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Improve outgoing sound quality in calls?

The out-going sound quality from Galaxy S during calls is bad:
- very little comfort noise (line sounds 'dead')
- overly tight noise filter that cuts of aspiration in certain natural speech sounds, making words cut off
- boxy, almost cardboard box type effect
- very high distortion
All this with the internal mic in a silent environment (no wind, noise), in a perfect network condition and in 3G or 2G.
Has anybody found a fix for this?
Upgrading the ROM up to XWJM5 (XXJM3 baseband) has not changed the sound quality at all.

I surely cannot be the only one who has noticed this?
Has any brave service menu tweaker found settings that relate to the microphones and/or noise-gates?

The only time that I get any sound distortion is when I make a call in less that ideal signal conditions. When I make calls and am in a a 4 bar signal region, the sound is as clear as a bell.

It's become clear that the microphone/drivers/implementation has some issues with distortion. Here's a thread about it, but no one has succeeded in fixing it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=721069

Hay Vasra. I just noticed your post today. I am having the exact same issues and am awaiting a replacement (they are all sold out) It is indeed extremely horrible for myself and my GF. I was thinking it was an isolated problem. I spent a lot of time searching for other people with the same problem, but have only found yours. Here is a link to the post i made this morning, i described it quite a bit different, but seems identical to what your saying.. just a lil more technical.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=776096
I'll be keeping a close eye on this thread and the thread that was posted in the 3Rd reply.

Thanks for the updates.
I originally thought that the video recording's sound quality was down to bad codec and auto-gain settings.
However, it could be that this is (also) a driver level issue that affects both video recordings AND speech calls (outgoing sound quality).

Or it could be that samsung put a cheap mic in the phone I was talking to my barber who just got his vibrant and he sounded like a tin can or on a cheap phone. This is said. ..gonna get my galaxy s on Wednesday and now I feel like cancelling my order.

Well. I finally got my replacement. The sound quality is 110% better. Even the gps is working perfect. The sales guy said that nearly every one of the units from the first batch were returned as defective. The 3 button recovery and download is even working on both of the replacement units. Finally! I'm now very very happy with my new galaxy!
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App

Grashoper said:
Well. I finally got my replacement. The sound quality is 110% better. Even the gps is working perfect. The sales guy said that nearly every one of the units from the first batch were returned as defective. The 3 button recovery and download is even working on both of the replacement units. Finally! I'm now very very happy with my new galaxy!
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App
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Very good to hear about your new unit being improved.
I think it's time to take mine back to the shop as well.

video on how terrible the speaker is

just found a video on youtube that shows how bad the speaker is on the hd compared to a old n95

Yeah the speaker sucks, my old phone was the N95 and the speakers on that are a lot better than the DHD I have now.

who knows;9118124 just found a video on youtube that shows how bad the speaker is on the hd compared to a old n95
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I agree that the speaker on DHD is be low and "terrible" to people but I don't think it is fair to compare it to the nokia n95 which I think probably have one of the best speakerS (since it has 2 huge external speakers). Nokia is known for being a great music phone too.

aah, the N95, amazing sound. Used to have it for a long time, then got my first HTC (touch HD) and was extremely disappointed with the sound quality, and now that I got the desire hd, my ears got used to the crappy low-tech sound quality! well you cant have them all in one phone

wonder
I just wonder if there is HW problem with speaker or its simply limited by software ? because I really couldnt belive that it would be that big problem to add louder speaker..

To start with, I made that comparison video. So if you have any questions, feel free to ask!
I am utterly disappointed by the speaker quality of the Desire HD.
I fear that this is hardware related, as the speakers sound very high-pitched, without any low tones at all. Also, when at maximum volume playing high toned music, the sound starts to distort and crackle. As you can hear, you can hear the low tones pretty loud and clear on the N95, but on the Desire HD, you can't hear it at all. The volume is noticeably about 2.5x louder on the N95.
If you compare the Desire HD with the Galaxy S, you will quickly notice that the Galaxy S has even better speakers than the N95, with plenty of low tones, at a high volume. The volume of the Galaxy S is many times higher and clearer than the Desire HD.
All of this leads me to conclude that for a flagship phone as the Desire HD is, it really has crappy speakers, and I truly don't understand how they could make a ****up like this. How much would good speakers cost anyway? Cents?
I expect a flagship multimedia phone like the Desire HD is to have proper speakers, comparable or better than we had in the N95 time (the flagship multimedia phone 3+ years ago). Samsung seems not to have any trouble to achieve this, but for some reason HTC didn't -utterly unexpected-.
Now let me be clear: even with the bad speakers, the Desire HD is a much better choice than the Galaxy S for several reasons, but really, HOW THE HELL have they achieved to fail so miserably on this point?? I'll make another video soon to compare speakers of the Desire HD against the Galaxy S. Also check out the other video's in my channel, rate and comment!

I think in general HTC's phones have sucky speakers, even that new HTC 7 phone with that big speaker isn't that impressive.

tried poweramp and turned they volumes up on that and it just crackled looks like its gunna be a replacement speaker hopefully the samsung galaxy s is similar in design, if so ill try and make it fit lol

What a shame on DHD about that poor loudspeakers. I do not care about music because I am sure that most of people are using headphones like Sennheisser or something like that but about ring loudness and vibration feeling, it really sucks.
You pay so much to this phone and knowing that you will be left with those speakers are really annoying.

M
eozen81 said:
What a shame on DHD about that poor loudspeakers. I do not care about music because I am sure that most of people are using headphones like Sennheisser or something like that but about ring loudness and vibration feeling, it really sucks.
You pay so much to this phone and knowing that you will be left with those speakers are really annoying.
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The most Annoying thing is that I can't even hear it in my pocket as a matter of fact the speaker is so bad I even managed to miss 3 calls when the phone was layed speaker side down on the floor even though I was in the same room, really annoying

who knows said:
I even managed to miss 3 calls when the phone was layed speaker side down on the floor even though I was in the same room, really annoying
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Sorry but this seems a bit exagerated! You're saying that having the dhd on the floor and being you in the same room, you couldn't hear a phone call? Come on..you were looking to TV with highest volume, or listening to music with earphones, or something similar...otherwise, sorry, I can't believe you!
Anyway, apart from this, I admit the speaker is really CRAP. I hate this. Hopefully vibration is good enough to feel the phone vibrating in your pocket, because the speaker could make you miss calls when in a sound-crouded area.
p.s. did we all have N95s before the dhd?? I had the 8Gb and...its screen has gone! It had the greatest speakers I have ever heard anyway, so the comparison is not that fair. Most phones don't have good speakers, but the one on the dhd is really RIDICOLOUS!

ErMeglio said:
Sorry but this seems a bit exagerated! You're saying that having the dhd on the floor and being you in the same room, you couldn't hear a phone call? Come on..you were looking to TV with highest volume, or listening to music with earphones, or something similar...otherwise, sorry, I can't believe you!
Anyway, apart from this, I admit the speaker is really CRAP. I hate this. Hopefully vibration is good enough to feel the phone vibrating in your pocket, because the speaker could make you miss calls when in a sound-crouded area.
p.s. did we all have N95s before the dhd?? I had the 8Gb and...it's screen has gone! It had the greatest speakers I have ever heard anyway, so the comparison is not that fair. Most phones don't have good speakers, but the one on the dhd is really RIDICOLOUS!
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i was watching tv, and the phone was around 5/6 meters away and i didnt have vibration on.. to be honest i couldnt believe it myself i even rang the phone to see if any music was playing lol

so how is in-call volume? is it just external sound or in-call volume sucks too?

That extremely inaccurate, the speaker, if configured properly is very very good. I an audiophile, I love sound quality, I've experienced many devices. The Desire Hd stands out by far for the smartphone category. N97? Come on. I be owned one of these they were decent..
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

007K said:
That extremely inaccurate, the speaker, if configured properly is very very good. I an audiophile, I love sound quality, I've experienced many devices. The Desire Hd stands out by far for the smartphone category. N97? Come on. I be owned one of these they were decent..
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
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So that would mean that all of us have faulty speakers.
Someone else also said his speakers were great, so I guess a few people got decent ones.

Can we use SE Live View with this ? Does it have better speakers than this ? A option for not missing the calls ??
P.S- I m yet to buy DHD

007K said:
That extremely inaccurate, the speaker, if configured properly is very very good. I an audiophile, I love sound quality, I've experienced many devices. The Desire Hd stands out by far for the smartphone category. N97? Come on. I be owned one of these they were decent..
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
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Are you sure you are talking about de DHD? And how did you configure it properly, besides changing volume settings?

hansvk said:
And how did you configure it properly, besides changing volume settings?
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I don't know how he configured his DHD properly, but i think on DHD there're much more options to optimize sound quality than changing volume. I think abound de-/activate SRS and/or dolby mobile and there should be also an equalizer be integrated.
Think about that you shouln'd compare the quality of sound with any other devices than other smartphones or mobiles.

I've registered just to post a comment on the speaker quality. It's terrible. I'm not talking about headphones or the internal speaker. Specifically the loudspeaker. It's tinny, clips at higher volumes, and is worse than phones I had more than 5 years ago. I'm seriously considering sending the phone back on this basis.

Yep they are crap. I can't believe they've put something like this in one of the most expensive devices on the market.
Yesterday I was watching an episode of Family Guy and the quality of the sound was terrible. I thought it could be because of the codecs I used to convert the vid. I tried few mp3s (256bit) still crap. The louder I've put the volume the lower the quality went. Very very disappointing.
Still though... I love the phone and wouldn't change it for anything else. I wasn't expecting to get All-in-one device.

Atrix call volume

hello everyone can someone tell me how is the call volume on atrix? is it low like sony ericsson x10? i really want to get this phone but cant decide between this and nexus s and arc. and i live in canada. and does atrix in canada really crappy? like people here says or is it only the at&t version.

I have the AT&T version and I don't have a problem with the volume, but some people say that I sound a little garbled but still clear enough to have conversation without repeating anything.

I find the call quality the same, if not, better than my iphone 4 - and on par with my Nexus S

All volumes on the Atrix are the best of any phone I have ever owned. On some phones I had to run call and speakerphone volume full. On Atrix, I run them at about 50%, turning them up (way up) only when in a noisy situation. It is more distorted at max volume (as one would expect) but at normal volumes it is fine.

I have the Bell version of the phone and the call volumes are actually very loud. I have it on 50% and it is very loud and clear. Voice quality has been excellent on my phone so far. I am coming from an Nokia N97 and this phone is simply several notches better in terms of call quality and clarity.

I have no probleme with volume, but have in quality sound :S

I find the speaker phone sound quality out to recipient leaves a bit to be desired...

sofia-captivate said:
hello everyone can someone tell me how is the call volume on atrix? is it low like sony ericsson x10? i really want to get this phone but cant decide between this and nexus s and arc. and i live in canada. and does atrix in canada really crappy? like people here says or is it only the at&t version.
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The Atrix's speaker and volume is in another league compared to my Nexus One. When I called my friends, they were surprised that I was calling from a cell phone. They register the call as clear and crisp without much background noise (I'm in a noisy room though). On my end, I have to lower the volume of the phone cause max is just too loud. If you use your phone for the functionality of a phone, then definitely look into the Atrix. You can actually go into a Bell store and try their model phone out and call a friend to see how good it is Just be warn that the camera leaves much to be desired, lol.

The Atrix is the first smartphone that I have had that pleased me as much as a phone as it did as a gadget. I have had Motorola MPX220 (flip) windows phone, Motorola Q9H (2 different times) Google Nexus One, Dell Streak, and finally the Atrix. I love the Atrix the best of them all.

outstanding voice quality

Had mine for 10 days now and love it,most impressed with the call quality i am a bit deaf through work related noise and have no trouble hearing people on the phone.

I agree, first time I answered a call I thought I'd accidentally enabled loudspeaker, it was crystal clear

Same here, the call quality is pretty clear and loud for me too

rongaster said:
Had mine for 10 days now and love it,most impressed with the call quality i am a bit deaf through work related noise and have no trouble hearing people on the phone.
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same here ...luv this fone

I have no complaints regarding voice quality with this phone

Michealtbh said:
I agree, first time I answered a call I thought I'd accidentally enabled loudspeaker, it was crystal clear
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Hhahah I can relate to this. I took a call yesterday and I actually hit the loudspeaker button because I thought it was already on, to my surprise the sound got even louder Imagine my confusion

The first time I took a call I was a bit confused if I was on loud speaker or not.
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app

Yep, Voice quality of Z1 is fantastic:victory: Probably the best among the smart phones I purchased over the years.

Absolutely second that. I got it the day before yesterday and the voice qulaity is a pleasant surprise. Love the phone.. It is growing on me.. It can only get better..

I am extremely pleased to hear this, but why in the world does every review I read say otherwise about the call quality? Phone Arena did a test against the G2 and said the G2 performed way better in call quality and that they were disappointed in the Z1 for "premium smartphone."
As each day goes by, I realize more and more that I can't trust internet reviews. Sad really Thank you guys for reporting on the call quality! Can't wait to get mine tomorrow.
-Collin-

If the G2 beats the Z1 then it must be out of this world. The Z1 is loud, punchy and very clear.
As said above, you will almost certainly panic that speakerphone is enabled by mistake the first time.

jonmorris said:
If the G2 beats the Z1 then it must be out of this world. The Z1 is loud, punchy and very clear.
As said above, you will almost certainly panic that speakerphone is enabled by mistake the first time.
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This just blows my mind. They referred to it as too "boomy." Maybe it's just too loud for their tastes.
I had the G2 for two weeks and it was, well, no better than any other phone I had lol.
-Collin-

Did they not know you can turn the volume down?!

jonmorris said:
Did they not know you can turn the volume down?!
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Here's the excerpt:
It didn't take us long to conclude that the LG G2 performs better during phone calls. Its earpiece sounds loud and clear even when its volume isn't set to the maximum. It can go even louder if needed, but that takes a toll on sound quality. The earpiece on the Xperia Z1, on the other hand, sounds too boomy regardless of its volume setting. It is okay, but we were expecting more out of a premium smartphone. Thankfully, better results can be achieved by tweaking the in-call sound equalizer. Its microphone performs well, delivering loud voice tones on the other side of the line.

I find my earpiece speaker brilliant, but my loudspeaker is quieter than the earpiece speaker :s... yes it's full volume

wezzel98765 said:
I find my earpiece speaker brilliant, but my loudspeaker is quieter than the earpiece speaker :s... yes it's full volume
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Speaker volume is not the best on the z1 and its mainly because of the waterproofing.

I'm absolutely in love with my Z1, but it is true that call quality could be better... If you really split hairs.
I sold my iPhone 5 3 weeks ago in order to get the Z1.
From iPhone 5 to iPhone 5 on a network that supports Hd voice, the call quality did sound like a crystal clear Skype connection or like a CD...
I'm still on the same network supporting Hd voice and I still call iPhone 5s, but the person although loud and clear now sounds ever so slightly more as if they are on a phone...
Although the feedback I'm getting from the other side is that there is no difference in how I sound compared with my previous iPhone 5.
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app

Johann_London said:
I'm absolutely in love with my Z1, but it is true that call quality could be better... If you really split hairs.
I sold my iPhone 5 3 weeks ago in order to get the Z1.
From iPhone 5 to iPhone 5 on a network that supports Hd voice, the call quality did sound like a crystal clear Skype connection or like a CD...
I'm still on the same network supporting Hd voice and I still call iPhone 5s, but the person although loud and clear now sounds ever so slightly more as if they are on a phone...
Although the feedback I'm getting from the other side is that there is no difference in how I sound compared with my previous iPhone 5.
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app
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This is interesting. I have a 5s and now the Z1 as of today. I can't (or haven't actually been able to) tell when I'm on HD Voice or not! My wife has an S4 and we're both on T-mobile. Calling her should be on HD Voice right?
-Collin-

I can't say the Z1 is the best phone around for voice quality, but it's the best phone I've personally used - and that includes previous Xperia phones.
If you can get better, great, but I think it's extremely clear, loud, punchy and would not cause any problems if I was out in a very loud environment.

CollinFX45 said:
This is interesting. I have a 5s and now the Z1 as of today. I can't (or haven't actually been able to) tell when I'm on HD Voice or not! My wife has an S4 and we're both on T-mobile. Calling her should be on HD Voice right?
-Collin-
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Hey Collin
Yeah... I'm not sure how you would be certain that it works. Maybe call your carrier?
See I immediately noticed the HD voice when I upgraded from my iPhone 4 to 5.
It was crystal clear and you could hear a pin drop during the silent periods.
Then when I got the Z1 that absolute clarity was somewhat lost, but like I said the quality is still very good and it honestly doesn't bother me.
There are too many other reasons why I love this phone.
Besides the HD voice although nice, wouldn't be a deciding factor in why I'm getting a particular phone.
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app

Bad Voice Quality

Hello, I am from Austria and since the X Force ist now available in my country I immediately ordered it. I really love this Phone hence one thing. Voice quality when calling is really bad.
When calling I can barely hear my partner, there is a lot of noise which sounds like some interference from somewhere. It actually depends on whom I am calling though. Mobile to Mobile is quite bad, Mobile to landline is ok! Is there anyone else having these issues? I can still get it replaced by Amazon, but the Rest of the Phone works perfectly so I don't really want to have it replaced.

Hi , received too my MFX this week here in switzerland, GSM/3G call quality is good nothing to complain. Same good quality with Whatsapp calls . Noise reduction works pretty well too people hear me loud and clear .

We've got 3 Turbo 2's since mid-November, and the voice quality has actually been excellent. It's especially remarkable with "HD Voice" courtesy of Verizon's "advanced calling" when that's available - truly the best voice quality I've experienced on any mobile device.