yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] EpicMango:
I got my S4 yesterday, and I’ve been playing with it musically for a little bit, so I thought I’d post my results.

References:

•iPhone 5 Hip Hop EQ Preset

•S4 PowerAmp with posted EQ settings

•Monster Turbine earphones

•Obsidian Audio 15’ car subwoofer

•Mix of bassy Hip Hop/ R&B/Screamo Metal, vocals, its a good mix I think

I played Ellie Gouldings “Explosions” and “My Blood” on both my iPhone 5 and S4 with my monster turbines, constantly going back and forth to get the S4 sounding as similar as I could get it to the iPhone 5. This is what I came up with. I wouldn’t say I FINETUNED it, but it was pretty close IMO to the iPhone 5.

With these settings, here we go...

Right off the bat, the iPhone 5 sounds better. The trebles sounds better, more pitched, voices sound clearer and more “forward” than the rest of the sound stage. And generally the music sounded like it “surrounded” you more. The music was way more 3 dimensional. Bass response seemed to have more impact, more punch, slightly SLIGHTLY more depth, and during some songs was CLEARLY “fatter” and more rounded off than the S4. There was definitely more quality bass from the iPhone than the S4.

Honestly, I can’t say that the S4 with Poweramp shined in any particular catagory better than the iPhone 5.

I am very particular when it comes to music, and I have 2 different enviroments. I’ve got some $150 Monster Turbines, that crank out good SQ (for what its worth), and I also have a huge 15’ subwoofer in my car that can fart out the lows like no other. Listening to my system in my car with the S4 actually really gave me a negative feeling about the phone. The bass didn’t sound as clean, as deep, or as fat. And in general, I noticed a pretty big difference in the loudness of my system. Its not as loud as I know it can get. I drove to and from the mall feeling like I was missing a big portion of my bass.....So much infact that if I can’t find a decent sound mod like ACID Audio or Viper Mod to suit my needs, than I will be buying an iPod SPECIFICALLY for my music...and this pains me because I’m used to having 1 device for everything.

I guess it just comes down to my tastes. I’ve grown very particular with my musical SQ from both my headphones and my car system with my iPhone 5. I can say that with headphones I am very content with the quality that I am getting relative to the iPhone 5, but when it comes down to my car system, I feel sick, I feel like I don’t even want to listen to my system, or even DRIVE for that matter. I bought an amazing sub (I’m not contesting the name Obsidian Audio. You can research for yourself) and now that I know what I can get out of that sub, I am extremely disappointed...

Overall, if you have headphones, tweaking will get you pretty close. If you have a system in your car and your particular to how loud and good that system sounds, then you might be disappointed.

This is relative to my own opinion. Enjoy
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] sabre31:
I would stick with the iPhone 5 it kills sgs4 in this department or get HTC one which kills them both.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] kytrauma:
I wish I had a 15' sub in my car. My budget only allowed a 15". Lol

TaskaToon'd Gs4
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] Planktron:
I wonder how the international model with the Wolfson chip would compare.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] jetlitheone:
I'm not really an audiophile but I thought the sgs4 had decent audio drivers? Hmm
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] Shammyh:
Interesting feedback... But remember, this is purely subjective. Not that feedback isn't good, but it's just one person.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] louiscyphere13:
The audio is good in the s4 ,...with a decent pair of headphones( Klipsch S4A is what I use, owned tons of earbuds and other headphones and have spent a ridiculous amount of money until I found what I wanted these things r awesome) the s4 does sound the best out of all the galaxy series phones ,in my opinion of course..by way of car audio, I can't make an opinion as I've never hooked the s4 into my vehicle, that and I'm really not into car audio, def use to be though lol , I'm too much into home audio to start pouring money into audio for my car,. S4 by way of home audio is awesome, playing videos from the phone to the tv, listening to music, controlling my receiver with my phone, the sound quality is really good, the whole audio and video experience is better on my s4 than the s3 imo. ...Good comparison test btw
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] CZ Eddie:
I'm an iPhone hater but those phones always have very good internal DAC's. You can use an external DAC with the S4 or use the APT-X Bluetooth.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] mg2195:
I myself am in audiophile, with studio monitor headphones and studio monitor speakers...spent close to a 1k on the three of those :eek: (now I'm poor :P)

With that said, the s4 was extremely disappointing in sound quality to me, its alright and will get by for day to day use...but I can't see me using it as my portable multi media player

My Samsung infuse with Wolfson dac is much much better...so looks like ill be keeping that around for music...I'm really curious how the international s4 with a Wolfson dac compares...I wonder if Wolfson still stands up to its reputation

Someone mentioned using an external dac...and I think ill defiantly have to look into that with the s4, the thought of even possibly being able to do that never crossed my mind, although it will be a pain to have to carry it around...
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] keving9012:
I have to say I agree with you op. I originally went from the S3 to the HTC One and was blown away by the audio quality out of that phone. I have all Polk speakers in my car and mostly use either Klipsh S4s or Koss PortaPros. I had no idea what I was missing using the S2 then the S3 to power these things. All along I haven't been to impressed with the audio quality out of my Polks, but the problems was I don't have them amplified. I found that out with the One, which has a built in headphone amp putting out 2.55v which made a noticeable improvement in audio quality. Very noticeable. Even the headphones that the One came with were great. Unfortunately HTC has the worst quality control I've ever seen and I tried exchanging the device many times only to see that every other one had the same issues. Stuck pixels, gaps in the "gapless" design, way too warm to the point of being yellow displays. So I took that back for the S4 and have been sorely let down in the audio quality department. It just doesn't sound anywhere near as alive as the One did. Bass is muddy on the S4 where the one it was extremely crisp and punchy. Random Access Memories sounded incredible when hooked up in my car. Even with no sub it was pushing my speakers to have a nice thump, but not that muddy rattling bass. So now I'm debating on if I should try for the One again, or just get a portable amp/DAC and take the audio quality out of the equation altogether.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] ichorid:
I just came from an iPhone 5 and am also an audio head. For one using any eq to 'boost' any levels is going to yield **** fart can sound. I have a full nuts system in my TDI and the s4 v iPhone showed no difference in output.

I keep my eq's flat and let the audio mix drive the levels. Allll my audio is v0 or flac or alac.

~bass boost is bad
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] Bojamijams:
Phew, thankfully I'm not going crazy. I read people's opinions here that the S4 sounds just as good if not better then an iPhone. I

too thought the S4 sounded very bad compared to the iPhone right out of the box. Mine was the iPhone 4s. S4 is very empty and flat. Bass response isn't as good and the highs get a little shrill on some cymbals. Very very dissapointed in the S4 sound quality but I have no choice now, I've made the switch and that's that.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] ejw22:
Try winamp?

I've been lurking around here a long time, but this might be my first post. So... I might be a noob.

However, I did have an iphone 5, which I lost recently... i picked up the s4 two weeks ago. Before the iphone 5, I had the s3 and the note1. Anyway, I thought audio sounded pretty good from the s4, until I started playing out of a bluetooth speaker and my bluetooth headphones. I tried poweramp, the build in music player, and was very disappointed. Volume was too low, SQ was horrible. I downloaded Winamp and used the equalizer for $5, and the s4 sounded much better. Now, when I use regular plug-in headphones (klipsch s4a) i use poweramp, because the headset controls work so well. But when I'm playing through bluetooth, including the motorola sd10, I'm using winamp.

I think the s4's audio issues are most likely software related. I've read tons about android not having great support for bluetooth... I'm not sure what that means, but I suspect it might be playing a role here.

So, TLDR, try out winamp
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] CZ Eddie:
That would be me, in the post directly above yours. :D

Here is the Android & DAC mega-thread. In it you'll find a list of DAC's that work with various Android phones.

Also note that some "medium-fi" DAC's are now the size of a quarter and fit inline with your headset cord. :)

http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs

Last I checked, the DAC's were not working with S3 phones and AOSP ROM's. But worked fine with TouchWiz.

I have not checked the status on S4's yet because I moved on to APT-X "high def" bluetooth. Which sounds fine for me. And the convenience of it far outweighs any negatives in audio impact.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] acruxksa:
I have found that out of the box Neutron Player sounds better than PowerAmp. I'm guessing you can tweak PowerAmp to sound just as good, but I like Neutron Player because it doesn't require as much tweaking. Prefer PowerAmps interface though, but oh well.

Sadly my Fiio E07K does not work with usb audio on my i337 S4.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] GuestK00345:
I've been really pleased with Spotify (extreme quality) quality on S4. I play music over blue tooth in my car all the time and my s2 was a nightmare, but I haven't noticed a difference in my recent phones (HTC One X, S3, S4). All have sounded great.

The Galaxy phones are quieter than my HTC. That's only a problem on airplanes but a volume booster or even Samsungs built in Adapt Sound solves that.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] freemeech:
Did not read
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] (MEDS):
Has anyone noticed the gs4 skipping the first beat of a song when you're using Bluetooth audio?
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] @rbiter:
Some scenarios there is significant lag. My civic si has Bluetooth built in for calls and audio and there is about 2 second delay when skipping songs or albums. Miss the first two seconds or so songs also.

Sent from my GT-N7100
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] (MEDS):
It might just be with car Bluetooth audio systems, because I was also referring to the Bluetooth audio in my car.
[Xperia Z Themes and Apps] rambg2:
can someone remove the navigation bar in this lockscreen? because it appears only with a blackspace in it and no keys, i just want a lockscreen without a navigation bar. Thanks! This is the File. http://www.mediafire.com/?o566r87yv3rax7k
[Xperia Z Themes and Apps] demonicangell™:
do u mean the statusbar ?? coz navigation bar is usually hidden in the z/zl unless u have an app that is forcing the nav bar .. like smart keys .
[Xperia Z Themes and Apps] rambg2:
i mean the navigation bar, i get it in Xperia T. it is modded but this lockscreen is from T. i try to install it on my Z and it works but the problem is it have a navigation bar in it without a keys. only black bar.
[Xperia Z Themes and Apps] SXUsr:
Looks like it's there for a purpose...

​
[Xperia Z Themes and Apps] Vennesch:
Wow, is this on your XZ? If yes, how did you get that theme?
[Xperia Z Themes and Apps] SXUsr:
I've got a Z and it's my own IceGreen Resmods theme which started life on the Arc. Still a wip for JB though.
[Xperia Z Themes and Apps] rambg2:
This what happens when i try to install it to my Z. can someone remove the blank bar below?
[Xperia Z Themes and Apps] sensei_sai:
Same issue here... if you found a solution, please share!
[Xperia Z Themes and Apps] Vaith:
Do you have brain and eyes? Look at date of last post!
[Xperia Z Themes and Apps] sensei_sai:
Yeah... Are you obliged to be this dumb? If you read carefully, I used the past.

I know the thread us old, but I've got the same issue.

Do you read the post just to insult people? If you don't have the answer I need, please pass away!
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] JamesInsights:
I get this error everytime i click on one of the play store pages, any ideas?
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jess813:
Clear cache from the play store through settings then apps
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] limen123:
Okay so I'm planning on finally upgrading from my Samsung Vibrant(S1) to an S3. I would go to an S4 but it's still a bit too pricey for me. Anyways, I just wanted to know some general tips and such. What is the latest official firmware, some pros and cons of keeping TW, which ROMs should I use, etc. Just any input would be nice! I think I've just about maxed out my Vibrant's potential with it running SlimBean 4.2.2 for the most part, and recently switching over to CyanAOSP. I think it's my phone, but things are still very laggy. So I can't wait for my S3 to come in. :D

Sorry if this is in the wrong section. First time posting. :)
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] sswb27:
You will find out quickly that almost everything here is great. Touchwiz isn't bad on this phone and cm 10.1 has almost all the bugs worked out. So all i can say is happy crack flashing.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] ThC23:
Honestly, save a lil more and get the S4. Don't upgrade to last yrs model.

Don't get me wrong, the S3 is a major upgrade from the Vibrant, but I feel like if you have an opportunity to upgrade you should get the very best upgrade available.

Just my 2¢.

Powered by the SGSIII
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] chrisram88:
I would also recommend to save a bit more and get the s4. You have waited this long why not a bit more?
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] limen123:
Thing is, I'm in desperate need for a phone currently. My Vibrant is becoming unusable and it'll take me a while to save more money. I'm only 16, and the only source of money for me is an annual thing, which is doing the traditional Lion Dance every Chinese New Years. So, by next year's event, I'm sure S5 will be coming about and my Vibrant will definitely be dead by then. So I'm gonna go ahead and upgrade to an S3 now. I really need it to talk to my gf too, since we're a state away. Thanks for everyone's input about going to S4 though. :)

Btw, I'm guessing it's not possible, but a T-Mobile S3 can't flash ROMs from the i9300 can it? I wanted to try out the recently released GlamourS4 ROM, but I just realized it was in the i9300 section.. Unless the T-Mobile variant is the same model?
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] serio22:
No, do not flash ROMs or kernels from other s3's you will end up with a hard brick!! You can flash ROMs from at&t though.. Verizon and sprint I don't think will brick it, but better stay away..
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Da Kine:
If you're really that tight on money, then maybe you shouldn't root.

And as mentioned above, do not flash anything from the International S3 section.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] ThC23:
Man, back in my Vibrant days, I would of told you to Odin and flash Bionix by Team Whiskey.

Best Rom I ran back then, couldn't really top that.

But I see what you mean! well enjoy your new toy.

Powered by the SGSIII
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] IXChicharitoXI:
Latest update is 4.1.2, which has multi window.

Touchwiz is ok, definitely recommend getting Nova launcher. Rooting is simple, plenty of instructions, follow them and you'll be good.

I definitely don't recommend flashing kernels or roms not meant for t mobile. You don't want to end up with a hard brick phone. Especially your case that you're tight on money. You don't want to pay extra for a repair.

From MY PERSONAL opinion. Wicked v10 and Stockorama are fantastic touchwiz based roms. Solid battery life and super smooth.

Always read the op and hit the search button.

I can't advise much about AOSP based roms since I just started using one two days ago. I'm on Liquidsmooth 2.5 and it's working great so far.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] wardoc22:
Ask your parents for the extra money you need.. I'm sure they will be willing to lend you some.

Always go for the best you know?
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] limen123:
Hmm. Care to explain why? :confused:

So 4.2.1 and 4.2.2 are leaks right now? What would be advantages of staying on 4.1.2 until the official release?

Yeah, I've been using Nova on my Vibrant for who knows how long. I love it. :P

Thanks to everyone for the info about carrier-specific flashing. I wasn't intending on trying it until I got an answer anyways. :)

So what kind of advantages would I get from TW roms and AOSP roms? I know the Samsung specific things like multiwindow, but what else? Or is just a matter of preference?

Trust me, they won't. I've tried asking for a bit of money so I could get the S3 when it was first released. It'll be the same thing if I ask for a bit to get an S4. :(
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Da Kine:
I'm not against rooting, but if you're tight on cash, then maybe you should think twice about it. Accidents can happen, you can accidentally flash the wrong kernel or rom and brick your device. It can be fixed, but it will cost you.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] IXChicharitoXI:
The latest official release was 4.1.2 which came out a few weeks ago. It's major improvement imo was multi window. I didn't care about the other features personally.

If I'm not mistaken all AOSP roms are 4.2.2 based.

Advantages for touchwiz roms is great stability. You shouldn't come across many, if any bugs at all. You will have all the gesture features on touchwiz roms. Palm to screenshot, tap to refresh, smart stay, etc. You will have more camera features. Everything should just work.

AOSP have more customization but you will give up Samsung features, downgraded camera imo, and you will likely come across minor issues. Random reboots, flickering issues, etc.

I'm not saying AOSP roms are bad. The community here is great and for the most part there's always a solution. I'm running an AOSP rom and I haven't had any issues so far.

One thing I'll recommend, don't switch between AOSP and touchwiz roms back and forth. You may experience some issues, best to Odin stock from an AOSP rom then flash a touchwiz rom afterwards. It's not difficult, just a bit time consuming.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Purple Ferret:
Touchwiz isnt horrible, I just don't like it very much. Its stable, but to me its too laggy, that and I can only have 4 rows and columns on the launcher for icons. If you ask me, it wastes screen real estate, but there are alternatives to it.

Overall once you get 4.1.2 running on this phone it becomes very very stable.

If you want another launcher, Nova (Prime version is 4$, Go Launcher Ex, ADW are all fine choices. Just be warned that Touchwiz Widgets (Such as the Touchwiz Calendar, Accuweather) cannot be used with those Launchers. I use Nova Prime (With Teslaunread for unread email and MMS counts), and it is rock solid stable, and also has Project Butter enhancements which just make it so smooth its not even funny.

Granted, there are also replacements for those such as the Weather Channel, Weather Underground, Google Calendar (Which is what I use anyway), and tons more on Google Play

The S3 is a reasonably good phone, and the only phone I would actually ditch it for would be the Galaxy S4: Nexus Edition when it gets released, granted the GS4-N is not LTE compatible, and costs full price (650$ from what I hear), but it will be Pure AOSP.

I like my GS3.

Also dont use the stock music player, believe me, its not that good. Buy/download one of these

Poweramp (4$)

N7Player (also 4$),

Winamp (Free, but has a paid version that removes Ads and unlocks a couple features).

There are many other Music Players. As for Video Players, I use Moboplayer.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Purple Ferret:
Also the i9003 is the international model. No rom for the SGH-T999 will work on the i9003, nor will any rom built for the i9003 work on the SGH-T999. In fact, flashing either of them to the opposite will brick your phone.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] KunoMochi:
-----------------

I think Purple Ferret meant to say i9300, not i9003. :P

-----------------

Throwing in my experience with TouchWiz.

The SGS3 is a pretty solid phone, and some of the TouchWiz stuff can get you quite hooked (personally, I like how you're able to flip through the homescreen until you are back at the beginning, and some nice touches they recently included for their file manager like the helix and roll pin scrolling), but it's mostly a matter of preference.

On the other hand, I started having issues with the stock TouchWiz after almost a year of use. It would randomly restart itself from time to time, then all controls became unresponsive after start-up (volume buttons, home button, touchscreen and the soft buttons); only the power button was working. I only got it working again after I did a clean wipe and restored an older backup. Which then inevitably led me to check out custom ROMs.

I never had an Android phone before this one, but my brother had been tinkering with his Vibrant for years now. He was the one that helped me root my SGS3, and he stated that it's a lot easier to do things now than it was back when he first started since there's an app for just about everything needed. (Just to give you a perspective)

Besides, the instructions around here are pretty easy to follow. ;)

And yeah, if you are going for a T-Mobile SGS3, only look for ROMs compatible with SGH-T999 (T999) for T-Mobile (d2tmo).
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Purple Ferret:
Yes exactly, my bad. :P
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] mrleonx:
Ask your mom or dad or even family members if you can borrow money to buy an S4. I was touching the S4 the other day at Tmobile and it's so fast and smooth makes me wanted it so bad. I think S4 is better than S3. Go for the S4 I would say.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] klin1344:
TouchWiz feels too bloaty and laggy for my taste, so I recommend using CM10.1. The smoothness in scrolling and general navigation of the UI are definitely noticeable compared to even the most de-bloated TouchWiz ROM. Just my 2c.
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] limen123:
Eh, I haven't done anything to brick my Vibrant in the years, and I'm not one of the people to constantly switch ROMs. I'll look for a ROM and stick with it. But thanks for the tip. I'll be careful.

Ah, so the next update probably won't come for a while, I assume.

Is there any way to get the Samsung camera on an AOSP ROM? I'm thinking of going with an AOSP ROM.

And thanks for the switching tip. I'll be sure to remember that!

I always use Google Play Music, so I've got my music player down. And how is Moboplayer? I use MX, but I've never really tested any other video players. o:

I already said I can't, sadly. >__<

Is PAC as smooth as CM10.1? I'm thinking of going with PAC or SlimBean again if I'm using AOSP ROMs.

So, if I have Titanium Backups on my Vibrant, can I transfer them to the S3 and restore them with no problem?

Thank you everyone for all your help so far! I really appreciate it. :)
[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] Purple Ferret:
Moboplayer is ok, I use it and haven't had any issues, it also supports many formats.

Also iirc Google Play music only plays your music you have uploaded to your Google Account, unless this is what you do anyway.

Btw, whenever you flash a rom, make sure you have the stock backup first, or make a backup of your current one.