yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S II General] henriquesb:
I'm no audiophile, but I quite enjoyed Voodoo on my SGS1.

Following advice from one of the SGS2 sound threads, I purchased Volume+ and played with the settings. Found out that setting Virtual Room effect to +4 while leaving everything else default worked the best for me in games and videos, but doesn't seem to affect the stock music player.

Sent from my GT-I9100
[Galaxy S II General] xan:
Ok, what I've found out:

It appears that when I connect SGS2 to LINE IN in my soundcard (was about to record how crappy the sound was!) it sounds quite ok (well, not bad at all!).

Does SGS2 have resistance detection on output? Maybe it switches to different mode on HP and kills my sound?

On line out it sounds decent, on HP its total POS.
[Galaxy S II General] Arkanius:
Yes it does

Line out and HP have different response curves from the gsmarena test
[Galaxy S II General] xan:
Ok. Its not that bad now, sounds a quite nice.

It seems that jack socket is somehow picky. 4pole headsets are bugged, 3 pole seems to be ok. RMA I guess..
[Galaxy S II General] Woodend:
Does anybody know if Samsung has parted with Wolfson definitely?
[Galaxy S II General] supercurio:
No worries: Samsung continues to introduce new devices with Wolfson (like Galaxy Tab 10.1 in high end, but also several mid range or entry level devices :)

I don't have specific details about futures device (well, nobody knows in general: even beta testers under NDA receive several different prototype with either suppliers) but I'm confident for the future.
[Galaxy S II General] hansonator:
Aye to that! Unfortunately I'll likely have to miss out on the Galaxy S II, have other financial priorities, but hopefully when I'm up for upgrade there will be a Galaxy S III.

I love my Galaxy S and would definitely look at a Samsung for my next Android. Especially if it supported supercurio's amazing voodoo sound, one of the reasons my Galaxy S still pleases me to no end.
[Galaxy S II General] NuckinFutz:
This is what I was staying numerous posts ago, people keep beating on about the yamaha dac but there are other factors. The culprit here is the opamp.

I still have no issue with the sound, power amp and sensitive headphones and all is well
[Galaxy S II General] pastuch:
Samsung is making me insane. I love everything about the SGSII but it doesn't have Wolfson. Meanwhile, the Samsung Infuse 4g which is inferior in most ways does have the DAC and a bigger SAMOLED screen. After measuring out the Infuse 4g I think 4.5 inches makes for too large of a phone but I have yet to try it in person.

Does anyone know if the Samsung Hercules (Infuse 4g w/dual core) on T-mobile will keep the Wolfson DAC or will it switch over to the Yamaha?

It's never easy being an audiophile, compromise is a *****!
[Galaxy S II General] rockambole:
thanks you all for sharing! very informative posts!
[Galaxy S II General] Arkanius:
My only beef with the audio quality is the stereo separation and the VOLUME

It's really low compared to a digital maxed and analog controlled Voodoo sound...

There is no progress margin for this DAC right supercurio?
[Galaxy S II General] Dr Tone:
So how much does a quality headphone amp help the situation?

I take it the head phone jack switched to line out based on impedance?
[Galaxy S II General] pastuch:
I've been reading about the Sansa Clip+ and the Ipod Classic/video 30gb W/wolfson dac and Rockbox firmware as an alternative to using a smart phone. The Sansa Clip+ 4gb + Rockbox for $40 is epic sound quality for the money.
[Galaxy S II General] RogerPodacter:
if you follow him on twitter he's off in other forums working on the G2x and such, any phone which does have the wolfson audio chip. think he aint coming back to the SGS2:(.
[Galaxy S II General] KaliKot:
The Sansas are good for the Money but imo they dont match up to the SGS2 when you use a good music app like Poweramp+DSP Manager/Equalizer.

The iPod Video has the best DAC out of all the iPods but the headphone out doesnt give clean output. If you pair it with a LOD+amp its a wonderful player!

If you dont want to drain your battery then its definitely best to use a different DAP in conjunction. I dont use music on the SGS2 much myself, as I have a dedicated Cowon player and an iModded iPod Video for that purpose.

It would be nice to have the wolfson chip back though. WHY SAMSUNG?? WHYY
[Galaxy S II General] nikzDHD:
Mate rockbox a Sansa then you'll be even more amazed. I currently use a Sansa clip+ as its small enough and have disregarded the SG2 as a music device. I use Senn IE7s on the go and Shure 440s at home and the sound from the Sansa beats any software combo on the SG2.
[Galaxy S II General] j291:
XXKG2 firmware seems to have made some changes to the audio output. :) Headphone output is definitely louder, (it also warns you when you go over volume 13! Which I didn't think it did before?), and the stereo seems a bit wider than before? Can anyone confirm or it just me? Is it worth doing some tests?
[Galaxy S II General] KaliKot:
Been there, done that. The Sansas just can't satisfy my audio craving, they seem to be missing in performance in some frequencies. For the IE7 and SRH440 I would say you're good with a Sansa ;)

I like to hear detail and while I highly recommend Sansas to most people who are looking for a DAP, you probably wont see me carrying one around. The Clip+ is mightily handy and amazing for gym though!

A Rockboxed iPod Video is miles ahead of the Sansas using the LOD my experience.

I found the stock SGS2 music player and settings to be lacking, but adding enhancements and I was able to say that it became "adequate". Needless to say, it wont be replacing my DAPs.

I'm happy that there's software enhancements which can make my listening at least enjoyable on the SGS2. Nothing like Voodoo Sound on some wolfson dacs though.

I hope Supercurio can find something to tweak on the SGS2. Been following his impressive work and he has always delivered.
[Galaxy S II General] nikzDHD:
True, 3.1 has usb host maybe phones will get this soon in ICS then we can output to DACs.
[Galaxy S II General] soraxd:
i didn't notice the sound till the other day.. when i crank my car volume up to anything past 34 the sound quality is horrible like on crappy headphones, I thought it was my car speakers till I pluged my gfs sgs1 in and it was perfect, even cranked up to Max (46), then if that wasn't enough I turned on the voodoo soundboost, which we don't have on the sgs2, and it was still perfect.. so good news my cars stereo system rocks, bad news my phone sounds like a piece of **** ipod nano.. I wonder if anyone can make an app that cranks up the DB output like audioboost2 and voodoo does for the sgs1
[Galaxy S II General] nraudigy2:
Bought me a headphone amp for this. Such a beast to go with this beast.

http://www.amazon.com/Rolls-Ch-Head...WLMS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311207215&sr=8-1
[Galaxy S II General] Woodend:
This is exactly the way I wanna go. I´m hoping too, that the Hercules will have the Wolfson. So I have my fingers crossed for the 26th of September. Am I assuming right that this phone will work in Europe?
[Galaxy S II General] kradcliffe:
Well I have gone back to the SGS and it's heavenly. Equalizer app plus Poweramp and Voodoo sound and it's easily the best sound output I've ever had.

The Sansa Clip + is bloody good for the money. Even on the standard firmware it rocks!

Keith
[Galaxy S II General] Dr Tone:
I bought a Fiio E11 headphone amp and it's made a world of difference.

Really opened up the sound. Take the blanket off.

Better soundstage and stereo seperation.

Punchier.

Big bonus is the noise that happened on the beginning of songs and when using the phone screen has been cleaned up.

Everyone *****es about the Yamaha DAC, but it really isn't the real sound issue with this phone.
[Galaxy S II General] knightnz:
PowerAmp.

As a matter of interest, the 2nd gen iPod Shuffle had the best audio quality of all iPods to date. Bit of a waste on a measly shuffle, but there you are.
[Galaxy S II General] nraudigy2:
This amp will put it to next level. Bit on expensive side. $50, but worth it.

http://www.amazon.com/Rolls-Ch-Headphone-Amp-HA43-PRO/dp/B0010BWLMS
[Galaxy S II General] dario3040:
I am pretty sure that you can't put that in your pocket... O_o
[Galaxy S II General] Gilgehmesh:
No, the 1st gen iPod Shuffle had to best audio quality. They mistakenly put in really good audio components... that was "fixed" from 2nd generation and beyond.
[Galaxy S II General] nraudigy2:
You can, you just need a belt :)
[Galaxy S II General] NuckinFutz:
Finally someone's talking sense. The dac is only part of the circuit, by adding an amp at line level you will be reducing any problems caused by the opamp (which i believe is more of the issue). All a dac does is convert a digital stream into a voltage.
[Galaxy S II General] on2a:
Fully agree with the above. For what it's worth I actually think the sound on my phone is pretty good, for example there is better low end extensionand wider soundstage compared to my iPhone4.

For you rom'ers I've also found that the rom/player makes a huge difference. When I played music through the default music player on MIUI it sounded phenomenal..

Just my 2 cents
[Galaxy S II General] goebish:
I fully agree with the above comments.

I use an iBasso D10 amp with the SGS2 and the sound is pretty good (not perfect) with my Q-Jays IEMs.

It's not a problem to have this device in my pocket along with the phone as it has sat there for more than 2 years with my iPod Touch 1G.

I hope USB sound output will be availlable soon, without having to wait for the official 3.1, so I can have a perfect sound using the DAC stage of the D10 !
[Galaxy S II General] Dr Tone:
It's 4 channel, not portable(no rechargable battery). I don't know how you could actually recommend this. :confused:

For $10 more get the Fiio E11 and now you have a proper solution.
[Galaxy S II General] seaskimmer:
Did you consider where the power for that is going to come from :P Lemon batteries in your bag?

Anyways, I've been around head-fi for a while now and one of the things holding me back from buying this phone is the fear of having poor audio. Yes, I can use a iPod>LOD>amp but that's bulky for truly "on the go" use. Also, it's hard to audition a phone's audio quality in store since you are limited to what the phone already has on it which is usually bad 128kbps mp3 files of pop music.

For others wondering why the Yamaha DAC is inferior to the Wolfson, it is because the DAC converts a digital signal to an analog signal which is then sent to another sector where it is amplified into a listenable level. The Wolfson DAC has a flatter and wider frequency response. Looking at the graphs supercurio posted you will notice that the Samsung frequency response starts dropping at around 40hz on the low end and 8Khz on the high end. A good DAC chip should maintain a close as possible frequency response to the +0dB line. The Wolfson isn't perfect either, but it's closer and what seems like a little difference on the graph translates into big differences in the ears of somebody who has heard true hi-fi.

Is there any way to create a line-level out? That would make full potential of any audio for people who are interested in quality as it allows the use of a external amp. OR, even better, any way to modify the USB OTG system to be able to recognize USB DAC's when connected? Being able to connect a RSA Predator and use it's DAC and Amp features would be amazing...
[Galaxy S II General] Dr Tone:
Here's the analysis and comparison to the S1 and other phones:

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9100_galaxy_s_ii-review-597p8.php

The line out numbers are pretty good and not that far off from the S1. It's pretty clear to see that the head phone amp is killing things, not so much the DAC.

USB DAC's won't be possible till ice cream sandwich.
[Galaxy S II General] NuckinFutz:
Exactly. People keep going on about the dac but this cannot be tested independent of the circuit without taking the phone apart and probing the device directly. The best comparison is to look at the line out figures, which are rather good. The s1 has worse stereo separation but better distortion levels
[Galaxy S II General] Forsh:
A lot of people are saying that they think the headphone amp is the biggest player in the poor SQ of the S2 - rather than the DAC. Could someone with a headphone amp do a side by side qualitative test? That's the only easy we'll know for sure.
[Galaxy S II General] NuckinFutz:
You should be able to use the PC for this if you have a decent set up. If you have a decent sound card it will have a line-in. Connect the phone using a 3.5 to 3.5 cable and turn the volume right down on the phone and compare the output to files played directly from the computer. Ideally you shoud use an external amp. I may have a go myself. I have been happy with the sound but doing this should remove the interference you can get when scrolling through tracks whilst nothing is playing.
[Galaxy S II General] mets3214:
I really want to get the GS2 but this sound quality issue still keeps me with the iphone 4. I have bose qc15, how good would the sound quality be on that compared to the iphone 4. I love everything bout the GS2 instead of the audio quality.....
[Galaxy S II General] Arkanius:
Supercurio should come here and clarify this for everyone. I'm tired of people spewing "my iphonez has btr snd Qlty!!! "

I'm thinking of getting an amp for my car. I use line out with the car dock but I still feel it needs more power and puch.
[Galaxy S II General] JuniorGG:
mega LOL!!! :D :D :D
[Galaxy S II General] JuniorGG:
I'd never buy an external phone amp. It really makes no sense to me.

Besides, I guess I would have to connect it to the headphone output jack, right? So the sound would still be spoilt by the internal amp of the phone, before being delivered to the external amp. Yes ok, the external amp would likely have a better output stage, but will this really make the difference? And even in case it will, at which cost?
[Galaxy S II General] on2a:
It depends, when you use an external amp, for example on the iphone, you do it via Line out, which is in the dock connector. I'm not sure if you can get line out on the Galaxy S2...

That said, and I'll say this again. Coming from my iPhone 4 I don't find the sound of the Galaxy S2 to be worse. The soundstage is wider and the bass goes deeper. Its warmer sounding though not as clinical as the iPhone 4. I've had no issues with the volume through my headphones - I use Westone 3 IEMs for those of you who know them, and the sound goes LOUD. They are pretty efficient earphones so I'm not sure if everyone would have similar sound levels...

Re the comments on graphs, they have their uses but at some stage you have to trust your own ears... I've read a thousand and one arguments about frequency response graphs and whatever (on head-fi as well as other forums). just remember that we all hear differently. Your best bet is to try and demo these out then you can make your own mind up. I know thats easier said than done, but its the truth of it..

Finally, what I've found in coming to Android, the rom and the music player used make a big difference. Therefore one person's experience on the Galaxy S2 will not be the same as another due to the large amount of variables..
[Galaxy S II General] Dr Tone:
The headphone jack is also a line out jack. It switches automatically based on impedance.
[Galaxy S II General] arkadius41:
Well, which rom and music player are you talking about then ?

I use power amp, volume + and my headphones are Nuforce E700X
[Galaxy S II General] on2a:
On TW I used PowerAmp. I found the MIUI rom to have great sound with the stock music player

At the moment im using CM7 nightly 10 and thats ok too.

Overall I have to say that the MIUI player was the most impressive..

Ive recently started using the UberMusic app and that seems like an awesome player also..
[Galaxy S II General] Techvir:
WOw they are damn costly... Will have to do something superspecial to get my better half to say yes.:rolleyes:
[Galaxy S II General] JuniorGG:
Really? Where did you get this information from?

Besides, I am a bit frustrated by the fact that in order to get decent audio level and quality, I have to wear in ear buds or big headphones.

I have a pair of Shure 115 in ear buds. They are expensive enough to sound good (and indeed they do), but I find them not comfortable enough to wear outdoor.

I also bought a pair of Sehnneiser CX 300 precision II, hoping that they would be more comfortable to wear, but in the end they're not that much, and I also found out that sound quality (and output level) sucks if compared to the Shures. So it's just like having thrown my money out of the window...

I really would have preferred if I could use "normal" earbuds of budget type, but so far none of which I have tried sound good and loud enough!

The phone's loudspeaker is also a big disappointment... It's miles behind the quality and loudness I was used to with my previous phone, a 4 years' old Nokia N95 8GB. I know that almost all modern touchscreen smartphones have bad speaker quality, but i can't really find a reason why they should.
[Galaxy S II General] JuniorGG:
Sound may well improve by changing ROM, but I have read that MIUI or CM7 still have plenty of other issues with the Galaxy S2, therefore I prefer to stuck with the stock ROM.
[Galaxy S II General] NuckinFutz:
Get ur ass over to Headfi.org and read Jokers thread:

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread...compared-xears-nature-n3i-xe200pro-added-8-01

So many earphones reviewed with impedance and sensitivity levels for each. I had the Creative EP630 (almost identical to the CX300's) and they were poop! For reference I'm now using the Brainwavz proAlpha's but you should look at the MEelectronic range, Xears, and Soundmagic for a start. All are cheap and sound MILES better. In general i don't think the lower end Sures are very rated over there, can't vouch for them myself as never had a pair.
[Galaxy S II General] Dr Tone:
Do yourself a favor and just get used to your in ears, the decreased amount of sound pressure needed to get a decent sound is way better for your ears in the long run. Plus as you say they will always sound better as well.
[Galaxy S II General] KaliKot:
I should recommend the Yuin PK2 to you. And NO, do not be afraid to spend for audio if you really want to enjoy your music guys. Its better to get a Dedicated DAP as well such as a Cowon player.

The SGS2 is a fine player using anything other than the Stock Rom, using DSP enhancements such as Equalizer and Volume+ helps as well. It's decent but definitely not as special as the SGS1 with Voodoo. Better than the Sansa players imo
[Galaxy S II General] on2a:
Agreed!
[Galaxy S II General] JuniorGG:
Thank you mates for the advices on quality earbuds.

Some prefer traditional earbuds, other prefer the in ear ones. I believe that it's just a matter of personal taste. Personally I use both. I tend to prefer the in ear type for listening at home, or on long train / airplane jouneys, whereas I prefer the traditional type for day to day listening when walking by the street, where I opt for praticity rather than for top-notch sound quality.
[Galaxy S II General] toastmh:
I have tried a few sets of earphones with this device. Some sound horrible and some sound great. I have now settled with a set of Shure SE215's. They are relatively cheap at $125 and sound absolutely amazing with flat eq and power amp player!

Highly reccomend
[Galaxy S II General] JuniorGG:
I also own these and highly recommend them.
[Galaxy S II General] nikzDHD:
Headphones do play a good part in how it'll sound, both my senns IE7 and shure 440s lack bass with the phone but my image ones pack bass. However the ie7s and 440s on dedicated mp3 players punch bass.
[Galaxy S II General] pspilot:
I double that question, or rather, I strongly doubt Dr Tone's statement. If you study the datasheet of the audio chip, you'll find a dedicated headphone amp which I assume is used. There's also no such thing like a 'OP-Amp' or other drivers which could mess up the output, it's all contained in the Yamaha chip - which leads me to my orginal reason to post here.

All I read on the last 50 pages (yes, I read them all) is talk about software (drivers) or the unavoidable 'eval Yamaha chip'. I'm coming from the hardware department and looking at the datasheet, there's plenty possibilities to mess up the results with a bad design around the chip, especially regarding the power supplies. The YMU818 needs several different power supplies and also one for the headphone amp. My assumption is, that Samsung didn't care for a good, seperated 2.8V supply as suggested, but used the 1,8V, that have to be there for the I/Os and the logic anyway. This theory is also supported by the fact, that the headphone amp power supply is obviously badly decoupled, resulting in switching noise some people with higher impedance headphones can hear.

I also looked into the max. output level at different loads and that lools VERY weak. The chip could supply a max. of 2Vpp if properly supplied, all I could ever see on the output were 160mVpp!! Playing a 1kHZ sinus with PowerAmp, you can push the output to the max with the euqalizer. From exactly 160mVpp the output starts clipping. Now THAT can't drive a headphone very well, let alone snappy, fast responses. And it explains the extremly different oppinions of different users with obviously different headphones. The worse a design is, the more it has to rely on the 'match' with the headphone.

I don't know whether Samsung just f**ed it up or if they wanted an extremly power saving design or what - but I'm quite convinced, that the chip is by far not applied as good as it could be. My 2 cents: software can't help.
[Galaxy S II General] supercurio:
@pspilot yes, the headphone amp and its power stage are kind of weak (and its impedance is high, which reduces its power efficiency) but for most sensitive in-ear headphones it's not so bad.

Though I agree with all you say here!

What's missing for me to implement Voodoo Sound is an analog control that would allow to tune the amp according to the desired gain.

Unfortunately it's only a digital control, trimming bits.

However, what bothers me the most is the high amount of DAC inter-modal distortions, due to a design or implementation bug.

IMHO its likely that the AP clock used as source for the DAC is not very stable and suffer from jitter, which causes unavoidable distortions as its used as master clock.

IMD+noise distortions are so high (which is what really kills the audio clarity, sound is dead) that I assume the chip performs well in lab conditions, on its dev board using a very accurate cristal as master clock.

But on the phone, using a low power PLL.. its not the same thing!

(same remark for audible CPU and GSM noise)

PS: sorry I'm Extremely late publishing my detailed analysis, I have all the data & measurements already.
[Galaxy S II General] JuniorGG:
pspilot,

you're providing good evidence of what I have always thought since the very first time I have listened to this device.

I would bet my groins that you're right.

In fact, the great sensitivity to different earbuds, combined to boomy bass and the evident clipping, clearly suggest that the amp cannot provide enough current to the earpieces.