yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
A bit OT but I'm thinking of getting a Galaxy Note 10.1 or Note 8 .. can't decide. Does anyone have experience with the audio quality? I think I read that all 10.1 have Wolfson audio and the Exynos processor but what about Note 8? Might be interesting to do a comparison of audio quality between these and an S4.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] 299792458:
I have a Note 10.1 and the audio is superb with my low impedance XBA-4 IEMs (8 Ohms at 1kHz), although the volume is a bit low. The Note 10.1 has a Wolfson DAC. As a student, I've been thrilled with the Note 10.1.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
Thanks for this. Good to know that it rocks at 8ohms! I just checked and GSMArena has reviews on these. I took the liberty of cropping out the audio measurements for the S4 and Note 10.1 from GSMArena to compare directly:

so the audio performance of the S4 for noise and distortion (assuming you use higher-impedance phones) is better than the 10.1. Also, based on GSMArena results, it looks like the Note 8 audio is not quite as good as the Note 10.1.

(BTW my RMAA results for my S4 agree closely with those above from GSMArena except for the crosstalk with headphones attached. My results have degraded crosstalk with 33 ohm phones, very similar to that noted above for the Note 10.1)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] otacon888:
Just came back from Samsung to pick up my I9500 that I sent for repair. It still crackles at max volume with my XBA4. I know the problem is not as bad as the I9505 but I dont really want to compromise but it seems like I have no choice. Never had this problem with my previous phones. My XB90 should be arriving within the next two days...I hope they will work fine with the I9500 or I9505.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
i9505 vs i9500 Audio Quality

Check out this interesting comparison at GSMArena:

Audio quality evenly matched

The results with headphones (which are the important ones) are for a ~ 32 ohm headset. I challenge GSMArena to do the same comparison but with a ~ 12 ohm set of phones ;)

For comparison, my RMAA results (for a S4 SGH-I337 which is apparently equivalent to the i9505) are here:

S4 SGH-I337 RMAA Measurements
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] gio_b:
So:can somebody help me and try to found the phone who sounds better ? :s4 600/s4 exynos (wolfson dec) and htc one to hear my mp3 with head phone:akg40 ?

P.S the s4 version i found in ebay.com s4exynos is genuine or not ;i was told ,only for corean market ???

tks gio.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
hmmm, interesting. I posted a comment at the bottom of that GSMArena article (as id Jensigner) and it looks like they have removed it. I guess Samsung must be trying to squelch this information!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] otacon888:
I saw your comment at gsmarena. I cant believe they deleted your comment...
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
I have made a compilation with all the figures:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ahm7127Y1p78dGFXTnBlcGJGQVhwSzdyUWpGVHNJQ1E&usp=sharing

Thank you!

Upd: Sorry, guys! Forgot to change sharing settings. All sorted now.

Upd2: SGH-i337 mesaurements reference: http://www.jensign.com/S4Distortion/RMAA.jpg
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DocRambone:
I added a comment about the sound in the GSM arenas article. Lets see if it get removed too.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
And I've thumbed it up. Let's see gsmarena guys turn ;)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ipmanwck:
What the devil. I posted a comment and it didn't even reach the comments page !!! What's going on here ? It was quite long regarding this issue.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Tim182:
Which article? The new one with I9505 versus I9500? Can't believe they compare the sound of the two and state that the I9505 is better...

And the I9500 is apparently louder??? It has the lowest headphone volume of any phone I have ever owned!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Lienot:
Hello,

This is not a solution at all, but I don't think Samsung will fix the problem very soon.

The S4 is a great smartphone if it would be Audio wise like the S3.

As long as the S4 has this high price I would sell the smartphone and buy a S3 again. I did it - only because of the sound problems.

Now the S3 has got the 4.2.2. Firmware, too and it is great. More and more features from the S4 will come to the S3, too.

I sold my S4 for 530 Euros and bought a S3 (new) for 333 Euro.

I didn't regret it a second. The sreen is just a little bit smaller, it is nearly possible to mistake the S3 for the S4.

This isn't a great solution, but another piece of Hardware attached to the phone is nothing for me.

I really hope Samsung will find a solution, but I doubt it.

All the best

lienot
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Actually, supercurio recently stated the same on Twtitter. Just check it out.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
If those are my measurements on the SGH-I337, can you reference the web page page? (just so folks can verify where the results come from). Also maybe you can add that my measurements "with headphones" are really with "33 ohm resistive loads". Nice spreadsheet btw.

---------- Post added at 08:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:18 AM ----------

I haven't checked today but I thought I was imagining things, so thanks for verifying my post separately. I thought it wasn't "anti-guidelines" for posts there, thought I did post a link to my measurements. I also sent a private email to GSMArena about my deleted post.

---------- Post added at 08:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:21 AM ----------

This article. As I've said before the i9505 audio quality is superb (USING HIGHER IMPEDANCE HEADPHONES !). My independent measurements for the SGH-I337 for the most part agree with the GSMArena results for the i9505. However the ONLY issue I have with the S4 (Qualcomm audio version) is the horrible problem for headphone impedances below ~ 16 ohm. In my comment to that review page above, and a separate email to GSMArena, I advised them that they "should do a similar comparative test of the i9505 and i9500 for headphones with ~ 12 ohm impedance". These results will (I'll bet my S4 on it) show that the S4 (i9505) is definitely not in the same league as the i9500

---------- Post added at 08:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:34 AM ----------

There are a lot of comments appearing there now. Which comment is yours? Others here, please post there and let us know what your post is and if it gets removed.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DocRambone:
Added a new post to same article:

http://www.gsmarena.com/reviewcomm-930.php

"At Xda there a long thread about the soundbug in 9505.

A very skilled member did show an impressive measurement that shows clearly that the bug exists on 9505.

read here for more info: http://www.jensign.com/S4Distortion/

Doc"
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
Great, I just saw that post and screen-shot it in case it gets removed. If Samsung sends me a i9500 and i9505, I will test them the same day (even if I have to return them :rolleyes). Of course they'd have to convince me that both are from a representative batch of the phones, similar to what we are seeing reported here. But it would be better if Samsung did these measurements. I'm sure Samsung audio engineers can do exactly the same type of objective RMAA and scope measurements that I and GSMArena have reported.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
DocRambone, looks like your post at GMSArena has been removed (or is it hidden?)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DocRambone:
Yes its gone. GSMarena wtf??. I always had great thoughts about that site, but removing comments??
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rogergent:
Would a bluetooth adaptor fix this issue
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Sure yes, while neither dac or amp is used in the "audio via bluetooth" scenario

Regards,
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ipmanwck:
AKG 451

Was going to return the phone but missed my 7 days refund of a faulty phone to Affordable Mobiles. They offered to exchange it again but to be honest its hassle as last time took 2 weeks as they were out of stock! Luck would have it my AKG 451's turned up today which I forgot I ordered ! wife took delivery .... doh!

Good news is they work perfectly. A little different than in ears as I have never had anything else but the sound is very good just different to in ears.

Ah and most importantly with my short test on you tube "Sam Tsui Trouble" song I cant hear crackle. Thats the song I have been testing all my headphones on. Don't ask ;)

I wonder If we can start collating a list of headphones that we know do work with no issues and ones that don't?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] 299792458:
Dude great idea...who started this post? We should make a wiki. This may be the one way we could get Samsung to recognize us audiophiles. Seriously, if the support came I bet everything that Samsung would listen.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] epcd0728:
HD25 was fine when I tested.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] msavic6:
Has anybody used the V-Moda M100 with their S4? I'm contemplating picking up a pair.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Hi there,

Also very curious, if anyone have had luck with Westone 4r pair with i9505?

Many thanks,
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ipmanwck:
Ok Maybe its better to start a new thread. Jensigner is probably the best user as his knowledge seems pretty good. Better to have all the tests he has done on a new thread and it will be more professional when we start directing tech blogs etc to it.

What do you think Jensigner. ?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jeremy_inc:
This 40 page thread sounds more impressive than a 1 page, plus it will seem like we are trying to find workarounds and are willing to buy new earphones for Samsungs screwup - which I'm not prepared to do.

Jensigners info is here and in many other places if someone wants to find it - why split up our cause?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] spencer_uk:
I just tried mine (they had been back to westone for repair and came back yesterday).

I get distortion on tracks with heavy bass. Gutted.

Not sure what folk are doing but will try to read the thread later. Is this across all units or just some? Has samsung got a fix?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Bad, bad, bad!! Anyway thank you!

Please note guys, that Westone 4r are rated 31ohm @1khz:

http://www.westone.com/music/index.php/products/personal-listening/westone-4r.html
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] gavinfabl:
Has any software update fixed the problem with your JVC headphones or have you found a workaround. .?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] NZtechfreak:
The impedance at 1KHz isn't very relevant here, its the impedance in the lower frequencies that are important.

From measured results at Goldenears the impedance less than 1KHz is much lower, although still higher than the lower bound threshold for crackling as we have reckoned it so far at about 18ohm. There may be some variability in production though, since their measured nominal impedance at 1KHz is around 24ohm rather than 31ohm.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
I think we should just keep the info in this one thread in this forum. I'm still waiting to get official feedback from Samsung Mobile support. If I don't hear anything by this Friday, I'll call them to try to force a response.

Regarding removed posts from GSMArena in this thread:

Samsung i9500 Galaxy S4 vs Samsung i9505 Galaxy S4

I really can't understand this. I thought my post there as well as DocRambone's were objective and didn't seem to counter any of the posting guidelines. Over the years I have posted in MANY different types of professional technical forums what I consider to be objective technical comments and I can't remember EVER having a post removed without advising me of the reason. At a minimum I'd expect a PM about why my post was removed. So I think we can only conclude from this behaviour that GSMArena, for whatever reason, has some vested interested in not reporting negative performance aspects of Samsung's flagship phones. You be the judge.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
lol, and they ALSO removed your single-line comment about GSMArena being sensitive to that topic.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
If rumours (via GSMArena) be true that the SG Note 3 will have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 (and presumably that means Qualcomm audio), here's hoping that Samsung understands the problems being discussed here and gets the headphone audio output right. Maybe they'll send me a pre-production sampler for independent verification of superb audio down to say 5 ohm headphone load :fingers-crossed:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] billias:
Some people mentioned that only low impedance headphones has issues.

Well...

I did tested the following:

Shure SE215, SE315 & SE515.... all of them, on a hungry track they clip above 11 volume, sometimes even after 9.

They seem to have an 27Ohm impedance... but they still clip the sound, when on i9300 they work perfectly with the same songs, same headsets.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] palmaliciousdef:
My thoughts

I currently have Galaxy S4 and have encountered this "bug". GS4 having such a powerful chipset should be able to handle any task without breaking a sweat -- so I'm leaning on it being a software issue.

I encountered this after I applied my bass-heavy eq while playing JT's Mirrors and I was on my Urbanears Plattan. I noticed the cracks when the screen turned off. Then when I woke it up, it was gone. Just to add, I wasn't running anything load-heavy in the background, I think. I'm on EDGE connection at that time, auto-sync, power-saving mode, air-view, air-gesture, multi-window and blocking mode turned on. I don't think this should put too much stress on the device. What I did is close all background stuff and clear the memory, and reboot (maybe 2-3 times) then it was gone. Tried playing the same file and never encountered the cracking again even I have tons of apps running in background.

Saying this, I think Samsung needs to optimize their software. Replacing headphones shouldn't be a proper solution. After writing the above, I just realized that this could never be a hardware issue as I haven't found any news about the HTC One with the same chipset, just slightly underclocked, having the same issue.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Obagleyfreer:
If this was a hardware fault wouldn't the HTC ONE and Xperia Z also have the same problem?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] droidrob:
wtf, this is ridiculous now....are there any iems that WORK with this phone??
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] NZtechfreak:
Please people, if you are going to post information please try and grasp the issue properly first.

I just looked up measurements for the Shure SE215 and in the bass frequencies its impedance is most certainly not 27ohm, looks about 17ohm by Inner Fidelity AND Goldenear measurements.

The SE315 I could only find measurements on via Goldenears and that gets a bit more interesting, since its impedance less than 1KHz is about 21ohm and we would not have expected that to crackle necessarily based on our other information to hand.

Couldn't find SE515 measurements at all.

Regarding the Urbanears Plattan mentioned above - I'm wondering if you have another issue there. Their impedance is more like 40ohm throughout most of the entire frequency spectrum, and the crackling the rest of us are mentioning here happens regardless of whether the screen is on or not. If you have PowerAMP try setting audio thread priority to highest and buffer to massive and see if that fixes it with screen off.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] KinetiClutch:
Can anyone confirm if this happens with Beats Studio's? Know it's not the audiophiles choice but still
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
Thanks for trying to steer this. To help with fair comparisons, I suggest folks just use the default Samsung Music player, with no EQ or other things added to the mix. My own measurements weren't exhaustive by any stretch but they appear to be very similar in terms of what quite a few others report here for low impedance buds. I could do more exhaustive tests at say 20 ohm loads but I'm waiting for Samsung to respond.

I also determined that the "instability" (which many described as a "crackle") does not depend even slightly on any other apps, system settings, screen state, Wi-Fi/Cell on etc... Based on this and also the "signature" (high-frequency oscillation causing the crackle) of the noise, it is extremely unlikely that this low-impedance issue is something that can be fixed in firmware/software (but who really knows except Samsung). That signature looks identical to the "fuzzies", well known in analog output circuit design. Since other smartphones apparently use the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 platform, evidently without any such issues, it really looks like the problem is a Samsung design implementation issue in the Qualcomm audio (perhaps layout or a subtle component choice which wasn't properly tested at low-Z headphone loads). hmmm, I wonder how Samsung actually does those headphone audio tests? (just with their own stock 35 ohm buds ? or more sophisticated tests like variable resistive headphone loads :)

So there ALWAYS appears to be an issue for the i9505 with low-impedance phones (< ~ 15 ohm below 1 kHz). Could there be problems with higher-impedance phones? Sure, but the low-impedance issue looks pretty unanimous for the batches of i9505 we're seeing here.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] itster2:
Im having crackling issues when I pass midpoint using my sony xba-4 headset. I tried them on my htc evo lte and all was fine.

edit: I finally tried the trash headphones that comes with the phone and it had no issues. these headphones sound like garbage compared to my sony xba-4 set. I will be trading this phone for htc one for sure. I guess Samsung is stuffing trash in nice packages.

UNACCEPTABLE!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
Summary of Problem at AndroidCentral

I have summarized the issue at AndroidCentral, and included some relevant links:

GSMArena Updated Its Audio Quality Tests>
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] spencer_uk:
interestingly I found the samsung music app a little bit better however the problem still exists but nowhere near as bad as with poweramp.

Spoke to Samsung who told me they only support my phone via Samsung headphones which is quite frankly utter garbage.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
Yes at 8 ohm nominal, I can't imagine how horrible they would sound.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] tango280581:
Anyone know where I can get a cheap impedance adapter from? im cracking up without mi tunes lol.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] wified:
I'm working on it. I've contacted a guy on eBay who says that he's received all of the parts, and he's making and testing right now. If they work, I'll let all of you know.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DevilzGtr:
I can confirm that there is crackling on my Beats Mixr.

The official site says its impendance rating is 32Ω

http://www.jerseyspots.net/mixr/
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] NZtechfreak:
Again the stated nominal impedance (usually at 1KHz) has little bearing on this issue, it is the impedance in lower frequencies that seems to cause issues and that often varies from the nominal impedance the manufacturer gives. I cannot find any measurements for that for those headphones.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] KinetiClutch:
Thanks, guess ill have to find out when I can
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Hey guys!

It seems I have found a better (and more importantly, universal solution)

Tiny DAC - that's what will help us solve the issue:

Tiny DAC

Head-Fi Discussion

Or a slightly bigger DAC:

Sabre USB DAC

Sabre USB DAC - DIY Audio Forums Discussion

Both powered by USB.

Price?

1) $50.00

2) A slightly higher battery consumption

3) A little bulkier headphones connection

4) No microphone

5) No playback/volume adjustments on the headphones' cable

But this setup will provide much higher sound quality than even Wolfson driven i9500.

Hopefully you guys will find this useful.

Cheers!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jeremy_inc:
Thought I'd test out the newer ME3 firmware from HK, as it has a much newer changelist/date of 14-May and I'm not using my S4 for anything apart from a £500 paperweight. Still has crackling :( I know its unlikely but I still live in hope of a software fix.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] spencer_uk:
I presume to solve the problem I could use my fiio e7 and bypass the headphone port through usb. Gives me a bulky solution but might work. Does anyone know if I need to root to get audio out through the usb?

Also - bitterly disappointed by this. One of the primary purposes of buying this phone was to listen to music and I can't through my IEMs. I don't want a two device solution... I also can't return the device as I have passed my cooling off period (as my IEMs were being repaired when I got the phone) which I would have done and gone for a different make / model instead.

Does this problem only affect certain handsets or all? Has anyone had any success after experiencing the problem and then sending it in for repair or swapping our for another handset?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] gavinfabl:
I assume from your user name you are in the UK. If so you have statutory rights, and under the Sale of Goods Act can return the phone for a full refund as not fit for purpose.

You can also highlight this thread if necessary. They will throw all sorts of crap, like we dont do refunds, send off for replacement. Stand firm, takes names, put in writing. This is your RIGHTS.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] spencer_uk:
yes - I got nowhere with Samsung on this earlier ... "we didn't sell you the phone"... "it is fit for purpose if you use our headphones"....etc.

I asked them if it was a known problem and they said it wasn't.. I pointed them at this thread but it is like they had their blinkers on. The unhelpful person on the helpdesk said that enough people were calling in to tell them they'd take a look at a known problem however this wasn't a problem they knew about.

I am going to try the same with Vodafone later today or tomorrow to see if I can return the phone. In the past I have just returned products as faulty and if not got a refund then I have claimed off my credit card - however this is different as phones are under a contract and weren't paid for on credit card.

I'll also see if I can get higher up the Samsung chain.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] gavinfabl:
Samsung is correct in what they are saying. They didnt sell you the phone so not interested.

The phone is fault. If you got it in the store, it is the store that does the refund, contract or not. All the contract is , is a method of spreading the cost. The product is faulty. You can state it doesnt do it in the S3, S2 or iphone 3gs, 4, 4S or 5 or HTC One. Product is faulty. Good luck.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
Good question.

Based on what I've read here, it seems to be a problem with ALL i9505 when used with headphones <~ 16 ohm impedance at frequencies lower than ~ 1 kHz. Those who have reported returning-for-repair or exchanging haven't had any success from what I've read here. As the problem is very likely a hardware design issue, it is extremely unlikely that a factory hardware repair is possible.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] owgees:
Is anyone using micro usb to 3.5mm jack successfully?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ipmanwck:
This is correct. I exchanged mine and still have the issue.