Audio quality

[brombadeg]

Hi experts,
I'm a long time Xiaomi user coming from Mi A1 thinking to buy this Mi 9T in US.
I'm not to happy with the A1 audio quality, especially over the headphones. I tried different brands, but not much luck. My GF has a note6pro, my family 5a..

Looking at the gsmarena site they are not impressed too with headphone test on this model, not sure it can be trusted though.
My main concern is the microphone and echo/noise canceling.

Can you guys give me a "real life review"?!

 

[Stele88]

Check other thread, there many other (me included) confirm audio quality is suprisingly good, contrary to rumors. Maybe updates improved it?
I can say it is just as good as my amazing LG V20 with quad DAC! And the LG V series are the bechmark when it comes to android audio quality.
Only my problem is that volume is low, but AFAIK that is EU regulations, and should be easy to hack/fix, and would not apply anyway AFAIK for US version.
Just got my Mi 9T, and it is just STUNNING! A piece of art. I still catch myself staring at its beauty.

 

[ludovicien]

I would like to know about this too. And once again, there is NO EU regulation limiting volume. Manufacturers are meant to warn users when the volume is getting loud so they can confirm they want to proceed. If the phone companies can't read the rules, that's not the EU's fault. Enough with the fake news.

 

[razielmcr]

There's two modes of audio in the 9t "hi-fi" or regular.
I think that the option it's meant to switch from the audio chip modes, regular or performance (I think it's the best chip it has Qualcomm for audio, or at least they made it sound like that).

This performance mode uses more power, like 5 times more, and I am almost certain that gsmarena reviewed it without this setting on, that's why the poor results.

Look at this for more info of the chip.
https://www.qualcomm.com/products/wcd9375

 

[mousstachuuu]

Interesting for the consuption I didn't know ! and I can confirm that the sound quality is very good.

For the volume mine is very loud, impossible to put at max but it depend of your earphones impedance and many others things. (you have to play good quality sample music like FLAC and a good player like "AIMP" or "Poweramp" that can be "bit perfect"

 

[soumen08]

Yes, I did a blind test against my creative Sound Blaster E1 (the phone supports DACs over USB C as well) and it is indistinguishable from that nice and proper DAC, IN THE HI-FI MODE. The source was lossless stuff from Tidal and the earbuds used were my trusty HiFiMan RE400a earbuds. I can verify that one has to listen at like two clicks below the full volume for everything to come through (i.e. the volume is a bit low, but baseline audio performance is excellent)

 

[razielmcr]

Yes, I did a blind test against my creative Sound Blaster E1 (the phone supports DACs over USB C as well) and it is indistinguishable from that nice and proper DAC, IN THE HI-FI MODE. The source was lossless stuff from Tidal and the earbuds used were my trusty HiFiMan RE400a earbuds. I can verify that one has to listen at like two clicks below the full volume for everything to come through (i.e. the volume is a bit low, but baseline audio performance is excellent)

That's nice to hear.

 

[brombadeg]

mic

That's nice to hear.

I would be also interested in the microphone handling in the topic of Audit quality. On Mi A1 ppl always complained when I was using a headset as the noise canceling part did not work. Same for Speaker mode..

Also why "Hi-Fi audio" is not on by default as it claims to increase audio quality.

 

[marko-mb]

Regarding the phone calls I can tell that my factory set 9T is poor. I cannot hear and understand what people say when calling. (Never had this on any phone before) Weird sound and some echo. And nowhere any audio settings in phone.

 

[Scarface1991]

Regarding the phone calls I can tell that my factory set 9T is poor. I cannot hear and understand what people say when calling. (Never had this on any phone before) Weird sound and some echo. And nowhere any audio settings in phone.

I don't have that problem. Phone calls are clear

 

[Nexus5-32GB]

Regarding audio quality over a headphone jack = it is worst audio quality I have ever tested from any smartphone be honest. I also know people who see it the same way. I went to Mi9T from Pocophone and never had this issue there - poco is still in my house, I gave it to my wife so I can really compare between the two. Tried both normal and hi-fi modes on Mi9T.
Audio over BT is fine on other hand - thats most important for me
I was testing audio quality on SONY WH-1000MX3

What could be the reason for this I dont know. The audio chip should be great. I have tried many versions of MIUI as well.

 

[goa604]

Tested right now with Beyerdynamic dt770 Pro 250 Ohm version. My source file is from deezer to have a better idea of an average quality of a song someone might listen to.
Hi-Fi is enabled and i can say that audio quality is pretty good. I wouldn't compare it to LG Quad Dac but the phone is powering 250 Ohm studio headphones very well.

People usually evaluate audio quality by the amount of bass. IMO its good enough.

 

[billiken_27]

@Nexus5-32GB I have the same impression. I came from a Zuk Z2 Pro and audio quality is poor. Bass is OK but mids and treble are too high. I'm using the same Senheiser MX-30G as always and the difference is noticiable even in Hi-Fi. My wife's Redmi 4A have better sound.

 

[Musiclover49]

I am using poweramp music player to listen to music, and the audio quality is just superb! Previously I used google play music with mi sound enhancer and the audio quality is pretty mediocre compared to poweramp.

 

[HockeyLan]

I tested hifi with AudioTechnica M50. It does make a difference and I feel it is a lot louder so much that I'm afraid of pushing volume to max. I like my hearing very much. You don't need portable amps with this phone for the most part. It's probably not audiophile approved or something like that but it sounds very full.

 

[razielmcr]

@Nexus5-32GB I have the same impression. I came from a Zuk Z2 Pro and audio quality is poor. Bass is OK but mids and treble are too high. I'm using the same Senheiser MX-30G as always and the difference is noticiable even in Hi-Fi. My wife's Redmi 4A have better sound.

What player are you using?

Using Google play the sound it's ****.
Using Tidal it's heaven, don't know why.

 

[mousstachuuu]

Exactly, if you use it right the sound is very good but if you listen mp3 with googlemusic, sure the best earphones can't do anything for you

 

[billiken_27]

What player are you using?

Using Google play the sound it's ****.
Using Tidal it's heaven, don't know why.

I don't think it's a player issue 'cause I always use the same player. I always compare the sound using Spotify. I use Spotify on all my family devices.

 

[razielmcr]

I don't think it's a player issue 'cause I always use the same player. I always compare the sound using Spotify. I use Spotify on all my family devices.

Yeah, it doesn't make any sense, I know, but in my case that happend, playing throug play music was horrible and understandable that people complain about it, but with Tidal it's beyond anything i've heard.

Other users have notified that they too notice when playing through play music.

 

[A.c228xda]

actually is awesome

Hi experts,
I'm a long time Xiaomi user coming from Mi A1 thinking to buy this Mi 9T in US.
I'm not to happy with the A1 audio quality, especially over the headphones. I tried different brands, but not much luck. My GF has a note6pro, my family 5a..

Looking at the gsmarena site they are not impressed too with headphone test on this model, not sure it can be trusted though.
My main concern is the microphone and echo/noise canceling.

Can you guys give me a "real life review"?!

Coming from a zte axon 7 I was really doubtful about the sound quality, but I'm impressed about it, it has a hifi logo on the box and sounds really good, with a couple of good headphones I can't listen no difference with the zte axon 7, also had a poco f1 and it sounds a thousand times better than the poco