S9+ Headphones are terrible

[Oleg Kaniovskiy]

For good sound you need good headphones

 

[paulwilko10]

Considering that reviewer consensus is that the bundled AKG headphones Samsung uses is the best bundled headphones available, then pretty much every other flagship out there is problematic.

I think though that I am starting to realize the problem is more on the type of headphone rather than the headphone itself. The S7 headphones were of an earbud type, as opposed to the S8/S9 headphones which are an earplug type. The difference in acoustics would account for the difference in tuning. Since the S7 headphones let in ambient noise, it's tuned differently. On earolug types, you need to acquire a good ear seal before you start hearing the low end. So if your ears are rather large, the default installed buds may be too small and thus not creating a seal, ruining the acoustics of the headphone.

I think you maybe correct.
I will try them again but I should not have to work hard just to get a decent sound.

 

[chanchan05]

I think you maybe correct.
I will try them again but I should not have to work hard just to get a decent sound.

You don't have to work hard. You just need to get the right tips. There are 2 additional pairs of tips included in the package. They are not replacement tips. They are different sized tips so you choose the one that fits you best. ALL earplug type earbuds have that. Some even give 4 different sizes in the package. There are even aftermarket memory foam tips that provide even better seal and creates better acoustics. It's simply the nature of the earplug design.

Personally I prefer the earplug design over the earbuds.

Admittedly these are for the S8 buds, but AFAIK they used the same units in the S8 and S9 anyway. The first one mentions that the AKG ones come close to aftermarket B&O buds worth 150USD. However other reviews do say that they found the bass lacking. Which again as I said in a previous post that boils down to preference especially with a lot of people nowadays equating boosted bass as 'good'. One mentioned that he felt they lacked detail and weren't overpowering. I don't know about the detail part, but I want my headphones to not have overpowering bass drowning out other sounds.

https://youtu.be/o3RP6-i6zlk
https://youtu.be/e7O0IB0QjEw
https://youtu.be/QQ3NeC1mRXY

 

[anon(1733)]

Work hard? It's replacing tips. They won't fit everyone out of the box. You'll have to actually put in effort to see what works for you.

 

[paulwilko10]

Totally mis-understood my point!!

When i say work hard, i mean they just don't sit in my ear correctly enough to give what i would call a decent sound. I have tried the different buds lol

 

[chanchan05]

Totally mis-understood my point!!

When i say work hard, i mean they just don't sit in my ear correctly enough to give what i would call a decent sound. I have tried the different buds lol

Ah well that's the downfall of the design. Maybe they're just not for you or you need aftermarker bud replacements.

 

[Anthony Mclean]

Best sounding ear buds I've used... I. Never use them.. But sounds good I'm surprised...

 

[rushmore]

In summary fit is it. You can have super spensive’ buds and they will suck if no adequate seal.

 

[CKwik240]

In summary fit is it. You can have super spensive’ buds and they will suck if no adequate seal.

Sealing is indeed important. But these don't seal that well. The flanges are way too small and short. And even when I can get them somewhat sealed, I've heard way better. My Sony ear buds sealed up very nicely. And when used withan Xperia phone, it provided the option for noise canceling without a battery as the processing was done within the phone. I also had another pair of AKG buds that could go deeper into my ear and seal, but they were uncomfortable.

 

[albertovss]

I had AKG headphones before...they're quite good in everything :-\

 

[chanchan05]

Sealing is indeed important. But these don't seal that well. The flanges are way too small and short. And even when I can get them somewhat sealed, I've heard way better. My Sony ear buds sealed up very nicely. And when used withan Xperia phone, it provided the option for noise canceling without a battery as the processing was done within the phone. I also had another pair of AKG buds that could go deeper into my ear and seal, but they were uncomfortable.

Just replace the tips with Comply if the problem is seal.

 

[nandavishal1]

It’s high time Samsung should really look into this aspect of good quality in box earphones

 

[cactuspete23]

Usually earphones that come with phones are OK. But if you want audiophile quality, you have to buy aftermarket ones.

 

[Keeptechcoolandsimple]

I'd much rather get so-so earphones included than have dongles included.. i hate that so many phones are getting rid of the headphone jack.

 

[anon(7775)]

In summary,if you want really really good headphones then purchase some separately

 

[velvetwhip]

I use Beats as well. They work perfectly and they have much better sound than the headphones Samsung provides.

 

[tadpoles]

I've never been a fan of ear buds and ear phones. I much prefer over-the-head headphones. I don't have to worry about them falling out, etc. I was considering getting some Samsng Icon X but I have a feeling they'd need constant adjustment too. ...and that'd be a PITA for me.

 

[chanchan05]

I use Beats as well. They work perfectly and they have much better sound than the headphones Samsung provides.

That depends entirely on your preference in music. Beats tuning has too much bass boost that it murders my study playlist. For my use the Samsung earbuds has much better sound than Beats. And we're talking AKG here. They're own headphones aren't very bassy, preferring a more accurate natural sound IMO. If you Google AKG bass you'd see comments on their various models thay there isn't enough bass for some people. In fact, GSMArena has the audio analysis of the S9 output and found it neutral balance of bass, mids and trebles, much like how AKG tunes their gear. I am noticing however that most people nowadays equate bass heavy as good. It's not always a bad thing, but it's wrong. Because it makes accurate music reproduction have a bad rap, when it is in fact good in other people's tastes. It's entirely preference.

 

[HeyRafkaMan]

For anybody saying that these sound thin or inferior to any other stock buds that any manufacturer is providing, I have to guess that you didn't yet find the "sound quality and effects" subsection at the bottom of the page under "sounds and vibrations," which I think is a stupid place to put such a premium set of features. At the top is the Dolby Atmos option, which I haven't tested yet because that is for movies, etc. You may have even heard the process in some better theaters who may have 1 screen dedicated for it. I saw the last two of the recent Planet of the Apes films in Dolby Atmos. Incredibly clean.

But as far as the buds, I just tested these in the "real world" setting of a coffee house with 22 people in it for their morning coffee and chat. As far as blocking out noise, it isn't 100%, but I don't know of any that are. But I will say that I started when the place was basically empty and it wasn't until I took them off an hour later that I was shocked by how loud the place had gotten. That increase in ambient volume in the Cafe was basically unnoticeable with the AKGs in.

As far as the music, this was a test for myself, but I sat and first played my favorite speaker test track; Oliver Nelson's Stolen Moments. I first went to the stock genre equalizer presets and the Jazz setting was noticeably more appropriate than the others. Historically, these types of presets have always felt more random or approximated by the software. But not on this. So I left the manual equalizer controls untouched, even though there were a couple of tweaks that I was feeling compelled to change. But the treatments below that are where the real satisfaction comes. For the lushness of this track, I had room to move by flipping on the UHQ upscaler without it getting tinny. And then I added Tube Amp Pro for warmth. I am sure that on a lesser device, these options would have simply canceled each other out and sounded relatively the same as having them both off. But not here. They are performing very distinct functions.

The next track was the RVG series' Lee Morgan's - The Sidewinder (you guessed it, I listen to a lot of jazz). And on this track, with Lee's trumpet being (understandably) so far up in the mix, the only Chang that I made was taking off the UHQ.

But then I saw this thread and tested a bit more. Moved to Mercury Rev's Dark is Rising, another of my favorite speaker test songs. I moved Jazz to Rock, took off Tube Amp and added UHQ again. It was probably fine, but I couldn't control myself any longer and did very modest tweaks, bringing up the mid and bringing down the low ever so slightly. Then Mudhoney - Baby, Can You Dig The Light (Tube Amp back on). Then Handsome Family - The Woman Downstairs (not that I think that they are pop, but the Pop preset was the only change that I made to make this song transplendent). Then went to the remaster of ZZ Tops Fandango to bounce around between live and studio tracks, just to test out the "concert hall" feature. The reverb in the original mastering of this album, already adds a distinct level of depth on the live and studio tracks, which was part of the ZZ Top sound through that era of their career. I wanted to see if the added effect pushed it over the edge or not. So I moved Pop back to Rock and added "concert hall" to this already live track; Thunderbird. With the caffeine of my xlarge coffee refill coursing through me, it was hard to contain myself as this was only the second time in my life that I thought that this feature ever sounded right. The first being Bob Marley's Uprising on vinyl in the early 90s through a pair of Klipschorns. I still get chills thinking abould the first song played through these already seasoned speakers; Coming In From the Cold. (note: my current regular buds are also from Klipsch, so the AKGs have had a lot to stand up to)

I then moved on to my two favorite songs on this album; Nasty Dogs & Funky Kings and Blue Jeans Blues. NDAFK sounded great with concert hall and all other settings the same, but I also played the first minute or so minus concert hall and that would be my preference. And lastly, for Blue Jean Blues, I put concert hall back on and the opening guitar sounded cool, almost haunting. But as soon as the vocals kicked in, it was too animated sounding to continue with concert hall, but the song was pristine without it.

Of course, I won't be doing this kind of switching around once I find a more universal, personal sweet spot in the settings. In fact, there is even a function at the very bottom that seems to figure that out for you, as well. Maybe I will try it at some point. But if anybody is feeling let down by these ear buds, make sure that you you have given them a fair chance with how they were intended to be used with the S9.

Peace,
Ras

 

[mgbosshogg]

I find them P1sh.

They are "tuned" by AKG. Who makes them is anybody's guess.

Samsung charges £89 for them separately which is comical.