[Q] Earpiece sound level very low - Nexus One Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hey, I've been having issues with the sound level from my Nexus One earpiece lately. I'm currently running CM 7.0.3. I was having the issue as well with an older build, can't remember the version number. Did a complete wipe including cache when I upgraded to this build. I have also tried replacing the actual earpiece with one I purchased from eBay, no change. The volume level is so low that I have to have nearly complete silence around me to be able to carry on with a phone call. That or use a headset/speakerphone.
Anyone have any suggestions for what else I can try?

Have you tried changing ROMs to see what it sounds like on other ROMs also you could always try flashing a kernel with an audio boost.

Related

In Call Volume Settings will not change, please help!

im new to the rooting G1 thing, i have mno volume control while in calls and its REALLY annoying and also quite loud. im running cyanogenmod 4.2.9.1 and hadnt noticed this problem until today.
please, if anyone can help id REALLY appreciate it
EDIT: it seems like the volume goes from loud (when turned all the way "down") to louder (all the way "up") and theres a nearly unnoticeable difference in volume
HamToast said:
im new to the rooting G1 thing, i have mno volume control while in calls and its REALLY annoying and also quite loud. im running cyanogenmod 4.2.9.1 and hadnt noticed this problem until today.
please, if anyone can help id REALLY appreciate it
EDIT: it seems like the volume goes from loud (when turned all the way "down") to louder (all the way "up") and theres a nearly unnoticeable difference in volume
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have experienced the same problem on the same ROM but never thought it was that big of an issue to start my own thread. But since you started on, I guess I will jump on the bandwagon. Sometimes the volume control problem is sporadic and it will work, but I havent really noticed when the times are that the volume works (like after a reboot). I'll try to take notice, also, I'm not sure a logcat would help otherwise I would provide it on the CM thread. Anybody want to weigh in on this and see if its worth raising the issue on the CM thread? If I can't produce a logcat then I doubt Cyanogen will be able to reproduce the problem and therefore will not be able to address the situation.
BTW, I also have Meltus's latest AudioHack. I figured I'd mention it since it has to do with the volume.
Hamtoast, do you have the AudioHack?
i dont have the audiohack, though i thought about getting it after i noticed this problem. i wasnt sure if itd help though and didnt want to shell out the $2 or however much it costs. my volume is otherwise fine and i have no other issues with it (like being too quiet, which is why most people get the audiohack to my understanding).
this issue we are experiencing is of course not of major importance and doesnt interfere with use, but personally i adjust volume regularly while on the phone, depending on my location and who im talking to. its rather inconvenient not being able to do it.
Okay, so the whole slight volume change was false, there is absolutely zero difference in volume during calls. I read somewhere that it could be an issue with the radio. i was planning on getting the newest radio and danger spl soon so as soon as i get a new sd card ill be testing that to see if the radio is the issue. i will also be trying a hero rom so if CM is the problem i will find that out.
I have a similar problem where my phone is one step from maximum volume (in call) it will not go up to max unless I press volume down them go up. I do not have the audio hack fyi. I guess it may be worth bringing up for cyano to prehaps work on because we r all running his rom with and without audio hack and having problems with volume. I am sure that others are havimg similar problems aswell.
I have the exact same problem. I am going to have to go to a different ROM because of this my phone is new and talking to most people is ear splitting.
i guess ill bring it up in a cyano forum or send a message or something. it certainly is annoying, and it does seem to be related to the ROM.
i dunno if you all are having this issue or if youve noticed or not but it could be related... anyway, if im using headphones and get a text or email or phonecall (anything requiring some sort of notification) i lose all sound to my phone until i reboot it. i checked the builds and it said he addressed some headset issue in 4.2.9.1 but it seems to be there still. just wonderin if anyone noticed that.
ill be looking into cyano forums and trying to find a fix.
@HamToast,
I have mostly noticed just general sound loss. Not anything really related to the headset. Notifications will drop out, phone won't ring sometimes, volume control problems etc. For example, right now, no matter how much I adjust the volume, the sound coming from the screen clicks are always the same volume.
Also, I have the latest radio and the Danger SPL so I'm not sure if that has any bearing on the sound issue. My signature is up to date with the exception of running both the latest CM build as well as the latest Amon_RA recovery image.
aw you have the latest radio and danger spl? im running older radio/spl and was hoping an upgrade would help
i wonder what the issue is with this sound buginess... i went to the newest CM 4.2.10.1 and it was so slow with a considerable amount of hangtime in certain apps, so i went back to 4.2.9.1. the sound issues werent fixed in x.10 or x.10.1

Is anyone's earpiece actually TOO LOUD?

Hello All,
I searched first by the way :-/
Recently my Nexus has had its earpiece too loud for both Incoming and Outgoing Calls.
At first I thought it had something to do with the radio, so I downgraded. It actually worked on the first call but after that it was loud as heck even on the lowest volume.
I tried to retrace my steps with my applications next, but nothing that would point to the earpiece. The last apps installed updated where mostly games like Fruit Ninja and Aliens vs. Humans, so I think we can rule out that.
The specs in my sig should be up to date.
The only variable that has changed other than the ones listed above is the fact that I recently bought a Jawbone Icon Bluetooth Headset. But to my memory, this issue began before that.
Can't find a solution anywhere cause it seems most people have an issue with the phone being too soft lol.
I'm really looking for some help guys. I'm just short of wiping the phone clean and reinstalling CM6 and my apps. If that dosen't work I'll have to use the warranty I guess. Had the phone from about Sept 10 I believe.
Let me know if I missed anything guys. All ideas are welcomed to fix this issue.
It's probably because of CM. CM uses a audio boost kernel by default, so I'm guessing that's the problem. Try installing no audio boost kernel to see if it solves the issue.
yeah if you are using cyanogen ROM, they added an audio boost hack long ago. on cyan 5.0.8 the audio boost was so loud that over 50% volume started to distort the speaker and kill your ears. so in later releases they split the difference and lowered it somewhat.
but the boost has always been there. the only likely possibility is that you recently started enabling DSP settings like compression or the EQ, which would suddenly now make things way louder.
Wow thanks guys. Had no clue that CM had an audio boosted kernel. Guess I'll be flashing something else for the while. Something as close to vanilla I guess.
Oh, I also checked the DSP settings, everything was off but was worth a shot.
Thanks again for the replies!
Just to let anyone with the same issue know, I found away around it. I installed one of Wildmonks kernels without the audio fix.
Kernel 2.6.35.10 to be exact. I get to keep my cyan features and have a decent volume ear piece too. Yay!
Good work. It's funny cause most people complain this phone is too quiet. If only they see this post!

Low volume bug in CM 7?

This is driving me crazy, I'm not sure if its as a result of the dt beta script or cm itself, all my notifications, ringers and sound coming out of the loud speaker are low, a few restarts fix it but its driving me crazy.. can anyone help...
Noticed it on the official cm and unofficial versions as well
Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk
Yes it is the DT script. I hear the older official one works fine, but the newer beta's have the low volume bug.
The consensus that every other restart will have low volume, so if I have to reboot, I just do it again.
Also worth trying an audio boost (AB) kernel. I've moved on from dt a2sd to s2e from the market.
havent messed with this personally
but if its really bugging you this might be able to ease the pain a bit
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1019565
Can anyone suggest any 'good' solution? kernel or otherwise to fix this $#@$# 'bug' of low in-call volume in Nexus One??
Would really appreciate all the help!

[Q] Sound quirk - is this normal?

I bought a Galaxy Note a month or so ago. I'm not sure if this happened before the ICS update or if it came with it as it's still all a bit new. I'm wondering if the following behaviour is a fault (hardware or otherwise), is a setting that I can alter or if it "just is".
I use the Note a lot to play music especially at night as I'm going to sleep, when I have the Note on either the quietest volume setting or something close to it. I have noticed that when the volume level is low on quiet passages in the music it drops out altogether. This is quite noticable as any background hiss (on older recordings) drops to silent then comes back in again as the music approaches a louder passage. It does the same on video.
It can be quite annoying and very distracting. If I turn the volume up (past about half way on quieter, older recordings) the problem vanishes completly so it looks like an issue with the pre-amp or DAC?
I have tried different audio players and different headphones with no change. I have also tried playing music without headphones (using the in-built speaker) and think that does it also, although it's harder to tell.
The wierd thing is googling around I can't find anyone reporting the same problem, which makes me think I possibly have a fault. Any ideas? Could someone else with a Note on ICS try the same thing and report their findings?
Test is: find somewhere very quiet. Play some quiet music on the Note and turn the volume right down until it is barely audible with the earphone pressed in. Try different pieces of music and see if the sound drops out on quieter passages - for me, it does.
StarFishUK said:
I bought a Galaxy Note a month or so ago. I'm not sure if this happened before the ICS update or if it came with it as it's still all a bit new. I'm wondering if the following behaviour is a fault (hardware or otherwise), is a setting that I can alter or if it "just is".
I use the Note a lot to play music especially at night as I'm going to sleep, when I have the Note on either the quietest volume setting or something close to it. I have noticed that when the volume level is low on quiet passages in the music it drops out altogether. This is quite noticable as any background hiss (on older recordings) drops to silent then comes back in again as the music approaches a louder passage. It does the same on video.
It can be quite annoying and very distracting. If I turn the volume up (past about half way on quieter, older recordings) the problem vanishes completly so it looks like an issue with the pre-amp or DAC?
I have tried different audio players and different headphones with no change. I have also tried playing music without headphones (using the in-built speaker) and think that does it also, although it's harder to tell.
The wierd thing is googling around I can't find anyone reporting the same problem, which makes me think I possibly have a fault. Any ideas? Could someone else with a Note on ICS try the same thing and report their findings?
Test is: find somewhere very quiet. Play some quiet music on the Note and turn the volume right down until it is barely audible with the earphone pressed in. Try different pieces of music and see if the sound drops out on quieter passages - for me, it does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found this happening on a fade out of a song (Bjork - Play Dead). On volume 1 the sound would cut out much earlier than on volume 2. It sounds like a classic noise reduction technique kicking in - designed to reduce hiss.
Not much pop music is mixed like this any more I don't think. You'd certainly notice it more on Classical music where the dynamic range is far greater than Pop.
krypton_the_slayer said:
I found this happening on a fade out of a song (Bjork - Play Dead). On volume 1 the sound would cut out much earlier than on volume 2. It sounds like a classic noise reduction technique kicking in - designed to reduce hiss.
Not much pop music is mixed like this any more I don't think. You'd certainly notice it more on Classical music where the dynamic range is far greater than Pop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perfect - yes, that describes my problem. And yes, it is classical music where I find it most noticeable (especially older recordings which tend to be quieter with quite a bit of background hiss). I wonder if there is any way to diable the noise reduction...?
Appreciate your help. At least I now know I don't have a faulty device. Massive thanks.
By the way the best answer I have so far is to play on higher sound levels and use an set of headphones with an old style (non digital) volume control to bring the sound back down to a reasonable level at the earphonesd. Pretty poor solution really - had hoped for better from my lovely new Note.
+1 big problem for my...and now...not solutions...waiting...
I have this issue since Samsung replaced my mainboard. It happens on stock ICS and CM9. I haven't tried Gingerbread.
Could this be a hardware problem?
Is there any fix to this yet, this is exactly my problem, good tip about using an in-line headphone volume control though
The same bug. Please fix it somebody.
I too have this problem with my new Galaxy Note (ICS 4.0.4). I'd be interested to hear from any Note users that *do not* have this problem when playing back audio at low volumes. If you don't notice the audio completely dropping out, please list what version of Android you're running. Thanks!
I guess we need some more experimentation to see if it's a hardware or software issue (or both).
naytheet said:
I too have this problem with my new Galaxy Note (ICS 4.0.4). I'd be interested to hear from any Note users that *do not* have this problem when playing back audio at low volumes. If you don't notice the audio completely dropping out, please list what version of Android you're running. Thanks!
I guess we need some more experimentation to see if it's a hardware or software issue (or both).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I am quite sure this is a software bug. When my note was using gingerbread, it was OK. It started to behave this wasy after the (official) ICS upgrade. Some of my friends are using unofficial ROMs (4.0.3 or 4.0.4) and it is ok - I tested it. So my conclusion is that samsung put some software trying to reduce noise in low audio volume, but it's not working as it should be...
More people are stumbling upon this noise gate problem:
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=35861
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1717425
I experience it on ICS and also on CM9, only with headphones plugged in (not when listening to music via bluetooth on the Sony MW600).
It does not occur on Gingerbread, but I don't like to use that ROM as a daily driver...
Can anyone confirm if there are custom ROMS that do not have this behavior?
Or is there maybe some way to replace the ICS media playback service with the GB one?
Well, all ICS-based custom ROMs I've tried suffer the same irritating behavior.
And it also turns out that GB has the same kind of noise gate, but the threshold seems to be a lot lower and therefore it doesn't kick in that often.
But I've just installed a CM10 nightly, and that seems to solve the issue.
my 2 cents
I can confirm, that I have similar problem.
I have the problems only when watching movies. the sound just cuts off when the character stops speaking, so it cuts off the background sound.
I tried different kernels, ROMĀ“s... same problems on GB, ICS, CM9...
I have a hillBilly solution that works for me! When ever the sound cutting starts, I just change the volume for one level. The cutting will off course repeat... but it's indeed better than listen to the clipping...
For black clipping I use highest brightness and film screen mode. It does the trick for me...
But it just pisses me of when I realize that I have the phone with ****ty screen, sound and bricking danger...
wtf sammy... i just cant belive that i paid 540 eur for this, its sad
DonLaDroid
please delete....
double post....
This is bugging me too.
Would this be something controlled by the kernel?
---------- Post added 1st September 2012 at 12:40 AM ---------- Previous post was 31st August 2012 at 11:48 PM ----------
Also being discussed at http://code.google.com/p/android/is...s Owner Summary Stars&groupby=&sort=&id=35861
Please, can anyone using a non Touchwiz ICS or JB Rom tell us if this is happening for them?
burtcom said:
This is bugging me too.
Would this be something controlled by the kernel?
---------- Post added 1st September 2012 at 12:40 AM ---------- Previous post was 31st August 2012 at 11:48 PM ----------
Also being discussed at http://code.google.com/p/android/is...s Owner Summary Stars&groupby=&sort=&id=35861
Please, can anyone using a non Touchwiz ICS or JB Rom tell us if this is happening for them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just flashed latest PA, and its till there!
Im not an expert! Does anyone remember a background noise reduction option while making a call in GB??
I cant find it in ICS or PA. I think that this background noise redustion system is causing the cutting. It must be somehow connected.... im not an dev or anything but my gut tells me that this could be!
anyone?
Take care
DonLaDroid
OK all, let's figure out what ROMs don't have this problem, and start bugging the Devs to try to fix it on the others :laugh:
Well, I just noticed that the sound cut-off is also back on the unofficial 08/31 build of CM10. It was much less noticeable on the 08/28 build. :crying:
The difference between the two builds is a huge decrease in sound volume: build 08/28 was much louder than the latest one. Maybe the noise gate simply doesn't kick in so soon when the system volume is cranked up. You basically get the same effect when turning up the volume completely and turn it down with an inline analog control - as suggested by StarFishUK in post #3.
So my question would be what makes the volume louder on 08/28?
And how can I get that 'cranked up volume' on newer CM10 builds or preferably on ICS roms? Any ideas?
By the way, I totally agree with your 2 cents DonLaDroid. I never had this much trouble with my old Dell Streak...
Haven't noticed this myself (CM10), but i've noticed something incredible annoying in CM builds, and that's when i'm listening to music with headsets and i'm increasing the volume, it seems that it's "missing" a couple of steps. So when i'm increasing the volume it'll go from 5 to 8 in one step, and not 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,
It should be: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
But it is: 0,1,2,3,4,5,8
How to test this problem. ..
Go to a quiet room.
Set audio level to one (one click up from silence)
Play some music with soft passages.
For me, the sound shuts off during quiet audio for speaker and wired headset. Note that this isn't simply an absence of sound. The sound turns off then suddenly starts again in the middle of a louder passage.
Bluetooth doesn't have the problem.
A gentleman on one of the Kernel threads believes this may be a hardware issue. The sound clips to cover noise from the speaker.
All, it seems that this is a "feature" of our phone. We will need to contact Samsung for the word on if this is a hardware issue or of it can be fixed via software. Right now it seems this happens in all ROMs, Touchwiz or AOSP.
Workaround is to use Bluetooth or a wired headset with an analog volume control.

[Q] Audio quality on phone jack of nook hd+

I'm currently using the carbon rom, but the problem came up with the early kitkat releases. Basically the hd+ speaker seems to work pretty well, but when I plug a pair of headphones / in ear / everything, the audio becomes incredibly bad.
I don't have nandroid backups, sigh. How do I restore the audio out quality?
Nolfer said:
I'm currently using the carbon rom, but the problem came up with the early kitkat releases. Basically the hd+ speaker seems to work pretty well, but when I plug a pair of headphones / in ear / everything, the audio becomes incredibly bad.
I don't have nandroid backups, sigh. How do I restore the audio out quality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could boot into recovery, make a full backup, then try any rom flavor and if you don't like at any time then just restore and continue where you left off. Titanium backup free for quick app restore in any new installed rom if you like it.
Headphones sound normal on cm official feb 4th build. Could be carbon rom.
sandsofmyst said:
You could boot into recovery, make a full backup, then try any rom flavor and if you don't like at any time then just restore and continue where you left off. Titanium backup free for quick app restore in any new installed rom if you like it.
Headphones sound normal on cm official feb 4th build. Could be carbon rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will try that and report back asap.
I will try the latest 10.2.1 stable (1 february)
sandsofmyst said:
You could boot into recovery, make a full backup, then try any rom flavor and if you don't like at any time then just restore and continue where you left off. Titanium backup free for quick app restore in any new installed rom if you like it.
Headphones sound normal on cm official feb 4th build. Could be carbon rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, it seems to have worked . If anything bad happens, I'll post here.
Nope, audio problem is still there. I used a pair of big headphones and sound was somewhat better, but when I used the in ear headphones, the bad, noisy quality revealed itself in all its dark magnificence.
So we can somewhat exclude it's a rom related issue, I think.
So the problem did not solve. Any other thoughts?
I had same problem with audio from the phone jack. Made high bitrate mp3 sound like 64kbps stream. I honestly don't know what I did to fix it. I think it was just updating to a newer cm11 nightly build.
hello,i'm experiencing the same problem too.especially when i turn to volume up,i try to fix it using apps like v4a but not a real success so far.i'd like to somehow a fix for this prob.
Hello people. It's somewhat heartwarming to know that there's someone else that has got the same problems. I've, too, tried to fix this with V4A, but without success.
Leapinlar told me that going from jb to kk and getting back can be problematic and we should probably try to wipe system manually (CWM>wipe system).
I'm currently using a Carbon JB ROM. I will try to re-install it today, by performing every single wipe available and report here to let you know the outcome. Wish me luck :silly:
So I did all wipes and installed cm11 but the problem is still there, even wiping system manually. I don't really know what to do
Nolfer said:
So I did all wipes and installed cm11 but the problem is still there, even wiping system manually. I don't really know what to do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try a different music player? Try something like Rocket Player. Also, maybe you should flash pure stock, just so you can better isolate the problem. If it's still there with pure stock, then it might be a hardware issue. If it isn't there, then you know it's the ROM or some type of app conflict.
I have CM11 nightlies on my HD and notice no audio problems whatsoever. I am pretty picky about audio, love the sound on my HD, and would have gone right back to stock or something else if I found any audio problem with CM11.
metropolitans said:
Did you try a different music player? Try something like Rocket Player. Also, maybe you should flash pure stock, just so you can better isolate the problem. If it's still there with pure stock, then it might be a hardware issue. If it isn't there, then you know it's the ROM or some type of app conflict.
I have CM11 nightlies on my HD and notice no audio problems whatsoever. I am pretty picky about audio, love the sound on my HD, and would have gone right back to stock or something else if I found any audio problem with CM11.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NEW DETAILS: sound quality is actually normal. With a pair of headphones I have no problems, BUT when I plug in the stock in-ear earphones from my sony ericsson xperia arc s sound quality lowers significantly.
Being that I study audio engineering and I'm becoming more and more experienced with sound, the sound output is really similar to sound in which there are some huge phase cancellation problems going on.
So the volume of different frequencies lowers significantly as they just get cancelled out of the output, forcing me to raise the volume until I hear a really bad, full of background noise sound.
However, when I use the earphones on my nook, and keep pressed the headset button used to pause/skip tracks or to respond to an incoming call (when I use it on the smartphone), sound goes back to normal! If I release it, sound goes back to being bad.
So, my theory is that when we connect a common TRS connector (like the one used by my headphones) we have no problems with the audio output. However, when we connect a TRRS connector (like the one used by my in-ear earphones), some bad stuff happens, like, bad circuitry stuff.
So I think that the TRRS connector is either not compatible hardware-wise with the nook (wouldn't surprise me, as it wasn't designed to be used as a phone), or the nook software is simply not correctly programmed to handle a TRRS type connector, like the ones used on smartphones
Nolfer said:
NEW DETAILS: sound quality is actually normal. With a pair of headphones I have no problems, BUT when I plug in the stock in-ear earphones from my sony ericsson xperia arc s sound quality lowers significantly.
Being that I study audio engineering and I'm becoming more and more experienced with sound, the sound output is really similar to sound in which there are some huge phase cancellation problems going on.
So the volume of different frequencies lowers significantly as they just get cancelled out of the output, forcing me to raise the volume until I hear a really bad, full of background noise sound.
However, when I use the earphones on my nook, and keep pressed the headset button used to pause/skip tracks or to respond to an incoming call (when I use it on the smartphone), sound goes back to normal! If I release it, sound goes back to being bad.
So, my theory is that when we connect a common TRS connector (like the one used by my headphones) we have no problems with the audio output. However, when we connect a TRRS connector (like the one used by my in-ear earphones), some bad stuff happens, like, bad circuitry stuff.
So I think that the TRRS connector is either not compatible hardware-wise with the nook (wouldn't surprise me, as it wasn't designed to be used as a phone), or the nook software is simply not correctly programmed to handle a TRRS type connector, like the ones used on smartphones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder if your Sony earphones are somewhat proprietary in their wiring. TRRS seems to work fine with a generic pair of Scosche headphones I use on my tablets and Nexus S phone. The button works too, unlike on my 2012 Nexus 7.
Sent from my BN NookHD+ using XDA Premium HD app
I use high end earbuds and Bose headphones, the nook hd+ on cm10.2 or cm11 sounds great. Cleaner than any other android I've used.
Are you at max volume or 2nd to max? Those have been very slightly crackly since verygreen bumped audio gain back in august. those settings are in audio.primary.ovation.so. I edited mine.
I don't use my nook as a phone, seems ridiculous.

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