Headphones Recommendation

[gTen]

Originally Posted by TexasAggie97

I'm getting too old to do all the customization I used to do.

its actually a lot easier then back in the winmo days. In this case all you need is a custom kernel.

Not to mention Epic is almost unbrickable.

[TexasAggie97]

What good (other than Voodoo) does "rooting" a phone do for me? I'm curious because I heard I would void my warranty if I did it.

[gTen]

Originally Posted by TexasAggie97

What good (other than Voodoo) does "rooting" a phone do for me? I'm curious because I heard I would void my warranty if I did it.

Well to explain, Root in Linux is equivalent to Administrator on Windows. When you boot up Android you are just a regular user. When you root your phone you become Root user. With root you have full access to the system and can do things like make full backups, tether, overclock, undervolt and etc. You have full control of the system.

To prevent apps from taking advantage of root privileges there is something called SU (Super User). This is similar to windows vista/7 UAC where whenever using Root privileges a box pops up asking for permission. You can also permanently let certain apps have root access.

To note though, Rooting != Custom Kernel. But a custom kernel can have root built into it.


As for voiding warranty, kind of But to note 3 things:

1) You can odin back to stock and no one will ever know you rooted

2) If your device breaks to the point where it does not turn on. They will not deny your warranty claim.

3) If you have asuran insurance, that is not voided by rooting.

To note though, only sprint has a problem with you rooting. As long as they don't physically see you rooted there is no problem. As far as Samsung is concerned, rooting does not void your warranty:

Samsung

[TexasAggie97]

Originally Posted by gTen

Well to explain, Root in Linux is equivalent to Administrator on Windows. When you boot up Android you are just a regular user. When you root your phone you become Root user. With root you have full access to the system and can do things like make full backups, tether, overclock, undervolt and etc. You have full control of the system.

To prevent apps from taking advantage of root privileges there is something called SU (Super User). This is similar to windows vista/7 UAC where whenever using Root privileges a box pops up asking for permission. You can also permanently let certain apps have root access.

To note though, Rooting != Custom Kernel. But a custom kernel can have root built into it.


As for voiding warranty, kind of But to note 3 things:

1) You can odin back to stock and no one will ever know you rooted

2) If your device breaks to the point where it does not turn on. They will not deny your warranty claim.

3) If you have asuran insurance, that is not voided by rooting.

To note though, only sprint has a problem with you rooting. As long as they don't physically see you rooted there is no problem. As far as Samsung is concerned, rooting does not void your warranty:

Samsung

Thanks for the clarification. As you already know, I rooted my phone and loaded a custom ROM.

As for Voodoo sound, how does it work, what do I need to do to it. This morning, while at the gym, I was messing with some of the settings and it didn't sound much better than before.

What all do I need to do with Voodoo sound?

[garage_man]

From my personal experience I just used the stock OEM ones that came with the epic 4g. I listened to the skull candy ones and they just didn't have the drive the OEM ones do. They are not nearly as clear and to tell you the truth they are even better than the "beats" earphones. For the price you can't go wrong to try them out.

I have NO experience with other phones so I cannot comment on the performance on them. I found voodoo not very good experience. I found it to kill the sound, leave out entire parts. It just wasn't as clear as I thought it would be. I wouldn't root just for that because it isn't worth it.

Here is the link for them...get them and you will be impressed for 5 bucks.

Amazon.com: Samsung 3.5 mm Premium Stereo Headset Bulk Packaging - Black: Cell Phones & Accessories

Thanks,
Mike

[gTen]

Originally Posted by garage_man

From my personal experience I just used the stock OEM ones that came with the epic 4g. I listened to the skull candy ones and they just didn't have the drive the OEM ones do. They are not nearly as clear and to tell you the truth they are even better than the "beats" earphones. For the price you can't go wrong to try them out.

I have NO experience with other phones so I cannot comment on the performance on them. I found voodoo not very good experience. I found it to kill the sound, leave out entire parts. It just wasn't as clear as I thought it would be. I wouldn't root just for that because it isn't worth it.

Here is the link for them...get them and you will be impressed for 5 bucks.

Amazon.com: Samsung 3.5 mm Premium Stereo Headset Bulk Packaging - Black: Cell Phones & Accessories

Thanks,
Mike

If your using voodoo sound, you need to have media that is high bitrate and top end headphones that have good bass. Simply because if the quality of the headphones or the media your playing is of lower quality, you will end up hearing those imperfections.

Think of it like when you have a 4k super HD TV, they showed an example of it and ironically the quality of the TV was so good it showed minor imperfections in an artists makeup very clearly lol

[garage_man]

Well I rip all my own music. I can tell you right now I use MP3 @ 320kbps on my phones and such, otherwise I use WMA Lossless to my PS3 and receivers and all that stuff. Trust me I am aware of how these things are supposed to sound from the studio. The stock headphones have plenty of bass. There really clear to. Highs and lows are shocking pretty accurate. I just didn't find voodoo that amazing to the sound. If you have a good quality recording you are going to hear the parts anyway its just how it works. Not trying to be rude to anyone here but its the truth.

Thanks,
Mike

[gTen]

Originally Posted by garage_man

Well I rip all my own music. I can tell you right now I use MP3 @ 320kbps on my phones and such, otherwise I use WMA Lossless to my PS3 and receivers and all that stuff. Trust me I am aware of how these things are supposed to sound from the studio. The stock headphones have plenty of bass. There really clear to. Highs and lows are shocking pretty accurate. I just didn't find voodoo that amazing to the sound. If you have a good quality recording you are going to hear the parts anyway its just how it works. Not trying to be rude to anyone here but its the truth.

Thanks,
Mike

I didn't take it as being rude don't worry, this is what forums are for, discussing different opinions/viewpoints and etc.

I personally use full size headsets as I don't like in-ears too much and to me the sound seems awesome with voodoo sound. As far as in ear headsets, I found the ones that came with the epic to be pretty good for a free pair.

But you an definitely notice a huge difference between say my friends Klipsch headsets and the stock ones.

We tried both with voodoo sound and it seems amazing to me that a cellphone can output like that. But I will admit that when I ran songs things that were of lower quality you can hear the little distortions.

And I can't exactly say we are alone on this as reading most audiophile forums most seem to recommend voodoo sound.

Hmm..I wonder what settings are you using in the voodoo sound app?

[garage_man]

Originally Posted by gTen

I didn't take it as being rude don't worry, this is what forums are for, discussing different opinions/viewpoints and etc.

I personally use full size headsets as I don't like in-ears too much and to me the sound seems awesome with voodoo sound. As far as in ear headsets, I found the ones that came with the epic to be pretty good for a free pair.

But you an definitely notice a huge difference between say my friends Klipsch headsets and the stock ones.

We tried both with voodoo sound and it seems amazing to me that a cellphone can output like that. But I will admit that when I ran songs things that were of lower quality you can hear the little distortions.

And I can't exactly say we are alone on this as reading most audiophile forums most seem to recommend voodoo sound.

Hmm..I wonder what settings are you using in the voodoo sound app?

Okay so I just did a test. These are the songs and the bitrate. These are all in lossless WAV format.

Talking Heads-Once In a Lifetime @1411kbps
Talking Heads-And She Was @1411kbps

Pink Floyd: The Wall-Goodbye Blue Sky@1411
Pink Floyd: The Wall-The Show Must Go On@1411

For fun I threw in Kid Cudi Pursuit of Happiness and a few others. THESE ARE MP3's @ 320.

Okay so I did the test fair. I used the phone with voodoo and my computer with just windows media player 12. I DIDN'T USE HEADPHONES CAUSE THAT'S NOT A FAIR TEST. There was NO modification to the equalizer settings. I run everything at normal period.

Okay so the results are very simple. This voodoo program doesn't improve the sound at all. The computer was far far clearer. (I RAN THE SAME RCA CABLE FOR BOTH DEVICES TOO) I mean there were parts on the phone that were just...missing?? lol. The voodoo did make it louder but as far as improving the quality I found it did subtract but not improve.

My test receiver was a Denon and I use new Cerwin Vega speakers all with the equalizer at 0,0 for everything. That is the true test of stereo equipment, if you have to even touch a equalizer it isn't good. Anyway onto the settings of the voodoo...

Headphone Amp: 0db
Volume Limit: 3db
Bass Boost: OFF!!!!!!
Anti-jitter:Checked
Hi-Fi play: Checked
DAC: Checked

If you feel I might be mistaken let me know but with this I found the sound quality not that great. It seems to be a amplifier at best and a killer of sound at worst.

[gTen]

Why do you keep bast boost off? (any reason?) also as forthe settings you gotta play around with them to get the optimal setting depending on what exactly your connecting it to.

Also are you connecting it to a stereo output or surround sound system?