OMG, if your Lumia sounds comparable to chainsaw - definitely you should exchange your defective phone ASAP!
Handset means "phone", not a headset
BTW, I'll continue discussion only after proof:
- you known what the abbreviation "DAC" is, how DAC works, and what kind of DAC's are usually used in cell phones and in the professional audio equipment;
- you known how the equalizers are working; what is the difference between graphic and parametric equalizers, and what kind of distortions equalizer adds to the signal.
See, I don't ask for a bachelor degree in mathematics or physics with digital signal processing specialization!
After that I'll discuss (probably) all that BS about "chainsaw" and "quite muddy output"
Sorry about that, I read that wrong...anyway...proof?
What is this, a trial or what?
Anyway, the DAC is the little thing doing the magic of converting digital output to analog output, basically what makes you able to ear your mp3s or whatever format you use. Graphic and parametric equalizers...not a big deal: graphic ones actually show a grafic of the selected frequences, they don't allow you to fiddle too much but are more hassle free for regular users; parametric ones instead are meant for "professionals", you can do a more precise work with them but visually you basically don't know much about what is going on. Idk if you're serious when you ask me this, however the distortion you add playing with an equalizer actually depends on a lot of factors, first of all the quality of the DAC, and then wether you're using a hw or software based eq. Speaking of quality, the one of the DAC is given by its stats (obviously): dynamic range, monotonicity, resolution and some other **** I can't recall. Phone DACs are generally cheap, they have pretty low dynamic range and puke put the signal together with a funny amount of armonic distortion and noise. Add the CPU and radio noise by which all phones are affected, stereo crosstalk when headphones are attached and there you have it: a very uninspiring performer. Try to use some low impedance earbuds with a sucker like that and you'll feel like someone just dropped some poo inside your ears. No equalizer will save you, it's like polishing turd, you may even make it more dirty IMHO.
Wrapping it up: the Lumia (800) sounds cold, noisy, the volume is too low with high impedance headphones and the sound is deadly crippled on low impedance in-ears. Stereo crosstalk is huge, there's a lot of noise, both during the playback and inbetween the tracks. When you raise the volume you get clipping, and especially bass frequences become really muddy and muffled. Using an external DAC isn't even worth it IMHO: all in all you'll be forced to listen to 320 kbps mp3s and you can still get a decent player for even less money.
Update:
vnvman, I'm so sorry; seems like your Lumia 800 has a big problem with audio (it's a hardware design defect, I think so)
http://discussions.europe.nokia.com...mia-800-disastrous-audio-quality/td-p/1236759
I don't have this problem on my handsets (Nokia has fixed the issue for Lumia 900). Sell it and buy Lumia 900 (or Focus S or whatever...)
No worries man. I'll rather stick with my Cowon tho: mass storage, Wolfson DAC, hw equalization, BBE, gapless playback and support for every format. However that's me, you can do whatever you wanna do, just don't tell me that whatever Lumia phone sounds awesome, it really doesn't, at least when you compare it do a decent, dedicated device. Once you've used one, you'll know what I'm talking about. And no, iPods aren't good, at least not the new ones. Their Cirrus DAC makes everything sound canned and cold as ****, I hate them. Add some half assed equalization on top (not to mention the limitations in terms of format and more) and you'll have a smoking pile of crap.
Obviously I'm mostly speaking for my 800, but I doubt that the 900 can be much different, it still has the same SOC after all. Maybe it has slightly better drivers but that's it IMHO. However if you're happy with it, then good for you. This is not an audiophile forum after all
