The audio-centric phone Ulefone Vienna doesn’t need much more introduction, because the subject has been beaten to death already. We know that the promised Hi-Fi sound is going to be achieved via the NXP Smart Audio PA chipset, which is independent on the processor. Thesystem will have the audio frequency range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz so should be be covering all the audible frequencies for the human ear.
Ulefone is not leaving anything to chance and is trying to recommend the ideal corresponding headphones for Vienna to their customers to support the best possible sound output. The five recommended ones are the following : SoundMagic E10, Vsonic GR07 Classic, Edifier H841P, Pioneer SE-MX9-T and Logitech UE 900s.
The truth is that for example the Pioneers have a reputation of not being exactly Hi-Fi with way stronger basses, but the younger generation probably won’t mind anyway because the popular genres like rap or alternatives can utilize that. It’s quite interesting that aside the Pioneer and Logitech are all the headphone makers chinese based ones, which can indicate either Ulefone’s patriotism or real faith in the homegrown quality. But still good list of the recommended headphones, because most of them are still in the “affordable” range of the audio products. So will you get inspired or do you prefer your own?
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Though the Vienna is a good effort by Ulefone, the NXP audio chip is nothing extra ordinary. Ofcourse it’s performance will be better than all crappy audio codec that comes default with every Snapdragon or MediaTek chipsets. That said its performance is comparable to AK4375 audio chip that comes with Vivo V3Max. Smartphones like Vivo-X5Max or Lenovo Vibe X3 are on a different plane when it comes to sound quality with their exclusive use of ESS dacs and Texas Instruments headphone amplifiers.
I like my Sennheiser Momentum In Ears. I went through about a dozen different in ear’s before settling on these.
Its prices are generally expensive.
I got mine during an Amazon sale, only cost me $65.
Dude could I have your email or any way to contact you? Id like to ask you something. Thanks.
balcobomber25 at yahoo.
UMI touch dog feces, to buy back bad days, no one to help me
HD650 is good enough, HD800 is fantastic, well, with good DAC and amplifier. Though they are very expensive, we don’t have much other choices at this level. But when it comes portable in-ear or head-mounted earphones, there are many better than Sennheiser products yet cheaper.
For example, i have AKG K420.
There are some better than Senn’s, but I like my Senn’s. For the $65 I paid for them on Amazon they are incredible.
the momentum’s in ear ? they are ok , i like the build very much but the sound is ok for the price , mostly what would you expect – i usually never choose senns for iems , and go for chinese brands – especially under 200 bucks you can get supermegahyper bargains from these – if your interested check the head fi asian forum
I have HD580, HD 650 and HD 800 and all fantastic headphones, but you need a headphone amp to do justice to those headphones. A in the ear phones like IE80 or the Xiaomi will be alot better when driven from a good sounding phones like OPPO 7 etc.
Actually I’m able to hear a proper improvement over the Oppo Find 7a when listening via iPad Air.
Guess only the big players with Android can compete with Apple iPhone and iPad.
The best sounding phones in the world presently are no doubt Vivo X5 Max and 6 Plus, even better than Vivo Xplay 5. Perhaps Xplay 5 flagship version will be better with 2 DAC chipsets and 3 amplifiers. Oppo and Vivo actually belongs to the same company BBK, which have given the hifi feature to Vivo and the fast charge feature to Oppo.
I used Sennheiser IE80 before and feel it is greatly overpriced. With almost the same price, you can get Sony XE1000, which is the best moving-coil in-ear earbuds presently. I used to be a Sennheiser die-hard, but i should say their low-impediance earphones are made and priced without much faith.
When will the review for this phone come out?
I would go for:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-TANGMAI-Super-Bass-Noise-Isolating-Headset-Earbuds-Earphone-Remote-Mic-/121456256538?var=&hash=item1c475b661a:m:mqcoO-7Yak7CQMPGwgChlfg
or
http://en.ostry.com.cn/?language=en#
or
http://degausslabs.com/
I’ll take Xiaomi Pistons/Hybrids
No, no Xiaomi. Xiaomi smartphones may not be bad, but earphones are very different. You can assembly parts to make a good phones as long as the OEM is good enough like Foxconn, but you can’t just buy some high-quality sounding units to make a good earphones, which involes very careful modifcation just like lens for camera.
no actually for the price they make class headphones , and no they dont make the ears at all , they hired dunu for drivers and 1more for the design – they have one of the best sounding ears for 20 something bucks
Hmm .. interesting can you get a source for DUNU ‘s involvement . They openly acknowledge 1more infact the hybrid are just a modified version of 1more hybrids .
Xiaomi earphones are great. I also own Sennheiser IE80 and Shure SE530. And three Xiaomi models of earphones all sounding excellent more so when you compare how cheap they are.
I like my Sennheiser Momentum In Ears. I went through about a dozen different in ear’s before settling on these.
Its prices are generally expensive.
HD650 is good enough, HD800 is fantastic, well, with good DAC and amplifier. Though they are very expensive, we don’t have much other choices at this level. But when it comes portable in-ear or head-mounted earphones, there are many better than Sennheiser products yet cheaper.
For example, i have AKG K420.
There are some better than Senn’s, but I like my Senn’s. For the $65 I paid for them on Amazon they are incredible.
I got mine during an Amazon sale, only cost me $65.
I have HD580, HD 650 and HD 800 and all fantastic headphones, but you need a headphone amp to do justice to those headphones. A in the ear phones like IE80 or the Xiaomi will be alot better when driven from a good sounding phones like OPPO 7 etc.
Actually I’m able to hear a proper improvement over the Oppo Find 7a when listening via iPad Air.
Guess only the big players with Android can compete with Apple iPhone and iPad.
The best sounding phones in the world presently are no doubt Vivo X5 Max and 6 Plus, even better than Vivo Xplay 5. Perhaps Xplay 5 flagship version will be better with 2 DAC chipsets and 3 amplifiers. Oppo and Vivo actually belongs to the same company BBK, which have given the hifi feature to Vivo and the fast charge feature to Oppo.
I used Sennheiser IE80 before and feel it is greatly overpriced. With almost the same price, you can get Sony XE1000, which is the best moving-coil in-ear earbuds presently. I used to be a Sennheiser die-hard, but i should say their low-impediance earphones are made and priced without much faith.
the momentum’s in ear ? they are ok , i like the build very much but the sound is ok for the price , mostly what would you expect – i usually never choose senns for iems , and go for chinese brands – especially under 200 bucks you can get supermegahyper bargains from these – if your interested check the head fi asian forum
Dude could I have your email or any way to contact you? Id like to ask you something. Thanks.
balcobomber25 at yahoo.
UMI touch dog feces, to buy back bad days, no one to help me
When will the review for this phone come out?
I would go for:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-TANGMAI-Super-Bass-Noise-Isolating-Headset-Earbuds-Earphone-Remote-Mic-/121456256538?var=&hash=item1c475b661a:m:mqcoO-7Yak7CQMPGwgChlfg
or
http://en.ostry.com.cn/?language=en#
or
http://degausslabs.com/
I’ll take Xiaomi Pistons/Hybrids
No, no Xiaomi. Xiaomi smartphones may not be bad, but earphones are very different. You can assembly parts to make a good phones as long as the OEM is good enough like Foxconn, but you can’t just buy some high-quality sounding units to make a good earphones, which involes very careful modifcation just like lens for camera. And Xiaomi is known as a utilitarian brand that almost do no hardware research and development. They don’t have gene to do earphones.
no actually for the price they make class headphones , and no they dont make the ears at all , they hired dunu for drivers and 1more for the design – they have one of the best sounding ears for 20 something bucks
Xiaomi earphones are great. I also own Sennheiser IE80 and Shure SE530. And three Xiaomi models of earphones all sounding excellent more so when you compare how cheap they are.
Hmm .. interesting can you get a source for DUNU ‘s involvement . They openly acknowledge 1more infact the hybrid are just a modified version of 1more hybrids .
Seems there is someone in Ulefone who really knows about earphones. I’m using Vsonic GR07 and i can say it is fantastic though the craftsmanship make it like a 2-dollar crap.
yes i have the gr07 and had the vsd3s until like 1 week before , i got the vsd5 and its the only iem from vsonic which has a good build
HTC 10
no its the same ol iphone chip with a better iphone amp , cirrus is not that amazing
Though Vienna is a good effort by Ulefone, the NXP Smart Audio PA audio chipset is nothing extraordinary. Ofcourse it’s performance will be better than all crappy audio codec that comes default with every Snapdragon or MediaTek chipsets. It’s performance is more or less comparable with AKM AK4375 audio chip that comes with Vivo V3Max. Smartphones like Vivo X5Max and Lenovo Vibe X3 are on a different plane when it comes to sound quality with their exclusive use of ESS SABRE 9018 dacs and Texas Instruments OPA1612 headphone amplifiers.
you can get another phone with nxp smart audio pa 2.0 for under 80 usd.
or you can simply buy affordable lossless audio player like fiio with wolfson or sabre chipset.
Seems there is someone in Ulefone who really knows about earphones. I’m using Vsonic GR07 and i can say it is fantastic though the craftsmanship make it like a 2-dollar crap.
yes i have the gr07 and had the vsd3s until like 1 week before , i got the vsd5 and its the only iem from vsonic which has a good build
HTC 10
no its the same ol iphone chip with a better iphone amp , cirrus is not that amazing
Though Vienna is a good effort by Ulefone, the NXP Smart Audio PA audio chipset is nothing extraordinary. Ofcourse it’s performance will be better than all crappy audio codec that comes default with every Snapdragon or MediaTek chipsets. It’s performance is more or less comparable with AKM AK4375 audio chip that comes with Vivo V3Max. Smartphones like Vivo X5Max and Lenovo Vibe X3 are on a different plane when it comes to sound quality with their exclusive use of ESS SABRE 9018 dacs and Texas Instruments OPA1612 headphone amplifiers.
you can get another phone with nxp smart audio pa 2.0 for under 80 usd.
or you can simply buy affordable lossless audio player like fiio with wolfson or sabre chipset.
I have Soundmagic E10 and together with my Cowon D2 (8 years old now) they were great. Trying them with ZTE Axon mini that has AK4961 showed almost the same sound quality but due to sotfware problems of that phone it wasn’t very user friendly… in the end the phone fell from my pocket and broke completely. I was thinking about this Vienna phone, anybody can tell me if it is worse the money to use it as a primary phone and a music player? Does it sound better than Zte Axon phones?
I have Soundmagic E10 and together with my Cowon D2 (8 years old now) they were great. Trying them with ZTE Axon mini that has AK4961 showed almost the same sound quality but due to sotfware problems of that phone it wasn’t very user friendly… in the end the phone fell from my pocket and broke completely. I was thinking about this Vienna phone, anybody can tell me if it is worse the money to use it as a primary phone and a music player? Does it sound better than Zte Axon phones?