• Louder overall volume (for those of us hard of hearing and who don't always want earbuds in)
The loudness benefit of an additional speaker is pretty small, only 3 dB. That's roughly the amount of one click up or down on the iPhone volume control. While it may intuitively seem that two speakers should be twice as loud as one (a difference of 10 dB), the laws of physics don't work that way.
Weigh that against the space requirements of adding another speaker into a really small device and the trade-off isn't worth it. You'd either have to make the phone bigger or use even smaller than the already way-too-small speaker you have now. In the latter case the result would be a device that sounds WORSE, not better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pigybank
• Music in Stereo
If you can find a way to jam both your ears in between the two speakers on the iPhone, yes. If your body is larger than a toy action figure, no. Assuming both speakers are on the bottom of the device, they are so close together as to be perceived as a single point source by your auditory system. You will not get any perception of stereo.
As another poster pointed out in another thread, you could put one speaker on the bottom and another on the top, and thus get a very small spacial sense, but you'd still have to deal with the speaker size issue mentioned above, which is a much greater detriment to the aural experience than listening in mono.
The loudness benefit of an additional speaker is pretty small, only 3 dB. That's roughly the amount of one click up or down on the iPhone volume control. While it may intuitively seem that two speakers should be twice as loud as one (a difference of 10 dB), the laws of physics don't work that way.
Weigh that against the space requirements of adding another speaker into a really small device and the trade-off isn't worth it. You'd either have to make the phone bigger or use even smaller than the already way-too-small speaker you have now. In the latter case the result would be a device that sounds WORSE, not better.
If you can find a way to jam both your ears in between the two speakers on the iPhone, yes. If your body is larger than a toy action figure, no. Assuming both speakers are on the bottom of the device, they are so close together as to be perceived as a single point source by your auditory system. You will not get any perception of stereo.
As another poster pointed out in another thread, you could put one speaker on the bottom and another on the top, and thus get a very small spacial sense, but you'd still have to deal with the speaker size issue mentioned above, which is a much greater detriment to the aural experience than listening in mono.
So what you're saying is that HTC can manage a phone with dual speakers and louder sound without making the device noticeably larger or clunky but that Apple is simply incapable of such a feat?
The HTC one is a sleek phone with a larger screen, louder sound, and 2 speakers... in stereo. The resulting device isn't excessively clunky, nor is the sound worse. It is better. Apple could EASILY accomplish this. In fact, I'm fairly certain they could far exceed HTC's implementation.
Furthermore, you completely ignore my point that it would be easier to hold the device without your hand inadvertently covering the lone speaker.
Lastly, as an Apple consumer and investor, I would like stereo speakers on the iPhone. I know what I want so trying to convince me I don't want it is pointless. You don't have to want the same things. It doesn't mean I'm wrong or that you're wrong. It means we have different needs / wants as consumers.
Wow. For someone not getting it, you sure aren't getting it. Not the point. Not Apple. Not the how and why. Please stick around. You'll stand out of the more informed.
Comments
Maybe he wants to listen to music in s-t-e-r-e-o, putting his head in a equilateral triangle¡
Benefits of 2 speakers:
• Louder overall volume (for those of us hard of hearing and who don't always want earbuds in)
• Music in Stereo
• Easier to avoid blocking sound with your hand while holding the phone
• BECAUSE I WANT IT
Also, dual speakers is a no brainer, and was a no brainer even bore the HTC One made it to market. The fact that competitor
beat Apple to market with a dual speaker phone is irrelevant. Stereo speakers have been around for years and for audio listening
are basically a standard so Apple wouldn't be "copying" anybody. To say Apple shouldn't have dual speakers because it would be
copying HTC would be like saying Mercedes shouldn't have seat belts because Volvo had them first.
Benefits of 2 speakers:
• Louder overall volume (for those of us hard of hearing and who don't always want earbuds in)
The loudness benefit of an additional speaker is pretty small, only 3 dB. That's roughly the amount of one click up or down on the iPhone volume control. While it may intuitively seem that two speakers should be twice as loud as one (a difference of 10 dB), the laws of physics don't work that way.
Weigh that against the space requirements of adding another speaker into a really small device and the trade-off isn't worth it. You'd either have to make the phone bigger or use even smaller than the already way-too-small speaker you have now. In the latter case the result would be a device that sounds WORSE, not better.
• Music in Stereo
If you can find a way to jam both your ears in between the two speakers on the iPhone, yes. If your body is larger than a toy action figure, no. Assuming both speakers are on the bottom of the device, they are so close together as to be perceived as a single point source by your auditory system. You will not get any perception of stereo.
As another poster pointed out in another thread, you could put one speaker on the bottom and another on the top, and thus get a very small spacial sense, but you'd still have to deal with the speaker size issue mentioned above, which is a much greater detriment to the aural experience than listening in mono.
Thanks for setting the record straight!
So what you're saying is that HTC can manage a phone with dual speakers and louder sound without making the device noticeably larger or clunky but that Apple is simply incapable of such a feat?
The HTC one is a sleek phone with a larger screen, louder sound, and 2 speakers... in stereo. The resulting device isn't excessively clunky, nor is the sound worse. It is better. Apple could EASILY accomplish this. In fact, I'm fairly certain they could far exceed HTC's implementation.
Furthermore, you completely ignore my point that it would be easier to hold the device without your hand inadvertently covering the lone speaker.
Lastly, as an Apple consumer and investor, I would like stereo speakers on the iPhone. I know what I want so trying to convince me I don't want it is pointless. You don't have to want the same things. It doesn't mean I'm wrong or that you're wrong. It means we have different needs / wants as consumers.
No one, anywhere, has said this.
You say that as though the size of the device lends itself to the format.
So, honestly, just don’t hold it that way. Who covers the speaker? I hold mine with my pinky underneath, but it falls in the middle–on the port.
That’s meaningless to your argument.
Enjoy your faster horse, then. We’ll keep our cars.