imartez
Well-known member
- Jan 11, 2011
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What makes you say that? They have been doing better and there app is much better than what it use to be. However, if Google play had a lossless quality tier, I'd leave TIDAL in a heartbeat.
Audio Quality
- Thread starter hpilot
- Start date
What makes you say that? They have been doing better and there app is much better than what it use to be. However, if Google play had a lossless quality tier, I'd leave TIDAL in a heartbeat.
I think some of this is in the ear of the beholder so to speak. I have a pair of 75.00 earbuds that are ok and they sound better on the Pixel Xl than they did on the Note 7 which I thought had lousy audio. The call quality is good but not quite loud enough, though I can hear people and they can hear me.
They are trying to sell the company to apple yet even apple didn't want it due to their weak profits.....
Let's put it truthfully, the audio quality totally SUCKS. All this money for what, no expantion, no waterproofing, no ois, horrible sound. I'm very happy I kept my S7 edge and axon 7. Pixel going back. If you're an audiophile, nothing beats the axon7.
Turns out the pixel uses the same DAC that's in the HTC 10. What about the audio sucks?...Bluetooth, mono speaker, or the headphone jack?
The DAC is the same on all snapdragon 820 and 821 I believe
The DAC is the same on all snapdragon 820 and 821 I believe
imartez
Well-known member
- Jan 11, 2011
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Just saw some articles relating to your comment. Either way, I hope that there will be more options for lossless music streaming, once your hear lossless it tough to go back and listen to MP3's....
http://m.gsmarena.com/google_pixel_xl-review-1513p7.php
There it is... Again, I don't see anything that screams mediocre. I think anybody attempting to interpret this information as poor appreciates numbers and stats. You can't hear the differences that were measured though. Also, the numbers are good.
I've taken my love for audio to my vehicle since the wife stresses if I do it in the house. Anyways, it really exposed quite a bit of snake oil that drives the hi-fi industry.
I've found threads on Reddit and other places raving about how great the audio quality is with the pixel. If you look up the snapdragon specs the 820 and 821 use the same exact DAC, model number and all. I believe the v20 opted for a third party chip. Qualcomm also provides additional amp for the DAC as was used in the HTC 10.
That amplifier really helps with headroom and overall efficiency when dealing with low sensitivity drivers which is typically poor when dealing with full range speakers. But like I said...I see nothing that stands out as poor. Bias and trends really drive audiophoolery to places I just can't imagine. There's no real world evidence that $10k power wire or $100K wire and cables provide any performance leverage against other products. Similarly, the new rage and interest in DACs is also very questionable with no real world data available except people's ears.
Excellent may not be good enough but to start a misleading thread stating its one of the worst phones at audio when it ranks as excellent seems a bit over the top no?
Certainly get a phone that meets your needs and makes you happy. However for those waiting on their phones and those on the fence to buying it, it would be nice to have some context. 99.9% of users would be happy with excellent quality and calling it the worst would probably throw many off
There are a lot of things that can affect audio quality. The headphone impedance, output stage headroom, frequency response, phase shifts, transient response, etc. The reason that most reviews are so subjective is that they don't measure and test the important characteristics anymore. These used to be tested as a matter of course for any audio device that claimed to be high fidelity. Early in my career I focused on audio design. I created one of the first successful designs in a digital switching amp for my EE senior project. I tried several novel approaches for output stages, such as cascode configurations. My last audio endeavor was a pair of 8' high hybrid electrostatic, transmission line speakers written up in AudioXpress magazine.
You can have virtually flat frequency response but, if the phase response is all over the place, you end up with inferior sound. For example, if the high end shifts significantly, then a broad-frequency transient such a a drum strike, ends up muddy. Personally, I value IM distortion as the best metric for clean sound (given all other factors reasonable). In this test you test how well you can separate a multiplex of high and low frequencies. In IC or discrete amplification stages, it is very important to separate the digital ground from the analog one. This was known for many years, disappeared, and re-discovered for modern consumer electronics.
I'd love to see reviews with true engineering metrics followed by blind subjective testing. Everything else is just anecdotal poppycock.
I don't see why phase would change. There's no filters involved. And you're right... Speakers do introduce many more variables.
None of that has to do with the pixel's audio quality. It's very good
None of that has to do with the pixel's audio quality. It's very good
Kevin OQuinn
AC Team Emeritus
- May 17, 2010
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Two DAC's can measure exactly the same on the GSMArena charts, but sound completely different in real life.
There's a long winded debate! I fall into the category that if you can hear a difference it is measurable.
To each their own... And luckily, all snapdragons use the same DAC this generation barring the v20 and select others but those are third party. Snapdragon internal DAC is still the same
- May 11, 2011
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You need to read more carefully. I said "He said it was one of the worst". I also said that overall I was very happy with the phone. And who said it rates as "excellent"? The "context" I gave was a video review from a very respected and well know review site. How is any of this misleading?
- May 11, 2011
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That's the whole point. They need to use a better third party DAC and Amp like the HTC 10.
But that's what you missed...HTC 10 and pixel use the same exact DAC. However, HTC paid snapdragon for additional amp out.
That DAC is only specific to the headphone jack and built in speaker. Bluetooth uses the DAC built into the receiving device.
- May 11, 2011
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I only care about the headphone jack. Bluetooth and built in speaker quality is irrelevant to me. If you choose to use either one, it seems like quality is not that important to you.
". The HTC 10 uses a stand-alone DAC as well as headphone amp and isn't using the Snapdragon 820 DAC."
http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-10-audio-testing-boomsound-evolved
I was just stating that for those jumping in and wondering. I'm not going to debate that my standards are higher than yours or vice versa.
I also believe, that we have the ability to make hardware sound similar... Like the Richard Clarke challenge. Yes, different hardware sounds different. But we can tune the hardware to sound exactly the same
I also believe, that we have the ability to make hardware sound similar... Like the Richard Clarke challenge. Yes, different hardware sounds different. But we can tune the hardware to sound exactly the same
Well snapdragon says otherwise...
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2016/06/02/qualcomm-aqstic-sets-new-standard-audiophiles
http://www.head-fi.org/t/822143/google-pixel-phone-audio-quality
Here's a great in depth thread. Looks like pretty much all the hardware is the same with HTC 10. And they both use the wcd9335 DAC. The difference is settings which one guy is able to get into, change, and review against HTC 10.
Snapdragon claims they use the same aqstic codec for high quality audio too.
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2016/10/04/pixel-phones-made-google-powered-snapdragon-821
Now, the resistance of the headphone jack is higher which really just means lower potential output. But the voltage was also measured at ~.5V vs the claimed 1.2V of the HTC 10. I think that's just inherent to not having the amp to coincide. However, in the software settings one guy find a hi vs low out setting. Once he changed the software value to high output he said it now sounds like his HTC 10.
That's indicative to pixel and HTC 10 hardware being the same as it came from snapdragon... But with different licensing for its application
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2016/10/04/pixel-phones-made-google-powered-snapdragon-821
Now, the resistance of the headphone jack is higher which really just means lower potential output. But the voltage was also measured at ~.5V vs the claimed 1.2V of the HTC 10. I think that's just inherent to not having the amp to coincide. However, in the software settings one guy find a hi vs low out setting. Once he changed the software value to high output he said it now sounds like his HTC 10.
That's indicative to pixel and HTC 10 hardware being the same as it came from snapdragon... But with different licensing for its application
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