Is iDEN's voice quality superior than CDMA?

[dnwk]

Is iDEN's voice quality superior than CDMA? That's what I feel like. Not sure if others feel the same.

[Conan Kudo]

I suppose it depends on the quality of implementation. In my own opinion, I feel that IMS Voice provides a superior voice call experience to all other systems, but CDMA voice (WCDMA and CDMA2000 1X) offer a superior voice experience to GSM, D-AMPS, and iDEN.

[S4GRU]

Is iDEN's voice quality superior than CDMA? That's what I feel like. Not sure if others feel the same.

 

In my opinion, iDEN did not have superior voice quality, when all things are equal. However, iDEN was deployed on a superior frequency for propagation and coverage. And in many cases may have a stronger signal. And that may lead to a perception that the technology is better for voice.

 

If that's the reason why you feel iDEN has better voice quality, then you'll be happier with CDMA on 800MHz.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

 

[Mondays In Flames]

Back in the day, my father had Nextel and Sprint. He still, to this day, says Sprint has better voice quality than any other company out there.

 

 

-Luis

[WiWavelength]

Nah, iDEN uses lesser, lower bit rate codecs -- VSELP and AMBE.  It is similar to half rate GSM in that regard.  But I have heard this iDEN voice quality claim before.  My guess is that it has to do with the handset transducers.  A lot of ruggedized iDEN handsets are, basically, the size of a big dump.  That allows them to accommodate larger microphones and speakers.

 

AJ

[dnwk]

I guess bigger speakers and stronger signal may be the reason.

[dnwk]

In my opinion, iDEN did not have superior voice quality, when all things are equal. However, iDEN was deployed on a superior frequency for propagation and coverage. And in many cases may have a stronger signal. And that may lead to a perception that the technology is better for voice.

 

If that's the reason why you feel iDEN has better voice quality, then you'll be happier with CDMA on 800MHz.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

 

It might not be the reason. I tried Verizon's service. They have 800 on CDMA and doesn't seem like they have better voice quality than Sprint.

[Fraydog]

I'll bet IDEN has great voice quality now that no one is on it.

[doug526]

It might not be the reason. I tried Verizon's service. They have 800 on CDMA and doesn't seem like they have better voice quality than Sprint.

Here in Austin, VZW voice quality is atrocious. Their codec is mega compressed. They use all 1900 here for CDMA. I'd rather someone not call me at all rather than try to have a phone conversation with them. On top of that, there is terrible lag/delay on the circuit between Sprint and VZW networks.

[WiWavelength]

I'll bet IDEN has great voice quality now that no one is on it.

 

I know that you are joking, but iDEN, being a TDMA based airlink, should not be affected much at all by loading.

 

AJ

[digiblur]

It might not be the reason. I tried Verizon's service. They have 800 on CDMA and doesn't seem like they have better voice quality than Sprint.

Frequency doesn't equal better sound.  It's all 1's and 0's in the end.  It all depends on the vocoder used.  

[NiteSnow]

 

 

It might not be the reason. I tried Verizon's service. They have 800 on CDMA and doesn't seem like they have better voice quality than Sprint.

Here in Austin, VZW voice quality is atrocious. Their codec is mega compressed. They use all 1900 here for CDMA. I'd rather someone not call me at all rather than try to have a phone conversation with them. On top of that, there is terrible lag/delay on the circuit between Sprint and VZW networks.

Verizon has 800MHz here in Cleveland and it still sounds horrible, lots of people around here have a hard time getting a usable signal on Verizon because of cell spacing. It seems like there are random dead spots or areas with almost no signal. I can tell most of the time whether or not someone is on Verizon because they sound garbled.

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[S4GRU]

 

 

It might not be the reason. I tried Verizon's service. They have 800 on CDMA and doesn't seem like they have better voice quality than Sprint.

 

 

Frequency doesn't equal better sound. It's all 1's and 0's in the end. It all depends on the vocoder used.

It sure does at the edge of service. If you cannot maintain 9.6kbps because of poor signal, you'll think different.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

 

[cletus]

On a slightly related note, whatever happened to HD Voice? Was there an issue between Network Vision vendor equipment communication with each other or did that get resolved? 

[digiblur]

It sure does at the edge of service. If you cannot maintain 9.6kbps because of poor signal, you'll think different.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

I knew I should have included a disclaimer  

[WiWavelength]

Voice quality largely boils down to codec and bit error rates.  One of the drawbacks of CDMA1X is that as loading increases, so do error rates.  As such, VZW's anecdotally poor voice quality could be due to loading -- not surprising, since VZW is the nation's largest operator.  And it may also be due to codec choice because VZW reportedly uses primarily EVRC-B, while Sprint still sticks with the original EVRC.  Newer is not necessarily better, as newer codecs often sacrifice quality for greater data reduction.

 

AJ

[vryan44]

Verizon's voice quality always seems to be more tinny than sprints, in my experiences.

[greenvillesc]

I know that you are joking, but iDEN, being a TDMA based airlink, should not be affected much at all by loading.

 

AJ

What word did you use a few months ago when i asked about the clicking and popping in your car speakers duing a call or direct connect with Nextel or iden, and older gsm?  I tried to look it up but could not find it.

[Fraydog]

What word did you use a few months ago when i asked about the clicking and popping in your car speakers duing a call or direct connect with Nextel or iden, and older gsm?  I tried to look it up but could not find it.

 

I always called it GSM buzz back in the days I had a RAZR on what was then Cingular. That was a damn good phone. Good voice quality, and it never dropped calls - which was a feat on that network.  

[dnwk]

I always called it GSM buzz back in the days I had a RAZR on what was then Cingular. That was a damn good phone. Good voice quality, and it never dropped calls - which was a feat on that network.  

 

I try Verizon Lumia 822 on ATT's network. Kind of wired. But voice quality is pretty good.

[dnwk]

Anybody heard of PHS system?  They use ADPCM voice codec!  64Kpbs on Voice!  Sounds better than anything you can image.

[Fraydog]

 

 

I always called it GSM buzz back in the days I had a RAZR on what was then Cingular. That was a damn good phone. Good voice quality, and it never dropped calls - which was a feat on that network.

 

 

I try Verizon Lumia 822 on ATT's network. Kind of wired. But voice quality is pretty good.

Is that running old TDMA based GSM?

[dnwk]

Is that running old TDMA based GSM?

Nokia Lumia 822   ..... Is there any TDMA based GSM left?

[Fraydog]

 

 

Is that running old TDMA based GSM?

 

 

Nokia Lumia 822 ..... Is there any TDMA based GSM left?

Yeah, if that phone has support for 850/1900 GSM but not 850/1900 UMTS, then you're hitting the ancient GSM network put up by Cingular/ATTWS.

[dnwk]

Yeah, if that phone has support for 850/1900 GSM but not 850/1900 UMTS, then you're hitting the ancient GSM network put up by Cingular/ATTWS.

 

No. It do support UMTS and even HSPA. Not quite sure why verizon allow this to happen. Is it part of their agreement with FCC when they bought 700Mhz?

Edited May 23, 2013 by dnwk