[wouter_m]

Recently I replaced my N79 with a HTC Desire S and the first time I listened to music on the HTC it seemed OK.... but not really good. Playing with the equalizer settings didn't help, nor did the installation of the "PowerAmp" App..

I concluded that the music wasn't going to get any better on the HTC and since the iPod 4 of my wife does have a pretty satisfactory sound, I planned to get me one too.

Yet I remembered being extremely satisfied with the music quality of the N79, so I put the iPod and the N79 to the test.... I am not an audiophile so I don't qualify for a very thourough analyses. (Although I play FLAC over the home amplifier, on a mobile device I cannot hear the difference between FLAC and 320kb/s AAC)  

To my own very big surprise, I found the N79 more engaging than the iPod 4... In fact I was flabbergasted: the iPod is supposed to be the newest dedicated top of the bill audio device, while my 3 years old N79 is essentially a phone which plays music...

Using my Grado headphones and playing the Canon of Pachelbel, both devices seemed to be equally detailed, however on the iPod the Cello's sound like an undefined base, while on the N79 they sound like... well... Cello's! The violins sound find on the iPod, but on the N79 they sound engaging! Some may consider the iPod sound more 'warm' and the N79 more 'clear'. To me the iPod sound is slightly more soft, even dull and the N79 sound slightly more open. I also tested with Duffy's 'Syrup and honey' and again, the iPod sounds fine, but the N79 sounds exiting!

Now my big problem is, that the N79 only supports 8GB of flash memory, while I have 21GB of AAC music... What's more, the navigation of the N79 music player isn't really competative....

So my question is, which Nokia sounds equal to the N79 (has the same D/A converter) and does support a lot of flash memory? The option of a more sophisticated player is also very welcome....

[chanchan05]

Well, as a friend of mine who uses HTC told me, HTC sucks at media (camera, music) compared to say, Nokia.

The iPod never really equaled Nokia as well in terms of music quality. They have a louder device though. If you wanted something with great audio quality, you should have went Samsung or SE (if you wanted an Android).

The cheapest Nokia phone I can think of with really good audio is the 5530, or the 5800 (5800 supports lyrics as well), and though I am not sure with 5530, the 5800 supports 32gb micro sd cards. It still is one of the best in terms of audio quality, as it was in fact the flagship Xpressmusic device during its time, the same time the N79 was released/available.

[m80116]

I've given away a Samsung Omnia HD for the empty and thin sound, and when it comes to iPhone 3Gs I definitely know that my N95 sounds clearer than that. I am pretty confident my Nokia N8 outperforms them both.
When it's down to components quality Nokia still rule the scene.

[radical24]

Nokia has consistently been on top of their game in terms of sound quality and such. i think any current model with equal or better your n79 ie: n8, E7, and such. also when you finally decide to go with a nokia phone google it and read some reviews AAS is one good site to check out when looking for a new devices.

[kurtkaufman]

Just so you know, in case you still have your n79: I have an n79 with a 16 GB card installed, and it seems to work without problems. I know, it's still not 21 GB. It's possible that a 32 GB card might work as well. 

BTW, I'm a cellist by profession, so I know what you mean in terms of sound preference: You really have to listen for yourself and decide which unit reproduces the "right" sound.  Perhaps different phone models have slightly different biases in terms of frequency range.