I know this has been brought up before but I wanted to see if anyone has found a workaround for the problem of the audio hiss produced by the NC circuitry.
The hiss is terrible on my desktop monitors and makes my NC unusable as an audio source. Is this just an inconsistency between NCs ? Is this something I could exchange it for using my squaretrade warranty?
Also would it be possible to integrate some sort of software solution via a filter of some kind
Original Thread
You're not alone. I have the same problem with my NC, as well as my Dinc.
Mine has a bit of hiss, but only with certain pairs of headphones. In my case, it seems like it hates all of my cheaper earbud/in-ear sets but sounds just fine with my Sennheiser HD280s. Out of all the things people complain about, audio quality is the one that I have to agree on. The speaker on this thing is absolutely atrocious and the line-out is hit or miss as far as hiss/no hiss.
I finally hooked mine up to speakers today and I have to say that I did not notice any hiss.
I will say that the quality was not as good as my Iphone, but it was acceptable.
I haven't noticed any hiss on my nook and I've listened very closely. With Power Amp installed though, the sound quality gets noticeably better. Maybe try that out?
I've been having a problem with my Razr I which was purchased around the 11th October from Handtec, and I'm just trying to work out whether this was a faulty handset or whether it's common for the device, or affects a certain batch.
The issue is high levels of hiss / interference when a speaker is connected to 3.5mm jack while audio is not playing. Hard to describe the sound as it changes, however it's somewhere between hiss, ground loop and EM interference.
There's also an unpleasant thump when audio output turns on (i.e. just prior to playing audio) or off (a few moments after the audio output is stopped).
The hiss/interference noise reduces significantly immediately before and after playing audio i.e. it seems to go down to an acceptable level once the audio chip is taken out of 'sleep' mode and made active. I can only assume that this is because a noise cancellation circuit is removing the interference once the audio chip is activated, but that while it's inactive the unwanted signal is making its way down the cable connected to the 3.5mm jack.
This happens regardless of whether the device is connected to wall socket - and I've tested with a battery powered speaker - so this isn't a ground loop issue as far as I know. It is most noticeable when connected to an external speaker that's turned up to a decent volume, but is also audible through headphones. Please note that different headphones will show the issue to a different extent, as the impedance of headphones can vary quite widely. Through small earphones, the sound isn't too offensive, but through an external speaker or decent headphones it's completely unacceptable.
I tried temporarily disabling the MusicFX app and doing a factory reset – no luck with either unfortunately.
There is a report on gsmarena from someone who noticed the hiss. They got a replacement and there was no hiss on the replacement handset.
The thing that's confusing me is that this seems like two separate issues - though I may well be wrong.
1) poor EM shielding and/or cancellation circuitry inactive when audio is not playing and
2) no soft-start / soft-stop when capacitor(s) on the audio chip is charged/discharged and/or DC offset on the signal coming from the audio chip.
The phone's in the box ready to be posted back to Handtec, but just wanted to try and understand whether anyone else has experienced this issue? Just to note that although I haven't been through the returns process just yet, support from both Motorola and especially Handtec so far has been great.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1930361
---------- Post added at 12:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:23 PM ----------
tomrazri said:
There is a report on gsmarena from someone who noticed the hiss. They got a replacement and there was no hiss on the replacement handset.
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Click to collapse
that was me. the replacement was much better. still not upto gnex audio via headphones standard but the positives elsewhere on the phone (vs the gnex) mean i can live with the slight drop in audio quality.
Ah ok that's promising cheers. As you've mentioned in that thread, it's only really a problem when music's not playing and when the audio chip is activated/deactivated. No realm qualms with the quality of the audio chip itself as i wouldn't expect a studio grade dac in a phone, just the interference / lack of soft-start that was the dealbreaker. Fingers crossed my replacement will be from a different batch
my first unit came from clove. my replacement from amazon uk. good luck
Sent from my XT890
---------- Post added at 04:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:28 PM ----------
build date on my replacement unit is sep 22 if that helps
tomrazri said:
I've been having a problem with my Razr I...
...The issue is high levels of hiss / interference when a speaker is connected to 3.5mm jack while audio is not playing. Hard to describe the sound as it changes, however it's somewhere between hiss, ground loop and EM interference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having exactly the same problem with my XT890 - bought from Amazon round 10th Oct., device build date is 22 Sept.
tomrazri said:
...seems to go down to an acceptable level once the audio chip is taken out of 'sleep' mode and made active. I can only assume that this is because a noise cancellation circuit is removing the interference once the audio chip is activated, but that while it's inactive the unwanted signal is making its way down the cable connected to the 3.5mm jack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my case the hiss is present only in sleep mode with no music on. I can hear silent thud roughly 3 secs after pressing power button to enter the sleep mode followed by the annoying hiss (only on left ear though). It's not loud at all, in fact it's barely noticeable during the day. It only drives you insane if even subconsciously.
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tomrazri said:
This happens regardless of whether the device is connected to wall socket - and I've tested with a battery powered speaker - so this isn't a ground loop issue as far as I know. It is most noticeable when connected to an external speaker that's turned up to a decent volume, but is also audible through headphones. Please note that different headphones will show the issue to a different extent, as the impedance of headphones can vary quite widely. Through small earphones, the sound isn't too offensive, but through an external speaker or decent headphones it's completely unacceptable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this is where the problem lies. First I thought its down to frequency response or even impedance. I think its due to different 3.5mm jack layout. I have no problem what so ever on my Klipsch S4A (10-19khz, 18ohm, 4 rings jack) but on my Koss PRO 4AAT (10-25khz, 250ohm, regular 3ring jack) its simply unbearable.
Shall I try to send it back to Amazon in hope the new piece will be flawless?
denny76 said:
In my case the hiss is present only in sleep mode with no music on. I can hear silent thud roughly 3 secs after pressing power button to enter the sleep mode followed by the annoying hiss (only on left ear though). It's not loud at all, in fact it's barely noticeable during the day. It only drives you insane if even subconsciously.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i 'think' i had the same hiss you are talking about on my first device. it was certainly noticeable as i mentioned before and unnacceptable i have no hiss on my replacement unit.
3 secs after any music has come to a stop, it sounds as if the internal amp (?) 'clicks' off. that 'click' is/was present on both devices i had but as that does not interfere with and music playing, i don't see that as a problem.
who knows if we are all talking about the same 'hiss' or not
Hiss on Razr I
I had exactly the same problem on first device but on replacement that hiss gone but not all together but 10x better . I have got 64gb micro sd card full of music and I love chillout stuff where any extra noises spoils listening pleasure . Btw my device was prom phones 4 u
Replacement received. Hiss/EM interference and the pop still there :crying:
ooo that is bad luck. as you got both from handtec, i can only assume they had a faulty batch that moto fixed on newer builds.
denny76 said:
First I thought its down to frequency response or even impedance. I think its due to different 3.5mm jack layout. I have no problem what so ever on my Klipsch S4A (10-19khz, 18ohm, 4 rings jack) but on my Koss PRO 4AAT (10-25khz, 250ohm, regular 3ring jack) its simply unbearable.
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Click to collapse
Well, you first thought it could be the impedance but you forgot it or what? It's quite common problem that not all the amplifiers like all headphones. Can happen with hifi equipments too, but mostly mobile devices just don't have good enough output for high impedance headphones. Low impedance headphones are a bit more battery friendly.
I think people just looks silly walking around with big-ass-headphones. About the same as using tablets as cameras.
Anyway, my phone does have slight hissing noise with 18 ohm headphones, but I can live with it.
Sure I think this is probably not an issue for a lot of people, as I want to be able to output to speakers rather than just listen on earphones.
Agree big headphones look silly, I'd only wear them on long train journey's not strolling around
If it doesn't affect the way you use the phone that's fine, and for those people I don't think it should influence their buying decision. The gsmarena review calls out aux audio quality as an issue though and measures it in comparison to other phones, and it doesn't fare so well. It'd be interesting to know whether the situation's improved in later revisions.
If the interference and pop happened with other devices I'd understand it, but I've had no issues with various other mp3 players, smartphones and tablets feeding the same headphones and speaker systems.
Oh well, hopefully be able to buy in a month or so when I'm reassured they've fixed it.
tomrazri said:
If the interference and pop happened with other devices I'd understand it, but I've had no issues with various other mp3 players, smartphones and tablets feeding the same headphones and speaker systems.
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i'm confused by what you say above 'not having issues with other smartphones'. i thought this was your first smartphone purchase according to your review on amazon...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R15W...e=UTF8&ASIN=B008QBBDQ0&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=
Perfect form factor and excellent battery life. Despite being a bit of a geek, this was the first smartphone I've bought, because it ticks all the boxes that no other smartphones have so far.
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Click to collapse
Yep, phones of friends don't have the same issue. It hasn't been a problem with some models of HTC, iPhone and Samsung that I've tried with the same speaker systems. I imagine there are plenty of older Motorola handsets that don't have the same issue too so it's nothing against them.
Posted this question on Motorola customer care, but recived a useless anwser. I don't know phone internals, but my guess is problem lies in incorects volume regullation. Just like with with connection of PC with amplifier, if you would turn your amplifier to maximum volume and try to regulate volume only with PC volume controll, you would get similar noise.
Here is my post to Motorola: h**ps://docs.google.com/document/d/1R5ngSJzSjmjbsHPTqnEaUDa3h7oR4OC8l13hK-512uI/edit
and attached noise record: h**ps://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4n8pwAEMymPdHpXUmJHeEV3eVk
There's a hissing/static noise whenever audio starts. If I pause it'll stop after a few seconds. Anyone know the cause of this?
I'm also interested in this. When I tried playing in my car, firstly I thought it could be software or some equalization problem. But, even deactivating all, that hiss continued so maybe it could be the quality of audio cable (quite poor).
Trying at home with a quite decent pair of earphones: Sennheiser IE8, I still can hear the hiss. It is much less hearable (suppose less amplification of sound, I've been listening music at maximum level to detect it), but also here.
I think there are only 2 possibilities: bad software/ROM implementation or defective/bad hardware. The defective hardware is rare, I've read some opinions and all say more or less the same... I expected some more quality of sound, and more if it comes from Sony...
I've used N5 until last tuesday, and then been using N6.
I'm satisfied with N6, but I have one problem.
I'm using the same earphone, the same music file, only different phone, but I can hear disturbing white noise at lower volume levels.
I'm quite sensitive to white noise and could also hear some white noise from my old N5, but that didn't quite affect my music.
this time it's just too much and sometimes garbles some specific notes.
I sometimes listen to music when I don't get sleep well, so I occasionally set volume level to 1 hence the problem really annoys me.
Is there anyone experiencing same problem?
Also, Is there any workaround to resolve this easily? Even if it is faluty product, I got this from ebay and the warranty is not covered in my country...
I have a samsung s10 for a year now.
Today I noticed a weird issue. If I put the back side of device on my ear (roughly where the earpiece is) and I open an Application I can barely hear a hissing noise, like a coil whining for a half a second or so.
The duration and the volume of the heasing depends on how "heavy" the Application is.
For example, when running the 3D Mark benchmark, and put the back of the phone on your ear, you can definitely hear that sound in a variety of frequencies.
Can you notice it in yours?