Are people complaining to Google about the awful audio?

[Mike Dee]

I'm not sure what you mean by SUPERSAF's, but it sure is an improvement over the single bottom firing speaker in my Pixel 1. Sure, it doesn't produce the bass of my Bose home stereo, but it sounds good to me.

Your improvment from the Pixel 1 is because the audio output has improved. I believe the concern everyone is pointing out is recording quality

 

[lcs101]

I'm not sure what you mean by SUPERSAF's, but it sure is an improvement over the single bottom firing speaker in my Pixel 1. Sure, it doesn't produce the bass of my Bose home stereo, but it sounds good to me.

Popular YouTube reviewer. The sound of the audio in his video (and a couple others I have seen) is quite poor IMO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9qNHYtNsik

It seems for some, including Mike Dee, it is not quite this bad. I really want the camera of the Pixel 3 (XL), but I enjoy recording my kids (and the occasional brief live music clip), and I feel if it's anything close to as "tinny" sounding as some of these videos I have seen, I will find it quite annoying when playing the videos back.

 

[EMGSM]

LG is pretty awesome

Don't they have an on board DAC or something?

 

[lcs101]

Don't they have an on board DAC or something?

That would only impact output and not input (i.e. audio recording) though, no?

 

[EMGSM]

That would only impact output and not input (i.e. audio recording) though, no?

I believe you are correct. Not 100% positive.

 

[SteelGator]

I just don't shot a lot of video, so it hasn't bothered me yet. Mine isn't awful, butt I can see why folks want it to be better. If I was a YouTuber, I can see it being a bigger issue.

 

[dmxjago]

I'm not confident Google is going to fix the horrible "tinny" sound of the audio recording, since they've pretty much described it as an intentional feature. But I'd imagine if it would be more likely for them to make potential adjustments if they receive a lot of negative user feedback. So are those of you in the android central community providing such feedback?

Yeah man the way they collaborated the mic is terrible. If you record a video with playground one sounds wayyyyy better. Also the pixel 2 xl had similar issues, but their latest mic update made it pretty good and I hope Google makes it at least that good. I'm happy they enabled External Mic support which I used with the FILMIC Pro camera app on my pixel 2 xl most of the time until they fixed the mic then sometimes I would not use the external mic unless I was shooting some cinematic type of videos.

The external Mic works great as well on the Pixel 3 XL camera app YAY finally support, but I still want to be able to shoot without a mic at times when I want to record my 2 and 4 year old and I don't have the external mic with me.

 

[Jeremiah Bonds]

How is filmic pro? I've been wanting to try it out but not for $15 haha

Yeah man the way they collaborated the mic is terrible. If you record a video with playground one sounds wayyyyy better. Also the pixel 2 xl had similar issues, but their latest mic update made it pretty good and I hope Google makes it at least that good. I'm happy they enabled External Mic support which I used with the FILMIC Pro camera app on my pixel 2 xl most of the time until they fixed the mic then sometimes I would not use the external mic unless I was shooting some cinematic type of videos.

The external Mic works great as well on the Pixel 3 XL camera app YAY finally support, but I still want to be able to shoot without a mic at times when I want to record my 2 and 4 year old and I don't have the external mic with me.

 

[Almeuit]

Popular YouTube reviewer. The sound of the audio in his video (and a couple others I have seen) is quite poor IMO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9qNHYtNsik

It seems for some, including Mike Dee, it is not quite this bad. I really want the camera of the Pixel 3 (XL), but I enjoy recording my kids (and the occasional brief live music clip), and I feel if it's anything close to as "tinny" sounding as some of these videos I have seen, I will find it quite annoying when playing the videos back.

This -- This video shows it clear as day.

 

[Eggmundo]

Why did you think he would be referring to budget LGs?

Gotcha lol

 

[Mike Dee]

Don't they have an on board DAC or something?

Most phones have an onboard DAC. LG uses a dedicated chipset as a DAC. Google uses an external DAC built in the headphone adapter. Like someone already pointed out that only impacts output.

 

[Eggmundo]

Most phones have an onboard DAC. LG uses a dedicated chipset as a DAC. Google uses an external DAC built in the headphone adapter. Like someone already pointed out that only impacts output.

Mike what does "only impacts output" mean?

 

[htcrazy]

No one phone does everything right and maybe never will. I use my S9+ for watching movies and videos, my Pixel 3 for pictures and my LG V30 for recording video content and listening to hi res music. Why one manufacturer can't incorporate all these things into one phone is a topic for another day.

 

[Mike Dee]

Mike what does "only impacts output" mean?

For the purpose of the ongoing conversation the DAC would have no impact on a cameras audio recording.

 

[mustang7757]

Why did you think he would be referring to budget LGs?

Because I never used LG before not sure whAt phone in there line up has the good audio .

 

[vzwuser76]

Mike what does "only impacts output" mean?

Input would be the audio recorded by the mic, either strictly audio or audio captured during video recording. Output would be the audio you hear in playback either from the external on board speakers or through earbuds/headphones connected to the USB C port.

 

[Eggmundo]

Cheers guys.

 

[SupraLB]

Many overlook how amazing the LGs have amazing audio recording while filming. People usually just focus on the DAC playback instead. The V20 and V30 had 3 different High AOP mics, I believe V40 has 2. Essentially they record at lossless audio and do not distort at high volumes, like at a concert or inside a nightclub. You could adjust its settings as well. I believe up to 132db, it would not distort.

Biggest thing I did notice when I got my Pixel 2, was all the wind noise. LG's V's have a wind noise filter and on my windy balcony or at the beach, would never hear it. With Pixel 2, I hear so much wind noise in everything I record, its too distracting. I've even tried to use some software online to reduce it, but couldn't find anything decent to work.

 

[Mike Dee]

Many overlook how amazing the LGs have amazing audio recording while filming. People usually just focus on the DAC playback instead. The V20 and V30 had 3 different High AOP mics, I believe V40 has 2. Essentially they record at lossless audio and do not distort at high volumes, like at a concert or inside a nightclub. You could adjust its settings as well. I believe up to 132db, it would not distort.

Biggest thing I did notice when I got my Pixel 2, was all the wind noise. LG's V's have a wind noise filter and on my windy balcony or at the beach, would never hear it. With Pixel 2, I hear so much wind noise in everything I record, its too distracting. I've even tried to use some software online to reduce it, but couldn't find anything decent to work.

If LG were to improve their camera and improve their update frequency they could steal the show.

 

[ScottsoNJ]

No one phone does everything right and maybe never will. I use my S9+ for watching movies and videos, my Pixel 3 for pictures and my LG V30 for recording video content and listening to hi res music. Why one manufacturer can't incorporate all these things into one phone is a topic for another day.

Do you carry all 3 phones around with you?