Opinions please on Droid X music sound quality

[TMack]

Just curious how you guys are liking the music sound quality (out of the 3.5mm) on your Droid X. Since I use my phone as my primary music playing device, SQ is critical. (I typically listen with super high quality in-ear monitors - Shure SE530;s.) I haven't had a chance yet to A/B with my iPhone 3G (which sounded pretty damn good!) but so far, I'm reasonably impressed with the DX audio.

 

[nynvolt]

I'm no audiophile and would never spend more than $50.00 bucks for headphone's. I own some monitor type over the ear headphones (JVC) which sound awesome. To me the music quality is on par with my ipod touch. Pandora is slightly less than cd quality, not terribly noticeable though. I will say that I cannot tell a difference between a mp3 and an aac or whatever apple uses, so I don't know how valid my opinion is for what you're asking.

 

[thirteen113]

The output to my head unit sounds the same as iDevices before the X. The X does seem louder.

 

[MadMule]

I've listened through the Droid using: Yuin PK3, UE triple.fi 10 Pro, Shure SE530, and Monster Turbine Pro (Gold).

The Droid X is a decent music player, but compared to the Sansa Clip (arguably one of the best SQ players for its size and price, along w/ some models of the iPod Shuffle), it's rather flat in its frequency and not very lively. The PK3 and triple.fi were the best for me because they added the pinch of high-end sparkle and livened up the mids a bit.

So my personal recommendation is to just buy a tiny Sansa Clip as a dedicated music player, and only use the Droid X as a music player if you really need to. Plus, having it be in your pocket like that...I'm always afraid that if I lift up my leg high enough, the headphone jack will break something inside of the X, being bent around like that.

 

[ngsm13]

I enjoy mine, on par with most of the other portable devices I've listened to, I too look for good SQ when using portable audio players.

My IEM's are Phonak Audeo PFE's...

nG

 

[eraursls1984]

I'm no audiophile and would never spend more than $50.00 bucks for headphone's. I own some monitor type over the ear headphones (JVC) which sound awesome. .

I use sony small studio headphones, they were $20,and the only ones i've heard that had better sound quality (same small size) were some $179 Bose. I spent $80 on another set and was disappointed, never again will I buy a different kind unless I can justify $179 or more



The mp3s are good but rhapsody could be better and thats about the only music service I use my phone for, or maybe i've been spoiled by the SQ of my sansa fuze

 

[R. Kamidees]

I've been really impressed with the quality, and I've messed around with a few media player apps (the stock Music has become my favorite for the 2.2 UI upgrade, the simple EQ settings, and the lock screen controls). My only complaint is that it could get a notch or two louder. Does this thing have an 11?

 

[NoShineMM]

I've been really impressed with the quality, and I've messed around with a few media player apps (the stock Music has become my favorite for the 2.2 UI upgrade, the simple EQ settings, and the lock screen controls). My only complaint is that it could get a notch or two louder. Does this thing have an 11?

Easy there Spinal Tap. Thought i read in the 2.2 they are increasing the volumes for this phone...

 

[tread311]

It sounds ok. It's fine for the car or whatever and acceptable through headphones, but it's no ZuneHD.

 

[RichSz]

I dig the sound.

 

[MAD-MAX]

This phone running slacker with a 1/8th in Stereo cord into my radio in my silverado sounds Great i is way better than the cd coming out of my Infinity ..

 

[darreno1]

For me it's more than adequate and was easily as good as my pervious dedicated mp3 player. I have several headphones all high-base versions but I mainly use the Verizon ear buds at home. Compared to the iphone 3g I owned at one point, the output quality is superior imo.

 

[TMack]

I've listened through the Droid using: Yuin PK3, UE triple.fi 10 Pro, Shure SE530, and Monster Turbine Pro (Gold).

The Droid X is a decent music player, but compared to the Sansa Clip (arguably one of the best SQ players for its size and price, along w/ some models of the iPod Shuffle), it's rather flat in its frequency and not very lively. The PK3 and triple.fi were the best for me because they added the pinch of high-end sparkle and livened up the mids a bit.

So my personal recommendation is to just buy a tiny Sansa Clip as a dedicated music player, and only use the Droid X as a music player if you really need to. Plus, having it be in your pocket like that...I'm always afraid that if I lift up my leg high enough, the headphone jack will break something inside of the X, being bent around like that.

Yeah, I have a Clip+ and love it! Run 4 miles with it everyday. But I want my Smartphone to be an "all in one" device the rest of the time, so SQ is important to me. So far, I definitely think the DX sounds quite good, but I'm interested to know if there are any Smartphones you guys think sound even better. I know that a few of the Fascinate defectors are claiming it sounds incredible.

 

[protocollie]

it's not audiophile quality, but most folks won't notice the problems with the sound anyway. it's massively better than the output of the original droid and more than good enough for daily listening. if you're gonna like sit back and just focus on music, i'd definitely not make the DX your sole device (it puts off enough EMR that the sound's always gonna be a little mucked up) but for stuff like listening at work or input to your car stereo, it's definitely rock solid.

 

[sorka]

I've been an audio snob for years. Have had a variety of very expensive monitor headphones over the years....none of which I've like better than my cheap $100 Sony MDR-V6 studio monitors (now renamed the 7506).

I was an early adopter of portable cd players from the late 80's...you know, the all metal heavy duty kind with the big plate batteries. My favorite of all time is the Son D-10 all anodized aluminum bodies. I paid $400 for it. That particular player output 30 mw + 30 mw into 32 Ohms (or almost double that into 16 Ohms). The first gen Ipod is the only one that came close to that but still never sounded as good.

My entire mp3 libirary is ripped from my CDs at 320K because anything less than that sounds like a washing machine...at least to me.

The Droid X is quite good. In fact, I've found that with MixZing and it's EQ, I've completely stopped using my ipod touch.

 

[crboone]

Ever since I read MP3 vs AAC vs FLAC vs CD:, I no longer listen to MP3s unless I have no other option. MP3s always sounded less than stellar to me, and the graphical representations illustrate why -- even with the highest quality mp3s possible. That said, I've been listening to higher-quality AAC (that is, higher quality than illustrated in the article) on the X and I believe it sounds excellent, given the X obviously isn't an audiophile-quality device. Maybe it's the placebo effect, but I do seem to notice a difference. (Obviously FLAC would be best on a true audiophile system). Just my 2 cents.

 

[TMack]

Ever since I read MP3 vs AAC vs FLAC vs CD:, I no longer listen to MP3s unless I have no other option. MP3s always sounded less than stellar to me, and the graphical representations illustrate why -- even with the highest quality mp3s possible. That said, I've been listening to higher-quality AAC (that is, higher quality than illustrated in the article) on the X and I believe it sounds excellent, given the X obviously isn't an audiophile-quality device. Maybe it's the placebo effect, but I do seem to notice a difference. (Obviously FLAC would be best on a true audiophile system). Just my 2 cents.

I appreciate your points, and it's a nice article, but I've done SOOOOO much A/B'ing between 320K AAC and MP3's and there is simply no audible difference on any player I've tried. Perhaps on an ultra-highend-audiophile home stereo system the differences in those charts could be revealed, but doubtful on portable audio, which, of course, is the whole reason for compression anyway.

The other issue for me is that my Sansa Clip+ does not support AAC, so that eliminates it as an option.

 

[bostoniansurvivor]

I think that the DX music player serves it's purpose for me.

I use Oakley SplitThumps for when I ride my mountain bike due to being wireless. I don't have to worry about tangling wires or dropping my mp3 players because they are built right into the sunglasses.

I have a 160gb iPod classic that is great for at my desk, in my shop, at home, and in the car. Maximum storage with great sound quality output.

There is still a niche that needs to be filled and the DX does that marvelously. The iPod Classic is unable to go with me when I do any kind of physical activity due to the hard drive sensitivity. With the DX I carry the 16gb flash drive that came with it and I also carry another 16gb card in the battery compartment. Essentially, I now have 32gb worth of flash memory to use for music when I run or perform other activities that could damage the hard drive. The SplitThumps are great but I don't always need to wear sunglasses and they only have a small bit of memory. I've destroyed four hard drives this year and since I started doing this I haven't damaged a single one.

It is a little bit of a hassle to access the music on the spare sd card but it's worth not having to buy another iPod classic.


Sorry, I just reread this and realized how off topic I got. I tend to do that. I think that the sound quality is very good for what it is. It's not quite on par with my classic, but my classic can't do anything but play music so I think it's a fair trade off.

 

[Teegunn]

It is my only MP3 player at this point. With Mixing, it sounds pretty good. I plug into into the aux port on my truck it sounds good. During workouts I use some bluetooth headphones which sound pretty good. Wired headphones give a tad better sound, but not enough to bother with the cord. Overall, very good media player.

 

[rushmore]

Ever since I read MP3 vs AAC vs FLAC vs CD:, I no longer listen to MP3s unless I have no other option. MP3s always sounded less than stellar to me, and the graphical representations illustrate why -- even with the highest quality mp3s possible. That said, I've been listening to higher-quality AAC (that is, higher quality than illustrated in the article) on the X and I believe it sounds excellent, given the X obviously isn't an audiophile-quality device. Maybe it's the placebo effect, but I do seem to notice a difference. (Obviously FLAC would be best on a true audiophile system). Just my 2 cents.

Since an audio snob, you would really appreciate the DSP manager available for the Incredible. Makes EQ adjustments through the hardware DSP and not software interpollated like MixZing.

It would be cool if the X had a DSP manager too. Then again, the Incredible has to be rooted to get it, so only a few get the better sound quality. Easily sounds as good as the Galaxy S now (compliment).

 

[SgtBaxter]

Plugged into my car stereo, it's not nearly as loud as my old iPod, or playing CDs.

I do notice a lot of noise when wearing earbuds. I'd say the sound is about average, but it's more than good enough for what I use it for, mainly when at the gym.

 

[Napalm]

Coming from Creative MP3 players as I always thought Ipods sucked (lacking tunability). I thought the sound out of the DX was a bit flat. but much more importantly FIXABLE. I even tried out the famous 3 player.

Stock I think is better. And with some minor tweaks for each set of drivers I found it as good as my Zen with surprisingly more capacity. (32gb card FTW)

On the drivers, Well SennheiserPX100's at work needed some treble and bass adjustments. My Grado SR80's at home also needed less midrange but better flat then the senns. And finally my Shure e3c's needed more treble.

I don't listen to crazy volume, but over most categories of music played by Mp3 (usually 192 br+) it worked quite well.

Surprisingly I think audio from video's seems to be better. but that might be cause I notice the screen more and focus less on the sound.

 

[SgtBaxter]

I've got some Grado 125's at home, and thought it sounded pretty good with those.

My skullcandy earbuds I use to workout with sound okay through the X, but plugged into my computer they sound fantastic.