Out of the box the Xperia S supports a variety of audio codecs. Because of the open nature of smartphones however you can easily download replacement music players with different codec supports. The one that I would recommend using is UberMusic, but there are other competent apps to suit anyone's different needs. For the purpose of this review however I will be sticking to the default music player by Sony. FLAC lossless is not supported by the player, and while this may disappoint a few people, the vast majority will carry on fine with listening to high quality MP3 files.
Functionality wise, the Music Player is brilliant. It has a couple of features borrowed from their Walkman range, including SenseMe, the auto playlist generator that I raved about in my Walkman S630 review. Audio enhancements comes in the form of a five band equaliser, including a separate Clear Bass slider. Surround sound is also supported, which I found a gimmick and immediately switched off. Sadly it lacks the DSEE filters found on their Walkman devices, one that I found to be very effective when dealing with low bitrate music tracks. It does integrate nicely with Sony's own Music Unlimited store.
Much to my annoyance Sony has also included a setting to boost the loudness of the built-in speaker. As someone who frequently takes the bus, I can tell you nothing annoys us more than people playing their music out loud in public. The current track is shown in the pull down notifications area, but sadly lack any music playback controls. One the upside, the music playback controls do pop up when you enter the slide to unlock screen.
When it comes to sound quality, the Xperia S excels, at least when tested with my now standard Sennheiser IE 8 IEM. This is quite easily the best sounding smartphone I have heard in a while, and is at least on par with the iPhone 4S. Highs are a bit more pronounced, but apart from that everything sounds clean. Music signature is warm and deep. Nothing I have thrown at it suffered from any forms of distortions. Overall I think if you are looking for a smartphone that is capable of replacing your DAP, the Xperia S will suit you well. Having said that I wouldn't advice that you throw out your Walkmans or Cowons just yet as a DAP with a great DAC will still floor this. The Xperia S will drive most consumer-orientated headphones without any issue.
9 comments:
Hi Jon, i've enjoyed your reviews down the years and bought the S Series and X Series Walkmans after reading your reviews on them.
By any chance are you gonna review the new Walkman Z Series?...
I ask because I am pondering on either buying this Xperia S or the Walkman Z.
If I was to buy this Xperia, I would hope to replace my phone now AND the Walkman X by combining phone and music.
However, I'm normally one for having seperate devices like I do now, so may just buy the Walkman Z to replace my Walkman X and keep my current phone.
The difference in sound quality is the sticking point, which I assume would be the Walkman Z as it is specifically a music player, however the same sound features may be carried over to the Xperia.
It would have to be good to beat the X Series though... :D
Thanks for the nice comment. I would love to, but right now it really is difficult to get hold of Sony PR to loan me a device. No idea why I have a great relationship with Sony Mobile PR, but somehow Sony doesn't seem to recognise this blog... :(
Looking at the specs of the Walkman Z, it sounds like it retains the X-series's lovely S-Master. The Xperia S is brilliant, but it is no where close to the Walkman X-series.
Another phone that sounds great is the old Samsung Galaxy S which has a dedicated Wolfson DAC in it. Wolfson powered the majority of Apple's none-touch harddrive iPods and is highly regarded by the audiophile community.
I heard the Galaxy S3 would also contain a Wolfson DAC - I certainly hope it is true as that would make it a compelling phone/DAP.
Be assured, the Walkman Z series is outstanding. Mine will drive my AKG500 headphones adequately, which says a lot about the amplification power. I also use Shure 425 IEMs, which it drives with ease. The quality is highly refined; a huge step beyond my two earlier Walkman DAPs or my Sony Ericsson Mini Pro (which is a good player!).
Like the above poster, I had considered getting the Xperia S instead of the Walkman. But now I have the Walkman, and having read this review, I am confident that the Z series Walkman is in another league all of its own when it comes to sound quality.
How loud would you say a decent pair of headphones in the phone would be on of a scale of 1 - 10
How loud they would say the phone would be with a decent pair of headphones on a scale of 1 - 10?
i felt that the volume level of experia is very less.. is there any settings to higher the volume ..?
pls mail me the details sushan.s.salian@gmail.com
i found that the volume level is very less while using sony ear phone. so any one can pls update me regarding this. ? is there any settings or any thing from which i can get better sound with same quality.
Yo! Though a bit late to comment on this. I just bought Xperia S and as far as sound quality goes, its good, but feels mediocre. It still can't match a dedicated mp3 players in terms of sound quality. Listening to Xperia and back to my Sansa clip, Sansa clip is still a lot better. Listening to Xperia S to me is like plugging an earphone to a computer's headphone jack, the separation is not very good, can't distinguish some of the instruments playing. Everything gets mixed (it can get very noisy sometimes), yet in Sansa, you can feel the separation and distinguish the playing instruments in the background. I used Koss KSC75 to listen to both gadgets.
To anyone who read this comment, do not get discourage getting Xperia S, it still is very good and still as for the moment it boasts one of the best cameras available in smartphones and good specs for a middle priced phone. It kicks ass
Yo! Though a bit late to comment on this. I just bought Xperia S and as far as sound quality goes, its good, but feels mediocre. It still can't match a dedicated mp3 players in terms of sound quality. Listening to Xperia and back to my Sansa clip, Sansa clip is still a lot better. Listening to Xperia S to me is like plugging an earphone to a computer's headphone jack, the separation is not very good, can't distinguish some of the instruments playing. Everything gets mixed (it can get very noisy sometimes), yet in Sansa, you can feel the separation and distinguish the playing instruments in the background. I used Koss KSC75 to listen to both gadgets.
To anyone who read this comment, do not get discourage getting Xperia S, it still is very good and still as for the moment it boasts one of the best cameras available in smartphones and good specs for a middle priced phone. It kicks ass
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