Earphone/Headphone audio quality & volume

[Tmel14]

Can anyone tell me how the audio from earphones is in terms of both volume and quality? (Preferably in relation to M8/M9 if possible).

I've heard the S6 speaker is weak but I'm not too fussed about the speaker as I always connect to my bluetooth speakers anyway so only earphones are an issue for me.

 

[MDMcAtee]

My AT&T Active is frigging awesome.

While not as loud as my m8 the quality surpasses it by a long shot.

I'm using the Galaxy Sennheiser Momentum IEM's and I am really floored by how clean and clear everything is with it.

Posted from my Samsung S6 Active

 

[wrecklass]

Agreed. I've always hated the poor quality of audio on Android devices compared to iOS. But the S6 audio is spectacular. I now listen to all of my Play Music via the S6.

--
Should there be smoke coming out of my cpu?

 

[whtchdr]

Audio is good overall. The speaker is one of the louder single units out there but does get a little strained at maximum volume. Much louder than my iPhone 6+ for notifications and overall volume but the iPhone has better clarity. Headphones sound good and the DAC performance is comparable to iPhone as well.

 

[boogalu]

If you plug in headphones (mine are vmoda lp2) and go into the sound and notifications menu you can use the soundalive+. What this does is it tests different ranges from the headphones are plugged in. My vmodas were great before but now they are just spectacular. I don't even want to go back to using an iPod or laptop after hearing this quality from the s6

 

[linebusy]

If you plug in headphones (mine are vmoda lp2) and go into the sound and notifications menu you can use the soundalive+. What this does is it tests different ranges from the headphones are plugged in. My vmodas were great before but now they are just spectacular. I don't even want to go back to using an iPod or laptop after hearing this quality from the s6

Even using the stock headphones, this was a really nice tool to dial things in. Whether it's compensating for the headphones or for my own hearing, this is nice. BTW, for all the heat touchwiz takes, if this is a touchwiz feature, they need just as much praise.

 

[GlideOn]

I would like to chime in as a recent S6 owner that the headphone quality is fantastic. Plenty loud, bolder, more dynamic and clearer than my old Nexus 5 (which many consider to be "warm") Stock sound signature is slightly bright and 'alive' sounding for a better word, but the enabling Sound Alive (slightly more mids and 'oomph') and Tube Amp (warmer low end, high end roll-off) can take care of this. I'm a guitar player and a bit of a tube amp enthusiast owning a Fisher 500c connected to some AR3 speakers - I would say "Tube Amp" does a pretty convincing job of emulating the agility and warmth of a tube amp - as best as you would hope for through a pair of headphones.

P.S. for those who may be on the fence over the S6, S6 Edge, Edge Plus or Note 5, I found no discernible difference between any of them. I genuinely tried to be picky but could not determine any outstanding issues in noise floor, dynamics or stereo seperation. You would have to have the hearing of a bat, in a submarine, underwater - to tell any difference whatsoever. Oh and "High Definition Audio" on the Note 5/Edge Plus only brightened the mid-highs, recessed the vocals a bit and lowered the volume by 10-15% as a side-effect.

Looking forward to many happy months in earbuds with my S6. Thanks for caring this time around Samsung

 

[drone3]

Coming from the M7, audio quality through the headphones is much better on the S6, it's the best I have ever heard on a smartphone.

dreaming of electric sheep