yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] @home:
Managed to bag myself an S7 edge now & was very interested to test out the audio after reading this thread.

Here's my finding....

Poweramp - WMA files & Kilpsch X10 earphones

The sound is smaller than on my Note 5, the quality is not worse, just smaller sound stage.

As for the volume, it's plenty loud enough, cannot understand how anyone finds it not loud enough. I couldn't stand it just shy of 65% volume.

So to sum up....

It's not crap quality but it's not the best, my Note 5 is better. It's loud enough. If you find the quality below par stop using mp3 files & use high quality ones, no excuse now we have SD card again.

Ta
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Monkey Slut:
The stock earphones are awful. I tried to connect my old ones from Sony Xperia Z2 MDR-NC31EM , but they don't work with my S7 Edge :(
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Willyman:
I think you give a fair assessment of the sound quality and close to my personal opinion of it as well. Compared to my Onkyo DP-X1, the sound stage is significantly narrower. Which very likely would be the result of less than stellar crosstalk performance. Pity I couldn't do the measurements to confirm so.

No surprise though that you think it's plenty loud enough. With sensitive low impedance insert earphones this kind of output level will be plenty. Use a slightly insensitive 32 Ohm headband headphone and you'll struggle I think. I mean, compare this to an iPhone, or M8/9... those things are 9 dB louder! That's 3 to 4 volume steps on a typical volume slider (I mostly see 2 to 3 dB steps on smartphones).
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] M@rs:
Tried it with my Fidelio x2 30 ohm 100db/mw sounds good.

My more power hungry havi b3 pro 1 dosent sound that good. They are loud enough but the combo dosent match my taste, in my opinion the power output is to low to serve good lows and bass with the havi, but I expected this.

With the Fidelio the s7 sound good, I would say about the quality of the xduoo x2 maybe a bit better (haven't listen to the xduoo for a while) but worse than my ifi idsd nano.

With the havis the xduoo sound better due to the higher output voltage. Sadly I have no headphone amp to test with the s7 and havis
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Willyman:
Another Fidelio X2 fan! Great :)

I can just say from personal experience that when I'm on the move with less sensitive headphones I'm definitely in the top volume steps. Anyway, it's for the better! I actually find it irresponsible for Apple and other brands to have such high output levels on their products. A sensitive headphone with a 0 dBV input signal is ridiculously loud, more than enough to cause permanent damage... hence why the output levels are limited in Europe to almost 10 dB lower.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] @home:
I don't agree with EU meddling in things that are not their concern. If I want my phone to be loud it should be. It's got nothing to do with them.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Willyman:
That's cause those only work with specific Sony devices. They have extra pins to send the microphone signals to the phone for noise cancelling processing on the phone.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Youngbloodx:
This is going to be a dumb question but... If you use Bluetooth headphones will it sound the same regardless of what phone you pair it up with? I don't really like the sound output I'm getting with my wired headphones so I was looking into buying quality Bluetooth headphones.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] @home:
What headphones are you using? What files type are you using?
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Youngbloodx:
Bose q25. Streaming from Google Play music. The sound quality isn't horrible, but I think it was better on my note 5. I'm looking for a reason go purchase Bluetooth headphones.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] @home:
Why dont you put music files on sd card & use poweramp. Problem solved.

Google Play music isn't all that good quality.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] coolbuy:
Use the V10 ;)
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] C0derbear:
AFAIK, it will slightly depend upon the individual BT headphones and which profiles they support, BUT the BT audio stream should NOT include change by the wired hardware amp and processing ... it would be a direct digital data stream with the D->A conversion happening at the BT receiver.

I use three different BT audio listening devices, and all sound good (to me)

- LG HBS-730 "tone" headset (both stereo audio and phone call audio/mic input) (link)

- MPOW StreamBot BT receiver (link) - where I use s small number of wired headphones to listen to the feed (including some cheap Sony earbuds, some Yurbuds for when I'm exercising, some more high-quality/isolating Sony earbuds)

- and of course my car BT

Doesn't resolve the question to me about why some of the sound EQ stuff in the GS7E works over BT to expand the sound stage though, maybe they do that after decoding the source and before sending it into the D->A stream? That'd be my guess.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Pilz:
I have the Samsung Level U Pro BT headphones that I use when I goto the gym. They support aptX, so the audio quality sounds good to me. I like LG's tone like, but I don't trust the incredibly thin cable they use for the ear buds.

I bought the Level U Pro on Amazon for ~$84 which is a good deal compared to the LG ones for what I've read is better audio quality. I've had them for about a month without any issues so far. As of right now I would recommend them to anyone that wants a decent pair of BT headphones for working out, or just in general.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] C0derbear:
Agreed, I would not use the LG when being physically active. Not sure I'd use those Samsung either but if they work for you, great. I have an MPOW Streambot and cheap headphones for the "active" use case. ;^)
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Pilz:
They work well, and contour to you neck/collar area better since they aren't flat like the LG Tone line is. I run on the treadmill with them and haven't had them come off, or move around enough to bother me. I don't think they are the best possible solution, but they are surprisingly good, and not bad like I expected.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] borotoid arts:
I think headphones is ok) for me
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] johanbiff:
I must get this out.. I have no idea wth people are talking about with the poor audio?!?! I have the exynos version and I have these settings in stock(see attach) And I can promise you all that this blows all the other phones I had out of the water! (Inc the s6, just to name one) you guys should try the settings before you speak. I tested it with the same headphones iv always used so I know the diffrence.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] insomnia:
Exynos has the awesome Cirrus\Wolfson DAC and thats why it sounds so good. A lot of people on here have the subpar SD820 S7(E) with the crappy Qualcomm DAC which they notice to be subpar right off the bat.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] BananaJonny:
I have the Exynos S7E. I'm not an expert but the sound quality is not worse than the S3 which I had before.

Something which really sucks, is the fact that till around 50% volume you cant really hear something. It is still extremely quit, and at the last 3/4 steps till the max volume, it gets exponentially louder. This is so confusing and strange.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] M@rs:
You can try poweramp alpha with the 100 step volume scale
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] hagba:
I've written somewhere in this thread that I will root and modify the default gain files as soon as I get my S7E the way I've done with my Note II almost 4 years ago!!. However now that I have my S7E I don't think I will do that, since both sound quality and volume level are just fine for me.

here goes another reason to root my device!!.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] pradeepd:
Guys,

I have SD version of s7edge. What's your thought on just getting a FiiO AMP (E11K) instead of a USB DAC? thoughts? I'm getting an FiiO E11K for a good price. Do you think it will help the audio quality?
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Willyman:
It will increase the maximum achievable output level, but it won't dramatically alter the sound. It's up to you to decide whether you think you need more loudness or not.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] ssgunner20:
Interesting. Might need to try my beats to see how they sound. Been using the stock earbuds so far sound ok. Cancel more noise to me not saying better or worse rhan the apple buds. My beats aux cable sounds good in my wifes car.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] victorinox1599:
Using my exynos s7 edge with Poweramp Alpha and Shure SE846 - the sound is so nice now! So much better than the horrible stock samsung player/EQ.

If anyone hasn't tried 3rd party players like Poweramp alpha, neutron, onkyo HF, definitely check them out, it sounds so mcuh better than Play music or samsung music player
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] canadoc01:
What settings in power amp
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] skivnit:
Except you can't use those with spotify for example
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Tonys7Edge:
Totally disappointed with the sound quality on my s7 edge /exyno. My note3 I got from 3 years ago had better sound quality. The bass and high notes were all blurred and exposed when playing on high volume.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] GODSPD:
root, install v4a and that will solve everyone's problem with low volume output.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Ausboy 2011:
not a fan of poweramp but i use gonemad music player
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] TwinCalibre:
How is that with the S7 Edge? using that playing with my HTC M8, really like it! You on the exynos variant?
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Ausboy 2011:
yeah exynos sound is 10x better than stock eq/music player
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] abelrhd:
Yes but the knox is 0x1 and warranty void. I prefer the poweramp alpha solution.

Enviado desde mi SM-G935F mediante Tapatalk
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] GODSPD:
In all honesty when did anyone ever have to take their phone back for warranty purpose??? secondly do you know of anyone who took their 0x1 status phone for warranty and it was denied? I will simply tell samsung i tried to update official firmware via odin and it tripped the knox counter.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Willyman:
3 phones ago, lumia 930: 1 replacement, faulty amoled.

My last phone, note 5: had two replacements. One bad display, one overheating. Both confirmed by Samsung service centre. The third one I had was fine for a while and then the camera started malfunctioning. Luckily I managed to sell it back to a dodgy shop, lol.

This new S7 Edge, well... It seems I might have an issue with the camera lense (see S7 camera thread).
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] GODSPD:
were any of these on 0x1 status?
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] skivnit:
Either ur very anal about stuff or u have some very bad luck. I only exchanged one phone and it was the s6 edge because of a screen full of scratches and bad battery. Knowing that I buy 2 phones/year it's a very small probability to have defects all the time. But I agree u don't have to root a phone to have what u paid for
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Willyman:
Yeah, the note 5 I had to sell.

---------- Post added at 11:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:48 PM ----------

Was not being anal, trust me.

I think was more a matter of (1) bad luck + (2) tempting the statistics. What I mean by that second point is that I'm always getting a new phone as soon as I can get it. Hear in Hong Kong that pretty much means that it's one of first shipments out of China, sometimes even before launch days somewhere else (e.g. I had my Note 5 a week before anywhere else). First batches of production always have higher defects rates than later batches.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] minoch:
I had the same experience with my S7 Edge Qualcomm.... (Headphones jack) Sound was much better on my Note 3.

Using Neutron Player improves sound a bit. Just another tradeoff.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Tonys7Edge:
I've tried output the sound via Bluetooth to my soundbar yesterday the quality isnt actually bad at all. However yeah the sound quality is quite poor when playing via headbuds. Going to try output the sound via Bluetooth on my wireless headset when I get home tonight.

Updated: have tried output the sound via Bluetooth to Sony MDR 10RBT. No problem at all sound is back to awesome.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] TwinCalibre:
Got my S7 Edge Exynos variant yesterday. Really happy with the phone, have come from the HTC M8, which I had for 2 years or so.

I first listened to music using the goneMad player, it was ok, the volume wasn't great, and there seemed to be some clipping/distortion going on, the M8 was noticeable better on some tracks and just in general tbh. However, when I tried the Poweramp Alpha, (after hearing about it on here) I was very impressed with the increased quality and volume! IMHO I think it sounds great, anyone who hasn't should try it out. Is on par with my old M8, if not better, so I am happy. I am listening through Shure SE535s by the way.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] jark99:
I can also confirm this, I came from OnePlusOne with Viper using Bose Sie2 earphones. I never used original EQ settings, straight away installed Poweramp, tuned to bass and treble. The headphones output is just as good for not better than my OPO. A major buying criteria was the output, and I can say I'm thoroughly satisfied.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] TwinCalibre:
Glad to hear it! Was a big buying criteria for me aswell. Still need to mess around with EQ etc in Poweramp, but am very happy with it!
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] @home:
I switched back to my Note 4 for music & cannot believe how much better than the S7 Edge it is.

The S7 edge is so quite & narrow in the spread of music. No setting I applied could come anywhere near to sounding half as decent as the Note 4 Exynos.

It's a shame cause S7E is a great device but alas not one I'll be keeping.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Willyman:
No surprise there really. I loved my OPO, still do, but the sound was terrible.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Beefheart:
People need to be clear what chipset they're talking about when they make claims of sound quality on the S7/S7E because the Exynos and Snapdragon variants have completely different DACs. My Exynos model has the best sound quality of any mobile phone I've owned, but I've read the Snapdgragon S7/S7E is poor in comparison.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] @home:
I had the Exynos S7 Edge. It sounded OK, nothing more & not even in the same league as the Exynos Note 4.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] dannejanne:
Yes it's OK but pales in comparison with my Mate 8.

Sent from my S7 Edge
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Beefheart:
With the right Viper settings it sounds fantastic for me, almost as good a quality as my old iRiver H340 running Rockbox. Which still remains the best sounding music player I've used, hence why they're still so expensive second hand despite being out of production for a decade.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] chanhny:
Try new beta Power AMP 3. And will have select output 24bit/192 KHz. Audio output to headphone will release real power of DAC. Built in app is very sick.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Tonys7Edge:
Same goes with comparing to note3. However when played via Bluetooth the sound quality is alright.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Beefheart:
I assume you're referring to the Note 3 Exynos. My last phone was a Note 3 Snapdragon and the Exynos S7E sounds 10x better, both natively and through Viper.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Tonys7Edge:
No my note3 lte had a qualcomm snapdragon 800 in it, I've found both speaker and via headjack a better sound quality than the s7edge exynos that I am using now.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] skivnit:
Are usure u don't mean loudness cos quality 1nd loudness are 2 different things
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Rydah:
Loudness of both aux and Bluetooth are about -5 dB lower than any of my other devices. Hate it.

Sent Via My Samsung S7 Edge
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] willxix:
nothing wrong with mine ,it sounds brilliant!
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] VegChan:
Tried the beta PowerAmp.. Really makes a big difference in the audio quality. :good:
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] czarny1910:
How can i get it? In poweramp info i've joined testing program, but don't see any changes and whrere can i change output format ?
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] luckstar53:
I have lg g2-g3-g4 and galaxy s7 edge exynos. s7 edge sound quality > all lg models sound quality.

LG is crap because uses crapdragon.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Beefheart:
Definitely not, it's your imagination.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Tonys7Edge:
Whatever mate just saying from my own hearing from both phones I have tested.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] deepocean1358:
Is it in any way possible to install Viper and get the audio improvements without the jailbreaking? Or use some other app that accomplishes the same and does not require root?

I want the S7 Edge to be on par with Mate 8. Although I appreciate the underlying science that was presented by the 2 gentlemen earlier, I "just want" the S7 to sound "similar" to the Mate 8. I am no audiophil and already happy with Mate 8 quality .

ps. the Mate 8 sounds better than my iPhone 5.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] dannejanne:
No it's not possible.

Turn off "Headset DTS mode" on the Mate 8 and they will sound similar. I even prefer the S7 Edge sound now as it is warmer though I am rooted on both my S7 Edge and Mate 8 and Viper4Android is running on both with DTS mode off on the Mate 8.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] deepocean1358:
Thanks for the feedback. Just to be clear, you prefer the S7 Edge without Viper4Android right?
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Pilz:
Just a quick update on my experience with the S7 Edge audio output. I think it's about on par with my Nexus 6P, but it gets blown away by my HTC 10. I didn't know headphones could sound that good from a phone before using the HTC, so now I can definitely say the S7 Edge has mediocre audio quality at best.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] @home:
The 6p had some of the worst audio I've heard on a mobile.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Pilz:
No worse than the S7 Edge since both of them use the Qualcomm DAC. It's not great, but certainly not horrible.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] @home:
Yes it is. I had both as well. N6P is god damn awful.

S7E is bad but not as bad.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Pilz:
A friend of mine who is what I would call an audiophile didn't notice any real difference between the S7 Edge and Nexus 6P using his headphones. I tend to agree with him since he normally uses a DAC with his 6P, but now just has a FiO player instead
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] coolbuy:
Use adapt sound first.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Nitemare3219:
I have both phones and the 6P since I have updated to N allows for much higher volume. The quality of sound is not noticeably different between the two. Only difference is how you EQ them.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Galactus:
I was about to say o_O then I noticed you mentioned Qualcomm DAC lol. Thank goodness for the Exynos version
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Pilz:
Yeah the QC DAC is mediocre at best, I prefer the one my HTC 10 hands down.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Galactus:
Yeah the 10 is an audio beast
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Pilz:
It surprised me because you don't realize how bad the audio quality is on other devices until you use a good one.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] zkyevolved:
This is disappointing. For such a premium device, I mean. I love my S7 Edge. Fantastic device! But I wish audio quality was better over headphone jack. But I guess we can't have a perfect device, can we? Otherwise we'd never upgrade... But since audio is tolerable, and I can listen to my music, I'm OK!
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] joewong1991:
Coming from htc for the past few years I'm disappointed with alot things on the s7e I no were I'm going back to
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] mightywhites29111971:
Having come from the HTC One M8 i have to say this phone is a poor relation in audio to that. Having said that the app USB Audio Player PRO at least makes it tolerable, although it is expensive, even compared to Poweramp Pro and JetAudio Pro and I have both of those. They do not compare to USB Audio on this phone though.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Pilz:
You could always get a small DAC if you want to keep the phone but can't stand the audio output. I bought one to use with my Nexus 6P and S7E
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] mightywhites29111971:
You could always get a small DAC if you want to keep the phone but can't stand the audio output. I bought one to use with my Nexus 6P and S7E

To be fair the USB Audio Player app makes the audio suitable when used with with adapt sound so a small DAC is no longer required for me.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Pilz:
Did you forget to quote me above statement with the white tags?

I've found that my S7 Edge has issues routing USB audio with my FiiO K1, so I bought a FiiO E17K Alpen 2 instead which I hope works with the Samsung. My Nexus always works with the DAC thankfully, now I just need to wait on my Senheiser IE80's
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Neorpowa:
I've got the same audio issue here. As well as that, as soon as my headphone jack turns or is bumped the sound on one ear is gone, this problem has been occurring since the first use ! (Bad quality jack?)

Haven't tested any other earbuds than the standard ones. (Talking about the standard buds, they're crappy too:p) Nearly no low tones and no passive noise cancelling whatshowever (could be my ear shape) in comparison to my old Galaxy S3's earbuds (yes they are still operational:D).

In comparison to my Bose Soundlink AE2W headphones very very bad, but well, there's a big price difference. Bluetooth audio quality is good in my case on both my JBL charge 3/flip 2/GO, and Bose Soundlink AE2W.
[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion] Pilz:
Tested or my FiiO E17K with my S7 Edge; after some messing around I got it to finally work. Things aren't ideal with my S7 Edge and the DAC; when I use it with my Nexus the sound is 100x better than the sound vis my S7 Edge using the same flac song, player, etc., so I'm not sure what the issue is where. Samsung clearly doesn't want people to use a DAC or usb audio of they failed to properly add in support for it that is normally present in stock Android.