Sound quality on the iPhone 4S ?

**aerotechboy** · 10-21-2011, 05:27 AM

I jumped from WebOS to the iPhone 4S. I have an iPod 3rd Gen. and used it frequently on the go. Now I got the 4S to just have 1 device for music and phone. The thing is that the music sould is not as good on the iPhone 4s as my iPod.

Is the iPhone optimized to sound as good as the iPod? I have Beats headphone (Solo HD) and the audio is crappy on the 4S.

Thanks !

**Caballera** · 10-21-2011, 06:02 AM

hmm I'm not an audio expert, but I was thinking that music on the iPhone 4S was better then the iPhone 4 and much better then the 3GS. At least the speakers seem more powerful as I can actually feel them when I'm playing music.

I just listened to my iPod Touch (4th Gen) and my iPhone 4S and the 4S sounds better to me. However I'm 36 years old and never had good ears when it came to music.

Don't forget you can change EQ settings in Settings > Music

**SeanHRCC** · 10-21-2011, 06:08 AM

There are no differences in the iPod app and your 3rd generation iPod itself...there are a plethora of settings on the iPhone for the iPod's music playback, including an equalizer, bass booster, etc etc etc...if it doesn't sound right, go adjust it until it does.

**aerotechboy** · 10-21-2011, 06:09 AM

Originally Posted by Caballera

hmm I'm not an audio expert, but I was thinking that music on the iPhone 4S was better then the iPhone 4 and much better then the 3GS. At least the speakers seem more powerful as I can actually feel them when I'm playing music.

I just listened to my iPod Touch (4th Gen) and my iPhone 4S and the 4S sounds better to me. However I'm 36 years old and never had good ears when it came to music.

Don't forget you can change EQ settings in Settings > Music

so it could be my 4s that is not generationg a powerful sound?

**aerotechboy** · 10-21-2011, 06:12 AM

Originally Posted by SeanHRCC

There are no differences in the iPod app and your 3rd generation iPod itself...there are a plethora of settings on the iPhone for the iPod's music playback, including an equalizer, bass booster, etc etc etc...if it doesn't sound right, go adjust it until it does.

I have no settings set in both devices.. should be the same outcome i think!

**SeanHRCC** · 10-21-2011, 06:24 AM

Why would it be? Your iPhone has functionality for phone calls, iPod, video playback, voice recognition along with about a hundred other things...it's not going to be "optimized" for any ONE of those things, that would just be foolish.

Your iPod has one function...(maybe two if you watch a video on it)...and that is music playback. It's easy to figure out here that the sound settings would be optimized for...wait for it...music playback.

**Dark_Blu** · 10-21-2011, 11:39 AM

The call quality on my 4S is the clearest and loudest of any cell phone I've ever used (smart or dumb) on handset, speakerphone, and bluetooth. Truly stellar sound quality in listening to music as well.

**j_benj** · 10-21-2011, 12:07 PM

Honestly with a pair of good headphones I find that my 4S smokes my iPod classic 160gb in terms of sound quality. Very noticeable difference in the depth and detail (same MP3 files on each, sync'ed from the same iTunes library).

I have no EQ's set on either one, just the pure sound unaltered.

And for your amusement :

**robes1** · 10-21-2011, 12:30 PM

The solo hd beats suck! The studios sound 886588844744 times better! Make the switch. You won't be sorry. Also. The Soul earbuds by Ludacris also sound millions of times better than Solo Hds. As far as the quality difference between the 4S and iPods I don't see any. I have between 8-9 iPods rangin from click wheel to the latest iPod touch and I'm not noticing a difference between sound quality between the touches and the 4S. Maybe a slight difference between the click wheel and the rest though.

**giovanni4711** · 12-27-2012, 09:00 PM

I just synched my 4s with the same itunes that were on my ancient 30 gig ipod.

Then I dock both machines on my old ipod speakers. It appears to make up
a pretty a pretty straightforward comparison. Same song - 4s comes up way
short. Like a tinny beach transistor with one speaker, and it full of sand. Shame.
I'd wanted to give the old loaded up ipod to a rare friend, one who admires my
taste in music. Looks like it will still be my music box for a while.

**RoboWarrior** · 12-29-2012, 03:32 PM

Engadget and other websites have tested smartphones for the best sound quality using a variety of tests. link: The iPhone 4S currently is the best sounding device with te least distortion and other niggles that audiophiles like me care. Most people can't tell the difference without proper headphones/headsets. The beats solo are very bad headsets for the price and shouldn't be used to test sound quality as they are still pretty bad sounding headphones for any standard. The Bass is somewhat overemphasized so sound quality was compromised in other departments.