Do you think the S10 will be able to record loud concerts without distorting?

Emig5m

Well-known member
Apr 19, 2013
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From cell phone to cell phone they have been getting better and better with video and audio recording quality (I went from a S2 > S3 > S5 > S7) and the MIC in my S7 can handle loud Motocross events perfectly, and they are very loud, but I went to two concerts this past fall/winter and oh man...the sound had a lot of distortion (My ears literally rang for three days straight after Metallica - they wheren't joking around with volume levels, lol). Yea I "could" get a real camera but some concerts don't allow dedicated cameras with add-on lenses, blah-blah-blah, etc. and was only allowed to film with a phone. So anyway, jumping from a S7 to a S10 (I know it would probably be mostly speculation at this point since the phone hasn't been released yet) but could it be expected that the new phone "could" be able to handle recording a loud concert audio without distorting? If so I'm definitely buying one, if not, I might pass on spending a grand on a new phone since my main interest in upgrading from my S7 is video/audio recording capability.
 
Chuckles, fingers crossed that it can handle all the noise you subject it to! ;-)
 
Really not my area of knowledge but isn't there good quality external microphones you can buy that are also quite discrete that would allow much better sound quality for recordings?
 
A lapel mic is quite dead past about a foot out, so to that mic it wouldn't be "loud". There may be other mics that are better. You have to check with an audio store that can crank up some music, so you can stand a few feet from the speakers and see how the various mics record.
 
From cell phone to cell phone they have been getting better and better with video and audio recording quality (I went from a S2 > S3 > S5 > S7) and the MIC in my S7 can handle loud Motocross events perfectly, and they are very loud, but I went to two concerts this past fall/winter and oh man...the sound had a lot of distortion (My ears literally rang for three days straight after Metallica - they wheren't joking around with volume levels, lol). Yea I "could" get a real camera but some concerts don't allow dedicated cameras with add-on lenses, blah-blah-blah, etc. and was only allowed to film with a phone. So anyway, jumping from a S7 to a S10 (I know it would probably be mostly speculation at this point since the phone hasn't been released yet) but could it be expected that the new phone "could" be able to handle recording a loud concert audio without distorting? If so I'm definitely buying one, if not, I might pass on spending a grand on a new phone since my main interest in upgrading from my S7 is video/audio recording capability.

If it was so loud your ears rang for three days it's doubtful you would record great sound from a cellphone or even slightly better equipment.
 
My Nikon records much better audio than my S7, or any other phone I've tried for that matter, and it will still distort when I'm near large speakers producing a lot of audio.
 
I seen recordings of the same concert that didn't distort. One guy recorded the sound with a add-on "condenser" mic through a ipod or iphone and it was just for recording the sound. He used a separate device for recording the video. So it can be done without distortion with the proper mic/setup. Maybe the S10 will do better than my S7 did.
 
Here's a video on youtube at around 4:20 mark dude records a concert hope that helps... https://youtu.be/2FlDpowCWxc

I doubt that's anywhere near as loud as Metallica, heh, but otherwise I watched and enjoyed that entire review. So would you all concur that he LG V20 records audio better than an S10? I just looked up the V20 and it has a cheap price, is it an old phone? Is there a newer version? I honestly never looked into other phones than the Galaxies before. Maybe the S10 isn't for me?
 
The V series is the king of audio recording. I recorded this on my V20 with the built in mics. I was using manual mode and had my audio gain lowered, but not a lick of distortion from recording these two jet dragsters from track side.

https://youtu.be/ImsVhkJLr98

Love my V20! I'll be swapping her out for my new S10+ but she'll be my new backup.
 
So would you all concur that he LG V20 records audio better than an S10? I just looked up the V20 and it has a cheap price, is it an old phone? Is there a newer version? I honestly never looked into other phones than the Galaxies before. Maybe the S10 isn't for me?

The V20 came out October 2016, so it is "old" in the mobile phone world but it still holds its own in my use. The V40 is the current version with the V50 coming soon. IMHO, the V20 is the most complete package with a number of features almost extinct today (including being removed from the 30 and 40). If things like removable batteries, IR blasters, glass backs, and screen tech isn't much of a concern for you, then you'll be fine with the newer versions. I'm still on the V20 because I do not like the changes made on the newer models.

Speaking strictly in terms of audio recording, the newer versions should be on par at worst, but likely a little better than the 20. I could only guess at how it compares to the S10. The microphones may be comparable, but LG is known for their top notch manual controls. If it wasn't for the ability to adjust the gain in my video above (a first in smartphones from LG), there would been a lot of distortion and clipping. I doubt Samsung has that kind of control. So your final decision may come down to if you want to mess with manual controls or prefer to point and shoot.
 
I'm really hoping for no distortion at concerts with s10+ also. Had s7 before. Had pretty bad distortion compared to my friend's newer iphone. Frustrating.
 
My note 9 did great at a loud concert. My iPhone always distorted but not the note 9. I expect the same from the s10 plus too.
 
Ok guys I have great news....I was at a concert tonight and the S10 recorded the sound crystal clear with no distortion! There was a lot of bass at Ariana's show, like I was in the bathroom on the lower level and the concrete walls where shaking and thought for sure that it would distort any MIC even a standalone camcorder but to my surprise it recorded clear as a whistle! Couple test clips...





Very happy with the sound quality of the MIC in the S10 over my old S7....Major improvement! Oh and, I filmed the entire show and the battery only went down to 62% by the time it was over! Didn't even need a charge pack and my S7 would overheat and shutdown recording that long....the S10 didn't break a sweat. Although it looks like the S7 took better still pics in the dark while recording video...
 
Ok guys I have great news....I was at a concert tonight and the S10 recorded the sound crystal clear with no distortion! There was a lot of bass at Ariana's show, like I was in the bathroom on the lower level and the concrete walls where shaking and thought for sure that it would distort any MIC even a standalone camcorder but to my surprise it recorded clear as a whistle! Couple test clips...


https://youtu.be/Ym2qVQcZCx0

https://youtu.be/dtKGDcCIIIA


Very happy with the sound quality of the MIC in the S10 over my old S7....Major improvement! Oh and, I filmed the entire show and the battery only went down to 62% by the time it was over! Didn't even need a charge pack and my S7 would overheat and shutdown recording that long....the S10 didn't break a sweat. Although it looks like the S7 took better still pics in the dark while recording video...

Wow Nice! My husband got his phone on Wed and the Sat before we went to Metallica and Tuesday the day before he got his phone was Kiss. I was hoping he had it to try! Our next concert I don't think is until May Sammy Hagar and I can't wait to video and see how it comes out.