2. pc-audio
  3. 1375133275

Re HTC One Android Emphasis on Audio


I have been slow to embrace smartphones and have not purchased an iPhone, as I do not use my Mac or iPad very much. After signficant research, I am now in the midst of an HTC One smartphone trial on the ATT 4G network.

Bad news first to an audiophile, the device is branded with Beats Audio. The good news, however, is that a smartphone manufacturer is even thinking about sound and audio.

Unlike an iPhone, there are two front firing speakers on the front of the device (left and right) for stereo when watching a video.

Although I won't be listening to music on this thing (even with headphones) it is nicer to hear phone sounds, alarms, pings etc with higher fidelity.

Also, the build quality, seamless case and 1080 screen are all gorgeous. Has anyone also tried this phone?

Or are there any audiophile Droid users willing to discuss apps and/or how they use their device?

Cheers,
cwlondon
6 responses Add your response
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,992 posts
 
One APP I can recommend is the "Vinyl District". No matter where you are, it lists the closest record stores to your location. Excellent.
cwlondon OP
1,210 posts
 

Mofimadness,

Thank you - every audiophile should enjoy that app.

I continue to be impressed with the build quality of this HTC device, but may wait for the even bigger, forthcoming screen - apparently HTC's answer to the Samsung Note.

Last night, I tried Pandora (mobile) which was enjoyable too, but only with Beats Audio switched OFF. Sufficient RAM to run Pandora, Google and GPS in the background.

I dont expect to replace my iPod with a smartphone any time soon, but wonder if anyone has experimented with non compressed music files on an Android smartphone?
singleendedsingle
664 posts
 
I've used poweramp (Flac player for android) a couple of times, the quality is pretty good. Specially when you use an external amp/dac.
davide256's avatar
davide256
399 posts
 
try a player called neutron, it will allow you to play high rez files on an android phone, costs a few bucks but well worth it.
nick_sr
263 posts
 
Have you considered the oppo phone, the find 5. I have only seen it online but it looks pretty cool to me.
cwlondon OP
1,210 posts
 
Thanks for info - droid players very interesting and Davide256 will check out Neutron.

Singleendedsingle, yes, as an audiophile not so obsessed with small, especially since the phone itself it so sleek. So even better if paired with external amp and/or DAC.

By the way, having great luck with custom JH audio earphones (or "IEMs") that I use daily with my iPod - highly recommended.

Nick Sr will check out the oppo phone but having finished the trial decided to keep the HTC one.

Such a beautiful phone (and again, I am not a smartphone kind of a guy) where in addition to the beautiful construction and design, it really trounces the iPhone viewing any high resolution video sideways in 16:9, using the internal speakers.

Between that and the open source geekiness of the Droid, the smartphone every audiophile should have until further notice.
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