Database Users

[Update] Earpiece and voicecall quality

How do you find the Earpiece sound quality and voicecall performance compared to previous owned phones?
I think too many people where unhappy with the device because of the phone performance in general. I can't understand how such basic features where not treated as top priority specs.
It's " Who cares " typo sorry, not possible to edit the poll.
Thanks
EDIT: FLashed Radio 2.06 and voicecall quality is better but STILL CRACKLES

i find the sound quality is weird with this phone i.e.
rear speaker = loud but tinny, and seems that anymore than 70% volume and the software overpowers the actual speaker and causes distortion
headphones = ok sound quality very vocal friendly, quite nice for ambient vocal tracks, soft and fluff sound, i used shure se310 headphones so some of the best around
call earphone = very bad, even with the volume very low it still distorts when people talk, im not sure why this is and i thought it was a damaged speaker but its as if the sound is to harsh with the high feq.... so only call or accept calls from people with deep voices lol

It isn't necessarily the ear piece that's the problem, it's the VOLUME being pumped through it. The volume on my HD2 is ridiculously loud so I'm not surprised that my speaker is popping and distorting!

i went with the "it could be better" option
i always find myself switching to the speaker, then going back (repaeat cycle over and over with each call just trying to find an easy way to make out what people are saying.
a couple of mods would ultimately fix it, but im happy that the speaker is loud. Which kinda means its got the Umpgh
i use the headphines for music, i switched into an inear buds. it really makes a difference

tripleA said:
i went with the "it could be better" option
i always find myself switching to the speaker, then going back (repaeat cycle over and over with each call just trying to find an easy way to make out what people are saying.
a couple of mods would ultimately fix it, but im happy that the speaker is loud. Which kinda means its got the Umpgh
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but it's TOO LOUD. I wouldn't mind if it went loud but I also want it to go quiet too, it's way too loud at the lowest volume setting. I can't use the speakerphone at all, it is destroying itself with distortion. I actually can't use the earpiece close to my ear either, due to criminally high volume. I use the earphone as a speakerphone - I kid you not. I don't know if it's just certain batches but my HD2 would be suitable for almost-deaf people.

Actually the keypad tones also are WAY TOO LOUD! I was in a meeting and it was like everyone was trying to find out where the was sound coming from... I had to turn it off.. a shame..

Not to forget also the pain the earpiece causes during phone calls. This thing is really sharp !!!

In terms of HTC phones, I've had the Kaiser and Raphael before the HD2, and I must say that the call quality on the HD2 is the best of the three! This wold be both through the speaker on the back (speaker phone) and through the earpiece.
I agree that the initial volume was way too loud, however there is a tweak somewhere on the board where you edit a registry entry for initial call volume, and that helped tremendously. So I'm actually quite pleased.

People who made the HD2 @ HTC Tech.. were a little bit deaf I think..
Bad speaker quality because of distortion and popping

Bouloama said:
People who made the HD2 @ HTC Tech.. were a little bit deaf I think..
Bad speaker quality because of distortion and popping
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I think so, I am gonna try the registry tweak; hopefully it's gonna work.

voicecall is pretty bad because of the random noise similar to radio static. This nosie is particularly noticed when no one is speaking.

spastik said:
voicecall is pretty bad because of the random noise similar to radio static. This nosie is particularly noticed when no one is speaking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here ... someone spoke with HTC about this issue !?!?!?

I am not really bothered by the noise but by the poping and cracking sound the earpiece makes.

The registry tweak did not work for me as I expected
I will have to wait for a hotfix if any... I hope HTC will consider this issue...

spastik said:
voicecall is pretty bad because of the random noise similar to radio static. This nosie is particularly noticed when no one is speaking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have had the phone for only about a week but no issues with random noise. I do find that the loudspeaker distorts @ max volume, but just one notch below that and it's ok.
think the Touch HD has better earpiece / loudspeaker, but the HD2 can output higher volume on loudspeaker compared to the HD, so that's a plus.
maybe it's an issue with your phone operator?

For people who experience the background noise - Have you tried (if possible) both GSM and UMTS/HSPA (3G)?...

Fatherboard said:
For people who experience the background noise - Have you tried (if possible) both GSM and UMTS/HSPA (3G)?...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yaah unfortunately that did not help

What tweaks worked for you guys to eliminate the distortion? when I lower the volume I keep hearing like a popping sound and cracks even with the headset.
Any idea? thanks.

aussiebum said:
have had the phone for only about a week but no issues with random noise. I do find that the loudspeaker distorts @ max volume, but just one notch below that and it's ok.
think the Touch HD has better earpiece / loudspeaker, but the HD2 can output higher volume on loudspeaker compared to the HD, so that's a plus.
maybe it's an issue with your phone operator?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt that this is an operator related problem since my previous phone worked OK with this sim card.
Fatherboard said:
For people who experience the background noise - Have you tried (if possible) both GSM and UMTS/HSPA (3G)?...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently I'm only using GSM network but I will try making phone calls using UMTS. Don't think that will solve this problem though.
About tweaks I haven't tried any because all tweaks I saw were related to the distortion due to extremely high volume (which is not my case).

spastik said:
About tweaks I haven't tried any because all tweaks I saw were related to the distortion due to extremely high volume (which is not my case).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, I need to remove the cracking noise, more like filtering the call quality, it's not a hardware fault im sure.

Htc hd2 sound quality

When I talk on this phone, the sound is very poor... Although not too loud (like other complaints) but the sound crackles at high frequencies... The speakerphone is even worse...
Is anyone aware of some tweaks to improve communication sound on this phone?
Can AudioBooster be set up to work with the phone's sound not only the music player? Any other options ???
Thank you in advance.

Sui Generis said:
When I talk on this phone, the sound is very poor... Although not too loud (like other complaints) but the sound crackles at high frequencies... The speakerphone is even worse...
Is anyone aware of some tweaks to improve communication sound on this phone?
Can AudioBooster be set up to work with the phone's sound not only the music player? Any other options ???
Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the high volume on this phone is artificially boosted over what it's meant to be, i.e. HTC have modified the audiopara (or something like that) in the Windows folder to try and boost the speakers sound over what it's meant to be.
(Something that ROM coookers figured out on the Diamond I think).
I think, maybe someone can reduce those values back to normal? The speaker will be a little quieter, but it won't crackle or distort as much.

Sui Generis said:
When I talk on this phone, the sound is very poor... Although not too loud (like other complaints) but the sound crackles at high frequencies... The speakerphone is even worse...
Is anyone aware of some tweaks to improve communication sound on this phone?
Can AudioBooster be set up to work with the phone's sound not only the music player? Any other options ???
Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How big are these sound crackes...are these continous or at high volume ...

hi
i have the same problem , maybe ill try lower the sound down a bit? or opfully there might be a patch to fix this ?

same problem here

same problem... crackling noise in speaker. Many seem to have this :/

I have same problem and I hope someone will fix this.
Any news?

YES
Change radio!!! without 576MB RAM fix

sound quality
same here the sound quality from both the earpiece and loudspeaker is very poor quality ihave had my phone replaced 3 times and its the same on all , very dissapointing on a phone of this quality bearing in mind its main function is as a phone !!

Zenk_77 said:
YES
Change radio!!! without 576MB RAM fix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which radio do you recommend? I have Leo_RADIO_2.07.50.27_2 and a terrible sound while on the phone.
Sound is to loud, impossible to lower volume enough. Much distortion even at lowest volume (which still is to loud). Bad sound in cable handsfree and BT handsfree.
Soundquality while playing music on the other hand is perfect in speaker, handsfree and BT handsfree.
Suggestions?

Since sound is often a pretty subjective matter, so I'd like to interject that the phone network only transmits from around 300 Hz to 3,000 Hz. Therefore the sound of a voice over your phone will never sound as clear and nice as it should, let alone like the 192 kbps-MP3-file you are playing
If it's worse compared to other phones however it's, as stated above, likely a problem with the radio. I use the 2.08.50.08_2 from [REF]The HTC HD2 Radio ROM Thread and have a quite decent quality.

I agree totally - if it sounds good or bad is individually. But, the sound quality in my HD2 is far worse than in my 5 years old SonyEricsson, and when I borrowed a Nokia the other day I was surprised how good (clear, crisp, distorsion free) a cell phone can sound.
I have a lot of distorsion and all too loud sound. Often I have to hold my phone 20 cm away from my ear just to avoid getting half deaf..
Thanks for the tip, I'll try the 2.08.50.08_2 Radio and hope for a better sound

you can try this hotfix...worked very well @my hd2
i got this from another forum.
little info: some users said that the soundlevel is now always set up to 100%...but try it on your own!

Köttel said:
you can try this hotfix...worked very well @my hd2
i got this from another forum.
little info: some users said that the soundlevel is now always set up to 100%...but try it on your own!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, trying it now, will report back after tomorrow's hardcore testing at work..

Return it if you can...
I had Nokia E71 before and it's speaker is fo another level better than HD2... BUT, question is: when I'm gonna use speakerphone on my HD2? ... almost never

Seems better, but a little to subjective at the moment. Will keep trying and report back!

Definitely better after the patch. Quite good actually. I have not seen any side effects yet, only clear sound, and better volume.
Thanks for the hotfix!
Will try it on my colleague's phone also now.

sound quality
I used the hotfix as well but it appears to have made no difference whatsoever to the quality of sound during calls , so my phone is going back to htc again and if it returns with the same issues i will ask for a replacement as due to the ammoun of posts on here this is a major flaw in the phone and a highly irritating one too , i love this phone but the audio quality during calls is appalling in comparison to all my previous phones .

After a couple more days of testing I found out that the patch gave no effect at all. BUT: I found out another thing: Even though the system volume is at lowest according to the meter, if you increase, you actually lower the volume. So, if you during a call first increase and then decrease the volume, it gets acceptable. Still to loud though.
So, it seems like what HTC really should do is to get the dialer use the sound mixer properly. Today it is obviously oversteering which creates distorsion.

this is a war we won't win
Stor-Anders said:
After a couple more days of testing I found out that the patch gave no effect at all. BUT: I found out another thing: Even though the system volume is at lowest according to the meter, if you increase, you actually lower the volume. So, if you during a call first increase and then decrease the volume, it gets acceptable. Still to loud though.
So, it seems like what HTC really should do is to get the dialer use the sound mixer properly. Today it is obviously oversteering which creates distorsion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've bought my HD2 back in Dec the 11th and since then I've been in contact with HTC about fixing this problem. They've given me a debug tool to run on my device, sent the logs twice and so far they've done nothing about it. I've given up. What I do for outgoing calls, while it rings I turn the volume all the way up and then all the way down before the other party answers. doing this you get a decent sound. Can't do much about the incoming calls,
As far as flashing different radios and roms... I've flashed about 30time already. tried all the possible radio/rom combinations but with only slight different results. Nothing to brag about!
the fix I attached helps a little bit!
If anybody finds and cure let us all know! please!!!!!

Is the sound problem hardwer or softwer issue ?

ok .. i like my x10
but i always ask about this issue is it hardwer or softwer
can any one help .. .
thx

software issue

When you say sound do you mean call sound and the Mic picking up lots of background noise? That seems to be a big thing for me and its quite bothersome
Sent from my X10i using XDA App

The sound on mine is horrible too. I really hope it is software but I have a hard time seeing that being true.
I always get told how bad it sounds when I talk to people on it, sounds fuzzy apparently and I always have a hard time hearing people some times.
Please be software!

i mean by sound of the x10
te general sound
for me i care about the headphone or when i use the phone aux with my car
and ply some music the sound is low .. to low
even when i walk around with earjaks .. i can hear everything around even if the level is the most ....
so i hope its softwer thing

Yeah that is also a bad feature of the phone. You'd think Sony would have tried to incorporate their Walkman expertise in this.. but yet Walkman isn't even a name anymore. Just forgotten.
Also if you put the volume too high it gets crackily.

The problem can be either software or hardware. If the DAC they have has terrible resolution or their algorithm for sound isn't up to the task the sound will be bad. Or even under-driving the speakers.
But anyway, I've noticed the in-call speaker for the x10 is very directional, meaning it doesn't let sound radiate out from what I can tell. This might sound silly, but it worked/works for me, just slide the phone around on your ear a bit until you find a "sweet spot" that maximizes the sound.
Mine was relatively low before but now I can hear pretty well. With that said the volume is still pretty low regardless.
EDIT: The x10 uses a separate speaker for audio while not in call, its located at the top left side of the phone. This speaker probably suffers from the same problem as the other one. Except this one is made to radiate.

Sound too quiet, try this.

Hi all,
I've always felt that when playing music on my DHD that it's too quiet, when I've listened to music through my headphones I would say it's acceptable however when I've plugged my DHD into a HiFi or into my stereo in my car I could crank the volume to full control without it been deafening. I happen to find a fix yesterday by accident, I had my DHD plugged into my car stereo and the phone rang, I pulled the audio cable out and answered the phone, when I was done I put the cable back in and immediately I was like WTF just happened now, the music was much louder than what it was before I answered the phone, I would say it was about 30% louder.
I tested my theory by stopping the music and unplugging the cable, plugged the cable back in and started the music, while it was playing I opened the phone and simply dialled any random number and ended the call immediately, when it went back to the music it was most certainly much louder. I've tried it several times now and every time it makes it much louder than what it was before I make a call, I can now no longer turn the stereo full blast as it is simply too loud, just by turning it up to half way I would say it's the equivalent of what it was before when I had it turned up to the maximum.
I'm using Poweramp and I don't know if it's got anything to do with that, I will test it with the built in music player and see what it does. I originally downloaded Poweramp as I thought that the built in music player may be the problem.

i'll repet what you do and post some results... really want a louder volumen in headphones. I plugged my headphone in a Wildfire and it's incredible louder, no talking about an ipod! last week in a party i was ashamed when my friend put off his $50 cell phone and i plugged mine on stereo, so low volume....

wtf, that's true.. really don't understand what the phone turns on!! probably the same thing that volume boost turns on!!

Aha that actually works
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

thiagodark said:
wtf, that's true.. really don't understand what the phone turns on!! probably the same thing that volume boost turns on!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good news, it must be a software bug with the volume control.

works here too.. atleast on poweramp and soundcloud, didnt hear any difference on spotify

MarkieSA said:
Good news, it must be a software bug with the volume control.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
let's hope someone let this bug permanently turned on, with no call trick...

Haha! Tried it myself, and it works! Awesome!

I found using shazzam or sound hound while music was playing caused it to go louder. Seems to be when the mic is initialised. Noticed this two days ago
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

Interesting find.
I've noticed a couple of ROMS which suggest better audio volume by 20%.
For example this one. (Speaker Boost +20%)
So somehow, somewhere the bug or issue has been fixed or improved.

Grant Barker said:
Interesting find.
I've noticed a couple of ROMS which suggest better audio volume by 20%.
For example this one. (Speaker Boost +20%)
So somehow, somewhere the bug or issue has been fixed or improved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really, i'm using that rom right now, and what it makes is improve SPEAKER volume, not from headphone. I made my tests in Android Revolution rom and can confirm that headphone is as quiet as stock rom, and it is improved by the "call trick"!

Thanks for sharing! I was experimenting a bit, and it seems like the simplest way to boost the volume is to make a call while music is already playing. The call MUST connect though, or the volume will revert to normal levels. Tested with Winamp.

Maybe have one of the dev's ask to look into this.
If this is different from the already increased speaker volume output, it probably is a bug that can be fixed / feature that can be 'un-featured'

works fine

I had similar experience with my laptop. When listening a mp3 file, the sound coming out from my laptop seems like no effects, standard sound without bass and treble effect. Have to play a movie file first together and stop the.movie make the song hear with the effect.
I believe this issue coming from my sound driver. Using another OS in same laptop. The sound play normally with no issue.
For our Android, it's about the sound driver too?

well well, i just noticed that in the Android Revolution 4 (leaked gingerbread based), the sound is improved by default, no needing the call workaround, looks like HTC fixed the strange bug for the next version...
i just wanted to share!
edit: if someone could try to confirm it, i'll appreciate! =o)

sound problem
hey guys i'm new to this forum, i would appreciate if anyone could help me..
my DHD tones(just keyboard sound, lock sound, shutter sound) have came very low and i can burly hear it.. i turned all the volumes to the max but it's still very low, can anyone help me with that?

indramino said:
hey guys i'm new to this forum, i would appreciate if anyone could help me..
my DHD tones(just keyboard sound, lock sound, shutter sound) have came very low and i can burly hear it.. i turned all the volumes to the max but it's still very low, can anyone help me with that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem, go to the Market and download "Volume Ace".

MarkieSA, you're an accident hero.
I noticed sometimes my DHD volume suddenly were loud . If I restart the phone, it will go low . I couldn't find out how to make it loud again until reading your post. I'm using PowerAmp too . I think it plays a role in this case.
Thank you for this great finding.

Really useful little trick for 2.2 users, especially for peeps using stock ROM's without the 20% boost via custom kernels. I had tried some of the volume boost type apps before rooting but all they do is invert the phase of one of the stereo channels. All this does is give you a very tinny mono output which is no use to say the least.

audio hiss after 4.4.2 update.

<<SOLVED>> The moto G Opamp is not very efficient. It struggles to go down to 2Ohm stable. This means average earbud type headphones rated at 16Ohms. will have hiss and other artifacts. Higher impedance headphones. 40-70Ohms have much better sq. Much above 70Ohms and I suspect the Moto G won't be powerful enough to drive them.... so, that's the sweet spot!
Hey,
Since I updated to kitkta4.4.2 I notice there is a significant background hiss listening with headphones.
As soon as you use an app that activates the audio jack the hiss kicks in, it is constant, not volume dependent. If you turn the volume down to zero, but the app keeps the sound output active the hiss remains.
when the app is closed, the hiss abruptly stops (presumably when the sound API deactivates the inbuilt opamp to save battery)
I'm about 90% sure this wasn't present under 4.3 or was far less noticeable.
I'm not being picky either, this is bad enough that it would make using the phone as a walkman at a low or moderate volume unpleasant. From experience I'd estimate the hiss at approx -20dB.. this is similar to the hiss you would hear from your average desktop PC fan at idle under your desk..
can anyone test this too, on 4.3 and 4.4.2?
Oh, and use earbud headphones or good closed cup ones. Open phones, unless you are somewhere very quiet won't give a good idea of the hiss..
thanks

Can confirm this on 4.4.2, too bad I didn't see your post before updating, as I don't really remember how it was on 4.3 :/
You don't actually have to use earphones, it's noticeable through the speaker, too (well I'm in my room alone and I put my ear close to it). However, I wouldn't say it's very significant - when using earphones I can hear it when muted, on the 1st bar after mute; on the 2nd you can't really say if you hear it or is it your imagination; and on the 3rd bar it's unnoticeable.

I can't notice any hiss in 4.3, even if I use a headphone amp. No clicking sounds either when the opamp turns on.
Sent from my XT1032 using xda app-developers app

UnknownAX said:
I can't notice any hiss in 4.3, even if I use a headphone amp. No clicking sounds either when the opamp turns on.
Sent from my XT1032 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is what I was worried about. I didnt notice any hiss before either, and I had it connected to a car stereo so would amplify the issue (if it was there).
maybe something did change in the audio settings/drivers then. I have already tried dissablying all the dsp stuff with no luck, still the hiss and click when the opamp switches on/off.
Maybe it was there before though, and it's bad luck with the phone, rather than the OS version.

I have got UK Retail 4.4.2 and I have tried to replicate this. I have tried YouTube, Spotify Play Music and TuneIn. I do not experience a hiss!

UnknownAX said:
I can't notice any hiss in 4.3, even if I use a headphone amp. No clicking sounds either when the opamp turns on.
Sent from my XT1032 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dhilluk said:
I have got UK Retail 4.4.2 and I have tried to replicate this. I have tried YouTube, Spotify Play Music and TuneIn. I do not experience a hiss!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Under 4.3 to save battery I disabled apps I wasn't using, including the Audio Effects app, and google play. When you disable them it forces you to 'uninstall updates' which I didnt realise at the time, but I think may have been specific to the moto g, as you cannot redownload them from playstore, or update them.
Would someone be so kind as to upload the FULL apk of their google play and and Sound Effects, from their stock 4.4.2 build?
Im pretty sure this is down to the software API that activates the opamp. (as it is very distinct), it even happens when you activate audio by using the rocker to increase the ringtone volume!?!?!???
It sounds like listening to a really cheap mp3 player with a low S/N ratio...
** edit I mean 'Play Music' not 'google play'

Hi,
I actually just registered to say this was very much present on my moto g on android 4.3 and is still the same on KitKat. It definitely sounds like a cheap mp3 player. Does anyone know of a fix?
Thanks
helppme said:
Hey,
Since I updated to kitkta4.4.2 I notice there is a significant background hiss listening with headphones.
As soon as you use an app that activates the audio jack the hiss kicks in, it is constant, not volume dependent. If you turn the volume down to zero, but the app keeps the sound output active the hiss remains.
when the app is closed, the hiss abruptly stops (presumably when the sound API deactivates the inbuilt opamp to save battery)
I'm about 90% sure this wasn't present under 4.3 or was far less noticeable.
I'm not being picky either, this is bad enough that it would make using the phone as a walkman at a low or moderate volume unpleasant. From experience I'd estimate the hiss at approx -20dB.. this is similar to the hiss you would hear from your average desktop PC fan at idle under your desk..
can anyone test this too, on 4.3 and 4.4.2?
Oh, and use earbud headphones or good closed cup ones. Open phones, unless you are somewhere very quiet won't give a good idea of the hiss..
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

motg-gm said:
Hi,
I actually just registered to say this was very much present on my moto g on android 4.3 and is still the same on KitKat. It definitely sounds like a cheap mp3 player. Does anyone know of a fix?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now this is getting weird. I think I'll install the ota to see how mine behaves. The G's audio quality decent enough imo. Probably above Android smartphone average. But what I like the most is that it's 100% silent, regardless of the volume setting, headphones or the amp.
Having said that, I will still get a USB DAC solution for it, which luckily has native support on both stock ROMs.

UnknownAX said:
Now this is getting weird. I think I'll install the ota to see how mine behaves. The G's audio quality decent enough imo. Probably above Android smartphone average. But what I like the most is that it's 100% silent, regardless of the volume setting, headphones or the amp.
Having said that, I will still get a USB DAC solution for it, which luckily has native support on both stock ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there anyway to update the phone without wifi ?? ...my friend as unlimited data but no wifi and she really wants to update ?

boe323 said:
Is there anyway to update the phone without wifi ?? ...my friend as unlimited data but no wifi and she really wants to update ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see how this is on-topic, but of course, you can download the update either on Wi-Fi or mobile data.

I don't know what you mean with "hiss", but since I updated mine (today - uk), i have started to notice some "clicks" in musics, that i didn't have before.
I was using PlayerPro, turned off the equalizer, uninstalled and reinstalled it again, and it was solved.
Google music, had no issues.

RickPinto said:
I don't know what you mean with "hiss", but since I updated mine (today - uk), i have started to notice some "clicks" in musics, that i didn't have before.
I was using PlayerPro, turned off the equalizer, uninstalled and reinstalled it again, and it was solved.
Google music, had no issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
by hiss, I mean hiss. It is probably around 18KHz, and is similar tot he sound of RF interference on a stereo (alsmost like the snow screen sound on a tv).
It is not volume dependent so it is defenitely downstream from the DAC, and must be the opamp or downsteram from the opamp in the phone. It is most likely from a poor ground some where in the audio path (assuming the opamp isn't awful, anyone know the chip?). It could be due to the single board set up of the Moto G mainboard design. I'm guessing here, but if the PCB has the audio channel close to any of the ground of power channels, this would explain my hiss. If it is built to tight tollerance, this could also explain why some people have it, others don't.
In laymans terms, I'm saying the audio signal is 'dirty. If anyone has every used a PC with crappy audio on the motherboard, they will know exactly what this problem is like. When no program is using the audio driver, the board puts the audio to 'sleep', when you open a program that uses that audio driver, the audio wakes up and you get some hiss, noise through the audio and pc speakers. This is exactly what I experience with my moto G.
if im honest, it's unlistenable, however I'm a bit of an audiophile so I can appreciate for most people they won't see it as a problem..

helppme said:
if im honest, it's unlistenable, however I'm a bit of an audiophile so I can appreciate for most people they won't see it as a problem..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found 4.3 to already be noisy with the hiss when using my earphones, which have a low attenuation and so even low volumes sound loud on them. To get around this problem I bought an attenuator which connects between the phone and the earphones. Then I set the phone audio to maximum, and reduced the volume using the attenuator. Setting the phone audio to loud means the hiss volume is low compared to the volume of the sound coming out of the phone.
This is the attenuator I use:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008EWP07E

RickPinto said:
I don't know what you mean with "hiss", but since I updated mine (today - uk), i have started to notice some "clicks" in musics, that i didn't have before.
I was using PlayerPro, turned off the equalizer, uninstalled and reinstalled it again, and it was solved.
Google music, had no issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
superusr said:
I found 4.3 to already be noisy with the hiss when using my earphones, which have a low attenuation and so even low volumes sound loud on them. To get around this problem I bought an attenuator which connects between the phone and the earphones. Then I set the phone audio to maximum, and reduced the volume using the attenuator. Setting the phone audio to loud means the hiss volume is low compared to the volume of the sound coming out of the phone.
This is the attenuator I use:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008EWP07E
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this is a possibility, but its not ideal... sadly this is looking like a hardware issue not a software one though as if it was software, I'd expect it to be upstream of the opamp. The fact your attenuator solution works, is more evidence this is a downstream issue . (as implification induced noise increases with the square of the volume (assuming a logarithmic volume scale))

I'm on 4.4. I notice a slight hiss when music is coming out of the phones speaker, though its completely undetectable if the phone is at around half volume. No hiss when coming through headphones.
Sent from my XT1034 using xda app-developers app

Ravinxx said:
I'm on 4.4. I notice a slight hiss when music is coming out of the phones speaker, though its completely undetectable if the phone is at around half volume. No hiss when coming through headphones.
Sent from my XT1034 using xda app-developers app
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Please can you test something, with some sensitive in ear headphones (or in a quiet room if they are normal headphones.)
>Connect headphones to phone
>Make sure ALL apps are closed.
>turn the phones ring volume to zero
>you should hear silence.(regardless of what headphone volume is)
>On the home screen, Press the Up volume rocker 3 times quite quickly.
>On my phone, the headphones go from silent to Hiss, then I hear the 'Beep'.....'Beep' of the volume increase on top of the hiss. Wait 2 seconds after the second beep and you hear the Hiss abruptly stop, and you are back to silent.
I have this problem with all audio activity on the phone, but the ringtone volume trick is the easiest way to demonstrate it.

helppme said:
Please can you test something, with some sensitive in ear headphones (or in a quiet room if they are normal headphones.)
>Connect headphones to phone
>Make sure ALL apps are closed.
>turn the phones ring volume to zero
>you should hear silence.(regardless of what headphone volume is)
>On the home screen, Press the Up volume rocker 3 times quite quickly.
>On my phone, the headphones go from silent to Hiss, then I hear the 'Beep'.....'Beep' of the volume increase on top of the hiss. Wait 2 seconds after the second beep and you hear the Hiss abruptly stop, and you are back to silent.
I have this problem with all audio activity on the phone, but the ringtone volume trick is the easiest way to demonstrate it.
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Or even easier, just press the volume down or up button once in any direction with headphones plugged in. Regardless of what it was set to and becomes set to, you will hear a faint background hum/hiss be emitted through the headphones for a second. This is fairly normal on any phone and even most audio devices. I don't know what you expect really in a smart phone that costs £129 in the UK. It is a compact environment to build so much electronics into and will never be a hifi device.
I tested with 3 phones on my desk right now and they all have a hiss when you first do something to make audio come through the headphones like quickly play and then pause a track. In fact, one phone (Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus) has not only a hiss, but a screech/high pitched whine as well. All of these "noises" that are detectable, become undetectable when volume of anything is turned up past the first or second bar anyway.

Ravinxx said:
I'm on 4.4. I notice a slight hiss when music is coming out of the phones speaker, though its completely undetectable if the phone is at around half volume. No hiss when coming through headphones.
Sent from my XT1034 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
coursemyhorse said:
Or even easier, just press the volume down or up button once in any direction with headphones plugged in. Regardless of what it was set to and becomes set to, you will hear a faint background hum/hiss be emitted through the headphones for a second. This is fairly normal on any phone and even most audio devices. I don't know what you expect really in a smart phone that costs £129 in the UK. It is a compact environment to build so much electronics into and will never be a hifi device.
I tested with 3 phones on my desk right now and they all have a hiss when you first do something to make audio come through the headphones like quickly play and then pause a track. In fact, one phone (Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus) has not only a hiss, but a screech/high pitched whine as well. All of these "noises" that are detectable, become undetectable when volume of anything is turned up past the first or second bar anyway.
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This is a fair point, and I agree is not surprising given the phones price. I think the reason I have posed this question was to a) determine if it could be software related (4.3 vs 4.4.2) but It doesn't looks so. b) Is it universal, or could be a slight lottery and maybe my phone is worse than others. As some people say they definitely have no issue. (granted it could be subjective)
Also, I would say, although it is present in most devices to some degree, it is noticeably worse on this phone than any other I have had. Multiple sony erricsons, galaxy Ace, Nokias.. And my last phone Galaxy S2 had extremely clean audio production. (i compared directly with moto g).
I do concede I am an audio snob though, so don't like listening to poor quality. I never really expected to use the moto g for music, but would have been a nice to have.

helppme said:
This is a fair point, and I agree is not surprising given the phones price. I think the reason I have posed this question was to a) determine if it could be software related (4.3 vs 4.4.2) but It doesn't looks so. b) Is it universal, or could be a slight lottery and maybe my phone is worse than others. As some people say they definitely have no issue. (granted it could be subjective)
Also, I would say, although it is present in most devices to some degree, it is noticeably worse on this phone than any other I have had. Multiple sony erricsons, galaxy Ace, Nokias.. And my last phone Galaxy S2 had extremely clean audio production. (i compared directly with moto g).
I do concede I am an audio snob though, so don't like listening to poor quality. I never really expected to use the moto g for music, but would have been a nice to have.
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Yeah, it seems to me too that you are a bit more on the audio than most people
By the way, I was wondering up to which levels can you really say that you hear the hiss? As I've said before, for me it's definite hiss when muted and 1st level, weird feeling on the 2nd and I can't hear it from the 3rd.

theArchitektas said:
Yeah, it seems to me too that you are a bit more on the audio than most people
By the way, I was wondering up to which levels (just the volume slider, no music) can you really say that you hear the hiss? As I've said before, for me it's definite hiss when muted and 1st level, weird feeling on the 2nd and I can't hear it from the 3rd.
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Depends on the music. pop music which has a lot of mids and highs, the hiss isnt noticible from notch 4 up maybe.
Quiet music, classical, R&B & hihop with a lot of bass beats but not many highs, you can hear the background his up to maybe 2 notches off max. But its acceptable from maybe half volume.
tbh it's more of a shame than an issue. I didn't expect this to replace a decent mp3 player, would just have been convenient is all.