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Android Music Player Review: JetAudio vs PlayerPro

Posted by Unknown Sabtu, 25 Mei 2013 0 komentar

Listening to music is probably one of the most usable features of Android Smartphones. So useful that some manufactures boast about the capability of their smartphones musical capability.

I'm using Asus Padfone 2 and the original Samsung Galaxy Note N7000, despite of being the underdog compared to Samsung Galaxy S3 & S4, Sony Xperia Z, and HTC One, I'm quite surprise that musically it is a capable, if not excellent, audio player. It has flat neutral tone and clarity as a player. So all I need is to find the most capable Audio/Music Player application for this PadFone2.

Side note: sound reproduction quality Asus Padfone 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Note: SGNote is warmer with more power on bass, but details rather sacrificed. Asus Padfone 2 is flatter with tighter bass and higher details. Quality wise, Asus Padfone 2 wins.

I have been testing several apps ever since I owned Asus Padfone 2: Google Music, WinAmp, PowerAmp, JetAudio, Neutron Player, PlayerPro and SoundMax.

My requirements for suitable music player are as follows:
- It needs to be able to play FLAC and Wave lossless format music
- Clarity for details and sound stage
- Flat tone preferences
- Able to support my collection of headphones and earphones
- All those must be fulfilled without any equalizer adjustment (EQ off)
Note: Equalizer needs to be off or set to flat/normal to make sure that the sound characteristic tuning is accordingly to the recorders/musicians attended sound or musical characteristics.

Out of all, I dropped out Google Music (no FLAC playing), WinAmp (sound quality not to my preference), and PowerAmp (too much sibilance and bad sound staging). Later on, I dropped SonicMax, despite it is the only app and does BBE sound setting and very customizable, it doesn't have the EQ off setting, meaning everything is already set as sound tuning effect and it is the most bass-focussed player I tested.

The selection comes to JetAudio and PlayerPro. Both have similar characteristics:
- Play FLAC and WAVE
- Read Folders
- Able to play music as it is (EQ off)
- Good sound tone characteristics: excellent brightness (excellent details, excellent sound separations, acceptable sound staging)
- Both can support my headphones and earphones (Super lux HD381F, UE700, Sennheiser MX760, Ultrasone HFI 450 and Jays V-Jays)
- Both have simulated amp setting, to adjust the volume out to support bigger headphones (preamp setting), pretty good for my Ultasone HFI 450 since it requires higher amp out.

The differences are as follows:

(Pre-note: songs used for testing are GnR's Welcome to the Jungle, Hans Zimmer's Molossus, Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerard's Now We are Free, Yasuharu Takanashi's Fairy Tail Theme, Slipknot's Psychosocial, Susan Wong's First of May, Nightwish's Wish I Had an Angel, and Maroon 5's Move Like Jagger.)

JetAudio:
- Mid frequency is adequate, almost every vocals sound as they are supposed to sound, except when the singer has the tendency of having higher pitch sound characteristic (it rolled off)
- Bass impact is excellent, tight but powerful, all music become warmer
- High frequency details is adequate and controllable, no sibilance.
- Sound staging is leaning towards a smaller space; imagine you are listening the music in your bedroom or living room, you can allocate the source and they are at close range.
- Sound separation detail is sacrificed due to the enhancement of bass tonality. Nightwish's Wish I Had an Angel lost its cymbals percussions and parts of bass guitar. Hans Zimmer's Molossus percussions are inseparable.
- PreAmp enables the songs to have higher power up to a small level
- However, when played using speakers, JetAudio sounds excellent and well balanced and relax, if not laid back. Very enjoyable.
- Gapless play is poor quality. Not recommended, better turn it off.
- Recommended for pop, hip hop, dance, techno and other genres that requires more bass tonality.

PlayerPro:
- Mid frequency is good and clear
- Bass is tight and less boomy, but keeps adequate impact.
- High frequency is very good, producing details and controlled treble. Sibilance only heard when using higher PreAmp level.
- Sound staging is acceptable. I can recognize where were the musicians of each instrument were located.
- Sound separation is surprisingly better, the separation of each instrument is clearer in symphonic metal and classical musics.
- PreAmp enables the song to have higher power up to a small level
- Recommended for acoustic, classical, jazz, rock and metal songs.

With this summary, I recommend PlayerPro. Get the paid version since it comes with 2x equalizer adjustment frequency to tweak for those who prefer customized music reproduction.

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Ultimate Ears 700 : The Ultimate HiFi Experience with Mid-Range Pricing aka Cheap HiFi

Posted by Unknown Rabu, 17 April 2013 0 komentar

Alright, I have reviewed the one I called poor-man's HiFi earphone. I recently has the privilege to own a air of Ultimate Ears 700 (UE700). Man, this earphone, although not the best of the best, is brilliant. I think UE has given us the superb earphone that usually will cost us US$ 300 or more at only fractions of the price at US$ 130 - 150.

The Unit :

Build like tiny single driver but once you touch it, you will know that they ain't cheap.

Cable is more than suitable for years of use, plus it doesn't make a lot annoying noise when you wear it.

At first, you need to get use to the color coding, red ring for right ear and black ring for left. It has letters in awkward places for the designation that I failed to find them the first week I wore them.

The speaker driver holes are covered in tiny mess built into the body to protect the drivers from dirt or ear wax, so that is a good choice but cleaning the mess requires soft materials and delicate touch.

Also it comes with a hard box to transport it around with layer of rubber material in inner compartment. Excellent choice, but UE should rethink the locking mechanism since it easily opened accidentally in bags. I need to tighten the box with a rubber band to make sure that it won't be opened accidentally.

The Wear :

Find the most suitable ear plugs for yourself first among 3 sizes of silicon and 2 pairs (different sizes of course) of memory foam like material. These options are very wise and user oriented. Even Shure only gave 1 pair of such foam.

The sealing of the outside noise is quite effective, though not as effective as Shure or others.

And the most important is you can wear it for hours without discomfort, no more explanation needed. Of course you need to find the right fitting of silicons/foams first.

It is also plugging nicely tight without discomfort so you can dance lightly, no professional dancing please, or jogs and it won't come off.

The Sound :

Let see if I can describe the UE700 and its sound to you coz it is a challenge for me. This is a warm earphone. I hope I didn't disappoint.

The first thing I noticed is the details of the sound that the drivers produce. I knew UE700 is a pair of high end HiFi unit, enough to WOW HeadFi contributors.

The Low End is deep enough, though not as deep deep as others in 2x pricing range of UE700. The impact however is excellent to my taste. It has strong impact without damaging your eardrums. The bass has a natural tone characteristic to make listening to music uplifting in the style that the musician intended. It is suitable for nearly all type of music that requires bass impact, but to me it is more enjoyable for Rock, Techno, and Pop (note I don't listen to Jazz). The bass extension is very controllable that you can hear the drummers hitting the skins with their sticks.

Mid End is satisfactory, even when compared to my trusted "poor man's HiFi" Superlux HF381. It plays truer to the voice of singers, though some female singers lost some of its character and leaning towards sharper tonality. However, raspy and male voices are a joy to listen to.

High End is pronounced smoothly. You can immediately hears cymbals extension and high pitch sound in smooth characteristic, meaning that they don't overdo it. But when you listen to classical music, you immediately can detect that high high end is somewhat missing. I think my Ultra some HFI450 is superior in this frequency range.

Sound separation that usually produced by tuning mid and high end is expertly tuned. You can hear low basses strings playing, which usually lost in translation. That means bullseye on details.

Sound Staging is excellent for a small, itsy bitsy units. Not as pronounced as Sennheiser MX760 or Ultra some HFI450. However, you can tell where the players located during recording of live performances.

Overall, this UE700 is the earphone that you will wear and dancing foolishly to the music without realizing you are acting like a lunatic because it produces tons of fun sounds in your ears. I did, unfortunately.

So there, UE 700. At US$130-150, it's not cheap, but the cheapest in its class. I call it the cheap HiFi. Try it first, buy it if this is what you are looking for. Coz I find this units are very friendly to the small music players since it is easy to drive.

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Review: Plantronics M1100 Savor

Posted by Unknown Selasa, 08 Januari 2013 0 komentar

For those who use bluetooth hands free, you might be familiar with the brand already. Currently, the 2 brands respected as the the producers of best bluetooth earphones or headsets are Plantronics and Aliph. Each uses different technology, Plantronics uses computerized noise reduction using multiple microphones, they call it AudioIQ. While Aliph produces Jawbone earphone to read cheekbone vibration to produce noise free communication, known as Noise Assassin.

Plantronics M1100 or Savor is probably famous since it was the smallest bluetooth earphone to use advance AudioIQ3, which means Savor utilizes 3 microphones to capture surrounding sound, including the user's, to produce the clearest sound of the user. The party who receive the phone will hear the user voice clearer even if the user is in a crowded place, such as a mall or bus station.

I have been using Plantronics M1100 for about 1 year already, so my apology if this review is very late in the game. However, being one of the best bluetooth earphone available in the market right now, I think it is still beneficial for you who wants to get one.

Specification:

Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
Weight 9 g
Recommended Use Cellular phone
Additional Features
Voice Activated Dialing (VAD),
Call reject,
Secure Simple Pairing (SSP),
On/off switch,
Multipoint technology,
Built-in DSP,
Volume control,
Answer/end button,
Mute button,
AudioIQ,
Sidetone detection,
QuickPair,
Voice Commands,
Wind Noise Reduction,
Plantronics Vocalyst service,
Bing411 service,
Built-in 3 microphones,
Echo cancellation,
Last number re-dial

Headphones

Headphones Type Headphone - Monaural
Headphones Form Factor Earbud
Connectivity Technology Wireless - Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
Bluetooth Profiles
Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP),
Hands Free Profile (HFP),
Headset Profile (HSP)
Sound Output Mode Mono

Microphone

Type Built-in

Connections

Connector Type 1 x USB

Miscellaneous

Included Accessories 3 gel ear tips

Power

Power Device Power adapter - External
Voltage Required AC 120/230 V
Battery Headset battery - Rechargeable - Lithium polymer
Run Time (Up To) 4 hour(s)
Standby Time 168 hour(s)

Manufacturer Warranty

Service & Support 1 year warranty
Service & Support Details Limited warranty - 1 year

Build:

Solid, although made of plastic
Big buttons and easy to access power switch

Comfort:

Light weight, sometimes you will forget that you are still wearing it
Can be worn for up to 4 hours without discomfort, after that you will start to feel the silicon pushing into your ear
Optional 3 size of silicon tips makes it easy to choose the best fit

Performance:

Very clear sound into so you can hear the caller without problems
Can be used to call or receive call in crowded place, but not noisy place. Meaning, if you are in a mall, no problem. But if you are riding a bike at more than 40 kph, your voice will be covered in wind noise
Excellent battery life, 4 hours of talktime and 1 week of standby for such a small thing. Please beware that you will most likely forgot to charge it.
Durable, any other bluetooth will start to have problems after 1 year, this one is still running like there is no tomorrow. the only degradation that I found is the battery life is bit shorter now
Micro USB charging connector means you can charge with any available USB charger.
A2DP means you can listen to music streamed from your phone or media player, but the sound volume is rather weak for stereo music, but monolog sound has good level of volume. At least, I can listen to audiobook discreetly.
Multipoint connection enable connection to 2 phones simultaneously and both are active.

NotableWeakness:

No dedicated volume up and down bottom, only circular volume, which is problematic sometimes
So tiny, sometimes it hides in the seat of my car, even got lost in my jacket's pocket.
No carrying case included

Conclusion:
Savor is not the most stylistic bluetooth earphone in the market, but the most practical and functional bluetooth earphone that you can wear for hours while driving or in a busy place without any discomfort. Nowadays, it's price has slopped down from 1 year ago (around US100 now), but the performance that you can get from Savor will satisfy your daily use.

Comparison to Aliph Jawbone Icon (my wife used one):
After 1 year, Icon starts to have some minor problems, like connection to the phones become unstable and the sound quality is less than when new, some static noise has started to appear.

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HiFi Earphone on Tight Budget: Superlux HD 381F

Posted by Unknown Kamis, 03 Januari 2013 0 komentar

I love music. I don't think I can live without ever listening to music.

I remember the first time I saw Sony Walkman when I was a kid, it was an amazing piece of technology for me at the time. I cannot afford since it was very expensive, especially in a third world country like Indonesia. But somehow my parents bought one a few years later for family entertainment and I loved it so much.

Now, I have 2 smartphones that plays decent music, 1 iPod Classic and I'm still looking for 1 small MP3 player that can play hifi class music. Of course, I don't use the stock earphones, whether it is from Apple, Samsung, or HTC, they are all junk to my ears. But, good headphones or earphones are usually, if not all the time, too D### expensive.

A few months back, an acquaintance who ran a headphone store has just poisoned me with the most incredible sounding piece of headphone I have heard. My dream headphone before that event was Audio Technica ATH M50 Limited Edition. ATHM50LE will cost me US$ 170-190, so saving period is necessary.

Then this acquaintance of mine pushed me to try to listen to Ultrasone Edition 8, it was a second headphone, meaning someone owned it before and sell it to the store. Let's just say the same musics that I usually listen to has just found new lives. All the balance details, brightness and pounding bass are perfect. It's like I was in seventh level of heavenly music land. Until I found out the price, US$ 1,000 for a previously owned headphone. Apparently the new one is US$ 1,500 or something. That was grim.

Anyhow, I'm not gonna talk about that D### expensive headphone, but I will talk about how to get the best sound with poor man's budget. I had it for 3 years so I'm familiar with it. Superlux HD 381F is only US$ 25-30 at cost, but the sound it produces rivals those 3 to 5 times more expensive. If you are a headfi regular, you should be familiar with this earphone.

Superlux HD 381F the white has 2 siblings, Superlux HD 381 (the black one leans towards bass) and Superlux HD 381B (the grey has deep bass, high treble and high details). I believe Superlux HD 381F is the best since it has the flat analytical sound quality.

The sound quality:
- Bass: Strong impact and rounded. You would be able to catch the true detail of drum beats but it is adequate to the level of depth. One important factor, this is a fun bass, not the bloated bass. Rock music plays very well with this. And no, this is not at the level of Monster Beats' bass.

- Mid: the F in 381F means Flat, so it is flat. Not to forward, not to recess. Better than the original ATHM50, but not as forward as Shure SE535. Not the best vocal earphone, but I can say all pop songs will play very nicely through this earphone.

- Treble: I must say bright and smooth. Not too much roughness like Grado's signature sound, but more leaning towards the improved Sennheiser PX200 II signature. Excellent details that makes acoustic and instrumental songs jump for joy.

- Soundstage: In your face.

- Sound Separation: Excellent. You can recognize 95% of all the instruments playing in an orchestra, so it is an excellent micro speakers.

- Build Quality: It's a cheap earphone, bear with the plastic. At least the cable is sturdy to survive my daily travels.

- Volume: Suitable for any portable players without needing Amp.

- Comfort: Wearable for 3-4 hours without discomfort, including when I was laying down with a pillow.

- Noise Isolation: Not the best, but better than the nearly 4x more expensive aJays.

So all in all, I think Superlux HD 381F is probably the cheapest best sounding earphone I have ever found and owned. No, this is not Monster Beats replacement, Superlux HD 381F is at a higher level of fun earphone.

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