Sound quality Xoom vs Transformer?

[Bossxii]

Just wondering if any previous Xoom owners can offer up an opinion on the sound quality and volume/loudness of the Transformer vs the Xoom (or iPad) as I've used both of those.

I found the Xoom to be better than the iPad or iPad 2, but wondering if Asus was able to pack in better/louder speakers and since they are side mounted vs rear.. produce better overall sound for movies and video's.

 

[Suntan]

I'm interested in this too.

-Suntan

 

[mclarryjr]

I remember reading somewhere that the Xoom sounds where louder then the Asus I just can't remember where I read that.

 

[jerrykur]

Reports are sound is better quality, but not as loud as the Xoom.

 

[Suntan]

Reports are sound is better quality, but not as loud as the Xoom.

My experience with the Xoom was that the sound was actually quite good in a really small room (where the close proximity to the walls helped reverberate the sound from the rear firing speakers back towards the listener.) But I don?t want to sit in a small bathroom to watch a movie on the thing.

The quality suffered a good deal in a larger room where the higher octaves were lost in the space. Therefore you had prominent mid-bass, no bass (these are tiny speakers on all of them) and very weak higher frequencies making the sound quality come up rather short. Basically like you were listening to the wrong side of the device? which you are if you?re watching anything on the screen

The Iconia will likely suffer this same problem, although from playing with it at the store, the speakers seemed quieter than the Xoom as I couldn?t even really hear them in the noisy Best Buy.

That said, I?m not expecting great things from the Transformer speakers. I?ll be pleasantly surprised if they are capable of much of anything.

FWIW, I?ll be interested to see how the fancy ?Beats, By Dr.Dre? speakers work out on the Touchpad whenever it releases.

-Suntan

 

[Phil Nickinson]

Hands down, the Xoom is better.

 

[wynand32]

FWIW, I?ll be interested to see how the fancy ?Beats, By Dr.Dre? speakers work out on the Touchpad whenever it releases.

-Suntan

I own an HP Envy 14 notebook with Beats Audio, and let me tell you: sound out of the headphone jacks is outstanding, and by far the best I've ever had on a notebook. With a decent set of headphones, it makes even MP3's sound awesome.

However, sound out of the speakers is way, way too quiet. No volume at all, and some of the worst I've ever had. It's probably decent enough quality, but when I use the thing to watch Hulu or Netflix I usually add an external speaker to make it loud enough to enjoy.

I wouldn't expect miracles out of the TouchPad in terms of external sound, but sound through headphones might be superior.

 

[flacoff]

Just wondering if any previous Xoom owners can offer up an opinion on the sound quality and volume/loudness of the Transformer vs the Xoom (or iPad) as I've used both of those.

I found the Xoom to be better than the iPad or iPad 2, but wondering if Asus was able to pack in better/louder speakers and since they are side mounted vs rear.. produce better overall sound for movies and video's.

So far I am completely dissatisfied with the sound quality. on first boot I had this issue where the speakers and headphone jack output at maximum volume even tho I was only one step from mute. the volume control had no effect, it was either mute or 100%. A couple reboots later and the issue went away.

This morning I plugged in head phones and using the stock music player the issue above seemed to be resolved except now it was very tinny and thin and need to be 60% or more to sound full (but still can tell it wasnt right).

another reboot and that seems to have fixed it. I assume this is a software issue, i hope i wont have to reboot every time i want to listen to anything...very annoying. searches have yielded no other documented issues like this, so maybe it's just me.

I tried: Tunein, stock player, amazon cloud player at each instance above noting the same issues.

right now it seems to be working just fine, but to answer your question, the quality is just OK. I have not compared to the Xoom, but i can compare to galaxy tab and N1. where the N1 comes out on top.

EDIT: when i was recording the video for this thread:http://forum.androidcentral.com/asus-eeepad-transformer/81221-asus-transformer-boot-up-time.html

the sound again was tinny and thin, sounded like a very cheap toy. I rebooted, same thing. rebooted again and now its fine again.
so my fix so far after a power down or reboot? reboot again two more times. perhaps the OTA phil posted may solve this issue

 

[croaker76]

Hands down, the Xoom is better.

Took my transformer to work and we compared it with my boss's zoom. I must admit in a small area, with the same music, the zoom did sound somewhat better to me. The transformer does sound kinds thin next to the zoom. Still when I told my boss how much mine was and that I was using my SD card for music, I think I won the overall battle!!!

 

[jcpharm]

as long as the sound is comparable thru headphones, it doesn't matter to me. sound from the tablet can't compare thru a true speaker system or headphones.

 

[Ufd108]

Personally I can't understand the argument at all. I had an original iPad for a year before I sold it on eBay and never listened to anything (other than notification sounds) without headphones. No tablet is going to have any kind of decent sound. If you are listening to music or watching a movie just use headphones. I'm only concerned that the sound quality through headphones is decent.

 

[Suntan]

Personally I can't understand the argument at all. I had an original iPad for a year before I sold it on eBay and never listened to anything (other than notification sounds) without headphones. No tablet is going to have any kind of decent sound. If you are listening to music or watching a movie just use headphones. I'm only concerned that the sound quality through headphones is decent.

Great to see that empathy is still alive and well on the internet?

Anyway, passing a tablet over to your mother-in-law so she can see some video clips of her grandchildren is really convenient? ?and then telling her, ?Put these headphones on,? really isn?t.

Additionally, sitting on a couch, chair or in bed in a hotel room for 4 or 5 hours before going to bed gets real annoying if you expect to keep headphones on your ears the whole time. Ever tried to rest your head against the arm of a couch with IEMs plugged into your ear?

If I wanted to be constrained to sitting upright in a desk chair all night, I?d just stick with a laptop.

-Suntan

 

[anon(292241)]

My wife's ipad2 apparently doesn't even have stereo speakers. There's only a single speaker grill in the back of the case on one side.

Personally, I'd trade mediocre (but not piss poor) stereo sound for good mono but that's just me. I don't have a Xoom to compare it to so I'm hoping I'll be happy with my XFormer's sound when it arrives (hopefully) towards the end of the month.

Thanks for the sound comparison opinions, guys! I wish I had personal access to all the different new techy items to try...<grin>

 

[hawflake]

Sounds like the Transformer has a few first gen issues to work out. I am still getting it, but things like these sure dampen the enthusiaism.

 

[jnewell]

IMO sound is not a concern. Tabs are (for me; YMMV) a personal device. If I am watching a movie or a show, I'll wear headphones. If not, stereo isn't going to prove anything on a device this size, so as long as volume is adequate, it's not a problem.

 

[spokenwordd]

I owned the Xoom for 2 weeks before returning it to get the Transformer. IMHO the Xoom is definitely louder but I think the sound quality on the Transformer is on par if not slightly better than the Xoom.

My biggest issue with Xoom sound is that the dumasses put the speakers on the rear of the device so unless you had it in a stand, which to me is not always practical, then you got muffle city.

The Transformer has the speakers positioned perfectly on the sides/front of the device so if you are not going to use headphones or use a stand then you are good to go. There are times for instance when I lay it on my night stand or on my bed to hear tunes as I go to sleep. My stereo would be overkill but the tablet speakers are perfect for this.

Other than my issues with the "deep sleep" problem I am VERY happy with my switch to the Transformer.