Database Users

phone call audio problem with ameo

I don't know if this is a fault or something I didn't expect but would be glad to here how others have found it.
I have had the ameo for a few weeks and have noticed that if I use a bluetooth or wired headphone everything seems to be fine on a phone call. However when I try to use it as a speakerphone, whoever I am speaking to complains that my voice is breaking up (I have a strong signal strength). It appears that if there is any response from the person I call or any noise in their background then the microphone at my end is interrupted making my voice unintelligible. I know the manual says to use a headset but what is the point of having a speakerphone if you can't use it? Does anyone else have the same problem or have I got a faulty unit?

bobg said:
I don't know if this is a fault or something I didn't expect but would be glad to here how others have found it.
I have had the ameo for a few weeks and have noticed that if I use a bluetooth or wired headphone everything seems to be fine on a phone call. However when I try to use it as a speakerphone, whoever I am speaking to complains that my voice is breaking up (I have a strong signal strength). It appears that if there is any response from the person I call or any noise in their background then the microphone at my end is interrupted making my voice unintelligible. I know the manual says to use a headset but what is the point of having a speakerphone if you can't use it? Does anyone else have the same problem or have I got a faulty unit?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get this on full volume in a small room. Turning the volume down a bit usually seems to solve it. I think the mic is pretty sensitive and can get flooded a bit too easily.

bobg said:
I don't know if this is a fault or something I didn't expect but would be glad to here how others have found it.
I have had the ameo for a few weeks and have noticed that if I use a bluetooth or wired headphone everything seems to be fine on a phone call. However when I try to use it as a speakerphone, whoever I am speaking to complains that my voice is breaking up (I have a strong signal strength). It appears that if there is any response from the person I call or any noise in their background then the microphone at my end is interrupted making my voice unintelligible. I know the manual says to use a headset but what is the point of having a speakerphone if you can't use it? Does anyone else have the same problem or have I got a faulty unit?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have used both the Ameo and the Dopod rom on the same device and can conirm that this problem is worse on the Ameo rom
Could other dopod users tell their experiences regarding hands-free calling

bobg said:
I don't know if this is a fault or something I didn't expect but would be glad to here how others have found it.
I have had the ameo for a few weeks and have noticed that if I use a bluetooth or wired headphone everything seems to be fine on a phone call. However when I try to use it as a speakerphone, whoever I am speaking to complains that my voice is breaking up (I have a strong signal strength). It appears that if there is any response from the person I call or any noise in their background then the microphone at my end is interrupted making my voice unintelligible. I know the manual says to use a headset but what is the point of having a speakerphone if you can't use it? Does anyone else have the same problem or have I got a faulty unit?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I experienced something similar but only when the caller has a lot of background noise on their end. It's not a consistent problem here so I assume it's not the same issue you're having.

Thanks for the replies - it looks as if the unit is working to spec but that there is a 'built-in' problem when using the phone as a speakerphone. I didn't get this on the spv2000 I replaced with the ameo so wasn't expecting it. Background noise does seem to trigger it - I just tried phoning using the speaker phone to call an answerphone and it worked fine with clear audio at the other end. I think a day or 2 of playing with the volume to minimise the problem is the next step. I'll post back when I can be more definite but would be grateful for any other opinions.
Cheers
BobG

On my U1000 the mic works fine in speakerphone mode. There are no brakeups of voice even while walking mid-traffic. Yes, I have to speak loud but that is expected with background noise over 85db.
However, the speakers do not return sound very loud at all (for a speakerphone). I have to lean way forward and almost put my face on the screen to be able to clearly hear the other side (even in a totally quiet environment).
Would have been great to have had a decent speaker phone, but as it is I'm sticking to my bluetooth headset.
The 2 drawbacks with bluetooth is the answer delay, it takes a good 1 second before the connection is established between the headset and phone. The second thing is the sensitivity of the mic, it picks up everything that goes on around you, and drowns out your voice. I have to move the mic close to my mouth if there is other noises going on around me (but this is most likely a bluetooth headset problem, and not related to the U1000).

OK several calls later and after fiddling about with the volume I've found that the best way for this problem to be overcome is to set the 'in call' volume to its lowest! I've also set the main unit volume to about 40% but that shouldn't really have any effect. It's odd that the best way for the speakerphone to work is on minimum volume - fine for single calls but not much use if I want a few other people to listen in. However this is a very small problem now and the benefits of this device hugely outweigh this small drawback.

My review of the Jawbone Bluetooth Headset

Dear all,
I've made a review of the Jawbone Bluetooth Headset here: http://blog.evolvedsoftwarestudios....se-introducing-the-jawbone-bluetooth-headset/
The basis of the review was a bluetooth headset purchase with noise cancellation for use with my HTC Kaiser.
I hope that you find the review useful. Feel free to comment here or on my blog, critisism (please do not be rude) or thoughts are welcome.
Many thanks!

Good review, I like all the points you covered. I agree that the Jawbone is probably the best I've heard (pun intended) for noise cancellation. I've tested it under several conditions (extremely loud music; car at highway speeds with windows down; NYC streets) and it cancels noise well.
My only two problems are
a) I can never seem to get the device loud enough. The automatic volume works well enough, but it doesn't seem to go up high enough to cover very loud scenarios, like the NYC streets scenario.
b) I can't get the thing to fit my ear. I've tried every combination of ear buds and ear hooks, but it never fits my ear well. I always have to readjust it every few minutes so it doesn't fall off. I might try that link in your review for the custom ear bud company.

Nice review, the only additional issues I see are;
1 - The Jawbone on Kaiser has a lower inbound audio level that many other phones (an HTC problem really, but other headsets do work OK with kaiser). I use it but it's barely acceptable to me. It would be better with a custom ear bud to direct the sound better.
2 - The Jawbone's noise cancelling is awesome in a speeding car, in a room with lots of background noise, BUT, it fails miserably when exposed to direct wind of almost any velocity. In wind many callers have said that they can barely hear me until I turn and hide the Jawbone from the wind.
3 - The US price is List $129 USD but $80 Street, not bad at all.
4 - The custom charge dongle is a negative, however after you become completely attached to this headset, you'll eventually loose one, or two, and soon have spares! I now have two

Hello,
dis39tif: My Jawbone is pretty loud. The startup beep is uncomfortably loud and leaves my ears ringing if I turn the Jawbone on whilst wearing it.
Initially I had fitting problems as well (falling off), so I chose one of the hooked/lipped earpieces and hook the Jawbone earhook over my ear like putting on a pair of sunglasses. Then I hold the Jawbone with one hand and twist the front part upwards. This puts the sensor on my cheekbone and not my jawbone, but still it works well and the fit is more snug.
RemE: I've read that the Jawbone on Kaiser has been reported ot be quieter. I can't say I've really noticed when trying with the Hermes. Seems the same to me. A custom earbud should help (based on info from other users). I've also read that wind noise isn't blocked while the user is talking, but it isn't blocked on any earpiece and Jawbone still does better than the other sets on the market at keeping unwanted noise out. Re: US pricing, I live in "rip off Britain". Prices for everything is higher here. I wonder if I can get a VISA to live in Delaware Re: charging cable, I'd like to have seen a micro usb port.

liddlefeesh -
I agree, the startup beep is quite loud. I wish the volume during calls was louder. I've tried pressing the button which turns off the automatic volume and lets you manually change the volume, as well as messing with the volume on the kaiser. Don't get me wrong, it's still quite usable. I just wish it went a bit louder.
Thanks for the fitment idea. I'll try it out.

Better ear bud fitment and sound for Jawbone
dis39tif said:
. . .
b) I can't get the thing to fit my ear. I've tried every combination of ear buds and ear hooks, but it never fits my ear well. I always have to readjust it every few minutes so it doesn't fall off. I might try that link in your review for the custom ear bud company.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get a pair of Jabra ear gels from RadioShack, attach them to the Jawbone - better fit, better sound. The combo works great for me.

cushcalc said:
Get a pair of Jabra ear gels from RadioShack, attach them to the Jawbone - better fit, better sound. The combo works great for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By chance do you still have the Radio Shack part number for these gels?

The Blueant Z9i is available NOW.

http://www.mobilecityonline.com/wireless/store/productdetail.asp?productid=23279

So, it comes in red and can connect to more things....i guess thats important.
The only real useful thing that seems to come out of it is the improved earhook and buds. I hope they sell those so i can use with my Z9.

Anyone who gets one of these please write a review as to how it comares to either:
- The original Z9
- The original Jawbone
- The new Jawbone
The Z9i is supposed to be better with wind/noise cancellation than the Z9, however my e-mails to BlueAnt customer service asking them to provide any sort of data sheet/information on how or by how much this was improved hasn't met with any response.
Thx.

yes i am also intereted, i have the Z9 and i am verty happy with it, the only complain is the battery, and the ear bud, since it ripeed off on me because i fell alseep with the bluetooh on my ear and when i woke up the gel ear bud ripped off....

Got mine today.
bengalih said:
Anyone who gets one of these please write a review as to how it comares to either:
- The original Z9
- The original Jawbone
- The new Jawbone
The Z9i is supposed to be better with wind/noise cancellation than the Z9, however my e-mails to BlueAnt customer service asking them to provide any sort of data sheet/information on how or by how much this was improved hasn't met with any response.
Thx.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey guys just got mine in the mail at work today, charging as we speak, I'll report back after I run some tests here.

Tested voice isolation.
I did a test on my drive in this morning. I called myself and left a voice mail to conduct the test. All the tests are performed driving on the Highway driving 80 m.p.h (128.75 for the rest of the world). The first test is normal noise isolation with the windows up. The second test is normal noise isolation with the windows down(very noticeable). The third test, and I admit I may have done this wrong, is windows down with max voice isolation(a little better than without max voice isolation). What I think may be wrong with this third test is I'm not sure if it has to be quiet before you instantiate the max voice isolation in order to center on the correct voice better, maybe we should revisit this test. The fourth and final test is max voice isolation and windows up(a great deal of difference can be heard). I don't have any hard numbers to prove this, nor do I have the time to analyze the sound variations but someone else here might. So I have attached a copy of the test in MP3 form for your testing and listening enjoyment.
*Edit all the tests are combined on this mp3 file*

futbolkeeper said:
I did a test on my drive in this morning. I called myself and left a voice mail to conduct the test. All the tests are performed driving on the Highway driving 80 m.p.h (128.75 for the rest of the world). The first test is normal noise isolation with the windows up. The second test is normal noise isolation with the windows down(very noticeable). The third test, and I admit I may have done this wrong, is windows down with max voice isolation(a little better than without max voice isolation). What I think may be wrong with this third test is I'm not sure if it has to be quiet before you instantiate the max voice isolation in order to center on the correct voice better, maybe we should revisit this test. The fourth and final test is max voice isolation and windows up(a great deal of difference can be heard). I don't have any hard numbers to prove this, nor do I have the time to analyze the sound variations but someone else here might. So I have attached a copy of the test in MP3 form for your testing and listening enjoyment.
*Edit all the tests are combined on this mp3 file*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for those tests.
Personally I am very interested in wind tests, specifically when just walking outdoors with a moderate degree of wind.
I find that being outside (not in a car) generally produces less noise, but more wind (since you don't have the car structure buffeting the wind). If you have the time I would appreciate if you could post the results of a test like this.
Also, if you happen to use MS Voice Command, I would be interested to know if it can pick up your commands.
On my current headsets if I wear it in my left ear (which I don't normally do) and roll my windows down on the highway MSVC does not pick up my commands. The same is true if I am walking in winds.
Also, what headsets did you have previously, and how would you say this compares?
thanks!

Review Update?
Any update on how it has been working after a week?

yeah i am surprised that no one has reviewed it after this long...

Check this thread, we've been comparing there;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=370007&page=7
I'm liking tha Z9i the best for overall performance and fit, especially if you use the Jabra ear loops as they are the most comfortable and adjustable.
I tried and dumped the Jawbone 2 headset, sadly they didn't deliver in my opinion, especially for the price.

[Q] Phone call quality on headset

Does anyone actually use the phone as a phone? I'm finding that the echo cancel really limits the quality of the phone. I can hardly carry on a decent conversation in the car using the supplied headset.
Does anyone else have this problem?
Try this: connect the headset. Call your phone from another phone. Listen to both at the same time. You can clearly hear when you talk that the phone is suppressing noise.
What I find is that when I'm in the car, it actually seems to suppress the volume of the person on the other end! So, it can be very frustrating as I miss words that they say.
Combine this with AT&T's marvelous AGC (where if you don't talk, it cranks the volume so that when you do talk, it blows the person on the other end away!), and the total quality of the call is horrible.
I've been using cell phones for almost 20 years. This is the worst phone quality I've ever experience.

When I use the phone directly for calls, everything sounds clear and at a consistent volume with one exception, while waiting for the other party to answer, the call ringing tone goes up and down in volume.
I've paired 3 different bluetooth headsets to the phone and found that the volume in my headset goes up and down quite a bit. Usually it's the worst at the beginning of the call. Sometimes I can't hear the other person answer but then it levels out a bit and the volume fluctuations are less extreme. I've tried an old Sony Ericsson, a Jabra Extreme, and have settled on a Plantronics Voyager Pro+. The Voyager is about the best I've tried but still exhibits the volume fluctuations but not as bad. It also supports A2DP so I can listen to podcasts through the headset.

I use it with the Sync system in my ford f150 and have no problems at all. It works great. I dont use headsets so..........only my sync system

I thought it was just me. My Plantronics 925 does this as well. Calls from the phone are fine, but the headset volume cuts in and out. Is this a bad Bluetooth stack or other problem? I think I remember another phone (WM 6.5) that had to get hacked to fix this. I'm a little miffed on this. Did anyone at Samsung or ATT test the bluetooth on this phone before selling it?

I have had very good call quality whether using the "phone as a phone", the phones speaker phone, or a blue ant bluetooth headset. I have had poor call quality only when trying to call someone in very low signal area. That has only been once. Otherwise overall clarity and volume have not been an issue, actually phone volume on high is too loud for my ears!

adding to my earlier post. I exchanged my Focus due to an unrelated issue. Both handsets had the same fade out issue with the bluetooth headsets. I've experienced it on every call so I don't think it's signal related. I don't see any volume fluctuation at all when using the handset without the bluetooth headset. I've tried the same three bluetooth headsets on my wife's iPhone 3GS and all work fine. I've also streamed at least a couple of hours of podcasts from the Focus to my headset and the volume is perfectly level. Whatever the issue, it's only related to phone calls. Very frustrating.

I've experienced the same issues. I have an Aliph Jawbone Icon. Before I updated the firmware on it I could barely hear someone on the other end. With the new jawbone firmware I have the ability to control the volume in the headset and only when I have it turned all the way up does it work ok. I do, however, still have trouble when people are talking that when the first start and or finish talking what they say seems to get clipped. Further, the volume seems to fade in and out. Also, if I'm using the AT&T navigator software and have my headset attached it will give me directions through the headset, but the end of every direction gets chopped off. So, the avene or street part of a direction doesn't come through.

I've been following this issue in a few different forums. Today a moderator in the Microsoft Answers forum jumped in and said they were experiencing the same problem and they would escalate the issue.
http://social.answers.microsoft.com...4ce-30ee-4734-9dab-28ce0d561132?prof=required

Can't recommend this phone
I was so excited when I first got my Focus. I thought it was such a huge step forward for MS mobile and actually had some chance at being mainstream. Sure it lacked a few features but there was the hope that MS would update the phone quickly. After all, they seemed to have made such phenomenal progress in getting the phone to market, seemed like fixing a few things and adding a few features would be a no-brainer.
Well, here we are 3 months later (Apple released the first update for iPhone 1.0.1 only one month later) and lots of rumors but nothing substantial on the long-awaited update. We'll see cut/paste but it's not at all clear if they will address anything else.
Here in CA we have a law that says we can't talk on the phone unless it's hands free. For the first time since that law was imposed, I've been regularly breaking it. I can't use a handsfree headset. Even the wired one that comes with the phone is so damn inconvenient that by the time I get it going, the caller is long gone. So, seemingly MAJOR features like BT headsets appear to get no notice at all from MS. I've looked through all the threads and there's nothing from MS. They don't even acknowledge the problem.
Looking at the thread from mcraine, I don't see where MS is going to do anything about this. Also, don't see any indication that it's part of any forthcoming updates.
Too bad. I thought this MS had a chance with this phone but they are blowing it big time. Momentum is gone now. If we have to wait another 3 months to get the browser fixed then the phone is destined to be like the Palm Pre. Good phone but can't keep up with the 'big' boys. This horse jumped out of the gate and was looking really good for the first couple of strides but then completely fell down and they are trying to coax it to get up again.

same issue here as well. mine is only a month old. it is not as noticable when sync'd to the car, but still noticable. and as said before more at the beginning of the call. if there were not issues, it would not be M$

Microphone low sensitivity when not on speaker

I have noticed an issue that did not exist with the Galaxy Nexus.
When not on speakerphone the microphone sensitivity is down-regulated significantly from the way it is when it is on speakerphone.
Frequently people connect the phone via auxiliary cable in the car (as a hands-free approach), but in order for it to route the audio to the speakers for the car, it cannot be on speakerphone. However when not on speakerphone the sensitivity of the microphone is limited, it is not the same as on speakerphone, therefore unless you have the phone right beside your mouth, the other party will be unable to hear you (due to low volume).
I assume this is an software change in 4.2, I have tested the issue on two Nexus 4's. When turning back on speakerphone, the microphone increases sensitivity again, and the other party is able to hear clearly again.
This poses a problem if you want to have the phone in your car connected to auxiliary and not right beside your mouth/face. I assume they added this because they assume that if the phone was not on speakerphone then it would be right beside your mouth/face during a call, however this is not at all always the case, especially if you connect your phone via aux in the car.
Anybody else experienced this? Any work-around?

Yes, thats really a shame.
I think, it is the noise cancellation. Nexus One has Niose Cancellation, too.
There I've found out, that I have to make a change in the build.prop to disable this
but I really don't know, where to find the line in build.prop to disable the noise cancellation.
And: You have to root your phone to do this.
It's really a shame, I can't use my Nexus 4 in my car plugged into the auxiliary input

hmm anyone can disable it via build.prop?
reminds me a of the days in Nexus one..

I've opened an issue on Google.
Hoping for many votes, that they can see it.

UKROB86 said:
I have noticed an issue that did not exist with the Galaxy Nexus.
When not on speakerphone the microphone sensitivity is down-regulated significantly from the way it is when it is on speakerphone.
Frequently people connect the phone via auxiliary cable in the car (as a hands-free approach), but in order for it to route the audio to the speakers for the car, it cannot be on speakerphone. However when not on speakerphone the sensitivity of the microphone is limited, it is not the same as on speakerphone, therefore unless you have the phone right beside your mouth, the other party will be unable to hear you (due to low volume).
I assume this is an software change in 4.2, I have tested the issue on two Nexus 4's. When turning back on speakerphone, the microphone increases sensitivity again, and the other party is able to hear clearly again.
This poses a problem if you want to have the phone in your car connected to auxiliary and not right beside your mouth/face. I assume they added this because they assume that if the phone was not on speakerphone then it would be right beside your mouth/face during a call, however this is not at all always the case, especially if you connect your phone via aux in the car.
Anybody else experienced this? Any work-around?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for bringing this up. This is my main beef with the phone coming from my Gnex. Hopefully a fix can be found soon.:good:

My suspicion is that this has to do with noise cancellation. The way noise cancellation works is that there are two different microphones at opposite ends of the phone; the one farther away from your mouth picks up ambient sounds and, more faintly, your voice. The one nearer your mouth picks up ambient sounds and, more loudly, your voice. What gets sent over the phone connection is, effectively, the difference between the signals from the two microphones, leaving mostly your voice.
If the two microphones are roughly equal distances from your mouth, they both pick up your voice about equally strongly, meaning that your voice is mostly filtered out with the rest of the ambient noise. Speakerphone mode disables the noise cancellation, so your voice comes through strongly.

.... as I've said in the second post. Other phones don't have trouble with it.
Send from my iPhone 6s

FormelLMS said:
.... as I've said in the second post. Other phones don't have trouble with it.
Send from my iPhone 6s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. This is not simply a noise cancellation problem IMO. Other phones have noise cancellation too but don't have this problem.

FormelLMS said:
.... as I've said in the second post. Other phones don't have trouble with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for inadvertently repeating what you said in that post; it's been nearly two weeks since then, and I had forgotten it had been previously mentioned.
Perhaps the other phones with noise cancellation that don't exhibit this behavior simply turn it off if a headphone is plugged in. That would make sense for a speaker-only headphone, but not necessarily for a headphone with an inline microphone, where the voice microphone would still be nearer to you than the auxiliary microphone. If that's the case, it would be nice if that setting were exposed as a controllable option.

Please look here and add as many stars, as you all can:
http://code.google.com/p/android/is... 4&colspec=ID Type Status Owner Summary Stars
I'm the only one who has told it to google and with one star I think no one will see this problem there.
So we have to gewt as many stars and comments as possible.

Any developers can help with the build.prop line to disable this?
I remember pm founder of cyanogen mod and he pointed me the line to disable in nexus one..

I heard if you get an external mic it is much better but I haven't tried myself. This is annoying because I usually just use the aux with my nexus s with no problems >.< Anyone out there got any other solutions?

Yea seriously bump on this topic. This is a massive problem..

Have you all voted on Google page for this problem?

FormelLMS said:
Have you all voted on Google page for this problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I voted for 1, lets make another

Yes big problem.. I am driving using speaker phone and I can't hear ****..

mgear356 said:
Yes big problem.. I am driving using speaker phone and I can't hear ****..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the other party not being able to hear when on aux.
Misread.. But Yea if using speakerphone to avoid this problem ull barely be able to hear them, simply not loud enough