Honest opinions about the audio quality

[Aditya Phulwani]

Alright, first off, a brief history. I had the original GNote after which I jumped ship to WP8 with the Lumia 920.
I've loved the 920 overall, the camera is unbelievably good, and FAR FAR better than what my note was, but i'm kinda bored with the wp8 environment and have been looking to switch back to android for the customization and the flexibility.

I've narrowed my hunt down to the G2 and the Note3, though i'm leaning way more to the note 3 since i loved the S-pen and the size of my original Note.
The biggest issue i had on the note, more than the crappy camera and the horrible pictures, was the Audio quality via headphones. The note had the ****ty yamaha DAC.
I've heard some good things about the audio quality on the G2, so that's had me all confused.
Now, I'm no audiophile, but I listen to a lot of music on headphones (picking up the Beyerdynamic DT770 soon!) and in my car and am very worried about the sound quality.
I'll have access only to the Exynos variant of the Note 3 with the Octa-core chip, and have been researching and trying to find some honest opinions regarding the SQ via headphones.
From what i know, the Note 3(both the variants) dont ship with the highly acclaimed wolfson dac that the Note 2 shipped with. And i know there's a difference between the Qualcomm variant and the Exynos variant(which probably has a yamaha dac) when it comes to sound quality.
My 920 isn't the best either, but the audio is very balanced, and produces results that are decent enough for my needs. (My dad's 4S is kinda better than my 920)

Now, I'd love to hear your thoughts about this. how good/bad is it? has anyone used them with a high quality pair of cans? how do they sound?

Also, I understand that the 13mp lens on the back of this beast can no way beat the 920's stellar camera, but are the shots not even in the same league as that of the 920/Iphone 5?

I'm looking forward to some insightful opinions, and hopefully I'll have this baby in my hands soon!

Thank you.

 

[Ludatyk]

I'm coming from an iPhone, and it terms of audio quality in comparison to the iPhone does not stack up. I like Note 3, it's a pleasure to use given all the features it has.

I think one user summed up the Note as "it's the jack of all trades." It gives users tons of features.. But it's not a master of one particular feature. Only one feature no other smart phone can tough is the stylus and the more I use it, the better I become at it.

But if I had to choose a smart phone simply on audio quality.. The Note 3 will not be on the top of my list, phones such as the HTC One comes to mind. But it does OK for all my music and movie collection.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

 

[Aditya Phulwani]

thank you for your comments.
Audio quality is a major concern for me. the other being the camera.
Love the phone for its screen and the power and the SPen though. So i'll have to weigh the trade-off's.

 

[streetslide]

Wish it was a little louder but I am old fart. Absolutely love everything else.

 

[nettech207]

thank you for your comments.
Audio quality is a major concern for me. the other being the camera.
Love the phone for its screen and the power and the SPen though. So i'll have to weigh the trade-off's.

Like the earlier poster stated the Note 3 is a jack of all trades, it's specialty is the S pen features camera is ok not great same with audio it does it's jobs but that's not what it is known for . If audio and Camera are your main reason for buying a phone then to be honest you might be happy with a another selection then a Note 3. Don;t get me wrong I love my note 3 but I didn't buy it for Audio or Camera

 

[SpookDroid]

I don't have any complaints, and I absolutely love the camera! I actually use the Note 3 for the morning shower when I travel hehe and it does OK. It's not the loudest phone, but it's louder than, say, an iPad and I'd say it's louder than an iPhone (not sure about iPhone 5 though, I got all of my friends to dump iOS and jump onto the Android army hehe)

 

[BeRich]

I went from the Note 2 to the Note 3 (both on AT&T). The Note 3 comes with a stock equalizer. On the Note 2 I used an equalizer app and a compatible music player. The Note 3's music quality is not that great through any source (Bluetooth, headphones, speaker). The speaker and headphones aren't as loud as on the Note 2. Bluetooth quality in my car isn't that great (could by my receiver, IDK). But I used to use my Note 2 constantly with no issues when I took a shower and now can barely hear the Note 3 over the sound of the running water. I use Heartbeats earbuds and have to turn up the volume all the way to drown out the noise of my hair dryer. Same goes for the Beats headphones I use while mowing; the volume has to be at the highest setting to drown out the noise. I did not have this issue with my Note 2 at all. I could have that sucker at 90% while using the speaker in the shower and 75% with earbuds/headphones while drying my hair or mowing. The Bluetooth quality was better in my car with the Note 2 as well. And I don't even claim to be an audiophile so if I notice these difference, I'm sure they'd be blaringly huge differences to an audiophile. This is one of my few gripes (the battery is another) when I went from the Note 2 to the 3.

 

[SpookDroid]

Wow, that's odd... That was the first thing I tried (comparing it to a Note 2) and mine sounds quite a bit louder than the Note 2 and S4. I did, however, find that the volume through headphones IS lower than an my iPod or my friend's iPhone, but that was the same case with all my other Samsung devices. I still use the Note 3 in the shower (or the Note 10.1) and I can sing along just fine, just not loud enough to wake anyone else in the house... OK, maybe they'll awake with my singing

 

[munnarg]

As far as the audio goes, I rooted and installed ViPER4Android, which to me is the best DSP manager there is. Now my Audio Techinica ATH-M50 headphones are getting a serious workout. The sound is phenomenal.

 

[anon8126715]

HTC One is probably going to be your best bet if you want something for the audio. The Note 3 as mentioned earlier is a jack of all trades. My previous phone was an HTC with Beats and while it's mostly gimmick, they do put some extra mid-range into their processing. The only problem I had is the Beats mode couldn't be used in anything but the stock MP3 player.

One thing I'll throw out there, I can listen to my MP3s with bluetooth for about 3-4 hours and the phone's battery doesn't break much of a sweat.

 

[oldhifi]

it nice sound, but can't expect much from a Phone/tablet..

 

[Aditya Phulwani]

I went from the Note 2 to the Note 3 (both on AT&T). The Note 3 comes with a stock equalizer. On the Note 2 I used an equalizer app and a compatible music player. The Note 3's music quality is not that great through any source (Bluetooth, headphones, speaker). The speaker and headphones aren't as loud as on the Note 2. Bluetooth quality in my car isn't that great (could by my receiver, IDK). But I used to use my Note 2 constantly with no issues when I took a shower and now can barely hear the Note 3 over the sound of the running water. I use Heartbeats earbuds and have to turn up the volume all the way to drown out the noise of my hair dryer. Same goes for the Beats headphones I use while mowing; the volume has to be at the highest setting to drown out the noise. I did not have this issue with my Note 2 at all. I could have that sucker at 90% while using the speaker in the shower and 75% with earbuds/headphones while drying my hair or mowing. The Bluetooth quality was better in my car with the Note 2 as well. And I don't even claim to be an audiophile so if I notice these difference, I'm sure they'd be blaringly huge differences to an audiophile. This is one of my few gripes (the battery is another) when I went from the Note 2 to the 3.

Thank you for that. It's always better to hear what people who already own the device and have been using it for a long time than any review.

I think i'm gonna stick with the note3, I'll just know not to expect too much from the audio quality on it.

hopefully it wont be too disappointing.
I considered the Htc One, but the screen size of the note makes it way more attractive, and from what I've heard the UltraPixels aren't as great as they seemed to be.

 

[Aditya Phulwani]

As far as the audio goes, I rooted and installed ViPER4Android, which to me is the best DSP manager there is. Now my Audio Techinica ATH-M50 headphones are getting a serious workout. The sound is phenomenal.

I'll be looking into that for sure. Doesn't rooting on this generation of the note trip KNOX and end up voiding your warranty though?
I dont create too much of a fuss regarding customization's/rooting etc, though i'd try and avoid voiding my warranty, another thing that needs consideration is the fact that I'll be getting the Exynos variant, which if i'm not wrong doesn't have too many rom's developed for it.

 

[BeRich]

I'll be looking into that for sure. Doesn't rooting on this generation of the note trip KNOX and end up voiding your warranty though?
I dont create too much of a fuss regarding customization's/rooting etc, though i'd try and avoid voiding my warranty, another thing that needs consideration is the fact that I'll be getting the Exynos variant, which if i'm not wrong doesn't have too many rom's developed for it.

There are/will be workarounds for that. I had rooted my Note 2 and ended up needing to return it for warranty replacement because the bezel was coming loose from the body of the phone. I had to unroot and install Triangle Away to reset the counter and remove evidence that it had been rooted. I think it's ridiculous that rooting voids your warranty. People wouldn't feel the need to root if the device performed to its potential in the first place.

 

[Johnly]

The lumia 1020 is the only windows phone with a better camera. The aperture on the note is larger than the 920. Several websites compare the note 3 to the Z1 and 1020. The 920 really isn't in that league. So enjoy a better camera but expect a softwares curve to overcome. Some people can't and chalk up the note 3 defective in the camera department. That is on them. The speaker is very loud. One of the only phones I can hear in my pocket. Call quality is very good, but I think Motorola makes a better radio and edged out the note 3. So if you live where signal is null like I do, expect missed calls. The note 2 has better performance here, but I think it is software related. You will be blown away at how much more capable the note 3 is than a 920. Enjoy!

Agree that the note 3 is a jack of all trades. It is truly a beast of a device smashing all others into oblivion. Okay, had to have fun with that last statement! He he.

 

[Aditya Phulwani]

The lumia 1020 is the only windows phone with a better camera. The aperture on the note is larger than the 920. Several websites compare the note 3 to the Z1 and 1020. The 920 really isn't in that league. So enjoy a better camera but expect a softwares curve to overcome. Some people can't and chalk up the note 3 defective in the camera department. That is on them. The speaker is very loud. One of the only phones I can hear in my pocket. Call quality is very good, but I think Motorola makes a better radio and edged out the note 3. So if you live where signal is null like I do, expect missed calls. The note 2 has better performance here, but I think it is software related. You will be blown away at how much more capable the note 3 is than a 920. Enjoy!

Agree that the note 3 is a jack of all trades. It is truly a beast of a device smashing all others into oblivion. Okay, had to have fun with that last statement! He he.

Your comment got me all excited now! haha
sucks that i'm gonna have to wait till my birthday(which is a month away) though to get my hands on this baby.

 

[Aditya Phulwani]

There are/will be workarounds for that. I had rooted my Note 2 and ended up needing to return it for warranty replacement because the bezel was coming loose from the body of the phone. I had to unroot and install Triangle Away to reset the counter and remove evidence that it had been rooted. I think it's ridiculous that rooting voids your warranty. People wouldn't feel the need to root if the device performed to its potential in the first place.

very true. the amount of bloat/lag forces people to root a lot of times anyway.

 

[dpham00]

The lumia 1020 is the only windows phone with a better camera. The aperture on the note is larger than the 920. Several websites compare the note 3 to the Z1 and 1020. The 920 really isn't in that league. So enjoy a better camera but expect a softwares curve to overcome. Some people can't and chalk up the note 3 defective in the camera department. That is on them. The speaker is very loud. One of the only phones I can hear in my pocket. Call quality is very good, but I think Motorola makes a better radio and edged out the note 3. So if you live where signal is null like I do, expect missed calls. The note 2 has better performance here, but I think it is software related. You will be blown away at how much more capable the note 3 is than a 920. Enjoy!

Agree that the note 3 is a jack of all trades. It is truly a beast of a device smashing all others into oblivion. Okay, had to have fun with that last statement! He he.

My radio on my note 3 is comparable with my note 2. And my note 2 is better than my Droid razr maxx..

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk Pro

 

[Johnly]

My radio on my note 3 is comparable with my note 2. And my note 2 is better than my Droid razr maxx..

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk Pro

Some days my note 3 does a better job than my note 2 did. It seems Verizon's network may fluctuate. Go figure lol.

 

[Jay Sacks]

I could hardly hear my Note 2 with buds. Was so disappointed until I found Speaker Boost.
https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...obi.omegacentauri.SpeakerBoost&token=PcC_eC_R

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