There are some external stereo microphones for IOS that plug into the headphone jack rather than the dock connector. For instance, the IK Multimedia iRig MIC Cast.
They claim that they work on Android as well.
Well, they may work, but do they provide better sound quality than the internal phone microphone, turning it into a decent digital recorder for music, for example? (with the right software, of course).
My question isn't really whether those microphones are better quality than the internal microphones, as I assume they are. But does the headphone jack on Android phones (mine is the Galaxy S4) really provide the input capability for better quality sound, including in stereo?
Of course that jack can transfer sound in both directions, headset and microphone, as it is a phone. For output, the phone provides quality stereo music output to headphones, as modern phones are also music players. However, the microphones on phone stereo headsets are generally low quality monaural microphones only suitable for phone calls, usually not better than the internal microphone, might be worse.
So the question is--is the input function of that jack capable of providing quality stereo input, if one has a quality stereo microphone attached? (No matter how good quality the microphone is, if that jack really cannot transmit that quality sound, but reduces it to a very low resolution and frequency-reduced monaural sound, no point at all in attaching such a microphone.
Anyone know about the input capabilities of the headphone jacks on Android phones. (If it varies from phone to phone, then how about mine, the Galaxy S4?)
Thanks in advance for your input.
Anyone?
Excellent line of thought. Where are the audiophiles? This may be a better option than an expensive Rode mic.
Bump
http://rungunshoot.com/can-you-ditch-your-wireless-lavalier-microphone-for-a-clip-on-voice-recorder/
Related
Is there an app that provides noise reduction/cancellation using the mic array?
Just curious, as I am taking a taking a flight soon, and deciding between headphones. Theoretically, the phone's dual microphone array could be used for noise reduction/cancellation through the headphones, but I have not come across an app that actually does this. Should I just invest in some quality noise cancellation headphones, or is there a software solution?
For example, I know with the Sony Z series laptops they offer noise reduction through the headphones using software and the laptop's mic.
Use In-Ear headphones as they attenuate a lot of noise. Go to Head-Fi.org and you will find a lot of infomation there.
Hello all,
Just a curiosity I noticed. When using the included headphones with the in-line mic, the sound quality is really very good and the volumes far higher. However, when I try to use my Sennheiser HD 202-II headphones, I notice that the sound volume decreases greatly. For instance, what used to be loud at 12/30 with the headset, doesn't get loud until 22/30. I know it's a small annoyance, but the sound quality seems to suffer as well. Or maybe it's just the fact that I'm coming from a Zune HD whose quality spoiled me completely?
Anyway, was wondering if this could be alleviated by buying a pair of headphones with an in-line microphone. Can anyone recommend any? This Sony set is definitely intriguing (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294) but there aren't any reviews yet.
Thanks for any suggestions.
It's more likely due to differences in impedance and sensitivity - I have no problem with earbuds that do not have an inline mic.
For headphones with low sensitivity, consider an external headphone amp like one of the FiiO amps.
Thanks, didn't realize the included earbuds had an in-line mic. I bought a pair of Klipsch s4's that improve the sound a great deal. I don't think I'd ever need a mic, the one built into the player seems to pick up very well.
One of the things that has kept me on the Evo 3D is simply the call quality. The internal speaker is excellent and the internal microphone has excellent pickup with minimal noise. In fact, a few times I had issues with making audio recordings on my computer, I used my Evo 3D to record and the quality was great!
HOWEVER....
When using a headset with a microphone, it is a different story. I have used a number of ear buds with microphones and still the recorded audio quality is noticeably inferior to the internal microphone. What really brought this to my attention was a recent experiment that I did.
I have a set of the newer styled Apple EarPods. Yes, the sound quality from the drivers is rather average, but... when I use the microphone on an iPod and make an audio recording, the microphone records very decent audio quality. I then used the same EarPods on my HTC Evo 3D to record and... there's a lot of background noise, as if there's absolutely no noise cancellation. When I had a call with someone where I switched between my usual earbuds and the Apple EarPods, the latter sounded flatter and more distant, but in both cases using the internal microphone resulted in much better sound. FWIW, I also adjusted the position of the microphone, from lying near my chest to held right up to my mouth.
So my question is this: Is there a known microphone quality issue with the headset jacks on the HTC Evo 3D?
I have 2 Evo 3D phones and conducted the same experiment on both with practically identical results, so I don't think there's a QC issue with the phones. Either the headset jack circuitry has a design problem creating sub par performance OR... do internal microphones always best headset microphones on cellphones?
Thanks....
Hi, I'm planning to order Le Max 2 and I cannot find any comments about the audio quality via 3.5mm adapter.
I use Sennheiser IE80s which have a 3.5mm jack and I'm sure there are no USB CDLA headphones yet which will outperform IE80s so I'm left with the adapter or discrete digital to audio converter (DAC).
What are your thoughts about the audio quality via the adapter?
My worry is that the DAC in the adapter cable is very poor quality and sounds exceptionally bad.
From GSMarena review:
"Solid audio output
We were a little worried how dropping the dedicated audio jack will affect the quality of the output but the Le Max 2 showed that there’s nothing to worry about. Beside the inconvenience of having to carry an adapter around, the phablet really nailed this part of our test.
It delivered excellent output when used with an active external amplifier, getting top marks for clarity and garnishing them with nicely high volume levels. Degradation caused by headphones is minimal too with a moderate hike in stereo crosstalk being the only notable change. Volume remained high for a pretty great overall showing.
Source:
http://www.gsmarena.com/leeco_le_max_2-review-1449p6.php
(bottom part of the page)
I am still waiting for my Le Max 2 to arrive so I can't answer from personal experience
Hope this helps
Helps a lot, thanks!
An opposing view of user "smulik" can be found here:
http://forum.le.com/in/index.php?th...cdla-earphones-over-the-regular-3-5-mm.12259/
Hello,
Does sound coming out from front stereo speakers sound balanced? Does top or bottom speaker sound louder than the other?
And does it have powerful DAC for 3.5mm headphone port?
Last Xperia I had was Z5 Premium. It's speakers sounded very unbalanced. I don't remember which side, but one side was noticeably louder than the other, which was very annoying to listen to. The other phone I'm seriously considering is ROG Phone 5. It's got same size of speakers on the both end, so it's speakers are perfectly balanced, and also have powerful Quad DAC for 3.5 mm port. However, it's biggest cons are of course the cameras and screen if you compare with Xperia 1 III. I think I can let go of 3.5mm port, but if speakers don't sound balanced, it'd could be a deal breaker for me.
Sitti01 said:
Hello,
Does sound coming out from front stereo speakers sound balanced? Does top or bottom speaker sound louder than the other?
And does it have powerful DAC for 3.5mm headphone port?
Last Xperia I had was Z5 Premium. It's speakers sounded very unbalanced. I don't remember which side, but one side was noticeably louder than the other, which was very annoying to listen to. The other phone I'm seriously considering is ROG Phone 5. It's got same size of speakers on the both end, so it's speakers are perfectly balanced, and also have powerful Quad DAC for 3.5 mm port. However, it's biggest cons are of course the cameras and screen if you compare with Xperia 1 III. I think I can let go of 3.5mm port, but if speakers don't sound balanced, it'd could be a deal breaker for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don’t think anyone has the 1M3 yet. But as far as the DAC, I have the 1M2 and some high end in ear earphones from Campfire Audio and some from Sennheiser and I have a couple of expensive DACs that connect via USB C and honestly I get the same high quality sound with my external DACs as when I plug straight in to the 3.5mm port. I have some other earphones and headphones with a 4.4mm balanced cable so I use an external DAC for those, but mainly just plug in to my Xperia. I expect the same or better DAC in the new phone.
Are they using the S Master DAC or are they not disclosing what the DAC is?
The DAC is absolutely top notch. I have the fiio q5s and xduoo 05 bal. I think it's just as good as the xduoo and better than the fiio. The sound is tuned to be very smooth. Smoother than the two said DACs. So it's a god sent if you have bright sounding headphones too harsh to listen to.
As for the speakers, balanced, good but not impressive
i can confirm the 1 iii has a terrific built in DAC. i have some (IMO) high end IEMs. I tested my campfire audio atlas and polaris mk2. I also have a couple of ifi audio DACs that I think are well regarded (hip dac and an iDSD). plugging into the 1 iii directly in its headphone jack sounds great. i don’t notice any difference as compared to a separate DAC.
I have both Rog Phone5 and xperia1 iii, I think Rog Phone5 speaker effect is much better than xperia1 iii, as for the use of 3.5mm playback, Rog Phone5 performance is very bad, xperia 1iii seems to have a built-in amplifier but the decoding is still using the processor built-in dac, xperia 1iii has Sony's tuning so good listening experience