While doing a MP3 player review I decided to put the N76, N95 and N800 through the same test to see which one would come on top. It’s no secret that the N91 is still the best in terms of audio quality, but what about the rest? Armed with the fairly high-end Etymotic ER4-P and my ears I listened to everything from Pop to Jazz using the Ety’s through the 3.5mm jack and listening using each device’s speakers. Before the test I pretty much expected the N95 to come out on top, but in the end I was kinda surprised with the results. Starting of with the earphones it was from the beginning quite apparent that both the N76 and N95 had a faint hiss that was present whenever a button was pressed. As I speculated before this could be due to poor audio samples used to create the sound effect for the key press. This hiss could not be heard during the actual audio playback. The N800 on the other hand exhibited no hissing, neither during playback nor when doing a button press. From my subjective listening I concluded that both the N95 and N800 had good volume, but needed just a bit more volume for certain songs with an overall lower audio volume. Overall quality for both these two devices was good. The N95 had a characteristically more aggressive attack, while the N800 sounded more relaxed. The aggressive sound of the N95 could very well be due to the fact that it emphasizes a lot more on the higher frequencies. The N800 sounded much more neutral with no apparent emphasis on any frequency range, but the base was clearly more defined then the N95. In the end they do sound similar and only through very critical listening can these differences be heard. But the clear winner was the N76 with enough volume headroom to match its sonic output. I had to compare the N76 to others several times, using the same song to make sure what I was listening was true, I just couldn’t believe that cheaper N76 sounded better. It’s sound has a lot in common with the N91, which is a good thing, but overall the N91 wins due to more volume headroom and less “strain”. If you listen really well, the N76 will slightly sound “on the edge” when really pushed, the N91 will happily drive most earphones without any apparent strain, even at higher volumes. The N76 exhibited a meaty sound that was very pleasant overall. The N800 does have a slight edge when it comes to detail. The N76 is the clear winner here. When it comes to the N95 and the N800, the N800 has a slight edge due to it’s neutral sound and more defined base. It also is the best, in terms of audio detail.

Listening to the built-in speakers reveals that N95 is the loudest of the three, while the N76 has the least volume . In terms of volume the N800 sits right in the middle of the two. The N95 will happily fill a room with quite a bit of sound, but again there’s an emphasis on the mids and highs with no real low frequencies to speak of. The N76 sounded throaty, this helped the mids and showed better low frequency performance but in turn showed a slightly recessed performance in the higher frequencies. The N95 clearly has the upper hand when compared to the N76. The clear winner here is the N800 which offers fairly good volume and lots of details. It offered details that was lost when listening using the N95 or N76., especially in the mids. I just wish the volume went little higher though. So there you have it, based on my findings the N76 wins when using heaphones, while N800 wins when you want to use the built-in speakers. Do remember that these findings are based on my subjective listening. Sound is a very subjective matter; something that might sound to me might not be as good for you.