Database Users

Volume muffled when set on a flat surface

I've noticed this issue without a case and with the Otterbox.
Ringtone volume is cut in half if it's sitting down on a flat surface. If it's propped up a bit, the volume gets twice as loud, making it easy to hear from another room.
Has anyone else noticed this and done something about it? Was thinking of trying to find something small to stick to the back of the phone that would raise it up a bit when it's set down.

It's just science. Pressing the speaker against a surface will always muffle it. But raising it slightly above a hard surface will cause the sound to reverberate off the surface and will make the volume sound louder.
I have a piece of velcro (the soft side) stuck to the back of my phone where the Google logo is that I use to mount the phone with in my car. It achieves the effect you desire perfectly.

That is because the ringtone sound comes from the speaker on the back of your phone. Cover it up and it is going to get lower. Put it on its face.

kbizzle said:
That is because the ringtone sound comes from the speaker on the back of your phone. Cover it up and it is going to get lower. Put it on its face.
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But, the OP is right that it will actually sound the loudest if you have it on it's back, slightly raised, so the sound is reverberating off the surface. And, if you are using it as a speakerphone, you will muffle the mic by laying it on it's face.
I personally wouldn't have added the velcro just for this reason, but it does come in handy when using speakerphone at my desk.

I can understand the science behind it. I didnt realize he was trying to achieve maximum sound, just that it was going quiet on him. Even with my Diamond, I used to cup my hand around the speaker to direct the sound at my face while I watched Youtube. Still use the technique with my Hero.

The flip side to this is that it seems to have much better sound quality when it's set down on a hard surface. Music sounds much better when my phone is sitting on my desk than when I pick it up or have it in my shirt pocket. Seems to have better bass when lying down, less "tinny" sounding. (Not that you're every going to get *amazing* sound out of such a tiny speaker, though.)

doojer said:
It's just science.
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LOL.
10chars.

Maybe you could design something like this for the Hero.
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/aircurve

Tikerz said:
Maybe you could design something like this for the Hero.
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/aircurve
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or this one
http://blog.makezine.com/iVictrola.jpg

I thought my phone's speaker was broken!!! I wondered why after returning it 4 times, it still sounded muffled when I set it down.
Thanks for all this helpful information.

joelmalachy said:
I thought my phone's speaker was broken!!! I wondered why after returning it 4 times, it still sounded muffled when I set it down.
Thanks for all this helpful information.
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Apparently someone didnt get an A in science!!! Lol.

Hey guys I have a related question. When I SCUBA dive with my phone I can't hear it ring and it gets all messed up when I get out of the water. Anybody else notice this?

scirio said:
Hey guys I have a related question. When I SCUBA dive with my phone I can't hear it ring and it gets all messed up when I get out of the water. Anybody else notice this?
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LOL! Use a ziplock bag.

scirio said:
Hey guys I have a related question. When I SCUBA dive with my phone I can't hear it ring and it gets all messed up when I get out of the water. Anybody else notice this?
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I have a little different problem. When I put my phone on silent mode, I can't hear the phone ring. Is there something wrong with my phone?

Ha ha, here is some more proverbial wood for the fire **wood**. Hopefully it is enough to keep the flame going.

Tikerz said:
I have a little different problem. When I put my phone on silent mode, I can't hear the phone ring. Is there something wrong with my phone?
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I'd take it back to the Sprint store. Something's obviously messed up.

Am I high, or was there really an entire thread created to ask this question.
PS. When my phone rings I pick it up and there seems to be another human at the other end...whats going on here?

coldsweat said:
PS. When my phone rings I pick it up and there seems to be another human at the other end...whats going on here?
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That's just the government spying on you. Nothing to be worried about.

Its the census guy. Tell him nothing!!!!

my new phone is giving me headache. why? this is science. lol new bluetooth.

[MOD] Speaker hole enlargement

Hey all, watching some flash videos today made me notice how poorly the N1 puts sound out the back speaker, even compared to my old G1. I remember back in my Blackberry days that people used to mod the backs to "let more sound get out", and so I started looking into this...
First off, the speaker is GINORMOUS in relation to the slit. If you look inside the back where the speaker is, you can see a little internal grille, and the small slit for sound to escape. There's also a TON more room where that grille isnt attached to the back (same shape as the slit, only about 5x the size) that could be milled out pretty easily, and still retain the "keep crap out of the back" feature of the grille.
So, this leaves me with a few questions:
Where can I get a replacement back, in case my mill catches a bit more than I anticipate?
Anyone else interested? I figure if I set up to do one, I might as well bang a few others out instead of setting up multiple times.
Once I get a second back, I will be going at this with pics and hopefully notable improvement in projecting sound into my hand, and back toward my face!
I might not be a software hacker, but when it comes to this sort of thing, I figure its the best way I can give back to the community!

Give HTC support a call and tell them your cover doesn't line up properly(I don't think any of them do) they'll send you out a replacement. If they don't they can sell you one for ten bucks I think.
Hope to hear good results from your mod, might do it myself.

I actually think the small slit does something to amplify the sound..
Take the back off, play music, put it on. Notice it gets louder when you place it back on..
I don't know though, but I'll be following this thread!

Wisefire said:
I actually think the small slit does something to amplify the sound..
Take the back off, play music, put it on. Notice it gets louder when you place it back on..
I don't know though, but I'll be following this thread!
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Yea, I think the OP should test and see if there's even a noticeable difference without the back cover. I would think not...

Try removing the cover, sounds WAY worse.

Yes, I completely realize the back sounds bad off, its acting as a resonator, or isolating front from back waves of the speaker, which causes phase cancellation. Thus why im not removing the cover, just making the one hole bigger. It SHOULD not lose the "low end" that it has with the back on (if you want to call it that.
Either way, Im hacking at least one up, Ill post results!

Do it. (poor phone!)

I would suggest to replace the speaker with a Desire one, some people who have both phones pretend it's way louder on Desire, and yes it's the same form factor and size so it should fit

It is quite a bit louder without the cover but sounds bad due to the lack of resonance.
Shouldnt be too bad with just an enlargement, make sure you put something to block out dust. Let us know how it goes.

I've found that attaching one of these to the back quite useful...

or try a vuvuzela

I think the engineer who designed that whole was well aware of resonance qualities. If you make that whole and turns out better, you should apply to HTC job hehe...

@Hummeroid
Good idea ...
What about drilling mini-holes arround the "slit" ?
Instead of making ONE BIG hole ...

Very Interesting mod idea...I think the small drilled holes would be an effective test.

Or just cup your left hand around the back of the phone.

I looking for the out come of this.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

mrbkkt1 said:
Or just cup your left hand around the back of the phone.
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hah, I've never seen anyone else do it, but I do this all the time if I'm showing people a video or am in a noisy setting (ie. party)

clickwir said:
hah, I've never seen anyone else do it, but I do this all the time if I'm showing people a video or am in a noisy setting (ie. party)
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Nah, everyone does it.. I mostly do it when I want to listen to something quiet, I can turn it down and redirect the sound towards me.

I actually have a really good pair of earphones. I prefer that the main speaker is in the back, instead of in the earpiece like some phones. Prevents earspeaker blowout and call quality is damn good with this phone so far.

mrbkkt1 said:
Or just cup your left hand around the back of the phone.
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I try to put it up against a wall. Your hand can work to absorb sound waves, thus deadening sound and lowering overall quality; but drywall bounces the sound waves back nearly impeccably. Desks, etc, any hard surface should do the trick.

[Q] Loudspeaker issue ?

HI !
I just bought a DVP a week ago and though I'm very happy with it, I wonder if there isn't a problem with one of the bottom loudspeakers.
To put it shortly, the right one seems to work perfectly well but if I cover it with my thumb or whatever, I realize that the left one emits at a poor volume in comparison.
I thought this problem could come from the fact that they work as a two-ways speaker, the left one being dedicated to high frequencies, the second one to mediums, but frankly it hardly makes sense IMO.
What about you guys ? Do both your speakers emit the exact same sound and volume or do you have this difference too ?
Thanks.

One is a speaker one is a mic. I think it's the one on the right that is the speaker. Can't turn it on at the moment. Its still pretty loud imo.
Sent from my Venue Pro using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

Hey, thanks for the quick answer Kenji, but both of them are speakers according to the user's manual... (implying that user's manuals are always right, of course)
Still no clue on the "should I send it back" question...

magnetarra said:
Hey, thanks for the quick answer Kenji, but both of them are speakers according to the user's manual... (implying that user's manuals are always right, of course)
Still no clue on the "should I send it back" question...
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Don't read too much into the user manual. There's only one loudspeaker, the other grill is for the mic, just like on the iPhone.

I believe one is speaker, the other is mic. At least they were/are in my experience with four venue pros.

Well, what a relief ! That wraps it up.
Thanks for your answers, all of you !

What I don't like about Galaxy Note

To be fair to all those considering Note, after all praising (I still do think it's best phone in the world right now), there are definitely drawbacks.
Here is one for example:
The regular phone speaker above the screen (not the loud one on the back) is not pointing sound into one direction. You can even speak on the phone with back side of Galaxy Note put to you ear, you will still be able to hear everything clearly, even on low volume.
On top volume, it is comparable to speaker phone on some other phones, so if you pick up a phone while surrounded by other people (unless you are in very loud place) they will hear the other person.
While in the office, I noticed myself turning volume down a lot when I pick up the phone.

I dont have this kind of problem , my old Nokia phone does.
Sure someone can hear some of the content near the phone you are talking in a dead silent arwa, it's inevitable.
I feel Gnote already perform quite well compare to the other phones, like HTCs in this area
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App

to be honest id rather it was loud and have the ability to turn the volume down than it be too quiet and unable to turn the volume up
as my mum used to say,if its cold its better to have a coat and be able to take it off if you get hot than be cold and need a coat and not have one

Richy99 said:
to be honest id rather it was loud and have the ability to turn the volume down than it be too quiet and unable to turn the volume up
as my mum used to say,if its cold its better to have a coat and be able to take it off if you get hot than be cold and need a coat and not have one
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It's not a question of whether badly working phone is better than no phone. It's a question of best phone being of high quality. In this case its potential privacy concern.
I switched from iPhones, where it was not an issue. If you put it tight to your ear in silent room, none else hears the person on the other end. Even on loud.
Like I've said above, on Note in silent room regular speaker (not the loud speaker) is comparable to loud speaker on some other phones. You can hear through the phone! Test yourself, make a call with screen side out, battery cover side to your ear, you might be surprised, that it's practically no difference what side you hold it to the ear, even on lowest in-call volume you can still comfortably speak with wrong side of the phone touching your ear.
I have not tried other Notes than mine, but I seriously doubt that it is one time occurrence, seems to me like an engineering issue, not enough sound insulation behind the speaker, just few thin layers of plastic.

If it is such a privacy concern, why not use a bluetooth headset or earbuds? Why not leave the room instead of taking the call in the room?
I mean there are more options that just sitting there letting everyone else hear your conversation if you feel that you have something to hide. But then again, your talking so they naturally are going to hear at least 1 part of the conversation no matter what. So I fail to see how you can really be concerned with privacy when they hear everything you say anyways, right?
If you were that worried about privacy you would send texts, emails or use an IM program to send messages so that no one knew what was being said or talked about. But since you are willing to sit in the room and let them listen to what at least you are saying, then you are not overly concerned with them at least hearing part of the conversation.
When I get a call that I dont want anyone else to hear I either leave the room, put on my earbuds or tell the person I will call them back when I can talk. So really it isnt about privacy concerns at all, it is just an inconvience for you to know that the speaker is loud. Louder than you are used to at least.

Fuuny that you mention this because i never thought i'll use those bt headsets until i own the Note. Each time i put it in my ear, my worry is not the volume but the number of heads turning towards me and the the sheepish grin that follows.
--- --- --- ---
A damn proud Galaxy Note owner.

Maybe try turn down the volume and using a case.
I wonder how those HTC phones perform because they all have ear speakers that are wide across the width of the phone itself.

eksasol said:
Maybe try turn down the volume and using a case.
I wonder how those HTC phones perform because they all have ear speakers that are wide across the width of the phone itself.
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Lol..the speaker grill on HTC phone what we call it, is just a gimmick. If we see inside, the speaker none the less is only small portion on the middle side
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App

Astrum said:
While in the office, I noticed myself turning volume down a lot when I pick up the phone.
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That's a really good point. Something else to improve in the Note2 along with moving power button!
Sent from my Amiga GT-N7000 using XDA Premium.

Something loose on the inside?

Helloooo everyone. I only have one question, want to confirm or debunk something with the wider group of people. I may be just over reacting but thats just the jewish part of me considering the rma or a refund, kidding, lol. Whenever I shake my phone by the ear I can hear a lil something being loose in the case of my g6. Do You also experience the same thing? Can it truly be the autofocus thingy, or something else?

I don't hear anything when I shake my phone. Is it your phone, or do you have your phone in a case? If so, have you tried removing and shaking both separately?
Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

Well, it happens with a firm shake, and the vibration inside is very delicate. Appreciate the feedback

It could be the OIS on the main camera. I don't hear a shaking but my hearing isn't that good either lol

It's the camera stability, it's perfectly normal. If you put your ear next the the camera and shake the phone quickly you should hear it. Also try it while the camera app is open and the stability is working, you shouldn't hear anything.

Damn, I can hear it just the same with the camera app.
DVC1985 said:
It's the camera stability, it's perfectly normal. If you put your ear next the the camera and shake the phone quickly you should hear it. Also try it while the camera app is open and the stability is working, you shouldn't hear anything.
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Is it because of them dual lenses? The sound does diminish depending on the lense Im using.

CaIJeT09 said:
Damn, I can hear it just the same with the camera app.
Is it because of them dual lenses? The sound does diminish depending on the lense Im using.
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I can hear it and i think thats perfectly normal, probably for every phone. Don't really know what it is but i was always suspecting it was gyroscope or something like that. My LG G3 also had this same sound when shaking.

CaIJeT09 said:
Damn, I can hear it just the same with the camera app.
Is it because of them dual lenses? The sound does diminish depending on the lense Im using.
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It's OIS, or optical image stabilization.

Ok. Thank You all for help! I get real concerned really easy. I only bought my G6 a few days ago. If it wasnt for my 4yo daughter pushing the sim needle into the sound cancellation mic hole on top during my brief absence in the room right after I brought the thing home Id be completely chill rofl. )

Sorry to reply years later, but I just dropped my G6 and then tested it, and shook it hard, and noticed same rattling lol. I took my fiancé's iPhone that also has OIS etc, iPhone 6S that is, and although it sounds tinier, the rattle is still there.
The reason why some owners don't notice the rattle and some do, is because it solely depends on how hard they're shaking their phone AND the direction or way they're shaking it. That is all there is to it.
Your phone is awesome and not broken, at least when it comes to this. You might have a totally different phone by now lol!
Cheers!