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Feni 5X+ music playback quality

Former Member over 7 years ago

I tried the music playback from my Fenix 5X+ and compared it with:
- cable playback from an iPhone6S on Shure E5c and Westone UM2 headphones.
- BT playback from the same iPhone6S and from the 5X+ with a Griffin BT adapter on the Shure E5c and Westone UM2 headphone.
- BT playback from the iPhone6S and 5X+ on a Naim Mu-So Qb.

The sound quality from the Fenix 5X+ is in all cases lower and not really good.

Since the sound quality from the 5X+ is worse for all playback devices, I think that the problem comes from the 5X+ and not from the Griffin BT adapter (the older Shure E5c and Westone UM2 do not have removable cables like the current Shure SE535 and Westone UM 20 pro and aren't compatible with the Shure or Westone BT adapters).

What are your experience with the Fenix 5X+ music playback quality compared to some other source devices ?

0 ars.fabula over 7 years ago

in what way is sound quality not good ? I have a Jabra Sports headset and a UE Boom external speaker paired to my whatch, and for me the quality is the same whatever the source. I do have sometime some "chopiness" on the Jabra when starting an activity (I assume the whatch is spending more time on GPS signal than on BT).

Are you playing the same source files ? what format & sampling rate?

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

Yes, exactly the same files that I copied from my iTunes library to the 5X+. Several format, including .m4a and .mp3 192kb/s 44.1KHz sampling. BTW, once the 5X+ audio playback was blocked when playing a .m4a file (no sound coming out, time counter stopped even after trying to restart playback several times, the other featurs of the watch seemed to work fine), could only solve the problem by shutting down/restarting the watch.

The difference is less dynamics, less wideness, more aggressive sound makes me tired at medium/high volume what doesn't happen when playing back from the iPhone.

0 Dr Phil over 7 years ago

For heavens sake. You're playing music from a watch! How on earth can you expect it to be anywhere near as good as a phone, irrespective of the headphone? Get real!

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

It is a BT digital link, the same as out of the phone with normally the same BT profile = A2DP, the digital to analog conversion and amplification are not in the watch but in the headphone, so with the 5X+ and iPhone over BT, the same DAC and amp are used.

Therefore, I was expecting the same sound quality (actually exactly the same sound when playing the same file) but it isn't the case, so why ?

Maybe other parameters for the BT profile with a lower bit rate (BT A2DP can use uses its own audio compression algorithm or directly stream the original file).

I was wondering if the same happens with other BT headphones or BT speakers ?

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

My AW3 with AirPods sounds as good if not better than wired, with no cut outs and range to die for. The original poster has a valid concern for what was paid for the watch. Yes, I'm watching this message board quite intently, because I badly want another Fenix, but don't want to sacrifice the quality of my music or range of Bluetooth. I can literally stream to my BOSE SLIII from across the house without cutouts.

I'm wondering if Garmin is doing this all in the name of saving power? My dream is an LTE Fenix watch that can do simple replies to texts on my iPhone. That would do it!

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

The BT range of the 5X+ is much better than the one of the 5X. I have no problem with that, also no cut out or anything.

The problem is the music quality, it doesn't sound as good as from the iPhone 6S also with a BT link. It is not dramatic but not as good.

Actually, music playback from the watch wasn't the reason a feature I bought the watch for, but since I had it, I tried it. The other problem with the watch is that the amount of music that can be store in its internal memory is too small for me, I ave a huge music library on my 128GB iPhone.

The other possibility with the watch is to just control the music playback from the iPhone with the watch.

0 dkatchalov over 7 years ago

I only have a minor issue with playing music from the watch - the maximum volume is too quiet.

It is fine for using in quieter environments (trail run, early morning run, etc) but the maximum volume is not enough when entering a noisy environment (train station, busy road, etc).