Need help buying - Omnia or Touch Pro Music Hiss

[Guest meddleuk]

A few questions please Paul or anyone who is lucky enough to own the Omnia.

1. What is music quality like? Over 50% of my usage on Pocket PC's is listening to music. I currently have the original Elf and while playback is acceptable there is a noticable hiss in the background which seems to plague a lot of Windows Mobile (Especially HTC Phones). I have searched in various forums for a software solution to this and the general consesus is that it is a cheap hardware chip on board that is the problem, not a dedicated audio chip like on the iphone. The only software that slightly improves the issue is SRSWOW but the hiss remains. I am after a phone that has the nearlest possible audio quality of an Ipod but do not want to go for Iphone. Have you noticed this hiss on the Omnia or the Diamond.

2. I've seen mentioned that the Omnia can handle Divx films. Have you been able to try it with say a 700mb Xvid file, if so is playback smooth and do you you the native player or other software?

3. I'm concerned there is no slot for a stylus. Have you had the need to use one much or does the bigger screen help eliminate the use?

4. My next phone is either the Omnia or Touch Pro (have no need for the keyboard but need the storage). Both devices I believe have some compatibility problems due to screen resolution. Have you suffered much with installing 3rd party apps and if so which do you think is the better bet.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Guest CoolHotCold]

1. I havent used the Omnia much for music... But i will plug my Shure SE530's in today and get back to you about the sound quality..

***Edit*** Heh quite impressed, Theres no hissing that i can detect on playback, also when i pluged my Shures into my Itouch it gave a horrible hiss every time i wasnt playing a soung (i.e during quiet times in the music and between changing tracks) none of the hissing here..

***Edit***

2. The Omnia works absolutly fine in playback of Divx files. Did have a slight problem when it wasnt Fullscreen, such as a slight stutter... but once i put it into fullscreen mode it disapeared and playback remained smooth

3. The stylus has no function on the Omnia, the mousepad at the bottom makes up for the lack of touchpad for those small buttons, and you can do everything with your fingers anyway

4. No problems installing any programs so far on the Omnia, but i belive the Touch wins here because over at Xda developers fourm they have Oddles of programs specifically for the Touch Diamond (most of them games) but reguarding the resolution, no problems on any applications i've installed. Plus i belive the HTC doesnt swap to portrait or landscape mode inside of programs, The Omnia does it very well.

Edited September 1, 2008 by CoolHotCold

[Guest meddleuk]

Thanks very much for your help. The fact that you can detect no hissing is a real plus for me. This hiss on my Elf is very noticible on the pauses in between songs and when you're playing a quiet song or a soundtrack/classical piece of music.

Can I ask about your divx file playback. Are you using the native Divx player on board the Omnia or other software like Coreplayer. And when it's not fullscreen I assume it's something in Cinemascope with black bars on top/bottom?

[Guest CoolHotCold]

im using the native playback (the samsung touchplayer) and by fullscreen i mean it has a small previw pane in half the screen with the pause, next , volume etc etc on the right hand side...

[Guest Hendrickson]

I can confirm that the audio quality for mp3 playback and videos is second to none. I heard its using the same audio chip as the iphone (Samsung make iphone audio chips so it makes sence)

Using my Sennheiser CX400's (Genuine i might add) there's no hiss for me only on low bit rate mp3s but that's a mp3 quality thing. If I use my wife's N95 classic there is a horrible hiss. The N95 8gb has less hiss, but its just noticeable, seems Nokia dulled the high frequency to try and remove the hiss.

[Guest MBA140]

I'm using Pocket Player or WMP as all my music is in WMA files and Touch Player won't play them. I have used Sony Fontopia, Sennheiser CX400's with no audible hiss. I also have a pair of Bang & Olufsen A8's which sound pretty good too.

I'm using the Touch Player to play movies . They seem to play OK. The occasional stutter but these movies are ripped for a previous device at 640x480.

[Guest meddleuk]

Another no hiss confirmation, now I'm getting excited. A dedicated Audio chip is exactly what I am looking for, and I used to have an Ipod myself myself and the difference between the hiss on that and my Elf was very noticable.

[Guest Hendrickson]

I'm using Pocket Player or WMP as all my music is in WMA files and Touch Player won't play them. I have used Sony Fontopia, Sennheiser CX400's with no audible hiss. I also have a pair of Bang & Olufsen A8's which sound pretty good too.

I'm using the Touch Player to play movies . They seem to play OK. The occasional stutter but these movies are ripped for a previous device at 640x480.

Trust us, its good. Especially with a decent set of headphones. I was so pissed that my n95 8gb still had a slight hiss. Not with my i900 the sound quality is great as a good dedicated mp3 player.

A good music player is the most important thing in a phone for me, many trips on the tube/metro or in a airport etc. They only think I want is a remote that I can use to change tracks quickly with, rather than haven't to touch the screen.

[Guest meddleuk]

I know where you coming from Hendrickson. My wife can't even tell there is a hiss on the Elf and thought I was being stupid and too picky but after going from the Ipod to the Elf this hiss stood out like a sore thumb. If I have a rock/pop song playing you can't always hear it but the proof is when playing lighter, quieter type of music that perhaps has some silences in it. On the Ipod it was a silence, on the Elf it was a loud hiss.

I didn't know there were any Windows mobile phones with great Audio so this will be my next phone.

Thanks for all the advice guys!

[Guest Hendrickson]

Glad we could help :D (heh I know what you mean, my wife can't hear a hiss either!)

Edited September 1, 2008 by Hendrickson

[Guest Geronymous]

They only think I want is a remote that I can use to change tracks quickly with, rather than haven't to touch the screen.

I do that with my BT headset (I mean choose the next song or play/pause)... AVCRP works perfecty with the TouchPlayer!

[Guest Ricc]

I do still recognise a hiss on external speakers with my omnia... not with headphones tho.. any idea why?