More and more mobile phones with independent DAC and ear amplifier modules appear in front of everyone. They are all titled "HiFi". Meizu has made a further progress on the basis of MX4 Pro and made a breakthrough in sound quality on the brand new flagship PRO 5. Today we will talk about its "Retina Sound 2.0".

Hardware architecture

Before discussing the sound characteristics of Meizu PRO 5, let's first understand the composition of its HiFi system. The audio hardware of PRO 5 is basically the same as that of MX4 Pro, with ES9018K2M and OPA1612 as the core. However, on the basis of MX4 Pro, a Solo like ear amplifier circuit is added, and four pairs of NXP large current transistors are added to further enhance the thrust. So from the perspective of audio hardware, PRO 5 is undoubtedly better than MX4 Pro.

ES9018K2M is a common DAC chip for HiFi mobile phones. It was once used in Meizu MX4 Pro vivo X5Max、 The performance of Xiaomi Note and other products is very strong, with a signal to noise ratio of 127dB and a THD of - 120dB. Such data is also outstanding on walkman.

OPA1612 is a famous operational amplifier chip of Texas Instruments. It is used in MX4 Pro and X5Max series. Compared with OPA2604 on Xplay3S, OPA1612 has stronger performance and better adaptability to portable devices.

The special feature of PRO 5 is the introduction of the circuit structure of the famous Solo earphone amplifier, which makes it more supportive of various earphones. Solo earphone is a classic earphone launched by Graham Slee Company in the UK. It has a good reputation among enthusiasts and has good support for Sennheiser HD600, HD650 and other products. However, the Solo Ear Amplifier may not be outstanding in the current standard. It only pursues a sense of "Tokud University". Many good sound quality may not be high, but the taste is good enough.

In addition, PRO 5 also supports earphones with balanced interface, but this design may be less practical for ordinary mobile phone users. After all, "senior burn" seldom uses mobile phones to listen to music

music player

Back to the music player of PRO 5, since PRO 5 has not been upgraded to Flyme 5 at the time of the deadline, it is completely consistent with MX5 and other products on the interface. There are four navigation bars at the lower end of the player, which can easily switch between online music, search and local music. There are equalizer, Dirac HD Sound and other options in player settings.

Equalizer, as its name implies, is what we often call EQ, while Dirac HD Sound can adapt headphones of different brands by itself, supporting Meizu EP21HD, Intime ER4P, Triad CKM500, Sennheiser IE8i and other products. It can adjust the sound characteristics of the phone itself according to specific headphone models to make the listening feel better.

As for the setting of HiFi Sound, PRO 5, like MX4 Pro, can set the gain size for different headphone types, and can also use the headphone interface as a linear output interface. But there is a problem here. When matching earphones with very low impedance (such as VE6 X1, NF4 and other customized earphones used by the author), the gain mode cannot be adjusted manually.

Sound performance

Audition environment:

Comparison equipment: Meizu MX4 Pro, Apple iPhone 6s Plus

Test earphone: Da Yinke Titan 5 Vision Ears VE6 X1、Hidition NT6-Pro、NF Audio NF4。

Test tracks: UC soundtrack of mobile soldier - UNICORN (WAV), Xie Anqi - we are all forgotten (96kHz, 24bit, FLAC), Maroon 5-Sugar (FLAC), etc.

This experience is the Sample version of Meizu PRO 5, based on Flyme OS 4.5.4A, for reference only.

Sound Style

On the whole, PRO 5 is a neutral, warm and thick sound base. The sound quality of the first ear is more attractive, and the thick sound style makes it more suitable for the interpretation of some voices. Although the sound trend is consistent with the MX4 Pro, the PRO 5 is obviously better than the previous one in terms of high-frequency extension and sound field performance, and its control has been significantly improved. The sound of PRO 5 is quite regular in mobile phones, and it can be said that there are almost all of them. Of course, the sound of this mobile phone is not that it has no defects. In the eyes of many barbecuers, it seems that the analytical power is still a little poor, the high-frequency is slightly lacking, and the low-frequency diving is not enough. However, the overall tuning of PRO 5 is very consistent with the listening view of ordinary users. The low frequency and the midfrequency with a sense of volume are enough to listen to some "moving times and playing times" effects. This sound style seems to be somewhat different from the sound of ES9018K2M in our subconscious. If I want to sum up the voice of PRO 5, it is that it does not pursue the HiFi flavor as much as traditional fever equipment, but is grounded, which is suitable for the taste of most ordinary consumers. In addition, due to the product positioning and the fact that most of the headphones on the author's hands are flat earphones, this experience mainly focuses on the matching of portable earplugs. From the perspective of driving force, it is of course easy to deal with ordinary earplugs, and it is also possible to occasionally match some earphones with high impedance. However, it is recommended not to "leap over" to challenge some large headphones.

VS iPhone 6s Plus

As usual, the iPhone 6s Plus uses the audio IC of Cirrus Logic, but the models are 338S00105 and 338S1285 (that is, there are two audio ICs in the iPhone 6s/6s Plus), which we have never seen before. We don't know how the two chips work. The listening sense of iPhone 6s Plus has run counter to Apple's "boiled water" in our impression, with a lot of MSG added. Compared with the iPhone 6s Plus, the PRO 5 has a thicker sound base, greater low-frequency energy, and more coloring of the sound, which will cater to the listening habits of most users. In terms of high frequency, although the details are basically the same, the high frequency of PRO 5 will give a sense of forced reduction, which is not as natural as the iPhone. Although the top DAC chip in the mobile phone is used, the PRO 5 does not have an advantage over the iPhone 6s Plus in terms of resolution and sound image. It is also impressive that Apple has squeezed the performance of the chip. In terms of listening to some male voices, PRO 5 benefits from the thick sound background and has a better sense of hearing. For female students, the iPhone 6s Plus with a "beautiful" voice will be more natural. In addition, in terms of sound field, the slightly elliptical sound field of PRO 5 is not regular enough compared with the iPhone 6s Plus, but it is slightly better in terms of horizontal sound field performance. Comparing the listening sensation of these two phones, we can see that although the PRO 5 has enough "material" in terms of hardware, it can only compete with the iPhone 6s Plus in terms of sound quality. As far as the configuration of the PRO 5 is concerned, there is still much room for optimization.

VS MX4 Pro

As a product of the same brand and audio architecture, the comparison between PRO 5 and MX4 Pro is unexpected. The overall sound quality of the former can be said to have improved significantly. From the perspective of tuning route, the PRO 5 and MX4 Pro both focus on the middle and low frequency dyeing, but the sound of the PRO 5 is more neutral, the control has been greatly improved, and the low-frequency aspect has converged. The MX4 Pro can be said to be a bit sloppy, and the battle can be said to be no suspense. Meizu also shows that it is becoming more mature in the sound aspect.

summary

From the author's audition of PRO 5, Meizu has made great efforts to tune this mobile phone. At least we can see a more "healthy" voice, while retaining good quality. The overall voice performance is satisfactory. If we can carefully consider some details, it will be better. From the perspective of HiFi mobile phone pattern, the independent DAC camp of Vivo, Meizu, Xiaomi, LeTV and other manufacturers can all say that they are eyeing the market and are using their own advantages to develop this field. Apple and Samsung, the leaders who use Codec chips, have also made sound as good as independent audio architecture by virtue of their industrial advantages and relatively good tuning. From the overall atmosphere, more and more manufacturers have begun to pay attention to the sound quality performance of mobile phones, which is undoubtedly a good thing for consumers. On the PRO 5, we can see Meizu's sincerity. While maintaining high quality, the listening sense has been greatly improved compared with the previous generation of products. If we accumulate more experience in some sound details, further in-depth tuning, and give users more diversified choices in HiFi system settings, we believe that the sound of PRO 5 will give players greater surprise.