Apple’s iPhone has one of the best audio engines in it, both in terms of hardware and the driver components. It isn’t really that surprising, considering that it was the Cupertino company that made the iPod genre of portable music players popular, and they’ve always delivered stellar quality. While the hardware that the device packs under its hood is really solid, the accompanying earphones (other than the new ear pods) and the stock iOS Music app are an entirely different story. The earphones are barely passable for very casual listening experience, and the app itself is pretty bland, to say the least. On these accounts, most people end up using third-party solutions both in terms of earphones and the music player.
When it comes to music player apps for iOS, there’s a huge list of choices for one to pick out of (as is the case is with any genre of iOS apps). However, what most apps fail to deliver is a tailored experience that is best suited to your listening hardware. Then, another missing area is the lack of a wide equalizer support as well. Filling that gap is Audio 3D HD, an iPhone music player that has custom profiles for several popular earphone/headphone models, along with a rich virtual 3D listening experience and volume levels.
While it’s just like any other third-party music playback app for iPhone and iPod touch, the biggest differentiating feature of Audio 3D HD are the custom profiles for various headphone and earphone models. Unlike what I expected, changing the profile (and selecting the right one) does wonders, and you’ll immediately notice the stellar difference in the output quality as soon as you change the profile, the best coming from choosing the right one. Supported manufacturers include Beats by Dr. Dre, BOSE, Stock iPhone 4/4S earphones, iPhone 5 EarPods, Fidelio, JVC, Philips, Sennheiser, Sony and Yamaha, among others, each sporting their own list of specific models. The best part is that the developers of the app continuously keep adding to the list, and should you have a model that’s unsupported, you can drop them an email to have it added to the list.
Then, you get the virtual 3D sound effect, which basically uses your device’s gyro sensor to rotate the sound through the left and right channels based on the device’s orientation. An on-screen radar visualizes the output direction, and even lets you lock it in place if you’re not interested in playing around with the directions. Other than the traditional volume bar, Audio 3D HD supports four levels of volume enhancement, each giving a richer (and louder) sound experience than the former.
Audio 3D HD is arguably the best music playback app for iPhone and iPod touch that I’ve ever come across. It delivers and entirely new and improved sound experience on an already remarkable device, and is worth the $4.99 that it costs. The best part for now, however, is that the app has gone free for a limited time, so if you rock and iPhone 4/4S, iPhone 5 or their corresponding iPod touch counterparts, head over to the iTunes App Store link below to save even those five bucks.
(Source: Audio 3D HD for iPhone on the App Store)
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