How's the sound quality for the Galaxy S Fascinate and the Nexus S?

[Mister Epic]

I'm thinking of getting an Android phone in which I will listen to music in something like WAV (since both phones I'm actually interested in don't support FLAC or something lossless), OGG or MP3, using headphones.

I wonder if the Samsung Galaxy S Fascinate and the Google Nexus S (I will pick one of these) have a sound quality that at least matches the iPhone 4's sound quality.

Do you have any idea about this?

[CrowdAds]

[saratoga]

The iPhones are really good, as in Sandisk good. But most phones are good enough that you won't really notice a difference.

BTW, on Android you can install any music player you want. If you FLAC, just hit up the Android market and install a player that support its.

[Mister Epic]

Originally Posted by saratoga

The iPhones are really good, as in Sandisk good.

I never tried any Sandisk music players. I'm currently using a 4th gen iPod Touch and I'm thinking of replacing it with an Android phone, since it would be my first cellphone and a way to avoid carrying two devices in my pocket.

In other words, what do you mean by "as in Sandisk good"?

Originally Posted by saratoga

But most phones are good enough that you won't really notice a difference.

In other words, any Android phone would do the trick to match the iPhone 4's sound quality? I'll be using my Monster Beats Studio (please, don't start a flame war about this) on this as I'm currently using them on my iPod Touch.

Originally Posted by saratoga

BTW, on Android you can install any music player you want. If you FLAC, just hit up the Android market and install a player that support its.

Interesting. That means I can ignore what PhoneArena says about the music files support as I can install something that supports it? By the way, when is VLC Media Player coming out for this?

[medion]

I never tried any Sandisk music players. I'm currently using a 4th gen iPod Touch and I'm thinking of replacing it with an Android phone, since it would be my first cellphone and a way to avoid carrying two devices in my pocket.

In other words, what do you mean by "as in Sandisk good"?

Sandisk has very good baseline (no equalizer settings) sound quality. The 4th gen i-devices seem to match this. That's a good thing.

In other words, any Android phone would do the trick to match the iPhone 4's sound quality? I'll be using my Monster Beats Studio (please, don't start a flame war about this) on this as I'm currently using them on my iPod Touch.

Unless you're DFKT, you won't hear a differences. The acoustics in his mom's basement are outstanding (sorry bud, had to throw that in there!). Basically, sound quality will be fine. You won't likely here a difference, or care if you do.

Interesting. That means I can ignore what PhoneArena says about the music files support as I can install something that supports it? By the way, when is VLC Media Player coming out for this?

Yes on the first question, in development on the second. Also, the built-in player for the Galaxy S phones supports FLAC. I believe it was also added to the stock app for the Nexus phones (and any other Android 2.3 phone not running custom crap) as well. But yes, if you don't like the included app, you can install another one, just like replacing WMP on your PC.

[Mister Epic]

Nice! Thanks for all of your answers! I'll probably get a Galaxy S Fascinate.

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by medion

Unless you're DFKT, you won't hear a differences. The acoustics in his mom's basement are outstanding (sorry bud, had to throw that in there!).

Heh, that's rather insulting, especially since I always preach that there is no audible difference between most any well designed quality device nowadays.

[medion]

Originally Posted by dfkt

Heh, that's rather insulting, especially since I always preach that there is no audible difference between most any well designed quality device nowadays.

Eh, it was one of those jokes that just came to me. I actually consider you to be our resident expert in the field, but I can't just heap praise on you without at least a little ribbing

[The DarkSide]

Heh, no response to the "mom's basement" comment,...

[dfkt]

A matter of priorities.

[medion]

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

Heh, no response to the "mom's basement" comment,...

Originally Posted by dfkt

A matter of priorities.

I honestly expected a "What's wrong with that?"

[sideways]

Yeah top notch androids will likely be just as good a source as most anything else portable these days. The reason folks around here go for dedicated audio devices is more to do with other concerns like battery life, cost, UI controls etc.

To the OP if you are looking for a real improvement to audio quality you might think instead of switching the player about switching your headphones. I don't mean to flame, I just believe that with the sources being equal the room for improvement lies here. Still that was not the question and if you want one device that does it all the Samsung Galaxy S-series is a good place to start. Enjoy!

[Leroy Bad]

I recommend PowerAmp Player for Android. It has some EQ options and tone controls.

[james444]

You might find this useful:

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i910...view-597p8.php
(scroll down)

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1054182

[kasrhp]

This is interesting. Perhaps dfkt might be very interested as well. i know he's a fan of Wolfson chips.

For Samsung Galaxy:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=806195

Also for the Asus Transformer.
"Asus EeePad Transformer hosts a very nice audio codec by Wolfson that powers both the headphone and speaker output.
Its the ultra low power WM8903, implementing a midrange DAC (Wolfson-scale) that outputs a clean and musical signal, and my favorite Class W headphone amp, that gives a clean controlled and accurate output, and is able to drive full-size 300 Ohms headphones without distortion."

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1132875

I just found this out this weekend, and will be toying with it when I have time. It seems to be very good from the comments.