Hi RES Audio on the celly - mobile phone makers please ....

[Glyde71]

Phone camera's have improved by leaps and bounds. some of the phones have whole matrix of a zillion cameras
video recording quality has gone upto 4k.

But why only a handful models have had hi-res audio capabilities ... LG V30 and another i came across was razer phone...maybe some Sony ones... that's pretty much it as much as i had looked.
we are steadily moving towards a 3.5mm-Less world ..... major phone makers have already a ditched it in their flagships ... it's only a matter of time before their entire portfolio at all price-ranges won't have it... one can let this sink in since tech is evolutionary - just as what USB flash drive did to CD did to the cassette did to the vinyl ...

so the BTs and TWS will soon be the norm, rather than an optional lifestyle accessory. By the time it happens TWS would also have steadied to have options in all price ranges and features.

the only way left to hook up hi-end audio gear like premium cans or IEs and headphone amps would be daisy chain them with dongles cables and adapters.

getting dedicated hi-res media players could be an alternative. but would burn a hole through the wallet. So the most ideal scenario for the average johnny-anybody to enjoy high bit rate music is from the device he has with him most of the time - the mobile phone.

the mobile phone is the answer ... they now want a upwards $1000+ bucks for their top end ones ..can't do much about that but deliver us from the drudgery of the gud'ol low qual mp3. they did that with their screens when video quality improved down the road HD-FHD-UHD ... now when audio tech has also made revolutionary improvements - Dolby B / NR, Dolby D, TruHD, DTS HD MA, FLAC, HFPA and so on ... it is only fair that they upgrade the audio tech in their phones just as well.

 

[Sutradhaar]

Hey !! It's a fair point that you raise here.
But understand that it's always demand vs supply in this world.

The community for HighRes audio in specific is minuscule & none of the phone makers would really be interested in making handsets that could be ideal for music lovers. Most of the consumers are really happy, enjoying mp3 or Ganna or Savaan or Spotify. Most don't even know that there's much more above mp3. Most understand Bass. IEMs that doesn't boost those low frequencies will be shit products for these consumers.
Having said that, it's also true that consumers, at least many, understand HD pictures or videos unlike audio.

So, for us, we have to live and manage with that extra commodity around, DAPs. I don't see the future holds any promises for audiophiles from phone makers like Apple, Samsung, OnePlus . . ..

 

[Bhaskar Jyoti Talapatra]

Though appears to be a far cry , in future they will enable mobile to play hi Res music. Just as they buried camera, torch, TV etc, in future the top brands will come with capacity to play hi Res audio. Because DAPs are becoming popular among mass and IMO most of us will be glad to have mobiles having capacity to play lossless audio.

 

[Barun7]

I think the exit of Sony from Indian smartphone scenario has done a lot of damage to this. They were possibly the only brand offering good audio output consistently within affordable price points. LG is the best right now but again, prices are comparetively high and support network is almost non-existent. In a country where a 20-25k mobile sells primarily based on how good the selfie camera is, mobile brands are right in their own business logic. Out of 10, maybe 1 fellow would name audio amongst his top 3 criterion for selecting a mobile! Camera, battery, display, chipset, storage, ram, screen size - I have not heard audio in this list for many months.
And yes, people are content if they get 320 kbps. As modern music is well reproduced, most of the buyers are not even aware of high resolution audio - let alone bother about it!

 

[Jpereira]

Companies ARE paying attention to the demand for higher quality audio from phones. The Redmi K20 pro uses the Qualcomm WCD9340 DAC and is HiRes certified. So is the new Realme X2 Pro. I'm sure there will eventually be a trickle down to even cheaper phones.

 

[muralimmreddy]

there are still decent cellphones with good DAC's

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...qU5orN8T18JCm3VllomhTWqsc/edit#gid=1804107602

check the thread for longer version https://www.head-fi.org/threads/best-smartphone-for-audiophile-part-ii-updated-mar-2019.853115/

I personally owned vivo nex-s really liked it over LGv30/G7

 

[anirban420]

Presently, the major selling mobile phones are budget phones, and users are mainly youngstars. Two things are popular among them, posting good pictures in social media and gaming, mainly pubg. So the mobiles are accordingly being designed with good camera and large display, which are the major selling point of mobiles now a days. Since, majority people are happy with mp3/free music streaming with easily available "BASS" headphones, improvement in audio section is observed very less, at least at the budget section.

In the NOKIA days, they thought about music and launched "Music Edition" phones in every price segment. Also there were Sony "WALKMAN" phones. I belive they existed due to different market scenario.

 

[Bhaskar Jyoti Talapatra]

Presently, the major selling mobile phones are budget phones, and users are mainly youngstars. Two things are popular among them, posting good pictures in social media and gaming, mainly pubg. So the mobiles are accordingly being designed with good camera and large display, which are the major selling point of mobiles now a days. Since, majority people are happy with mp3/free music streaming with easily available "BASS" headphones, improvement in audio section is observed very less, at least at the budget section.

In the NOKIA days, they thought about music and launched "Music Edition" phones in every price segment. Also there were Sony "WALKMAN" phones. I belive they existed due to different market scenario.

Nokia n70 music edition was a very good mobile .Sony Walkman series mobiles were good. I had Nokia n70 music edition and enjoyed music . Now coming into android domain I can't feel the same charming music that once I enjoyed. However mobiles these days are meant for selfie, games ,some other features sans audio quality. But in future average mobiles will come with the capacity to play hi Res audio or at least some mobiles will come with that feature. Since technology is moving fast we can hope so.

 

[elangoas]

it is only fair that they upgrade the audio tech in their phones just as well.

Most phones today, and even the budget ones come with USB type-C, and support OTG function.. There are two options an enthusiast can make use of it..

Option 1 - An USB Type-C in-earphones which have an built-in DAC (96/24) would be one of the solution way forward.. Ex Google pixlel buds



Option 2 - if you have already spent on and have a good 3.5mm earphone, add a small portable DAC like Dragonfly or the likes to the mobile and make use of the USB -OTG function and attach the 3.5mm earphones to the portable DAC.. Dragonfly also come with headphone amplifiers..

I think these options would give enough flexibility to any demanding user even on budget.. He can spend on budget phone for 10K and can spend the next 10K on a DAC + headphone.. This way even if he swaps phones, the gear remains with him, without spending huge money on a single phone just for its audiophile DAC capability..

Option 3 - Audio & Video out (USB Type-C to HDMI), am hoping someday they would bring this feature to mobile.. In addition to the above two options, this one will open even more possibilities to the user.. He can connect it to AVR / Stereo amplifiers with HDMI, connect it to monitor, use it as a portable computing equipment..

 

[anirban420]

Option 3 - Audio & Video out (USB Type-C to HDMI), am hoping someday they would bring this feature to mobile.. In addition to the above two options, this one will open even more possibilities to the user.. He can connect it to AVR / Stereo amplifiers with HDMI, connect it to monitor, use it as a portable computing equipment..

Back in the Symbian days, many mobiles featured Audio/Video out, even HDMI port. As for example, Nokia N8 had HDMI. Presently, streaming from mobile can be possible via bluetooth to DAC/AVR for audio and via Screen Casting directly to TV for video. Connecting mobile to anything via HDMI makes it cable fidly IMHO

 

[vinothkumar]

I would stick with this if I am worrying about audio quality of my android phone. Cheap, tiny and superb sound as per the user reviews.

iBasso USB C DAC

 

[elangoas]

Back in the Symbian days, many mobiles featured Audio/Video out, even HDMI port. As for example, Nokia N8 had HDMI. Presently, streaming from mobile can be possible via bluetooth to DAC/AVR for audio and via Screen Casting directly to TV for video. Connecting mobile to anything via HDMI makes it cable fidly IMHO

Agreed.. But, even for someone who doesn't have broadband, a mobile with data connected to TV can be a big boon for media consumption..

 

[jagadeeshwarank]

Back in the Symbian days, many mobiles featured Audio/Video out, even HDMI port. As for example, Nokia N8 had HDMI. Presently, streaming from mobile can be possible via bluetooth to DAC/AVR for audio and via Screen Casting directly to TV for video. Connecting mobile to anything via HDMI makes it cable fidly IMHO

Even a small set of android phones support this and goes by MHL aka Mobile High-Definition Link. Sony Phones ( kind of rare seeing one nowdays ), Samsung phones and few Nokia phones used to come with these. Now with the introduction of Chromecast and other wireless display technologies these things are slowly becoming obsolete.

What Is MHL, Exactly, and How Does It Work With Your TV? | Digital Trends

There are more ways to mirror your smartphone or tablet to your TV than you might think. Check out our rundown of MHL for everything you need to know about the wired protocol and its myriad uses, including the ability to turn your smartphone or tablet into a full-blown entertainment hub.

www.digitaltrends.com

Edit:
Looks like the standard is not obsolete yet -- > Wiki Liki

 

[movedbywheel]

Most phones today, and even the budget ones come with USB type-C, and support OTG function.. There are two options an enthusiast can make use of it..

Option 1 - An USB Type-C in-earphones which have an built-in DAC (96/24) would be one of the solution way forward.. Ex Google pixlel buds

View attachment 41508

Option 2 - if you have already spent on and have a good 3.5mm earphone, add a small portable DAC like Dragonfly or the likes to the mobile and make use of the USB -OTG function and attach the 3.5mm earphones to the portable DAC.. Dragonfly also come with headphone amplifiers..

I think these options would give enough flexibility to any demanding user even on budget.. He can spend on budget phone for 10K and can spend the next 10K on a DAC + headphone.. This way even if he swaps phones, the gear remains with him, without spending huge money on a single phone just for its audiophile DAC capability..

Option 3 - Audio & Video out (USB Type-C to HDMI), am hoping someday they would bring this feature to mobile.. In addition to the above two options, this one will open even more possibilities to the user.. He can connect it to AVR / Stereo amplifiers with HDMI, connect it to monitor, use it as a portable computing equipment..

Do you stream Hi-res tracks or FLAC ? How is the result with external dac ?

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Because 99% of the phone users won’t care for hi-Res audio and niche phones don’t make a viable business model.