yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S II General] -Juff-:
Imo this doesn't look like a complete disaster... But I don't know, if the Yamaha chip is worth any tuning or if it's even possible to tweak it. I just hope that supercurio doesn't give up this fast. Would be a sad story. :(
[Galaxy S II General] MikeMaMan:
Music quality is not too bad. With PowerAmp (had to play with EQ) and my Sennheiser HD25-1 II i had really nice sound.
[Galaxy S II General] RogerPodacter:
in the mean time, you guys should install the new equalizer app from the developer who also did audiomanager, because since the SGS2 is running 2.3.3 you get all the audio APIs. this means the volume can be boosted up as loud as you want. just install that free app.

this is just an interim until supercurio maybe does something.
[Galaxy S II General] B3311:
Link please? I find nowt on market. Thanks.
[Galaxy S II General] jangomango:
http://market.android.com/details?id=com.smartandroidapps.equalizer

Sent from the best phone in the world...
[Galaxy S II General] RogerPodacter:
its called Equalizer by Smart Android Apps, LLC. this uses the new audio APIs available only in gingerbread, and it works very well.

there is also an app called volume+ or volume plus which boosts as loud as you want, but someone mentioned it doesnt work on the SGS2. it should, because this app just uses the new 2.3 audio APIs the same way, just goes much much louder. i'd try it anyway.
[Galaxy S II General] rayw:
Hi guys,

I am really siting here to find something that works like on SGS.

I have followed every detail on this forum and let me tell you none of the suggested apps work till now.

Even the video sound is so low that unless you are indoors you can't heat it properly, and this with a bdrip 720p.

I hope someone out there find a solution.
[Galaxy S II General] voodoochild2008:
Waiting to see what comes back on this, any change for the better is good but as for now its ok, the volume is fine for me but maybe its because I use Shure 530s and no loss of sound (would never go back to normal buds) I think these also help when it comes to the overall sound, and yes its not to the standard of sgs 1.....but lets see what happens I guess.
[Galaxy S II General] Woodend:
Supercurio confirmed on twitter one hour ago, that there will be no developement for the SII due to its hardware.
[Galaxy S II General] supercurio:
Well no development from me about Galaxy S II audio. Maybe other people will try a few things.

This hardware is too limited for me, both in its performance and room for improvement − more or less inexistent.
[Galaxy S II General] fallenguru:
Thank you. It's not what I wanted to hear but well, what can you do ...

Note to Samsung: Lost sale, right here. It's a shame really, since you've been doing a lot right lately. (Leaving the bootloader open, releasing source in a reasonably complete and timely manner, ...)

This means my shortlist is down to the Nexus S and the Galaxy S (so Samsung will still get their cut but don't tell them that :p).
[Galaxy S II General] forgetmyname:
I do and still use my twelve times table. Log tables have since been forgotten. ;)

Of course, I took GCEs which makes me not as young as I think I am.

It sounds like an accurate summary for the SGS2 audio is: Its pants, and boxer shorts won't improve it.
[Galaxy S II General] Woodend:
>>This means my shortlist is down to the Nexus S and the Galaxy S (so Samsung will still get their cut but don't tell them that :p)<<

That´s just what I did. I was too optimistic about the Yamaha and sold my GS a couple of weeks ago. No I´m rebuying it. And although I will miss the GS2, I can´t wait to get the GS delivered. A bit strange.

I´m very much hoping that till the end of this year I´ll get my dream device.
[Galaxy S II General] SBS_:
It isn't in the manufacturers best interest to make a perfect device you know, so you may be waiting a long time ;)
[Galaxy S II General] Woodend:
No. I'll get there, I know. The GS2 stopped 15" in front of the finish line ;)
[Galaxy S II General] supercurio:
Hehe yes.

I hope that reporting the full details about Galaxy S II audio will motivate Samsung to take it more seriously for the next device.

They were very aware about Voodoo sound because I talked & exchanged mails with the audio engineers in Korea, and also Voodoo sound is very popular here.

I saw they did many things correctly in their software implementation, re-using some of the principles I use but unfortunately something went wrong in the process, I think probably in the hardware part on Yamaha's side.

They're not so experienced building mobile codecs.
[Galaxy S II General] dazzer1975:
omg first time listening to music on this device.

Now, i concede i could use a better file so will retry again, but my god this is horrendous, artefacts, no seperation, no clarity.

first time i haven't been able to listen to music on a device, it is usually "bearable" to some degree.
[Galaxy S II General] ph00ny:
What kind of can are you using?
[Galaxy S II General] dazzer1975:
ath esw9

10 chars
[Galaxy S II General] pixie77:
I do feel we forget this is a highly evolved phone, not high end audio tech. It would have been great if they had improved on what they already had instead in some ways taking a step back, I'm a little upset myself buy it seems we are just stopping short of arranging a mass sgs2 burning. The sgs2 is still a great phone, just not in the audio department. For listening to a track or two on the way in to work I don't have a problem but to sit back, analyze and enjoy......you'll just end up feeling gutted about what could have been.
[Galaxy S II General] B3311:
I agree. While I'm a bit disappointed with the SGS2's SQ, it's not the end of the world, not that bad and no dealbreaker for me. Without supercurio's work on the SGS the SQ there was no more than average, IMO.

Had a quick listen last night to a friend's Desire, and for me it's no better than the SGS2.

On any device, crap in=crap out. All my music is ripped from my own CD's with EAC to FLAC, then transcoded to mp3 -v2 with dbpoweramp (can't ABX any higher than -v4 TBH, but I'm old..). No torrents, no net downloads. I like to know that the quality can be vouched for.

This source setup , and a bit of tweaking in Poweramp and good quality buds - currently Sennheiser IE8s - the SGS2 will do for me. I suspect most serious music lovers use a dedicated device for "listening" rather than passing the time anyway - I do.

The best SQ I've heard to date on a phone is the iphone 4. But if they produce a device with a 6" superduperAMOLED+++ screen, 10 GHz octuple processor and 10 years battery life, I'd still rather castrate myself with a blunt spoon than buy one.
[Galaxy S II General] barsk:
Hello, any ETA for the full report? I am waiting anxiously and has postponed bying the phone a couple of times already. :)

I am aware there will be no Voodoo for the SG2, but a report of the audio capabilities compared to other options is very welcome indeed.

For my dedicated listening I will investigate if and how a USB DAC solution can be applied. But for casual listening I hope the SQ will be "sufficient" as-is out of the phone.

Also, as there was a report on the Wolfson homepage that their chip was selcted "for one of the SG2 platforms" is there any hope that might materialize in the next model with the NFC chip? For Sweden the NFC model is confirmed for quarter 3 (August). I got a support email from Samsung Sweden about this just now.

OT: Btw, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is rumoured to have the Wolfson DAC. Will that one have the possibility for voodoo sound in the future?
[Galaxy S II General] lycan_codex:
one noob question, How to find out which model of DAC there is in the phone? it is possible only thru adb or from an app or any special code?
[Galaxy S II General] Straf:
Hi!!

anyone who had (or has) a xperia X10, can tell me if SGSII sounds louder than it? X10 sounds reaaaally low for me, and it would be great if you could confirm me SGSII sounds louder, both speaker and incall volume.

Thanks!!
[Galaxy S II General] novaci:
I haven't really faced any of the issues you guys seem to be having, but that might just be a difference in standards, I guess. I'm coming from a HD2 and the increase in SQ with the SGSII is pretty clear. The first thing I paid attention to was the differences in SNR. The HD2 (the HTC flagship phones that came after it haven't been an improvement in this regard either, from my experience) was hissing and popping with nearly all the IEM's and fullsize cans I've tried with it and the SGSII removed almost all of it. There's next to no background hiss and I can't really distinguish any noise related to CPU clocks or the radio like the rest of you. The volume level gets unbearably high after the 4/10 mark with my IEM's and my travel cans pump out more than enough volume at around 6/10.

I was pretty worried about what it'd sound like after browsing this thread after buying the phone, but all my worries have completely disappeared after the first few days with the phone. I've gone through most of HTC's high end lineup over the past few years and the SGSII has them beat fairly solidly as far as audio quality goes and in pretty much every other department aswell. The low SNR is perfect for all the podcast and audiobook listening I do and music sounds just about on par with your average dedicated player. It doesn't come close to the external DAC/Woo Audio tube amp/Sennheiser HD650 setup I have at home, nor does it power the HD650's without additional amping, but that isn't what I was expecting so it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

I own a pair of Klipsch S4's for jogging and the like and Aiaiai TMA-1's for commuting/flights/whatever and they both sound better with the SGSII than with any other smartphone I've owned. I'm a little mystified at the response it's gotten in this thread, since I've had no issues with the SQ at all. Granted, I never owned a Voodoo'd SGS or an iPhone, but the SGSII is the most pleasing all-in-one package (screen size, power, usability, sound quality) I've owned so far and it's the closest to a perfect phone any manufacturer has out at this moment, IMO.

Then again, it might just be that I own the one SGSII that left the factory with no issues. The battery lasted for over 24 hours after the first charge for example even with me ****ing around with the phone constantly.
[Galaxy S II General] Woodend:
Not the answer you have hoped for, but one way (at least it´s my way) to find out about it is following Supercurio on twitter.
[Galaxy S II General] barsk:
Thanks Novaci,

good to hear there is some positive feedback as well on the phone!
[Galaxy S II General] kradcliffe:
To be honest the Galaxy SII is quite good from an audio perspective.

If you install the Android 2.3 Equalizer app and set quite a high curve then enable EQ on Poweramp but leave it flat and turn the gain up to 80% then it sounds good.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.smartandroidapps.equalizer

Could do with a little bit more volume but it's certainly good enough for general listening and the equalizer app allows +/- 15db with virtually no distortion.

Things aren't as bad as people seem to think. It's a lot sharper on the treble than the Galaxy S with Voodoo which is good for me as my in-ear headphones lack treble a bit. Hopefully a custom kernel will allow a general audio boost then it will be amazing.

Just because it can't be modded doesn't mean there's an issue!

Keith
[Galaxy S II General] nikzDHD:
My point of view:

Sound is more than loud enough for me using Senns IE7 with the Sony Hybrid tips and also on my Klipsch Image Ones, on the Image Ones the bass is thumping as those are more bass orientated headphones the Senns pack some bass but it's more refined.

I'm not an audiophile by any means but the SQ is far better than any of my previous phones. I've also got an iPod Touch 3G and the Sansa Clip+.

The Sansa and touch without a doubt sound better the Sansa more so but for general listening i.e on the tube way to work this is adequate for me and for more some serious listening the Clip Rockboxed is small enough and produces some extra punch.

I was disappointed when I saw that a Yamaha chip was being used as I was looking forward to supercurio's voodoo project as I've heard good things about that on the SG1.

Oh well maybe the SG3 will incorporate something better in the meantime I can live with this one flaw as it's too good of a phone to give up to use something else at this current time!
[Galaxy S II General] jay_993:
I get this but I also dont get this at the same time... samsung makes good sounds with their mp3 players through DNSE tech. Why should they be bad at implementing similar thing on sgs2? Argh...
[Galaxy S II General] Sleepycat3:
I've tested my SGSII vs my iPad. With regards to the external speaker, the iPad speaker is very very soft, whereas the SGSII is just blazingly loud. Between the two, I'd pick the SGSII for sure. But I do notice something odd regarding the clarity. The SGSII audio output actually sounds a bit muffled. So using the headphones that came with the SGSII, I compared the headphone output on both devices and I could distinctly tell that the SGSII audio output lacked the clarity and high end frequencies of the iPad. For general use as a phone, the SGSII's audio is great. But if I was using it as an audio playback device to listed to nice high bitrate mp3s, it might be lacking in some areas. :(
[Galaxy S II General] lycan_codex:
Ipad and Iphone 4's have an amazing audio clarity and minimal distortions. its a treat for music lovers.
[Galaxy S II General] androidsjonnie:
What do you mean by music lovers?..

I am an audiophile and such devices aren't loved by us, far from it. ;)
[Galaxy S II General] cpu98:
Bought an Sennheiser IE8. (very high sensitivity)

Now music is always with ****ing audible noise.

Not just white noise it is really like emi noise.

It was not that noticeable with 'manually diffuse field referenced Etymotic mc5' (very low sensitivity)

(For those who don't know what it is -> it sounds like ideal speaker)

SGS2 + IE8(insert sensitive IEM here) = FAIL

With UE airline attenuator it is much better!
[Galaxy S II General] ImperialX:
Damn. You, sir, have given me the worst possible news I can ask for. The background noise my IE8 gave me with my Nexus One was almost unbearable. I was hoping the SGS2 wouldn't suffer from such problems because I really, really detest it. It wasn't a problem with my iPhone 4. I was hoping for some quality hardware from Samsung. :(

Is it really that bad? I would hate to have a phone I paid so much for to not provide me a good listening experience. The IE8s are absolutely amazing IEMs and there is no way I can use anything else now that I've been with it for a year. The soundstage is not something I can give up.
[Galaxy S II General] cpu98:
It makes decent classics recording into LP recording like 'Rachmaninoff plays Rachmaninoff', 70 years old!

General music is also messed up. Noises are masked by loud part but at the intro or quiet part it totally sucks.

Get an attenuator. There is no noise at all. it will help you a lot!
[Galaxy S II General] ImperialX:
Hiss is the one thing I absolutely detest, so I will be doing all I can to reduce it as much as can. Does the SGS2 have a line out? If it does I can just use an amp because I doubt using a Fiio E11 will give me any noise.

If it doesn't have a line out I'll be forced to use an attenuator like you said, but I'm worried the already unimpressive SQ will go down the drain when I attach one. Which one would you recommend with your SGS2? I'm still waiting for mine to arrive...
[Galaxy S II General] fallenguru:
Citation needed.

The issue is that it (reportedly) measures considerably worse than the SGS / Nexus S and that various other hardware activity, like CPU frequency switching, is audible. The fact that nothing can be done about that is just the final nail in the coffin.

If you're satisfied with the audio performance, more power to you, but why the need to defend a phone? Why not just say "I listen to such-and-such music in these situations with these headphones ... and for me it's good enough?"
[Galaxy S II General] cpu98:
Attenuator will not degrade sound quality. It will actually improve it because of increased impedance : lower distortion, lower crosstalk, eliminated hiss, better SNR.

SGS2 with an attenuator is pretty loud. Don't have to worry.:)

Ah, it doesn't have line out... Maybe later we can use external dac via usb host.
[Galaxy S II General] ImperialX:
So what would you recommend? A link to a eBay listing shipping Worldwide would be nice since it's not easy to get stuff here in Aussie...
[Galaxy S II General] cpu98:
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=140540429631&index=0&nav=SEARCH&nid=81880015285
[Galaxy S II General] rufolo:
as far as i have heards music in my SGS2 with bluetooth i can tell that it really sucks!

it sounds very very smooth, specially compared with SGS. I have notices that listen to music and doing something at the same time (opening an email i.e) it sounds louder for seconds! (50% louder at least!!)

why is that? i haven't proved without bluetooth yet, but as i said in my SGS hadn't got that problem.

i tried 3 different music playerers and all the same sh*t.

i hope it can be solved...:mad:
[Galaxy S II General] ImperialX:
I've just been thinking, can the hiss of sensitive IEMs (such as my IE8 or the SE530s) with the SGS2 be reduced by the usage of an DAC+amp? Attenuators are very prone to breaking when you walk around with them in your pocket...
[Galaxy S II General] B3311:
No hiss for me at all with IE8s.

Can only assume you guys have ears 20+ years younger than mine.....
[Galaxy S II General] ImperialX:
I actually don't have my SGS2 yet. It's scheduled to arrive next week.

What I can tell you is that my IE8 hisses with everything except the iPhone 4. That includes a MacBook Air, a Kindle and a Nexus One.
[Galaxy S II General] B3311:
Only used mine before on the SGS with voodo and my S9 - negligible hiss on both. YMMV.
[Galaxy S II General] ImperialX:
Of course there is negligible hiss on the SGS or the S9. Those two are excellent players (especially the Cowon). The question here is the SGS2. Are you sure your IE8s do not hiss when plugged into a SGS2?
[Galaxy S II General] B3311:
Of course I'm bloody sure, not sure why you're so sceptical, and don't be so condescending.

But as I've posted before, I'm fairly disappointed with the SGS2's SQ. I'd trade hiss for clarity and separation any day. If the IE8s can't get a decent soundstage from this device, nothing can, IMHO.

FWIW, my setup:

CD-EAC-FLAC-dbpoweramp-v2 vbr mp3-SGS 2-Poweramp.

Ears - 47 years old, can't ABX anything over -v4, last hearing test about 15kHZ.

As said, your mileage may vary....

Edit - I'll test again for you - been on an exclusive diet of 70s-80s funk/disco lately. Will let you know what I hear/don't hear on other genres.
[Galaxy S II General] BarryH_GEG:
If you read back in the thread, there's a couple of posts where people with identical headsets have and don't have background noise. My Shure 530's don't hiss while someone else's do. The reason hasn't been explained but if its not the headset then it may be hardware or something around the phone interfering with it.
[Galaxy S II General] RogerPodacter:
I also remember earlier posts saying that noise happens connected to GSM but not 3g. Of course the obvious GSM buzz from speakers but I think this was also background noise thru the headset.

So you also need to verify if you're on 2g or 3g.
[Galaxy S II General] Demiourgos:
USB audio DAC with Android

I found a info about USB OTG host mode abilities of Android 3.1 at Head-fi http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/553541/android-3-1-will-support-usb-host-mode-dac-s

most important -> http://developer.android.com/reference/android/hardware/usb/UsbConstants.html USB class for audio devices.

So in theory Android 3.1 can handle external USB DAC (that'a WIN!)

Next Android - Ice cream sandwich - will be made for smartphones and tablets and probably (stupid if not) will also use wider usb otg functions as Android 3.1

This gives an opportunity to use Galaxy S2 paired with portable USB DAC/AMP :D

Does someone have a tablet with Android 3.1 and a USB DAC to test that?

edit: what's more - GSM Arena reviewed Moto Xoom

"You get a standard microUSB interface complete with USB host functionality. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to use it before the expected Android 3.1 Honeycomb update."

If that worked with smartphones we could have top-notch portable audio quality!
[Galaxy S II General] crypticc:
some okay stuff written here, but the bit people are missing is that any eq, processing or bluetooth transmission will **** up the signal. That's unless the issue is really bad and in the amp stage, in which case bluetooth could actually be an improvement.

I never had original sgs but I understand that the reason it worked was it allowed source direct, not by adding stuff.

sgs ii components were probably all chosen on size vs performance criteria and maybe wolfson just too fat.
[Galaxy S II General] ImperialX:
Wow, that's amazing. The E530s are amongst the most sensitive low impedance IEMs. Those hiss in almost everything (even most amps if they're not good enough!), and you say they don't hiss with your SGS2? That's almost hard to believe lol.

I'll see when my SGS2 get here next week. Hoping they'll do well with my IE8.
[Galaxy S II General] verygoodbrother:
Hi everybody

Is the GSII using the wolfson or yamaha DAC. I'm currently due for an upgrade on o2 here in the UK. People are saying some devices have the wolfson and others with the yamaha. Can someone conclusively tell me which of the DAC the UK version of the GSII contains.
[Galaxy S II General] nikzDHD:
Have you not read any of this thread or the others posted on this forum? :confused:
[Galaxy S II General] ImperialX:
It uses the Yamaha. That's why there's so much drama going on in this thread.
[Galaxy S II General] verygoodbrother:
Thank you. Will a headphone amp work via the usb-OTG
[Galaxy S II General] B3311:
And this from someone who hasn't even got a SGS2

. So why exactly are you "LOLing"?

You seemed to find my lack of hiss with my IE8s hard to believe too.

Re my previous post - I've checked with all kinds of music - still no hiss.

You don't own an SGS2. Thus your musings are as useful as tits on a bull.

I impolitely suggest that you butt out of this subject until you actually get your device and hear for yourself - any opinion you may have is utterly worthless until then.
[Galaxy S II General] ph00ny:
Yamaha makes awesome audio equipment, and i'm pretty sad that it missed the mark completely. Hopefully this is something that can be addressed through a driver update in future firmware upgrades
[Galaxy S II General] bendispo:
People continue to place way too much emphasis on the DAC. As has been noted earlier in this thread, there's a lot more that's going wrong on the SGSII than just the DAC. It seems to have poor EMI shielding (reason for background hiss and crackling on sensitive phones) as well as a poor opamp (inadequate volume levels and distortion at higher volumes). These deficiencies can't be fixed through driver updates and tweaking...

Anything done at the software level is unfortunately bound by diminishing returns, which is the reason why supercurio won't be developing for the device.

In the end, even if a Wolfson DAC were substituted into the unit, the other components in the audio chain (shielding, power supply, opamp) would still keep the device from performing optimally. The DAC is only one aspect of the audio chain, and unfortunately here, it's clear that the other parts are letting it down.
[Galaxy S II General] awesome-member:
You can hear the hiss. I have westone 4. I have both sgs with voodoo and sgs2. I never use sgs 2 as a music player.I still carry around my sgs for music.