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iPhone If you care about Audio You don’t buy an iPhone.

T

TheRealAlex

macrumors 68030
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Sep 2, 2015
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So Steve Jobs was a self admitted audiophile. I am still a novice but iPhone and before IPhone iPod, started and audio revolution in this country. A thousand songs in your pocket. And the ability to rip CDs at a high bit depth.
Today it’s all about “streaming” audio and Bluetooth. Which is ok.

But what about Audio quality ? Well since iPhone does not support aptXHD or LDAC at bitrates of 990kbps
IPhone is stuck with SBC at 345kbps

So I have to stay with Android Oreo 8.1 and 8.0 which support both aptXHD owned by Qualcomm so Apple will never embrace it. And LDAC owned by SONY which was included in Android Oreo 8.0.
 
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If you care about audio, you’re not relying on Bluetooth. I mean, AAC is CD quality, so there’s that. And if you’re streaming over Spotify or anything like that, the LDAC will be wasted because it won’t be anywhere near that bitrate.
 
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AAC is excellent over bluetooth, and bluetooth is primarily for convenience, not quality. You care enough about quality that you will stay with an outdated operating system, but then you have to use bluetooth?
 
Music on an Apple product has always been less than what it was on the competition, starting way back when my husband insisted on us having Zunes instead of iPods. I did give a listen and he was right, our music sounded better on the Zune. I still wanted an iPod, though. :cool:

Eh, it’s acceptable to most people most of the time, but yes, if you’re in the mood to really want to hear distinct instruments and all nuances of a vocal instead of everything mushed together, it’s a noticeably better experience using AptX headphones and an Android phone than an iPhone and the typical Beats or even the lightning earbuds.

I am not an audiophile but even I don’t listen to music on a phone when I want to be
AFA0E2CE-1721-4097-BD03-035A08897632.jpeg
 
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TheRealAlex said:
So Steve Jobs was a self admitted audiophile. I am still a novice but iPhone and before IPhone iPod, started and audio revolution in this country. A thousand songs in your pocket. And the ability to rip CDs at a high bit depth.
Today it’s all about “streaming” audio and Bluetooth. Which is ok.

But what about Audio quality ? Well since iPhone does not support aptXHD or LDAC at bitrates of 990kbps
IPhone is stuck with SBC at 345kbps

So I have to stay with Android Oreo 8.1 and 8.0 which support both aptXHD owned by Qualcomm so Apple will never embrace it. And LDAC owned by SONY which was included in Android Oreo 8.0.
Click to expand...
I guess what you are saying and what some are missing here is that when you do listen to music via Bluetooth you want to have the best experience possible on a phone.
 
Tsepz said:
I guess what you are saying and what some are missing here is that when you do listen to music via Bluetooth you want to have the best experience possible on a phone.
Click to expand...

And what I’m saying is that most people aren’t going to hear much of, if any, difference between an aptX HD or not and AAC because it’s A) still Bluetooth and B) the source we usually use is still not high quality.
 
Going for a job as a tech journo, OP?...That ‘headline’ is on the extreme side.

When it comes to music, I’d say convenience & convergence would be higher on the list for Apple users, whilst still caring about audio quality.

Think Airpods, & you’ll see what I mean - a slight compromise in audio quality (though still slightly above average), but an overall harmonious experience with all other IOS products.
 
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TheRealAlex said:
So Steve Jobs was a self admitted audiophile. I am still a novice but iPhone and before IPhone iPod, started and audio revolution in this country. A thousand songs in your pocket. And the ability to rip CDs at a high bit depth.
Today it’s all about “streaming” audio and Bluetooth. Which is ok.

But what about Audio quality ? Well since iPhone does not support aptXHD or LDAC at bitrates of 990kbps
IPhone is stuck with SBC at 345kbps

So I have to stay with Android Oreo 8.1 and 8.0 which support both aptXHD owned by Qualcomm so Apple will never embrace it. And LDAC owned by SONY which was included in Android Oreo 8.0.
Click to expand...

I take it you're not old enough to have ever seen a Sony WalkMan. ;)

If I really cared about the clarity of music, I would not listen to it using any smartphone. I would listen using a CD player, quality headphones and some type of amplifier.

But I don't really care that much any smartphone manufactured in the last three years works fine for me.
 
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TheRealAlex said:
So Steve Jobs was a self admitted audiophile. I am still a novice but iPhone and before IPhone iPod, started and audio revolution in this country. A thousand songs in your pocket. And the ability to rip CDs at a high bit depth.
Today it’s all about “streaming” audio and Bluetooth. Which is ok.

But what about Audio quality ? Well since iPhone does not support aptXHD or LDAC at bitrates of 990kbps
IPhone is stuck with SBC at 345kbps

So I have to stay with Android Oreo 8.1 and 8.0 which support both aptXHD owned by Qualcomm so Apple will never embrace it. And LDAC owned by SONY which was included in Android Oreo 8.0.
Click to expand...

So you're saying that if you're an audiophile, you'll avoid 99% of Android as well?
 
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pika2000 said:
Show me if you can differentiate a 320kbps AAC track with a CD version in a blind test.
Click to expand...
It depends on the system. Apple Music is currently 256kbps, and Spotify Premium / Google Play Music are both at 320kbps. Also, whether or not I can perform the difference in a blind test doesn't make my statement about the numbers untrue.
 
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Zwhaler said:
It depends on the system. Apple Music is currently 256kbps, and Spotify Premium / Google Play Music are both at 320kbps. Also, whether or not I can perform the difference in a blind test doesn't make my statement about the numbers untrue.
Click to expand...

It makes the numbers pointless if they are indistinguishable from each other.
 
Oh no. The audiophiles have discovered Goodle Pixelbuds and stuff... we're lost in space.
 
SBC sounds fine to me. The main difference in sound quality anyone will notice is the ear/headphones. I have Bowers & Wilkins PX which sound great to me.

Saying that, I'm over 50 now and there is a noticeable drop off in the high frequencies for just about anyone.
 
Michael Goff said:
It makes the numbers pointless if they are indistinguishable from each other.
Click to expand...
They're not indistinguishable on a certain tier system. High-end home theater, studio monitors, car audio, headphones and professional grade earbuds for example. 320kpbs AAC for everyday use is good enough for me but they are not the same. Of course CDs will eventually go away and most likely wave/flac quality streaming will become the norm, just like 4k video streaming is becoming normal as bandwidth increases.
 
Zwhaler said:
They're not indistinguishable on a certain tier system. High-end home theater, studio monitors, car audio, headphones and professional grade earbuds for example. 320kpbs AAC for everyday use is good enough for me but they are not the same. Of course CDs will eventually go away and most likely wave/flac quality streaming will become the norm, just like 4k video streaming is becoming normal as bandwidth increases.
Click to expand...

So you’re going to buy a phone, then go buy an insanely expensive set of Bluetooth earbuds, and wonder why Apple didn’t go with the niche codec only supported by those really expensive earbuds sold by Sony?
 
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Michael Goff said:
So you’re going to buy a phone, then go buy an insanely expensive set of Bluetooth earbuds, and wonder why Apple didn’t go with the niche codec only supported by those really expensive earbuds sold by Sony?
Click to expand...
No, I didn't care about the that, wasn't complaining about it, and didn't start the thread. I only was stating that 320kbps AAC is not 100% CD quality. 22.678951%, to be exact, by the numbers.
Of course, the difference isn't apparent on low-end systems, and is only marginally apparent on higher-end systems to the average listener.
 
TheRealAlex said:
So Steve Jobs was a self admitted audiophile. I am still a novice but iPhone and before IPhone iPod, started and audio revolution in this country. A thousand songs in your pocket. And the ability to rip CDs at a high bit depth.
Today it’s all about “streaming” audio and Bluetooth. Which is ok.

But what about Audio quality ? Well since iPhone does not support aptXHD or LDAC at bitrates of 990kbps
IPhone is stuck with SBC at 345kbps

So I have to stay with Android Oreo 8.1 and 8.0 which support both aptXHD owned by Qualcomm so Apple will never embrace it. And LDAC owned by SONY which was included in Android Oreo 8.0.
Click to expand...
Yes you are a novice if thinking any of the specs you post means anything to an audiophile. Golden ears listen to their equipment, music lovers listen to and enjoy the music.
 
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