Earphone sound quality

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Not The Flong

Member
Oct 4, 2011
26
14
Planet Cat
Well after Sony & Handtec completly screwed everything up I purchased the Z2 off CPW with next day delivey,
I'm not impressed with the sound quality with the earphones. I've tried 3 different quality headsets and the bundled set with the phone.
unimpressive I'm afraid.
 

TheOnlyIntruder

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2009
218
76
34
Sony Xperia XZ1
Sony Xperia 1 II
That's the bundled headset

No it depends, in the UK, if you pre-ordered the phone you get the active noise cancelling earphones MDR-NC31EM otherwise you just get a standard pair of earphones.

Do yours look like this? (Make note of how many contact points there are on the plug)
MDR-NC31EM-Digital-Noise-Cancelling-Headset-white-1240x840-c87bc323e6e66759f997182789f2ecf6.jpg
 

schecter7

Senior Member
Aug 5, 2011
292
134
Austin, TX
Even in UK I think you can get z2 without MDR-NC13EM. OP should check the model number listed on the little tag attached to the headset wire.

I highly doubt anyone would be disappointed with MDR-NC13EM. I understand sound quality is a highly subjective matter but I still think z2 with MDR-NC13EM is the best you can get from a smartphone compared to other OEM headsets.
 

riso123

Senior Member
Dec 3, 2010
1,377
243
I found the sound awful. The "bass" simply lowered the voice and other instrumental features of a song to make the foreground bass sound bassier. When the bass parts of the song speed the voice would then become loud again.

It made some songs almost inaudible.

Tried my earphones (which I had great quality with my previous phone) and the ones that came pre bundled and both sounded the same.

Also couldn't figure out where the noise cancelling was as they where no different to my standard ear phones in terms of noise cancellation.

Gone to the s5 now and the sound was far superior before root, let alone after!

Sent from my SM-G900F using xda app-developers app
 

edge3uk

Senior Member
Dec 26, 2010
221
47
Sony's bass is usually realistic. It's not meant to be thumping like beats. It's usually a nice rounded sound. I haven't got mine yet so I can't comment too much.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk
 

TheOnlyIntruder

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2009
218
76
34
Sony Xperia XZ1
Sony Xperia 1 II
I found the sound awful. The "bass" simply lowered the voice and other instrumental features of a song to make the foreground bass sound bassier. When the bass parts of the song speed the voice would then become loud again.

It made some songs almost inaudible.

Tried my earphones (which I had great quality with my previous phone) and the ones that came pre bundled and both sounded the same.

Also couldn't figure out where the noise cancelling was as they where no different to my standard ear phones in terms of noise cancellation.

Gone to the s5 now and the sound was far superior before root, let alone after!

Sent from my SM-G900F using xda app-developers app

Sounds like you've had normalisation enabled which levels the audio to the same volume - this can have a negative effect on the audio quality overall regardless of what device and headset you're using so this setting should only be active if you're in a situation where you need it (can't think of a reason you'd need it and I'd recommend leaving this setting off).

As for the active noise-cancelling, to ensure noise cancelling is active, first you have to set accessories in the sound settings to "Noise-cancelling headset", then after you've plugged in the headset, additional options should be displayed in the "Sound effects" menu where you can set when the noise cancelling is in effect and the appropriate environment you're in. You should also notice an icon that gets displayed in the notification bar to show that it is active.

You also have to remember that the active-noise cancelling isn't performed on any headset, you can't just plug in a standard 3-pole headset and expect there to be the active noise-cancelling it doesn't work like that.
 
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riso123

Senior Member
Dec 3, 2010
1,377
243
Sounds like you've had normalisation enabled which levels the audio to the same volume - this can have a negative effect on the audio quality overall regardless of what device and headset you're using so this setting should only be active if you're in a situation where you need it (can't think of a reason you'd need it and I'd recommend leaving this setting off).

As for the active noise-cancelling, to ensure noise cancelling is active, first you have to set accessories in the sound settings to "Noise-cancelling headset", then after you've plugged in the headset, additional options should be displayed in the "Sound effects" menu where you can set when the noise cancelling is in effect and the appropriate environment you're in. You should also notice an icon that gets displayed in the notification bar to show that it is active.

You also have to remember that the active-noise cancelling isn't performed on any headset, you can't just plug in a standard 3-pole headset and expect there to be the active noise-cancelling it doesn't work like that.



As I've explained, how you've described what you've done suggests that your opinion while valid has been used for the wrong reasons and when users who have read your opinion which is a stark contrast to the majority, there is no wonder that there's a backlash.

My opinion is that you're biased and incapable of understanding how to operate the technology in your hand thus in-turn creating a false or rather poor outcome to your experiences.

Well that was a bit more constrictive!

I'm not biased at all though, I played around with the settings in various dodgem ways and could never reach ample sound output.

To suggest I am unable to operate the technology is a huge statement with no substance to back it up and again quite rude. You don't know my capabilities and so shouldn't assume I'm wrong and don't know how to handle the tech.

Instead give feedback like you did and then ASK politely if I had tried what you suggested instead of assuming the negative.


Sent from my SM-G900F using xda app-developers app
 

magwin

Member
Apr 15, 2014
6
1
Well that was a bit more constrictive!

I'm not biased at all though, I played around with the settings in various dodgem ways and could never reach ample sound output.

To suggest I am unable to operate the technology is a huge statement with no substance to back it up and again quite rude. You don't know my capabilities and so shouldn't assume I'm wrong and don't know how to handle the tech.

Instead give feedback like you did and then ASK politely if I had tried what you suggested instead of assuming the negative.


Sent from my SM-G900F using xda app-developers app

Since I am extremely eager to get my Z2, I have a slight OCD behavior when it comes to news about this phone.
In my info binging endeavor, I came across a similar review to yours in a swedish forum. It had the same complaints about the headset.

When I got my first Android phone, the biggest gripe I had with it was the dismal sound output when compared to the iPhone. So I am very sad to hear that poor sound still is something that haunts the Android universe. The noise canceling headset was one of the biggest draws for me with the Z2. I'll have to try for myself, but I trust your opinion since it coincides with others.
 

Warkman

Member
Sep 3, 2011
12
2
Errm what?

These are THE BEST earphones ever on an Android device!

Here's a review of the earphones only :

http://www.digitalversus.com/headph...rphones-ever-come-with-smartphone-n33617.html

Fully agree, I'm using the supplied MDR-NC31EM noise cancelling headphones and the audio quality is superb...when used with the Z2.
bass strong, acoustic setting do make differences in sound and I like various forms of music from classical through pop, house and hard rock

However I did try them in my ipad and the sound was awful, really bad.
 

plonkersaurus

Senior Member
Nov 18, 2008
67
24
Fully agree, I'm using the supplied MDR-NC31EM noise cancelling headphones and the audio quality is superb...when used with the Z2.
bass strong, acoustic setting do make differences in sound and I like various forms of music from classical through pop, house and hard rock

However I did try them in my ipad and the sound was awful, really bad.

Conversely I plugged in my Audio Technica W5000's into the phone and they were plenty loud enough. I haven't had time to really compare the sound quality though but it sounded ok to me :p

When I plugged in the noise cancelling earphones I thought they sounded really good but again I haven't compared them to anything yet.
 

kartoonz

Senior Member
Apr 28, 2012
318
29
Psynation
Let's stick to the topic here thanks and resist the urge to make this personal... Thread cleaned.

one of the big reason i want to move to z2 is the earphone sound output... and now these mixed reviews are making my decision tough... i am currently using sony xb90ex earphones with my one x and they are good enough... i just hope the z2 upgrade is not a downgrade after all :crying:
 

TheOnlyIntruder

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2009
218
76
34
Sony Xperia XZ1
Sony Xperia 1 II
one of the big reason i want to move to z2 is the earphone sound output... and now these mixed reviews are making my decision tough... i am currently using sony xb90ex earphones with my one x and they are good enough... i just hope the z2 upgrade is not a downgrade after all :crying:

I came from a One X and I used ARHD on it with all the sound mods including the additional beats profiles and EIZO DSP modifier and I can certainly say, the output of the Z2 is much better than that of the One X with the additional profiles. I think the Z2 must use a higher grade DAC or something (seems like it anyway), it is certainly more noticeable when you compare both devices without any psychoacoustic settings enabled (so listening to them flat), the One X had a noticeable hiss and crackle at low volume levels, Z2 not so much :D
 

kartoonz

Senior Member
Apr 28, 2012
318
29
Psynation
I came from a One X and I used ARHD on it with all the sound mods including the additional beats profiles and EIZO DSP modifier and I can certainly say, the output of the Z2 is much better than that of the One X with the additional profiles. I think the Z2 must use a higher grade DAC or something (seems like it anyway), it is certainly more noticeable when you compare both devices without any psychoacoustic settings enabled (so listening to them flat), the One X had a noticeable hiss and crackle at low volume levels, Z2 not so much :D
i will most certainly not root or install any of the above mentioned profiles you mentioned... so was the default sound output good enough...did you get a chance to test it??
 

Pitchb3nd

Senior Member
Jul 17, 2008
104
5
I found the sound awful. The "bass" simply lowered the voice and other instrumental features of a song to make the foreground bass sound bassier. When the bass parts of the song speed the voice would then become loud again.

It made some songs almost inaudible.

Tried my earphones (which I had great quality with my previous phone) and the ones that came pre bundled and both sounded the same.

Also couldn't figure out where the noise cancelling was as they where no different to my standard ear phones in terms of noise cancellation.

Gone to the s5 now and the sound was far superior before root, let alone after!

Sent from my SM-G900F using xda app-developers app

This is also exactly my experience unfortunately :(

My previous phone was the one x with beats audio + headphones, I'm now using the beats headphones with the Z2 and the bass leaves so much to be desired... I've tried all the settings to no avail, as mentioned above the bass specific setting seems to lower mediums and highs instead of pumping bass.

Enviado desde mi D6503 mediante Tapatalk
 

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