iPhones, iPods, and iPads forum: Apple iPhone 4s music audio quality in question.

And here I was...wondering if it was only me out there
I got the Nano yesterday and it put things really into perspective....awesome player...but my 1000$ phone sounds like a cheap radio..same headsets. I guess me and the iPhone are jinxed...I will never get the perfect iPhone...Thanks for your post...now I know why.

off contract.....

Hi,

I have had exactly the same sensation when I tried to listen the first song after I have completed the restore of my brand new iPhone 4S.

After some search on internet I found your post and I was really surprised that other people had my same sensation.

I tried to play with settings and it seems me that using the "REDUCE BASS" setting brings the quality near the default quality for 3GS. OK, I say "seems".

Now I suspect that Apple have set some kind of setting to pump the bass. It is only a subjective sensation, but it seems me that this improves the situation.

What do you think about?

Ciao,
Otto

I am in the process of building a musical instrument app, and I have noticed the degradation in sound quality between the 4 and the 4s. This is the first post I have found that addresses this issue, thank you. My instrument sounds inferior on the 4s, and I am very worried that I may have to live with this. I really hope that the situation improves, because it sounds really bad on the new device, and mostly there are raves about how much louder the speakerphone is on the 4s.

Durian

All these reports of the new 4S not performing audio output as well as previous models is very disappointing. I was considering upgrading my iPhone 4 to a 4S but if the audio is not as good I will wait. As an audiophile type I was rather frustrated by the lack of a fully manual EQ within the music player on the iPhone / iOS . I did a bit of searching and I found the App EQ-U . I listen to my music with a pair of ACS T2 in ears and now play music through the iphone via the EQ-U app. I found a real improvement in audio output quality and can fully tweak the EQ to suit my in ears. If your having a problem with the audio on the 4S maybe try downloading the EQ-U app and see if it helps. I Hope it does !

First, the difference isn't subtle. But if you've read the posts, you would see that. But I guess, there is always at least one blowhard who feels that their testing platforms are more valid. A refurb Sansa being a better comparison. I've heard Sansa
Players. You have nothing the brag about, Pepe.

So, be proud of your opinions and thank you for pissing on the opinions of others with your ridiculous comparison. You don't know if the differences many are listening to are lossy or lossless and it is equally inflammatory to call all of our opinions silly on your part. Dock connector vs headphone jack. Most folks listen to their devices through the headphone jack, not a dock connector. If the jack exhibits lesser quality than on previous devices, it isn't silly as most people use it that way.

So Pepe, if you have an opinion that's one thing , but please take your personal issues elsewhere and list your opinion without insulting those who have graciously listed their thoughts, by your calling their tests silly or invalid. That's just not nice. Ok, That's the approach you chose to take, I hope you got some satisfaction out of it. That's the only thing your response is good for. Your personal satisfaction. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. Even you.

im having the same issue EB, have you found a solution? it is sooooo frustrating!

OK, I followed your tip by purchasing EQu. It seems that the presets provided by Apple are too "soft". Personally I found a more acceptable sound by attenuating frequences between 60 and 500 Hz and by increasing under 60 Hz. Ok, ok, it is completely subjective, but this setting is much better, from my point of view, than any other setting provided by Apple. Anyway I still can't understand how can they miss to care about the quality of sound, it should be their core business.

I thought I was CRAZY... I have the 3G and the sound quality was stellar. I got my 4S and after a few days listening to music on it - no kidding - I thought I was LOSING MY HEARING because the sound quality is CLEARLY inferior...

Been to the Apple store, brought both iPhones and of course they even had the nerve to say that the 4S is better...

It is SO frustrating...

Upgraded from the 3GS to 4S and i am utterly disappointed by the 4S's sound quality. regarding the issue on the chip using less power, um wouldn't an external amplifier do the trick? im pretty sure it'll sound exactly the same as the 3GS with help from an amp sounds the same to me on my UE Triplefi. 10s / Sony XBA-4s

Why would you or did you buy one?

My thoughts precisely. People should take not of your 'sweet spot' comment. Some of what constitutes 'good sound quality' is most certainly subjective.

The previous poster's comment regarding skull candy ear buds merely reinforces my opinion that there are a lot of uninformed music listeners, no thanks to the compressed music formats that are so popular.

Your comment suggesting that a user 'do not use flac' seems unnecessary though, since it's not supported, and generally not something that the newbies with their 'high quality earbuds' would be worrying about anyway. [Hopefully you aren't 'anti-FLAC' in general (oh, the horror!!!!) ]

I am very distracted with the price it was launched and now its has also become a very big headache about the Camera and the speakers. Listening to a same music in the Lumia and the iphone is a big difference. Lumia has brought revolution into smartphones industry with carl zeiss lens and amazing speakers that rocks.

iphone 4s has been into a great criticism with issues in it. Also people are disappointing with its high price and pre-launch. Since this discussion is about the Music part, i would like to mention that Nokia has been the leading mobile maker and popular for its devices, especially the battery and Music. The single and dual speakers of Nokia has rocked the world since decades.

Now the Nokia Lumia has re-invented a new way to music with its amazing dual speakers. A combination of the windows software has changed the world of music with the Lumia.

You can enjoy superior quality of sound on direct downloads or online music with the Lumia. Th Lumia has been a great advantage over the laptops also. iphones are now outdated. People who has witnessed the Lumia live and exclusively, have ordered it online.

Iphone 4 was a better phone than the 4s. well there are so many things to get discussed her, but

@Pepe7 : Nokia has slowly covered the smartphone market.
I didnot find any data related to the failure of any models of Nokia.
Apart Nokia's every handset has been a success in the market.
Nokia Lumia is the modern generation youth phone,which is much better than the smart iphone.
You can refer to the global market share of smartphones, Nokia stands number one.
December quarter iphone sold 1.8 million 4s devices and Nokia delivered 1.35 million with still close to 2 million pre-orders.
Truly speaking iphone 4 was better than the 4s and Apple needs to review to bring in a better generation now.