[Galaxy S III General] Ashtrix:
I guess I could contribute a little.

It's been ages since I've updated my i9000 and yeah it's still working great. Meanwhile I compared all of the devices I've came across, And it was a full circle.

First Rank - Personally the best GT i9000 Wolfson WM8994 + Voodoo Sound Control mod (Most essential aspect, the HW EQ + Total Bass customization option is a HUGE plus), this phone excels in clarity and Bass response.

Second - iPod 5.5G (iPod 5G will also do) - WM87588G, Amazing audio performance for a decade+ old device, Almost a twin to the SGS but the clarity is more with the i9000, IMO. A person said this rivals the A&K DAP, WM1A too..

Third - iPod Classic 6/6.5/7G CSL42L55, Third position means last. I don't know to weigh in this DAP since my Alienware 17 with ALC3661 with Dolby Digital Plus and F2K trump this iPod Classic. Still a major player thanks to the Rockbox mods on the iPods (5,5.5,6,7G). That's what make them special along with the old implementation of the DAC circuitry & when you throw in the SD card mods and re-building it's a superb DIY dream, if you are interested try to hit up on Head-Fi thread, For starter - Get an iPod 5/5.5G 64MB RAM logic board one (60/80GB) wolfson and less speed due to the old processor, want more speed and a better battery perhaps try to get a 7G iPod board (Skipped 6G because if you want to use the Apple OS it won't work past 128GB on the 6th gen only, again can be bypassed if you use Rockbox) the 64MB RAM (on all thick iPods) too will make the iPod better also hold more songs on Apple OS + Rockbox database (not essential function when you have tons of stuff but just pointing out). The 32MB will work but the issue will be more observable with Apple OS again despite the high capacity SSD, CF, SDXC mods. Rockbox all the way no issues with either of gens and boards, 64MB is an added bonus.. )

According to many the iPod Classic vs 5/ 5.5G Video is never ending debate. Some say the CSL has less noise and no bass roll-off etc. But to people the Wolfsons sound great (even on the older iPods, Apple used to use them)

I think apart from the GT i9000, SGS II, SGSIII there are very few devices with custom ROM support like Galaxy Nexus chip from OMAP, I found it lacking but with Ezekeel's mod it sounds a bit better. Never got to test again (I have it with me, Will update later, It won't surpass the Wolfsons that's for sure.) And for the last. The Aqustic chip in the SD820 is so so lame and seems like the 835's improved but I think it'll be still normal sonic performance.

HTC 10 gets a lot of praise but the issues regarding Wifi etc (no info on the DAC on the HTC10 another major bummer) and the lack of Driver support for the AOSP based ROMs makes it inferior (A forum member said it sounds better than the ESS9018 in the Clevo P775DMx laptop) warm sound signature, perhaps Wolfson enthusiasts might like it. Same for the V20 that phone has a powerful ESS9218 SoC with 4x DAC chip circuit but has many woes the low impedance IEMs don't use that Quad DAC chip and need to put in an adapter to make it go in high impedance mode for that phone to make it work, better than HTC's Google Play Music only sound processing due to the LGs stock player being better in features, but again no drivers for AOSP. So these two get trumped by the Axon 7 with it's AKM 4490 DAC chip which should sound great and stereo speakers with dolby is a plus, also the AKM DAC/AMP circuit works with the Lineage OS makes good times back like the SGS.

So, where are we now ? Unfortunately no one is innovating apart from the ZTE, Vivo a few other Chinese OEMs and LG, The shock was HTC abandoned the 3.5mm jack for lame reasons using ANC etc. Sony does the DNC too but they have the 3.5mm jack ! Google copying the iPhone with their new iPixel event was a shame to the Android world. LG is only one who is putting the MQA+ESS9218P SoC 4x DAC but again they don't release the software updates or even the basic docs, drivers for that DAC makes it irrelevant again...

Hope this helps, Thanks to warren_orange, I'll try that 128GB FAT format trick on my SGS, If that works then I guess I don't need to invest in any more modding of my 5.5G, trying to mod one but the parts are getting scarce and the removable battery is a HUGE bonus for the SGS, also thanks for that tip on the dragonfly.