yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] python08:
http://focus.ti.com/en/graphics/wtb...cPN=TMS320DM642&isFunctional=Y&isFunctional=Y

TWL6030 is for power management and TWL6040 is the audio codec.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Chirality:
Yes, TWL6040 is the DAC. This becomes obvious once you read the TI documents on the OMAP4 platform and the datasheet for the TWL6040.

The TWL6030 is the power management unit. The TWL6040 and TWL6030 are meant to be used together in a close pairing, if you read the TWL6040 datasheet you'll see several references to power being provided to the chip by the TWL6030. But you can use the TWL6030 without the TWL6040 (not sure if the reverse is true), for example the BlackBerry Playbook uses the TWL6030 for power management while using the Wolfson WM8994 for audio. The Galaxy Nexus meanwhile uses both chips like TI intended it.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Nebucatnetzer:
Is this now a good or a bad thing? Or was the TWL6040 never used in a other device before?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Chirality:
Seems that way. There aren't that many OMAP4 devices to begin with, and none of the ones on the market right now seem to be using the TWL6040 codec.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ZFrogdroid:
hmmm TI or Wolfson??

Samsung selected Wolfson Audio Hubs for multiple new Galaxy S models, including the Google Nexus S, its Wave 2 smartphone platform, one of its next generation Galaxy S2 platforms, its latest tablet PC products and its 4G LTE phone, the Galaxy S Vibrant.

With all the responses from any of us who give a crap, would it not be silly to put the old Wf chip in ANY other 2nd gen GS phone besides the Nexus?

I can't quite tell if it has been ruled out yet, but it kinda looks like it's TI for the audio all the way around. Chip in (haha) if you have an opinion, but they used some harware from the NS, so why screw with something that is damn near perfect?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] slipudatung:
I saw the Galaxy Note specs and they used the crappy yamaha in that. Maybe Wolfson is too dear and not enough people care?

---------- Post added at 07:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:23 PM ----------

http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4215276/TI-big-winner-in-Playbook-teardown

Im still confused. This Site says the 6040 is power management. Definately need to see an official teardown from the likes of ifixit etc.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Sjael:
Check this: http://focus.ti.com/pdfs/wtbu/omap_4_pb_swpt034.pdf

Clearly shows the TWL6040 with integral DACs, audio outs, and everything. :)

(page 5 or so)

As for the Note, that's basically a gigantic S2 - it was probably just far more cost effective to simply run with what they had.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ericc191:
Same.. all I see are people wearing those cheap $10 iFrogz Plugz.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Nebucatnetzer:
I think the main problem is that people don't want spend that much money and they don't see why they should. How should they know how awesome music sounds, when they never had the possibility to hear it?

In addition to that they're using crappy mp3s with a 128kbps bit rate so it's probably better if they're using their bad headphones which have been designed to listen mp3s.

When you listen mp3s with good headphones it sounds like ****.

So they live better with their headphones which try to correct the mp3 sound and not with studio headphones which give you the sound like it is without any compassion how bad it sounds.

Another thing is marketing and "high quality" stuff like beats:rolleyes:.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] [hfm]:
Especially when you can get some decent sounding buds for cheap..

http://www.amazon.com/MEElectronics-CW31-Wooden-Headphones-Players/dp/B004OBZ2X6

I am using klipsch s4a, but I bought some of these after a coworker recommendation and they are great especially for the price. Wife is currently using them and loves them.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jay_993:
To all people that's scared to **** about the DAC:

I was in the same position when I bought sgs2. Paired with my shure se530s it did sound crap with the stock music player. BUT if you play with POWERAMP 2.0 coupled with equalizer (yes not DSP manager cuz that one distorts) you get pretty much same output as sgs1. really.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] xManMythLegend:
Poweramp is weird. The eq doesnt seem to act like a normal EQ would. Even 'flat' the instant you turn it in the sound gets muffled.

Maybe I'm not understanding how it works. But w/voodoo sound you can turn up the bass without the dynamic compression poweramp and dso seem to give
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jay_993:
Yep. Agree with you on that. I don't really use poweramp's EQ; just like one touch which is why you add the equalizer app to the mix.

Also, powerAMP 2.0 is a huge leap from original powerAMP if you havent tried it out. 2.0 ver sounds really nice with a touch of stereo X as well.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Chirality:
It's a typo. That article is using this as its source:

http://www.ubmtechinsights.com/teardowns/blackberry-playbook-teardown/

The fourth paragraph mentions TWL6040, when the writer actually meant to write TWL6030. Later on in the article, it is correctly pointed out that the TWL6030 is used for power management in the Playbook.

Unfortunately this article got quoted many times and most of the time it's quoted the mistake in the fourth paragraph was repeated, that's why you see many people claiming that the Playbook has the TWL6040 when it only has the 6030.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ericc191:
Lol, nice link. I am in love with my MEElec M6s!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] betoNL:
....subscribing

....
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Lambduh:
Well shoot...this is good to know. I just assumed that a Samsung device would end up with voodoo. Thanks for the info guys!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ryohazuki:
Why don't you ask anyone who owns a Droid 3 or a LG Thrill? They both have Omap 4430 soc's which have the TWL6030/6040
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] grinchyyy:
If it's the same one in the Bionic then it BLOWS!

Sent from my DROID BIONIC
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Chirality:
The TWL6030/6040 are companion ICs to the OMAP4 platform, they are not part of the SoC. Neither the Droid 3 nor the Droid Bionic use either of these two chips. Not sure about the LG Thrill, can't find any teardowns of it online.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] lycan_codex:
---- comment deleted ----
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] sauron0101:
It means that this is still up in the air. Need an official teardown.

Edit:

Samsung is all over the place. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 for example has the Wolfson:

http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/cracking-open-the-samsung-galaxy-tab-101/6258363?seq=49&tag=content;thumbnail-view-selector
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Bear55:
The Samsung Droid Charge has the Wolfson too. The DAC and screen are two things that I might end up needing to experience in a store before I buy this phone. I love the Wolfson DAC on the Charge and the screen is incredible. (I played with a Bionic yesterday and it was a painful experience looking at the pentile screen; it actually gave me a mild headache.)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] sauron0101:
The RGBW pentile screens on the Motorola phones suck. Big time. Definitely much worse than the RGBG screens on the Samsung Pentiles ... no comparison there. This screen density is high enough that some people claim that it is hard to see the subpixels. Lets hope so. At least we know that the next logical step up, a 1600x900, it will be harder to see the subpixels.

Droid Charge has the same Super Amoled Plus on the GS2.

Fingers crossed on this one. The Galaxy Note has the same Yamaha DAC as the GSII, which means it is not suitable for good cans.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] betoNL:
Not really....the Yamaha dac is somehow better implemented on the Note

And the Note sounds just better when you use good cans

I just wonder how the non-wolfson dac of the GNexus will do

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[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] betoNL:
Comparison test?

Anyway, for those who already own a Galaxy nexus AND have experience with phones equipped with the Wolfson DAC, like the sgs, i-phone and more, how is the GNexus's sound in comparison?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] sauron0101:
So far, you are the only one who has said that.

Nobody right now has the release version of the Galaxy Nexus.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] paratox:
*push*

what do the freshly baked galaxy nexus owners think about the audio quality?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] grinchyyy:
I Second that, somebody out there has to have one and care enough about audio quality...

Sent from my DROID BIONIC
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] betoNL:
It doesnt matter what I think about the Yamaha dac implementation on the Note

I am just curious to know how the GNexus's DAC is doing, since it's gonna be a while till it hits the showrooms here in Holland...

My question was directed to the fresh owners of the new GNexus....which according to you, dont exist yet

If it's correct or not that the galaxy note sounds better the sgs2 even with the same DAC, well that's off-topic really.....

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[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Tom Servo:
No one knows what DAC's in the Nexus. The TWL6040 is just a routing and power management component, to which you hook a DAC to.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] oscillik:
what self respecting 'audiophile' listens to music on a phone and expects high quality?

LOL
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Chirality:
This has been debunked several pages ago. The TWL6040 is the DAC, the TWL6030 is the power management unit. Read the TI white papers a few pages back if you have any doubts.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] floweredup:
Well with V-moda headphones I'd say it sounds better at playing -v 6 ogg rips than my Nexus One.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] betoNL:
So tell me which PORTABLE music player sounds better than a phone, lets say like the sgs1,so I can also have a laugh .... :D
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] oscillik:
my point being that no true 'audiophile' would relegate their immensely important listening experience to a portable music player and earphones.

even the highest of the high Grado earphones are open back, and thusly completely useless in an environment where there is background noise.

true 'audiophiles' listen in acoustically treated rooms with Project turntables and electrically grounded and shielded amps, and reference monitors (yes, not speakers...monitors)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Nebucatnetzer:
Sure that is what you would do normally but what's about sitting in a train for example. I can't put all my stuff on the train so I have to choose a compromise between mobility and sound quality.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ruthlesset:
Have you tried cowon j3?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] oscillik:
and exactly my point:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Nebucatnetzer:
So what? That doesn't mean we can't discuss the sound quality so that we can choose the, for ourselves, best sound quality, mobility etc. compromise.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Tom Servo:
Ah well, hope it has a decent noise floor.

What "audiophile" has actually self-respect? I have a wooden volume knob, a 5000 dollar power cord and a bunch of surround crystals to sell to that person.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] oatterzonxda:
LOL so trueeeee. ill paypal you for the knobs and power cable. Do you happen to have 3-meters of Everest? Ill trade you 3 of those for my 2011 AMG S63.

/noselfrespect
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] aFo3262:
....

Have you ever used custom IEM's like the JH-13, JH-3A, Westone ES5? Portable and yet compete with cans like the HD800's and Stax setups reasonably well and can be driven from an iPhone(A good source too). Grados aren't even so great, except from some ancient models from the Joe Grado time
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] sauron0101:
This thread is being derailed quickly. Lets stay on topic here.

With the UK release now, it's only a matter of time before someone from iFixIt or somewhere else takes it apart.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] oscillik:
do you understand that any kind of earphone (whether it is in-ear, on-ear or over-ear) cannot represent bass frequencies accurately?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] aFo3262:
I guess the folks at head-fi.org are all wrong then, every single one. It's a testament to good cans that you can get an equivalent amount of ambiance and detail on a pair of 1K cans compared to 10-20k speakers. But thank you for defining what a "true" audiophile is..

The MDR-R10 is closed back by the way

Anyways, I'm sorry to derail the thread.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] oscillik:
considering that it is physically impossible for headphones/earphones to represent bass properly, i guess they are wrong!

look at that....people on the internet being wrong!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ruthlesset:
A lot of people want to use their phones to listen to music. If sound clarity and separation are important, then the phone DAC makes a big difference specially when used with a good set of headphones like the Audio-Technica ATH-M50 or EarSonics sm3.

That said, there is nothing wrong in expecting a good DAC.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] robrob777:
interested in this too.

I prefer my Nexus S over my Hd2 and prevous iphone when it comes to sound.

I didnt know they had DAC or what was a DAC before.

I like also the sound in the touchpad, it reminds me a little of the Nexus S.

So whats the finest sound in a Cellphone?

Galaxys/nexus S (wolfson)

Htc with beats audio.

BBs

iphones

Other?

I use bose headphones at work and jbl speakers at home and there is really a big difference btwn devices.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ruthlesset:
The DAC on the Nexus S is pretty good although I still use my Cowon J3 as the primary player. I have used it with my main 3 headphones: Audio-Technica ATH-M50, EarSonics sm3 and the Senn HD595.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] sauron0101:
The Nexus S has the same Wolfson DAC as the Galaxy S series of phones, so it should be good quality.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] WhiteHartMart:
Only had a brief listen on mine using some Yuin PK2s that I have.

I've come from an Xperia Arc, and before that I did have a SGS2 for a while.

I've not had enough time to make a definitive view but at this stage, the Nexus sounds more open than the Arc (which had a warm veil to the sound imo) and seems to be able to drive the Yuin's much better than the SGS2 - my ears will give up before I reach max volume this time around.

To my ears, at this stage, it offers a pretty well balanced sound - plenty of detail resolved without sounding overly harsh on the tracks I have tried. The mids certainly sound better than the previous 2 phones mentioned from my recollection.

Not had a play with any equaliser settings yet as I prefer listening without tweaking these in any way if possible.

Reckon it has potential - and its certainly good enough for the amount of listening I do.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] grinchyyy:
I think it is quite obvious that a true audiophile doesn't listen to mp3's on a phone, nobody made mention to that prior to this ridiculous argument. Some of us that can't drag around high end equipment to our workplace or car simply want a phone with a higher quality DAC.

That is all.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] KaliKot:
He's just being a douche and derailing the topic.

The Nexus One is understandably bad since HTC has never been known for good audio, and dont give me that beats crap, or bose or skullcandy. If you are using any of them you're doing it wrong.

The Nexus S and Galaxy S had a really good audiophile quality DAC, hence Supercurio with his HD650's unleashing it's full potential. It's probably on par with the Cowon players technically with voodoo sound.

I currently have an SGS2 but I dont use it for music over my iPod or J3, since they're my dedicated music sources.

I am very interested in this development. Initial feedback seems to be pretty good on the GNexus' Dac/AMP.

This could make or break whether I should switch to the Nexus or not.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Korntoff:
Exactly. Because audiophiles don't listen to mp3s. (Notice how I didn't use an apostrophe to pluralize? You're going it wrong.) They listen to goddamned lossless audio. What was that you said about knowing about audiophiles?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] grinchyyy:
This isn't English class, do you posses any useful information regarding the DAC within this phone?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] blkrabb1t:
You need POWER to drive cans. By that, won't it be a requirement to have a portable amp if you really want to use cans?

And I'm curious on how the audio comes out on this device too, but with no microSD slot, it kinda limits how much stuff that can be placed on the phone.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Chirality:
It has a capless class-D headphone amp, which is sufficient to drive small portable cans.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ruthlesset:
People are asking a simple question "how is the audio quality?" The Nexus S has a Wolfson DAC and the audio quality is great with a good set of cans like the Audio-Technica ATH-M50 or IEMs like the ES sm3's with 320 kbps mp3s. No one is *****ing at Google about it!

No one asked to try it out with $20k+ reference monitors, closed sound proof room, portable amps or FLAC files. People with money to burn have those options. Also a portable amps are useful if your cans/headphones need more power to drive them. Like I mentioned before I own 3 headphones as well as a Nexus S and a Cowon J3. My headphones do not really need a portable amp to drive them, but a portable amp would help improve the quality. I am happy listening to 320 kbps music on my nexus S without a portable amp, but the same music on my nexus one was bad.

All that said, if you have no useful information to share, please avoid posting useless info. No one is asking for studio quality music because no one expects studio quality music from this.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] grinchyyy:
Couldn't agree more! There are some new rumors flying around that Verizon may only initially release a 16gb version making the quality of the DAC ever more important as we will have to rely more heavily on "cloud music" yuck...

Sent from my DROID BIONIC
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] blkrabb1t:
All I care is good sound reproduction, so that my Mp3/FLAC files don't sound like buzzy crap with my IE8is or other high end headphones. Expecting more than that from a portable DAC is like asking to part the red sea.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] sauron0101:
Early reviews from the UK version indicate a superior audio quality to the i9100, but these are completely subjective. Still awaiting a tear-down. Shouldn't be too long now; a high profile device like this one has got to get one soon.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] @home:
I do hope the sound quality is excellent cause I'm taking a massive step backwards going back to mp3 from Flac due to no SD card.

Has anyone tries there Nexus with a pair of good quality earphones (£50+)? Not the usual £10-£20 stuff?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] oscillik:
looks like if you happen to live in an area that has patchy 3G/HSPA coverage it won't matter what DAC the phone has because there is a really nasty bug happening

edit: Android bug tracker page
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] NatTheCat:
I have compared the Nexus to the GS2.

1. Don't worry it blows the GS2 out the water. Highs are high, lows are low.

Tested with .flac on same settings via power amp.

2. Its the best sound quality I have ever heard from .flac on a mobile phone. I never owned a Nexus1.

3. Speaker is very low. Not as loud as cm7 on GS2 but hey the quality is OK.

4. Gone are the days of the Bluetooth audio crackle via A2DP. It has very good quality via A2DP even compared to GS2 CM7.

If you are interested I tested the phones with some Astro A40's. Not the best for an audiophile but suitable for the test I guess.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] @home:
Many Thanks for that

It's unfortunate that to run the Nexus on Flac it's gonna a daily install & delete. Not a happy thought :rolleyes:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] NatTheCat:
Yep I was going to install a full album but would have only have 5gb left. Ahh why no micro SD.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ruthlesset:
thanks! good to know this.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bcpk:
No big deal, the Nexus One sounded crap.

Do you even know what a DAC does? The number of people in this thread going "herp derp I hope it has a good DAC" is hilarious. Most people can't tell the difference between DACs at all. It is the

amplification

circuitry that matters, and what makes a great difference to the sound of a phone.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] pukemon:
Hi. My name is moses. Whats the big deal about parting the red sea? I need some good noise cancelling because walking between parted water is kinda loud and muddy. Got recommendations on some good boots too?

I invented cyberspace. You're trespassing.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] PhaedraCorruption:
Whether or not the amplification matters depends on the sensitivity of the headphone/earphone in question.

The DAC is equally important if more more important(depending on exactly what is it that you will be running off of these)simply because "crap in --> crap out". If your source is bad, no matter how good your amp is, your output will be bad.

Proof? Look at the Galaxy S series, they sure did it right.

But you're right in the sense that no matter how good the dac is, if the amp is terrible, the sound will be terrible. But, if Samsung bothers to use a quality DAC, I would not hesitate to think that they also used a quality amp.

Anyways, now the that phone is kind of released, has anyone torn it down and found out exactly what is in it?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Chirality:
In smartphones, the headphone amp is in the audio codec chip. People just say DAC as a shorthand to refer to the audio codec chip. No need to get pedantic.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] garok89:
just thought id chime in...

the audio quality is fantastic compared to many others i have heard

tested on Bose AE1s (will try my Onkyo 380 later) with The Who, The Beatles and some Pink Floyd, overall the output levels are higher and the sound richer than that of my Desire HD

as for a comparison against the SGS2, il see if i can get a hold on one (a guy in work has one i should be able to borrow for 5 minutes) and will report back
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] blkrabb1t:
No. Unless it stands for digital audio converter.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] gonzlobo:
Digital Analog Converter.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] blkrabb1t:
Like an hdmi cable.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] oscillik:
no, nothing like that at all. seems you have no clue about what you're prattling on about
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] blkrabb1t:
I have some clue, but since it's not an area that I care for, I really don't know much about the benefits and functions of it.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] blkrabb1t:
Oh and I meant to say PMP and not DAC. Brain lapse there.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bcpk:
Or DAP, more likely.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] sauron0101:
Galaxy Nexus shares the same components as Galaxy S; no surprises.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] greg_mp:
twl604 is not a power management, it's a DAC. twl6030 is a power management ic.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] betoNL:
Thanks for that...Finnaly a real usefull post. A breath of fresh after all that useless discussion about how a true audiophyle should enjoy music.

How many "real" audiophyles with a real state-of-the-art sound system, also owns want a decent portable music player? Lots off course...is just handy.

My sgs1, with that Wolfson DAC and all tweaked , produces a better sound than all other standalone music players I owned or borrowed (Cowon, I-Audio, and Creative)

My phone cannot replace my standalone video and photo cameras, but it can replace my standalone Gps devices (car navigation) and my standalone portable music players (some of them quite expensive).

If an user ever tried a Galaxy S (sgs1) or a Nexus S, he knows what I mean;

By the way, if you want real good headphone without spending a small fortune, I would suggest the AKG K430:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1190205

In the meantime, I am just waiting the GNexus hitting the showrooms here in Holland, so I can perform some comparison tests with my sgs1 ...

Just ignore the Trolls.....they already waste enough thread space as is

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---------- Post added at 06:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:14 PM ----------

What about taking your headsets to a shop or showroom and compare it not only against the sgs2, but also against the sgs1 and Galaxy Note?

Even the GNote, with the same DAC, sounds better than the sgs2......

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