the components.
I can not confirm that the S10e Exynos sounds different or warmer than other devices, asclaimed by anandtech. If so, we would have a technical design fault.
The S10e with CS47L93 and its implementation does'nt spit out a high end sound which can only be subjectivly heard with good til high end phones. If you use budget phones up to 200€ or dollar you should not or barely hear any differences in an A/B comparison. I beef on a very very very high level where most people can not or will not hear any differences.
So the overall quality of the headphone jack is good but not high end. I would not use it as a main player for music. Only with an external DAC over USB-C. But on the road or in bed i have a good music player squashed in a smartphone. You can play, phone, chat, gawk vids and hear music with it. This is awesome isn't it.
P.S. settings i used for A/B comparison:
S10e audio settings:
- Dolby Atmos = off
- Dolby Atmos on games = off
- Equalizer = normal (which maybe means 'off')
- UHQ Upscaler = Bit-Upscaling
- Adapt Sound = standard (which means 'off')
If this standard settings sound thin, then use other or better headpones. This is neutral sound and flat sound as it should be to evaluate headphone sound. Only headphones can give you what you want. Not the DAC or other technics. Playing around with an equalizer can give you a bit but might not satisfy you.
Audio Player = Samsung build in Music Player
Audio Tracks = Kobra and the Lotus - Prevail II album. An rock/metal album with very good and modern production
Audio Files = 44.1 kHz, 16 bit, lossless FLAC
Playing around with the EQ and Adapt Sound gives good and enjoying result with other headphones for me. The rest does not. I advice to set up your own 'adapt sound' profile. Do it in the the most quiet place. It is a hearing test and boost the frequencies (it's an EQ) you can barely hear anymore. If you need more bass use the EQ additionally and boost 63 Herz up to a max of 3 ticks, 125 Herz up to a max of 2 ticks, and optionaly 250 Herz up to only one tick. The other frequencies should be flat. Now you should have a broad stage with extreme highs and a bit of more bass and lower mids for drum punch. If it's not good use another or better headphone. The Samsung sound settings is not anybodies taste but they are there.
UHQ Upscaler is also an EQ which tends to muddy the overall sound.
Dolby Atmos destroys the whole sound stage and tends to sound compressed. I only found it usable for anything but music. E.g. to boost speech clarity in podcasts.

Bluetooth audio worst than s8+ especially on the bass dynamic, the difference is quite obvious .... Overalls disappointed on the audio quality
And the original AKG earphone too, it's sound very flat and plain compared to S8+ AKG earphone

I observed, having access to many different units, that sound quality among same model has quality deviation.
I ve tested 6-7 s10, s10 plus and sound quality in the whole spectrum, earpiece,headset, Bluetooth, had slight differences from unit to unit.
Some have slight distortion, others are crystal clear, others have more depth etc.
The same applies to other headset companies like apple Huawei etc.
I don't know why this happens but usually it's matter of luck to obtain a perfect sounding device.
Sorry for my mediocre English
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Agree. I plugged my S10e into some Yamaha HS8 monitor speakers and it sounded surprisingly bad compared to a proper soundcard. Tinny, missing low end... I was disappointed.

Hello everyone,
I've read pretty everything in this post and I did some research.
I found this huge database about this DAC chip, it has every little detail you'd ever need, Read more here.
Hope it helped anyone...

Hello Friends,
Happy New Year 2022
I have the Galaxy S10 PLUS, the Exynos version.
I am listening to Apple Music with the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones using the Codec LDAC
I am thinking of offering myself one of those Digital Audio Players such as the KANN ALPHA from Astell&Kern.
Will I make a mistake? Since my understanding is that the Galaxy S10 is good enough to listen to High Resolution music?
Thanks for the assistance,

General PSA: Don't buy this phone if your intention is to use it as a dedicated music player.

Unfortunately, the headphone amplification is lackluster, has a high noise floor, and is generally not rich. Bass does not stand out and cymbals and trumpets are particularly unpleasant to listen to. This is the first Xiaomi phone I've purchased so I can't speak for other devices, but this is pretty bad. The rest of the phone, however, is absolutely excellently priced hardware with the battery life being especially fantastic.
Will continue plugging in headphones into my Fiio BTR5 until a phone comes out that can beat a Bluetooth DAC's richness in sound quality .

MegaHaos said:
Unfortunately, the headphone amplification is lackluster, has a high noise floor, and is generally not rich. Bass does not stand out and cymbals and trumpets are particularly unpleasant to listen to. This is the first Xiaomi phone I've purchased so I can't speak for other devices, but this is pretty bad. The rest of the phone, however, is absolutely excellently priced hardware with the battery life being especially fantastic.
Will continue plugging in headphones into my Fiio BTR5 until a phone comes out that can beat a Bluetooth DAC's richness in sound quality .
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The title should be revised to: "don't expect too much on a 200 dollar phone. You just wasted your money expecting a good DAC on this phone."

kpratama24 said:
The title should be revised to: "don't expect too much on a 200 dollar phone. You just wasted your money expecting a good DAC on this phone."
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For those who don't follow these phones often and expect budget smartphone DACs to have progressed as much as other aspects of budget devices, it's not entirely unreasonable to assume that the audio quality would be decent.
It's also sad that this topic isn't brought up as much as it should be as the DAC performance in smartphones at all price points is usually neglected. I can understand it somewhat, as the average consumer is clueless in this aspect and usually doesn't care about audio quality beyond the most basic level, but it's still sad nonetheless.

It's funny, but the Redmi Note 10 had a good audio quality overall, miles far away from this device.
And the Mi series, are always better, of course, there is some price difference.
I like to play instrumental music and, definitely, this is not a good device for that.
Anyway, I didn't search deep inside some Magisk module or some modded app that can tweak this, maybe it exists.