Its all about audio quality:There are many ways to judge a music device, but one can argue that it all starts and ends with music quality. This is especially true with high-end headphones, earphones and IEM in the $450+ category. Recent tests I’ve done also shows that it makes a big difference when connected to large external speakers. The difference is even noticeable when budget (under $100) earphones are used. When it comes to audio quality the N91 and N91 8GB are still considered the golden standard, by which current devices are judged by. Using my trusty Shure SE530PTH In-Ear-Monitors (IEM), I put the N97 to the test. After extensive listening I can conclude that the N97 is the closest device yet to the N91 in terms of audio quality using the 3.5mm headphone jack. How close? If the N91 was considered a 10, the N97 would be a 9 or 9.5. It’s  that close! I was even surprised to find that the N97 had that extra volume headroom that I loved so much about the N91. In some case I had to lower the volume when playing at 100% as it was way too loud. This was perfect for music recorded at lower volumes or when I just wanted to lay back and blast my music at full force. The guys over at GSMArena also seem to agree with us:

“The audio quality of Nokia N97 is just great, save for the disturbingly high intermodulation distortion levels. The handset fared excellently in all other parts of our test achieving some pretty impressive scores. The frequency response has been greatly improved over what the N96 could deliver. It now closes on perfection, deviating by no more than 0.27dB throughout the audible range. The noise level, dynamic range and stereo crosstalk readings are also very good, comparable to the best in class. Here go the results so you can compare it to some of the other handsets we have tested.”

I was simply impressed.

How about the speakers? Considering the physical limitation of these mobile devices we can’t expect miracles from the built-in speakers, but we can stay that the stereo speakers on the N97 sound better than most mobile devices out there. Ironically the lower priced 5800 XpressMusic is louder and reaches lower in the audio spectrum. Its fair to stay that if you want share your tunes or annoy others in the train, the N97 does a perfectly good job. Quality-wise, the 5800 XpressMusic sounds better though when the speakers are concerned.

Wait, no Media keys? At first it seemed like a big minus: the N97 had the audio quality but no music keys,a typical characteristic of music devices. Having the ability to quickly control your music is handy. There’s no denying that hardware media keys are probably the best way to go, but Nokia did what is in my opinion the next best thing: Widgets. Widgets are the N97’s media keys that when activated can be placed on one of 5 user selectable areas. If you can recall, the N91 had media keys in front of the actual keypad, the N97’s implementation is basically the same, but of course implemented in the UI. It even goes one step further in the sense that you get the option to place the keys on different parts of the screen: in the middle, at the bottom or all the way up. When you don’t want them, they’re gone, a clear advantage over the N91, especially when customization is concerned. One area where hardware keys have the advantage though is when multi-tasking. I could be surfing the web and controlling my music using the media keys, without ever having to open the Music Player. Something that clearly can’t be done on the N97, unless Nokia adds a floating media bar that can be placed on top of other applications. Maybe an idea for the next firmware Nokia?

Lots and lots of storage and speedy too:With 32GB and 16GB micrSDHC cards I had a total amount of 48GBof storage that could be expanded with time as 32GB microSDHC cards become available. Yes, that’s 48. GB! The N91 on the other hand is stuck at 4 and 8GB. The N97 not only has more storage, but with a data transfer speed of 7-8MB/s it’s almost twice as fast as the N91.

Form factor: The N91 may have the advantage of having hardware keys, but the N97’s form factor with its QWERTY is able to find the the right Track or Artist faster. The ability to change from a QWERTY device that sits flat on a table one second, to something that looks like the 5800 XM closely rese,bling a dedicated MP3-player that sits more comfortable in the hand.

Large screen: With such a large screen, the N97 has the ability to show the biggest album art and music button I have ever seen. But where are the visualizations? The N91 has them, even the E75 (!) has them, so why are they not implemented on the N97?

Conclusion: Although mostly marketed as a social-media device, the N97 performs incredibly well as music device that is the closest thing to the N91 in audio quality. Although it lacks hardware media keys, it mostly makes up for this with the Music Player that can be put on different areas of the screen. For heavy multi-tasking hardware keys are still the  best solution. The N97 not only bests the N91 in storage, but also with a faster transfer speed to fill it up. The Slide-out QWERTY although at first not that obvious, seem well-suited for a music device and the large screen makes a dream come true for music fan: giant album art!

Strangely missing are visualizations, something that even the business oriented Eseries devices have. The N91 can now finally rest in piece.

Something as simple as getting the album art to show up in the S60 Music player hasn’t been as straight forward as it should be. In its current state the S60 Music player cab be considered “dumb” and not connected, lacking the ability to connect to the net and grab album art, lyrics and album info. This is something LCG Jukebox has been able to do for a while now.

Despite its shortcomings I do prefer to stick to the built-in apps like the S60 music player,for this reason album art has to be added manually. My experience with most MP3 tag editors is that while they allow you to add album art to the MP3 file, it simply isn’t displayed in the S60 Music player. The solution turned out to be the standard Windows Media Player. Here’s how to do it.

1.Add your music to Windows Media player: This is done by dragging and dropping your music in the player or by letting it automatically  media by going to: Library>Add to Library

2.Open advanced Tag Editor: Once your music is in Windows Media Player. Go to the library and find the song. Right click the song and choose “Advanced Tag Editor”

3.Add Album Art: In the Advanced Tag Editor go to “Pictures” and choose “Add” to add a picture. I recommend searching on Amazon for album art. There they have 500×500 pixel pictures that are perfect for the S60 Music player. Be sure to click on the pictures to get the full 500×500 pixel version. When the album art is added be sure to press “OK” and NOT “ADD” otherwise the album art won’t be added.

Do you know any other methods that work with the S60 Music player?

Here at The Nokia guide, we’re big music fans, as a result, the music features of our Nokia devices are very important to us. Having many or cool music-oriented features means nothing if the device itself is unable to produce a high quality audio signal the 3.5mm audio jack. When it comes to music, the N91 is pretty much still the Gold standard. Things seem to look promising for the N97 according the review at GSMArena. The review says that:

“The audio quality of Nokia N97 is just great, save for the disturbingly high intermodulation distortion levels. The handset fared excellently in all other parts of our test achieving some pretty impressive scores. The frequency response has been greatly improved over what the N96 could deliver. It now closes on perfection, deviating by no more than 0.27dB throughout the audible range. The noise level, dynamic range and stereo crosstalk readings are also very good, comparable to the best in class. Here go the results so you can compare it to some of the other handsets we have tested.”

The N97 seems to be performing quite admirable in the audio department, should be nice if you have one of those fancy In Ear Monitors.

Images courtesy: GSMArena

As the release of the N97 approaches, I’ve been wondering about the audio quality of the device. When I eventually do get my hands on the final product, I’m not going to check out the digital Compass, the Widget-based front screen or even the build quality. That will have to come later on. After unboxing my unit, I’m going to get my Shure SE530PTH earphones (The proper word is actually IEM), fire up the Music Player and test out its audio quality through the 3.5mm headphone jack! Why? Allow me to explain.

As convergence devices we expect them to do it all, with reasonable to good results, well, at least that’s the idea! Just look at the N82. After it’s release bloggers and consumers alike have been asking for a device with Xenon flash, simply because that allows the device to more closely approach the level of quality achieved by a dedicated digital camera. As a convergence device, shouldn’t it perform just as good on the audio front? Let’s go a few years back to April of 2006 when the N91 was released. You could say it’s the N82 of the music world. If you’ve had the privilege of using this device than you’d know that despite the weight, the audio quality through the 3.5mm audio jack was simply AMAZING! Music-based devices have come and gone into the horizon, including the N81 and now the 5800 XpressMusic. Although I must admit that these devices sound very good, better than any of Nokia’s other Smartphone-based devices, they just could not beat, let alone surpass the audio quality of the N91 and N91 8GB.

Many have complained about the lack of successor to the N82 with Xenon, but strangely the same can be said about Music-based devices, as Nokia hasn’t created (and for a longer period) a true follow-up to the N91. However all hope is not lost, as we sit and wait for the N97 to arrive, word is that it does have a dedicated audio processor with audio quality to match. And here is where things get interesting as it can go two ways: It can go the N96 way, which did have a 24-bit DSP, but in end ended up sounding as good as other Nseries phones (which generally is a good thing), but not N91 good. Or it can simply blow as away, somthing that the initial reports are kind of saying.

For many of us, a convergence device, is one that does it all and yes that includes music too! And so I sit here hoping that finally the N97 will make my ears happy. If it won’t, I’m hoping that Nokia gets it right, just like they did once with the N91.

Is audio quality just as important for you in a modern smartphone?

The legendary N91 and N91 8GB are known for their impressive audio quality through their 3.5mm audio jack. The N91 has impressed many with its audio quality that is said to rival any standalone audio players and is also said to belong to one of the best on the market, even after2-3 years after its launch. Yet it manages to do all of this, despite the fact that it’s not just a dedicated audio player. Over the years the N91 and N91 8GB have made way for a smaller device that this time is not only positioned as the best in music, but also the best in gaming: the N81 and N81 8GB. Armed with the equally impressive Shure SE530 In-Ear Monitors I wanted put a question that is asked a lot to rest: what is truly the best sounding Nseries device? The N91 (8GB) or the N81 (8GB)?For reference the N95 8GB was also used.
When I started listening to all three devices one thing became quite obvious: the N95 8GB was definitely not in the same league as the two others. The audio quality was not only lower, but there wasn’t enough volume headroom like on the N91 8GB and N81 8GB. The original N95 would score even lower due to some audio hiss, that isn’t present on the N95 8GB. To put things into perspective, the N95 8GB was quite an improvement when it comes to audio over the classic N95, yet both the N91 8GB and N81 8GB leave the N95 8GB FAR behind in the audio department. The N82 on the other hand slots in nicely between the N95 8GB and N91 8GB/N81 8GB.

I must say that the audio quality on both the N91 8GB and N81 GB is extremely impressive and will easily get the best out of any headphones, earphones or IEM and could easily rival any dedicated audio player on the market. With ample storage capacity, all-in-one functionality and the fact that they could be considered “smart and connected” music players, I personally don’t see any reason to buy a dedicated music player. But which one is the best? First thing worth mentioning is that the N91 8GB and N81 8GB are awfully close when it comes to audio quality and the difference will most likely only be heard on high-end earphones like the Shure SE530. The N91 8GB does however have more audio volume headroom and overall produces a much clearer and dynamic sound. The N91 has an extremely clean output and overall produces the sound as intended, while N81 slightly colors the sound produced. There you have it! When it comes to audio quality, even after 2-3 years on the market, the N91 and N91 8GB are still the best when it comes to audio quality through the 3.5mm audio jack. The N81 and N81 8GB came just slightly below the N91 in terms of audio quality, but we can’t forget that the N81 does present a more convincing and overall smaller package.

I don’t know what Nokia used in the N91, but they should quickly apply that to newer devices as the N81 doesn’t seem to be quite there yet. With the announcement of the N79, N85 and soon-to-be-released N96 I’m wondering (and hoping) that the N91 will finally be dethroned, but honestly I do not expect this to happen. For me, if the N91 had removable storage, I would stick to it and use it as my dedicated music player, until something equal or truly better comes along when it comes to audio quality.