Does anyone care about Audio Quality ?

[12vElectronics]

I'm a huge audio guy. In fact it's the industry I am in.

It used to upset me that such high end phones like the iPhone had such terrible quality. Then I came to a few realizations. Not enough of the market is "into" audio for Apple to spend resources on that feature set. If you're not going to gain additional sales or users from a feature, why spend money on it? Doesn't make any business sense. Also, most people that are "into" audio will have a legitimate home and/or car setup where they listen to their music. The phone is not the medium for the audio listening.

 

[ezrazski]

I'm a huge audio guy. In fact it's the industry I am in.

It used to upset me that such high end phones like the iPhone had such terrible quality. Then I came to a few realizations. Not enough of the market is "into" audio for Apple to spend resources on that feature set. If you're not going to gain additional sales or users from a feature, why spend money on it? Doesn't make any business sense. Also, most people that are "into" audio will have a legitimate home and/or car setup where they listen to their music. The phone is not the medium for the audio listening.

All true. Except high quality portable audio is a thing. Apple or any phone maker isn't that. They use as few chips and parts as possible to bring you general purpose audio and computing.

Real DAP makers like Fiio, A&K, etc. use high end DAC's, discreet circuitry, and better filters on the DAC to bring pro audio to the portable crowd. For some reason they sell better in other countries than they sell in America.

Once you have a high-quality DAP around with your music on it, you hear the major deficiencies in the phone, and it's so easy to plug you DAP into whatever speaker set you have around you, and those speakers perform far better with good signal.

Music sound quality is like water quality. It can be measured and tasted. Everything playing lossy files is equivalent to using dirty water. Dirty water is going to ruin whatever recipe you use it in.

 

[taoisawesome]

we might need some extra boost!!! Not sure if the iphone have the ability to boost the beats to the deepest tune

 

[Coffee_Time]

I'm a huge audio guy. In fact it's the industry I am in.

It used to upset me that such high end phones like the iPhone had such terrible quality. Then I came to a few realizations. Not enough of the market is "into" audio for Apple to spend resources on that feature set. If you're not going to gain additional sales or users from a feature, why spend money on it? Doesn't make any business sense. Also, most people that are "into" audio will have a legitimate home and/or car setup where they listen to their music. The phone is not the medium for the audio listening.

Got all of the above. You forgot headphones. I'm spending 3-4 hours each day with them. I have a little kid, so near no music in the house system.

 

[Coffee_Time]

This is going to far from reality...I consider myself as a sick audiophile moron ....at home I have a decent HI FI system close to High End and I am listening and playing music for more than 40 years. Just recently I decided to purchase serious earbuds for my iPhone X, just for the sake of situation being somewhere outside and wanting to listen to some nice piece of music. Of course all music on my X is ALAC format and I have Nu Force HEM 6 earbuds....well, quite frankly for a short period of time outside that's a reasonable sound for most, me included, but nothing so small can come even close to a serious HI FI system sound. Period.

Hmmm.
Let's start with basics:
1.remember DECKs? The Deck is the audio player. Old decks had cassette, then CDs, then USB, now we can consider smartphones as decks. Take your smartphone DECK and plug it in or wirelessly connect it to: your house speakers, car speakers, Bluetooth speakers, headphones etc. Go to a party, connect your phone to the playing speakers and put some music, are you an dj, connect your smartphone and entertain the audience. Are you on the beach? Just connect it with your portable speakers. Can Apple deliver that? Partially. LG can deliver for DJ's. Apple can't. Simple as that.
2. Speakers with built in or connected Amp.
Conclusions :
1. DECK AND SPEAKERS
2. Some Decks (so small) can deliver Hi-fi class audio. Apple can't.

 

[ApplesandOranges]

Audiophiles are a lost breed. Over the years I have spent a fortune on audio gear, only to see most of the media formats slowly disappear into the streaming abyss.

DVD Audio, SACD, CD's, and even high bit rate streaming have slowly disappeared. It seems that audio quality is not important to the masses. Most wouldn't know a quality recording because they are listening to music on their phones or through cheap headphones. For most this is good enough.

I am thankful LP's still have some sort of following. Without the ability to purchase a 180gram vinyl recording of my favorites to play back on my two channel listening system, all would be lost. It's only a matter of time.
[doublepost=1564637659][/doublepost]

This is going to far from reality...I consider myself as a sick audiophile moron ....at home I have a decent HI FI system close to High End and I am listening and playing music for more than 40 years. Just recently I decided to purchase serious earbuds for my iPhone X, just for the sake of situation being somewhere outside and wanting to listen to some nice piece of music. Of course all music on my X is ALAC format and I have Nu Force HEM 6 earbuds....well, quite frankly for a short period of time outside that's a reasonable sound for most, me included, but nothing so small can come even close to a serious HI FI system sound. Period.

I question the audio playback capabilities and sound quality coming from a phone. Are you sure you are getting the most out of your Nu force earbuds using a phone?

If you spend $10,000 on speakers, and then use a walkman to playback your audio, are you really getting audiophile quality sound?

 

[throAU]

The iphone is a general purpose device, of which ONE of its many purposes is an on-the-go music player.

It has a number of compromises to meet a price point and I'd suggest that the number of audiophile iPhone users is fairly small. Thus, audiophile quality audio output is not the highest priority.

Far more of their customer base will be more concerned about cost, battery life and water resistance for this particular device.
[doublepost=1564637945][/doublepost]

Audiophile here...and no I don’t care how clear the audio on my iPhone is. My home stereo setup is worlds better than anything a phone could reproduce, and is my go-to when I want to really listen to music.

My phone is convenient, my Bluetooth headphones are convenient, and my Bluetooth speakers are convenient...but none of them will ever match the sound of Paradigm Signature speakers paired up with Marantz separates and an Oppo source unit that will play true HQ formats.

I’m not sure how anyone can expect a $1k phone to be “audiophile quality” when there’s so much it’s expected to do in such a small package. That’s literally like expecting Bose cube speakers to rival full towers in the home audio world, it’s just not going to happen.

100% this. Basically what I'm implying above, more directly stated... there are MANY trade-offs in the iphone or any comparable device to be "good enough" in a portable form factor at many things.


But yes, I care about audio quality, but there's a convenience vs. price vs. portability trade-off. Wired headphones, whilst out and about (i.e., when i am likely to use the phone for audio as opposed to something else) - suck.

 

[ApplesandOranges]

The iphone is a general purpose device, of which ONE of its many purposes is an on-the-go music player.

It has a number of compromises to meet a price point and I'd suggest that the number of audiophile iPhone users is fairly small. Thus, audiophile quality audio output is not the highest priority.

Far more of their customer base will be more concerned about cost, battery life and water resistance for this particular device.
[doublepost=1564637945][/doublepost]


100% this. Basically what I'm implying above, more directly stated...

The problem with these sorts of threads is how loosely the term "Audiophile" is tossed around. I remember reading about the HomePod and how some claimed it was audiophile quality.... Not even close.

To think that a phone could reproduce audiophile quality sound is a fantasy.

Anyone who has spent time with high end audio equipment would agree.

 

[TheRealAlex]

LDAC owned by Sony who Gifted the Tech to Google to be used in Android.
aptX HD owned by Qualcomm so Apple will never pay to license it.

Both High resolution audio codecs. None supported by Apple.

So technically if you own an iPhone, you have the worst audio quality on the market.

 

[throAU]

Yeah, wasn't implying i was an audiophile or that wired headphones for example would turn the iphone into such a device.

That was purely a jab at the "der terk mer peert" people whining about the audio jack being removed.

 

[Shirasaki]

Is EAC still a thing?

It is. Quite popular in Asian weeb community. Maybe in Europe as well.

For some reason they sell better in other countries than they sell in America.

I think there are two main reasons:

1. The music American people enjoy and listen to are audio-equipment-agnostic. Be either someone yelling at mic all the day or tons of bass and nothing much else. Those music sells. Not those classical music, not those beautiful violin sound or Plano masterpiece. That’s one main reason why Apple Music heavily promotes rap and hip-hop genres, maybe rock as well. For those music, HI-FI is pointless as whether sound quality is good or bad people will Always listen to the same thing. If a 160MB 32bit 192kHz Hi-Res rap song can perfectly convey the meaning with a 10MB 16-bit 44.1kHz AAC file, there is no point to push 32bit 192kHz Hi-Res. Both files will sound as loud and impactful.

2. The popularity of devices that does not carry a good DAC and/or headphone. If AirPods and Powerbeats Pro are the go-to wireless headphone choice for a lot of people, Hi-Fi will have a very hard time taking off. Neither of them provide good sound quality and both output tons of bass. When people are fed with bluetooth headphone or cheap EarPods, they will not care things like “balanced sound”, “true representation”, “high quality equipment for playback” and just pick their iPhone or Google Pixel, fire up Spotify or Apple Music, hit play and go.

Spoiler

I listen to all kinds of weeb music with a large variety of taste. Some of them are softer and quieter, while others are just like rap or heavy metal - loud and bass-ful. Powerbeats Pro cannot properly represent all of them, and the overshooting bass will just ruin everything pretty much, with a few exceptions. For me, I need a more balanced choice, a headphone that does not emphasis either bass, treble or mid. That’s one main reason I am not a big fan of AirPods or Powerbeats Pro, as well as any other headphone, wireless or not, that does not have a balanced sound. Hi-Fi definitely can help me here with better representation of the music I am listening, so I have a lot of hi-res files. I listen to some classical music as well.

 

[TheRealAlex]

Yeah, wasn't implying i was an audiophile or that wired headphones for example would turn the iphone into such a device.

That was purely a jab at the "der terk mer peert" people whining about the audio jack being removed.

No one cares about the missing 3.5 audio jack at this point. My issue is allow customers to have superior High Definition audio Codecs. And with no LDAC and no aptXHD literally IPhone users have the worst audio wireless audio quality on the market. Tell me I’m wrong.

 

[Shirasaki]

No one cares about the missing 3.5 audio jack at this point. My issue is allow customers to have superior High Definition audio Codecs. And with no LDAC and no aptXHD literally IPhone users have the worst audio wireless audio quality on the market. Tell me I’m wrong.

Given the currently well established music culture and general public’s music taste in America, I am worried that high quality music will never become something that Apple will even remotely care about at any point. I feel lucky that I bought Shure SE-215 before, as if I bought anything better than that model, it would be a total waste to play the audio through otherwise pathetic SBC codec.

 

[bbrks]

Audiophiles are a lost breed. Over the years I have spent a fortune on audio gear, only to see most of the media formats slowly disappear into the streaming abyss.

DVD Audio, SACD, CD's, and even high bit rate streaming have slowly disappeared. It seems that audio quality is not important to the masses. Most wouldn't know a quality recording because they are listening to music on their phones or through cheap headphones. For most this is good enough.

I am thankful LP's still have some sort of following. Without the ability to purchase a 180gram vinyl recording of my favorites to play back on my two channel listening system, all would be lost. It's only a matter of time.
[doublepost=1564637659][/doublepost]

I question the audio playback capabilities and sound quality coming from a phone. Are you sure you are getting the most out of your Nu force earbuds using a phone?

If you spend $10,000 on speakers, and then use a walkman to playback your audio, are you really getting audiophile quality sound?

By all means, of course not But at least with those earbuds I am getting out of the iPhone's pathetic DAC almost reasonable, not ear bleeding, sound. So I consider them as a first aid
Vinyl 180 gr and even 200 gr is an absolute must!

 

[throAU]

My issue is allow customers to have superior High Definition audio Codecs.

Wasn't aimed at you in particular. However as i said above, the people who need/want better than the current audio quality are vanishingly small vs. the entire Apple iphone userbase.

Turn your question around: why should the 99.9% of the userbase pay for an amazing audio subsystem when they don't need or want it?

 

[I7guy]

No one cares about the missing 3.5 audio jack at this point. My issue is allow customers to have superior High Definition audio Codecs. And with no LDAC and no aptXHD literally IPhone users have the worst audio wireless audio quality on the market. Tell me I’m wrong.

For me the audio has to be good enough. I don’t want to pay for audiophile quality sound on a phone. Thankfully there are options out there for those who want this type of quality.

 

[Lefevre2]

I’m no audiophile and wouldn’t ever claim to be. One thing I have noticed is recently I was using a 5s temporarily and the volume through the headphone jack is considerably louder than my XS Max and my Partners X. It made a huge different to listening to music in the car, beforehand I would have the car stereo volume up to max but using the 5s I would have to lower the volume, i could go louder and I liked that.

is Apple gradually reducing the volume through headphones over multiple iPhone gens? In hope that it won’t be so noticeable to consumers? maybe. I loved iPhones for there volumes, as had previously had Sonys, older Samsungs which were crap and quiet through headphones.

I’m babbling now. Sorry!

 

[msp3]

Why not just up convert mp3s to FLAC and screw around with the output and tell people it's now lossless? Every other "audiophile" seem to fall for it.

 

[S.B.G]

 

[Velin]

Audio is critically important for phone calls. That’s why FaceTime Audio is so good for iPhone-to-iPhone calls. Amazing quality. And there’s still many of us using wired headsets for the best audio you can get.

 

[Jimmy James]

we might need some extra boost!!! Not sure if the iphone have the ability to boost the beats to the deepest tune

Everyone raise your hands. Lift the house. Extra boost!

 

[Coffee_Time]

Everyone raise your hands. Lift the house. Extra boost!

))
When it comes to audio, Iphoners don't realize some things:
1. LG phones have like 5 DACs, one normal DAC and another 4 in one array called QUAD DAC for 32 bit processing at insane bandwidth quality.
What they don't realize also is that even the standard DAC demolishes everything in smartphone market.
Proof here:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...o-measurement-of-lg-g7-thinq-smartphone.4468/
2. Another aspect is that LG also has insane AMP with 3 modes: HiFi, AUX and 50Ohm impedance mode. On top of that DTS X, hardware MQA decoding, not software emulated.
From the begining, bragging about audio quality like is impossible on an smartphone is like fox & the grapes story, rather than admit defeat, he states they are undesirable.

 

[Suckfest 9001]

Yawn who cares. Anybody who's actually serious about audio quality would get a dedicated player with an external amp and headphones that deserve that setup. Please don't embarrass yourselves by claiming to be audiophiles while you're listening to music over Bluetooth. What a joke..

 

[ericwn]

No one cares about the missing 3.5 audio jack at this point. .

Oh another wisdom of Alex. Filed directly under “2017 iPad won’t have a headphone jack” and similar jewels. King of guesswork.

 

[jerwin]

Might as well post this.