RMAA results for iPod Classic, Galaxy Nexus, FiiO E7 Options

[skamp]

Here are the RMAA results for the iPod Classic (2009), the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and the FiiO E7. The iPod was tested via it's Line Out Dock, as well as its headphone out, unloaded, and loaded with Sony MDR-XB700 headphones (24 ohms). The Galaxy Nexus and E7 were tested via their headphone out, loaded and unloaded. Here's a comparison between the 3, loaded with the headphones.

Audiophiles always say that the iPod's LOD outputs a "cleaner" signal than its headphone out; if I'm reading the values and graphs right, that seems correct. I couldn't say whether the difference is audible; one would have to also test the external headphone amplifier that would be connected to the LOD.

Overall the E7 seems superior, while the iPod is a pretty close second in some aspects, especially if you consider the LOD results. Of note is the significantly worse stereo crosstalk result from the Galaxy Nexus.

Edit: I used an old laptop for the recordings. I'm considering investing in a decent USB device. If I do get one, I'll run RMAA again.

This post has been edited by skamp: Apr 26 2012, 21:09

[skamp]

And, lo and behold, my wonderful Asus N75SF laptop with "Audio by Bang & Olufsen ICEpower". Seems legit!

[stephan_g]

And, lo and behold, my wonderful Asus N75SF laptop with "Audio by Bang & Olufsen ICEpower". Seems legit!

Looks like you should inspect that one for any misimprovements present in the processing chain. Its sound implementation does not seem to be that great, but there is definitely something else going on that dominates the results. I'd say there's EQ and dynamic compression in use, presumably for better speaker audio. ICEpower would be referring to Class-D speaker amps.

BTW, measuring DAPs at anything else than 44.1 kHz is a potentially risky business. At least keep in mind that sample rate does matter.

I still have two of the aforementioned Terratec cards in use. As you found out, they are quite flexible when it comes to recording levels. They apparently were a co-development with ESI/Audiotrak at the time. I'd need to reverse engineer the headphone amp at some point, which I am told uses a Class B buffer (I never liked the result with anything less than 300 ohms much, though according to measurements coupling caps may be the bigger issue).

This post has been edited by stephan_g: Apr 29 2012, 21:36