Nexus sound chip - crap

[spas2k]

Nexus sound chip - crap

I feel like my Sennheiser IE8s are getting damaged every time I hook it up to the weak amplifier that's in this phone. It just doesn't have enough power for these ear buds and it muddles through bass lines which sucks because these things rock. Now I'm stuck getting some cheaper (crappier) earbuds for fear of damaging these simply because samsung skimped on the audio chip. My previous phone was the thunderbolt which was slightly better, but still extremely lacking in the power department. The chip in my ipad2 is adequate although I'm not sure if it's different or same as the chip in the iphone4.

I guess I'll have to get an external amplifier which is something I don't want to do. If you are looking for any sort of audio fidelity or if you want to use good earbuds/phones with this phone, you might want to look elsewhere.

 

[chevyguy8893]

Have you tweaked the equalizer settings at all? It comes turned off and sounds horribly flat. I use the fx booster setting and audio is very clean. The beats emulation in volume+ makes a little bit of a difference. If i hook the phone up to the aux input in my car it sounds a lot better than my ipod touch 4 gen. Same goes for my skull candy titans.

 

[spas2k]

It's not an "EQ" setting or a sound quality setting, it's a power or wattage thing. It just doesn't have enough power to push decent drivers. Decent speakers require more power, and certain headphones absolutely require an amp. The IE8s are on the edge of requiring an amp. Some phones have more power than others and this phone is lacking in that dept. Apps like poweramp won't do a thing except try to push decent speakers even more, leading to blown speakers.

This is not a device for people looking for quality audio out of a phone, just a FYI for others.

 

[Kunji]

or maybe IE8s are a poor choice for the galaxy nexus...

 

[tntdroid]

Nexus sound chip - crap

I feel like my Sennheiser IE8s are getting damaged every time I hook it up to the weak amplifier that's in this phone. It just doesn't have enough power for these ear buds and it muddles through bass lines which sucks because these things rock. Now I'm stuck getting some cheaper (crappier) earbuds for fear of damaging these simply because samsung skimped on the audio chip. My previous phone was the thunderbolt which was slightly better, but still extremely lacking in the power department. The chip in my ipad2 is adequate although I'm not sure if it's different or same as the chip in the iphone4.

I guess I'll have to get an external amplifier which is something I don't want to do. If you are looking for any sort of audio fidelity or if you want to use good earbuds/phones with this phone, you might want to look elsewhere.

Get a old school boom box and a pocket full of d batteries and throw it up on your shoulder stinks the phone can't push your headphones. I haven't tried the stock ones or my skulls. Works great in the car.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[spas2k]

or maybe IE8s are a poor choice for the galaxy nexus...

Probably =] now I have to buy a Fiio E9 just to listen to music at work though.

 

[Deathshead]

"is crap" and "It just doesn't have enough power for these ear buds and it muddles through bass lines which sucks because these things rock."

Cool Story Bro, It sounds like your quite the audiophile.

The Nexus sounds great on my Grados & rewired bluetacked AKG k81's.

 

[racedog]

Hmmm, I haven't tried my earbuds in the GN yet. I really only use them when I travel. Here at home I only use the phone for playing music via bluetooth in my car. I have a pair of Shure SE530's which are easily in the same class as the Sennheisers. Now, I'll have to pull them out and give them a try on the phone to see how they work.

 

[Johnly]

Power amp music player in the market, try it? My Skulls sound great on stock though...

 

[spas2k]

Hmmm, I haven't tried my earbuds in the GN yet. I really only use them when I travel. Here at home I only use the phone for playing music via bluetooth in my car. I have a pair of Shure SE530's which are easily in the same class as the Sennheisers. Now, I'll have to pull them out and give them a try on the phone to see how they work.

Yea, definitely let me know how they sound. It would be interesting to hear opinions from others regarding different options.

 

[qnet]

OP is definitely a bigger audiophile than me, anybody rocking $300.00 earbuds are. I enjoy the sound of the G-nex but have thought about upgrading the stock earbuds. I'm not sure I'll do that now, if those expensive ones the OP has isn't enough.

 

[2010BmwM3]

OP is definitely a bigger audiophile than me, anybody rocking $300.00 earbuds are. I enjoy the sound of the G-nex but have thought about upgrading the stock earbuds. I'm not sure I'll do that now, if those expensive ones the OP has isn't enough.

Get a pair on AKG in ear headphones. AKG makes awesome headphones

 

[qnet]

Get a pair on AKG in ear headphones. AKG makes awesome headphones

I just googled those and that's more in line with my spending. I just need to make sure that they have some that has a mic and I can answer calls also.

 

[racedog]

I just tried my Shure SE530's on my GN with PowerAmp and there is no problem with volume. I wasn't even able to put them up to full volume because I think it would have blown an ear drum. Not sure why you're having this problem. I also don't know if PowerAmp would fix it for you but you get a two week trial period when you download it from the market. You might want to give it a try and see what happens. Let us know if you do and what the results are.

 

[mechapathy]

Senn CX300IIs here. After my last pair of $200+ headphones broke I decided to go mid-range. Even so, everything's crystal clear here, good separation, clear highs, well-defined lows, and pronounced, but appropriate, mids. I like this sound processor better than my iPod classic.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[bworley50]

There is a MusicFX app preloaded on the device. Maybe a software update to that will help.

 

[indianajonze]

OP - actually, quite the contrary. the nexus sound chip is outstanding. at least on paper...

Power Management Multi-Channel IC (PMIC) Solutions - PMIC Solutions with and without Battery Charger - TWL6040 - TI.com

 

[jafels]

It's not an "EQ" setting or a sound quality setting, it's a power or wattage thing. It just doesn't have enough power to push decent drivers. Decent speakers require more power, and certain headphones absolutely require an amp. The IE8s are on the edge of requiring an amp. Some phones have more power than others and this phone is lacking in that dept. Apps like poweramp won't do a thing except try to push decent speakers even more, leading to blown speakers.

This is not a device for people looking for quality audio out of a phone, just a FYI for others.

So let me get this straight...the phone cant power a good pair of drivers because it doesnt have enough power....but power amp, which you say will push them even more will blow them???? I thought you were complaining about them not being pushed hard enough......im confused.....this makes absolutely no sense. Theres either the power to blow the driver or their is not. I have a pair of studio reference phones i use for recording purposes in conjunction with my monitors. They are very nice and sound fantastic. They sound great on the gnex. Do they sound better through my monitoring system...hell yeah. Do i expect my phone to be able to reproduce the qaulity of my dedicated studio qaulity audio set up....hell no.

 

[Pierce09]

OP - actually, quite the contrary. the nexus sound chip is outstanding. at least on paper...

Power Management Multi-Channel IC (PMIC) Solutions - PMIC Solutions with and without Battery Charger - TWL6040 - TI.com

This. My GNex easily powers high end beats audio headphones. Not the in-ear buds, but the full headphones. Extremely deep and clear bass. So I don't know how you could be having such an issue...

 

[Kancerstick]

OP, i would like to inform you that ive went through the past 3 days in and out of every local electronics store within a 15 mile radius of me to find out the weak audio that my gnex was pushing out.

I use my gnex in my car for audio. I am extremely picky about sound quality. So here are my findings :

1.) For some god damn reason, i have no idea why.. the gnex 3.5mm jack is SUPER picky.

I noticed when i plugged in my 3.5mm cable to my car to my gnex, the audio sounded so damn bad. Compared to my og-droid's sound it was night and day. There was no bass response, mids were drowned out, highs were over the top.

I was curious as to why, because i plugged in the stock headphones the gnex came with, and to me it sounded like they were doing their job. Not a great pair of headphones, decent. But the bass response was correct at least.

So therefore, i thought my cable was busted. I went to fry's, purchased a monster cable in-car 3.5mm audio since i wanted the best for my gnex. Went back to my car, switched out the cables, still sounded like ass. I repeated this process at least 3 more times. Going home, testing a different cable, concluding that it sounded off and.. just not normal to me. I repeated the process and finally i landed on this cable
Amazon.com: Belkin Mini-Stereo Cable for Apple iPhone: Cell Phones & Accessories

Out of probably 8-10 cables i tested, THIS was the only cable that produced correct sound to me and my car stereo.

Whats funny is, i bought belkins 3 foot version of this cable in black, and it sounded like ass still.

So i concluded, the gnex is just damn picky about what you plug into it.

Maybe you could try, plugging your cable into an female extender and plugging the belkin cable i linked into the gnex and see if that solves your problem.