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Sound distortion playing music with some headphones

I have found some strange behaviour that i'm hoping someone else can test out on their Galaxy S.
I have found that some headphones seem to work fine with the phone for music playing but others result in the sound being distorted with the vocals being very faint as if the left and right channel are cancelling each other out (with vocals generally being on left and right channel).
The packaged Samsung headphones appear to work properly although the quality seems average. I tried my iPhone headphones but these resulted in the strange sound distortion described above. I also tried a pair of cheap Sennheiser which were a free give away with a purchase from Richer Sounds and they worked well. Another pair of no-name cheap headphones exhibited the same distortion problems as the iPhone headphones.
Oddly, the FM radio sounded ok with all the headphones, it's just the music player that has the problem. I have also tried a couple of other music apps including the doubletwist player to rule out the software.
I'm considering taking it back to the shop to swap for a replacement. I'd be grateful if anyone could try out some headphones (particularly iPhone ones) on their Galaxy S and report their results to see if this is just a quirk with my phone or the Galaxy S in general.
Many Thanks

I just need some clarification because I know that a headset, and not headphones, is delivered with the Iphone. If it was a headset then I might suspect that different Iphones use different polarity as opposed to Samsung. Try out the Samsung headset on the Iphone.
EDIT:
Obviously not the problem. I must have skipped over the radio experience.
I can't post a link to it, but I remembered that GSMArena did a thorough review of the SGS. If you find your way to it, go to page 6 and see the sound chart at the bottom. SGS is superior in sound to iPhone. Perhaps the iPhone headset/headphones and the cheap ones are not sufficient for the SGS? I'm guessing

I had a similar experience when I tried to use the Samsung Spica headset on my HTC Hero. It seems that it might be a difference in polarity as suggested above.
Does all the headsets that give distorted sounds have a microphone on them? (E.g. not headphones)

the iPhone's headphones have extremely high distortion regardless of the media using to play them. The SGS is probably just overpowering them because they are very loud headphones as well/easily powered.

No it's nothing to do with them being overpowered.
I have an expensive pair of etymotic in ear headphones that are exhibiting the very same problem. Strangely I found a fix. They have a microphone on them and pressing in the answer button on them seems to fix the problem. I have taped the button down now and everything works perfectly. The second that button is released though, everything goes back to being faint, muffled and distorted.
Odd!
PS. This isn't just with the music player. I noticed it first watching a video.

It sounds like Samsung has their own way of producing the 3.5mm port with regards to the microphone support.
The Samsung headset distorts music on my HTC Hero.
The HTC headset distorts music on my gfs Galaxy Spica

To be clear, are you saying the problem only affects headsets with microphones? I have etymotic er4p headphones and it would be a deal breaker if they didn't work right with this phone.

If its only showing up in the media player, check that you havent enabled the 5.1 button in the the top right of the player. This can really screw with the sound and entire frequency ranges can be lost. I'm guessing this is whats happening.
The default headphones work fine for me if a little tinny, but with my Senheissers, the results are very pleasing. Apart from a slight gap between tracks that should seemlessly play through, I prefer using it to my iPod Touch. Being able to change tracks and volume without unlocking is a nice feature.
I threw my iPod headphones out years ago, they're the most ridiculous design ever, with the cable tapping the inside sleeve all the time when you walk or run.

k2snowboards88 said:
To be clear, are you saying the problem only affects headsets with microphones? I have etymotic er4p headphones and it would be a deal breaker if they didn't work right with this phone.
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It sounds like that the problem is with headsets with microphones, yes. Not sure if it happens with all 3rd party headsets w/ mic though.
Considering you have etymotic, and ClownShoes a few posts up have problems with this brand, I guess you're out of luck unless you wanna tape the answering button like he did.

The er4p is just headphones, so it sounds like i'm in luck.

Got my GS a few days ago and im having exactly the same problem with the Etymotic hf2 Headset with mic. So yeah it looks like it the mic that causes the problems.

sim87 said:
Got my GS a few days ago and im having exactly the same problem with the Etymotic hf2 Headset with mic. So yeah it looks like it the mic that causes the problems.
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It's a little bit crude, but taping the button down does work.

I have the same issue with with Monster Studios even with the cable without the integrated mic. Would be great to have some sort of fix.

Headphone issues
Just thought I would post what I knew about the issue, both me and my dad purchased the same pair of headphones to use on mp3 players (the headphones are ultimate ears metro fi 220 vi's if I remember correctly, these have an in-line microphone as well as a single button for answering calls and to control music playback). Whilst I experienced no distortion when using them on my iPod Classic, my Dad's Creative player would produce the issues described above - he found that either taping the button down or slightly pulling the headphones out would solve the issue however it ended up annoying him so much that he went back to using another set of headphones.
I don't know what causes the issue but I just thought I would let people know

i have some sennsihaur sport headphones which work fine no problems. i also a monster fm transmitter in the car.. again no problesm.. just make sure the volume is not on max but 1 setting below max.

Hmmmm, a few problems here. Obviously the standard Samsung headphones are fine, no humming, no background noise. However if I connect the following:
1. Standard Apple iPhone (with mic) loads of background noise, humming etc
2. Shure (no mic) loads of background noise, humming etc
3. B&O (no mic) loads of background noise, humming etc
4. Shure (with mic adaptor) loads of background noise, humming etc greatly reduced by pressing the mute key.
Using the Shure adaptor with the others resulting in the same as 4.
Needless to say I'm not happy!

That's too bad. Not being able to use my Shure with the phone renders it useless for music and that IS important.

In the SERVICE MODE *#*#197328640#*#* there is an audio menu
there you can change the headset settings too like NR noise reducion.
i did not test and changed the settings but when i had the samsung omnia2 last year
i had some problems with my headset and fix it in in the sevice menu.
when you gonne do some tests write down the orginal settings before you try.
hope this will help some of you..... and post the results

im sure its the jack, cos the galaxy s has a 4pole trrs at left/right/mic/ground
iphone compatible headset have a 4pole trrs at left/right/ground/mic
thats why pressing the mic button clears up the sound as it closes the circuit
so it a matter of finding an adaptor that switches the mic and ground terminals
I have a tf10vi and im trying to diy one
will post the results

Just saw the post and thought I would check mine again, not that I noticed anything....anyway tried few songs and different types and all are sounding amazing, I use Sure 530 so music needs to be no lower than 256 to get the best out of the phones, most of my music tracks are 320bit.

[Q] Noisy music playback

hi,
I noticed i always have a bit of noise behind music. At silent parts you really hear that there's static-like noise in the background. Tested with various tracks, always 320kb/s quality. You can hear it over the integrated speaker too, so it's not my headphones.
Anybody else notice this? Is that "normal" for the Omnia 7 or did I get a bad unit?

I think thats normal for all device? need a second opinion, could be wrong. Usually the noise stops when nothing is being played though.

Can't hear any static myself ? Just played a few 320kb Deadmau5 tracks, On some closed cup headphones, and out the rear speaker, Sounds perfect out the headphones, But isn't exactly studio quaility out the speaker phone and never will be the size it.

I only never notice it if i'm listening late at night when everything else is silent. Otherwise its not a problem. Call me an old fart too, but i complain about all devices these days that they dont go quiet enough! Volume level 1 is too loud lol!

havent noticed any sounds other than the music but i have noticed that most tracks skip at the end of the track. Anyone else noticed this?

comeradealexi said:
I only never notice it if i'm listening late at night when everything else is silent. Otherwise its not a problem. Call me an old fart too, but i complain about all devices these days that they dont go quiet enough! Volume level 1 is too loud lol!
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Must agree on te vol 1 setting, it's almost my old 3310 loud setting lol
i will do some more testing, is there a track you could suggest that you have heard this most ? and at what volume.
Not had any trouble with the tracks skipping ether. thought it did a good job of blending together tbh.

I've found that when playing video files, quiet moments tend to just be muted.
For example in a film if the scene is busy and noisy it's fine but then if it were to cut to a scene where two people are quietly talking i get no sound. It's almost like it's noise cancelling.
If i turn the volume up there is no problem.

Headphones - Hissing Noise

Guys,
Another day, another observation. When you plug in the headphones, do you guys hear a hissing/static/white noise for a couple of seconds initially. I am able to reproduce this every time I plug in my headphones (tried three different sets). I am not too bothered by it because the noise dies after 2-3 seconds. I also witness the same behavior when I pause a song.
I guess I am raising the topic here because am not sure if this is common across all WP7 devices (thereby making this a WP7 issue), if it is only my phone, or if it is common across all Venue Pros.
Thanks for any input.

ZappiestOyster said:
Guys,
Another day, another observation. When you plug in the headphones, do you guys hear a hissing/static/white noise for a couple of seconds initially. I am able to reproduce this every time I plug in my headphones (tried three different sets). I am not too bothered by it because the noise dies after 2-3 seconds. I also witness the same behavior when I pause a song.
I guess I am raising the topic here because am not sure if this is common across all WP7 devices (thereby making this a WP7 issue), if it is only my phone, or if it is common across all Venue Pros.
Thanks for any input.
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I get the same noise, but mine is constant. Whenever a sound plays, the white noise/hissing in the background comes up and continues for 5-10 seconds after the sound is played and then goes out. Then when another sound happens, it does it again.
It almost makes using headphones unbearable.
I've tried multiple sets of headphones too, it does it on them all.
I think it may have something to do with the curved top of the phone and the fact that the plug doesn't go all the way into the device.
Anybody else have a similar experience?

jfellows said:
I think it may have something to do with the curved top of the phone and the fact that the plug doesn't go all the way into the device.
Anybody else have a similar experience?
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I don't think it's that - if the curved surface was the culprit, the sound wouldn't vanish after a few seconds. It almost seems like a software issue.
Thanks for confirming the behavior!

I only hear the hissing sound for a few seconds after plugging it in to the jack...

Hearing a hissing on most smartphones is pretty common, in my experience. The better quality earphones you use the more you will notice it. The Nexus One did, the Venue Pro does, my N95 did a bit.

People I've called with the built in headphones/mic say the noise levels are so extreme they are unusable. Hopefully the free Bluetooth headset we're all getting will fix that issue...

Hello!
This is normal when companies use cheap DACs and amps for sound replication. The DAC turns on when you play sounds, and turns off when there's a period of no sound. If it's a cheap system, there's a noticeable base sound/noise that is added to your signal.
When you have music playing, that, of course, is drowned out by the music. Thus, you won't hear it unless you have really soft music, say, a few bars rest in your classical album or something.
The problem also is more noticeable with low impedance earphones (IEMs, for example).
A possible, easy way to fix this is to use an inline resistor/impedance cable on your headphones, since typically this noise does not vary with volume (in my experience). Then, you bump up the volume on your device... if it's powerful enough to do it. Otherwise, you'll have to inline resistor, a clean-sounding portable amplifier (powered by additional), and then your headphones. It gets pretty bulky...
Alternatively! Separate your music player and your phone. Unfortunately, the DVP has such a nice Zune interface. And still, with cheap music players you can hear the hiss if you're careful. I can hear this on iPods with my earphones still...
Sorry to hear about this! I was hoping that the sound quality would be decent. I might try to get an HD7 instead now...
Cheers!

linj said:
Sorry to hear about this! I was hoping that the sound quality would be decent. I might try to get an HD7 instead now...
Cheers!
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Just to let you know, the HD7 does not have the hissing/static that the DVP does. I've tried the HD7, Samsung Focus and DVP and HD7 had the best sound quality in my opinion. The Focus sounds muffled compared to both HD7 and DVP.

I've got the same hissing noise on mine, but I think it's an issue with a crappy DAC as it's only there when there is sound. I was hoping to replace my Zune HD but there's no way that's gonna happen with this noise - it's AWFUL!
I'm really thinking about moving to a Samsung Focus. I loved this phone when I first got it, but over time I just uncover more and more I don't like.

Arcarsenal said:
Hearing a hissing on most smartphones is pretty common, in my experience. The better quality earphones you use the more you will notice it. The Nexus One did, the Venue Pro does, my N95 did a bit.
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Very true. Almost every phone I've used has this. It's more noticeable on some phones than others but it's nothing unique to the DVP.

Bringing this back to the top, I've observed something on my new model, though I could have sworn the one I sent back for a refund did not have this problem...and it only occurs with earbuds, and not ear phones (I have a big pair of medium to high quality full-size Creative earphones, the buzzing is not audible at all with them.
Since this phone seems reasonably crash-free, I'm reluctant to press Dell for a replacement, especially if, viola, all the DVPs have this problem. Mine seems particularly loud, but that may be a combination of the Zune Premium earbuds I'm using and other factors. As others said, it vanishes briefly if you pause a song (like the sound output is switching off to save electricity or whatever) but resumes immediately. I might be better off just going through various earphones and finding a brand that's of at least the quality of my current earbuds but minimizes the effect.
EDIT: Additionally, lowering the volume simply makes it much more noticeable.

Strange static noise

I have noticed that when using the supplied earphones I can hear static background noise when I scroll through menus and buttons while music is playing. This only happens when music is activated and I can hear a low annoying fuzzy static that gets louder the more I scroll for example.
I can barely hear it when I put on headphones but can with earphones, seems quite strange wonder if anyone else experiences the same thing?

No one? Just try it, turn the volume down while listening to music then go to home screen and scroll left constantly or right and the hissing noise will get louder.
Audio chip or whatever must be quite crappy.

Restarted phone and can't seem to hear it now. Strange.

I'm glad that by talking to your self you've managed to fix this problem.

I spoke to myself to soon! Its back and I suspect it has something to do with the wifi sharing. As I activated kies air, uploaded a song, listened to song and hissing is back! argh.

jonkrav said:
I spoke to myself to soon! Its back and I suspect it has something to do with the wifi sharing. As I activated kies air, uploaded a song, listened to song and hissing is back! argh.
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Try force stopping it? I've frozen most Samsung apps but even before then I had no problems at all with something like this tbh...although I don't use the stock music player.

I have annoying static background noise while using earphones, it can be better heard whilr using the phone when no music is playing.
This is a general issue or isolated cause?

I have this!!! I seem to get possibly some kind of audible distortion just before i play a song, and then when i pause the song and touch the screen it makes the weird static noise (and possibly when the song is playing as well, but its less identifiable). For me this noise only lasts for about 5 seconds after i have paused it and then stops. And yes, it also seems to be louder in earphones than headphones.
HAVE YOU FOUND A FIX? Firmware upgrades? Sent it back and got a replacement? what did you guys do? Let me know, thanks.

Could it be evp?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

I installed the Backslash Kernel and THEN noticed this, rebooted and it went.
It came back a while after. I also unplugged the headphones with the music app running and the phone rebooted.
Re-flashed the CF-Root KG1 Kernel and it went away, not had any 'noise' or reboots since :/

I got a replacement from orange as this issue was too distracting. My replacement has just come, but exactly the same 'static noise while and after listening to music' issue is still here!!! Is this really what its like for everyone but people don't bother saying?
PDA: I9100BVKE2
PHONE: I9100BVKE2
CSC: I9100ORAKE2
BUILD INFO : Wed May 11 22:56:39
KERNAL VERSION: [email protected] #2
On my last phone i tried flashing to generic KE7 AND KF3 (using odin). Both seemed to make the sound last for not as long after i pause the music, but did not solve the issue. Will rooting the phone, using different kernals and whatnot fix this? Could it be a dodgy batch of phones from orange? (I have no knowledge of what rooting and kernals actually is, let alone what ones i should use)

I have also experienced this. It seems the screen is the problem since the noise is gone when the screen is off.
What headphones are you using?

I have used the supplied headphones, but i have also tried other headphones as well. All seem to give the same sound but possibly at varying levels of volume. Do you still have the problem?

I use the Sennheiser CX300 II and I do not experience it any longer.
It depends on the impedance of the headphones. If the impedance is 16 ohm I cannot hear it but on 12 ohm headphones it is pretty obvious (but they are able to play louder).
I have not tried the supplied ones myself because they ALWAYS sound awful but if you had a specific name for a proper headphone you have tried, you can easily find their impedance on the internet.

Hmm well i have tried my creative EP-630 headphones which have impedance of 16 Ohm and i can still hear the noise. I have used many terrible headphones on terrible 'mp3 players' over the years and i have never experienced this, so i don't see why i should now go out and buy some new headphones. Although if you are really saying that the Sennheiser CX300 II headphones completely cured your problem then it might be worth it? Was your problem exactly the same as the one i described? Cheers.

It's obviously a problem of the audio amp picking up electrical noise from the other components of the device. I'm skeptic that anything can be done to solve it.
I also can hear some faint background noise on mine when scroling the screen and using memory, but anyway it's very faint... not enough to bother even in quiet environments.

I have to agree, it's bad shielding in the design. Something we will all have to live with.
I notice it most between songs when listening to music. Each songs starts with a little blast of noise.

Hmmm well i've heard that with certain kernals it is not there. Also for me, simply changing to different stock firmware reduced the time that the static sound lasts after i pause a song, so surely that can mean it can be stopped altogether. Im not prepared to give up on this (yet).
I would be grateful for other information and reports from other people about this issue, even simply if you don't have it. :/

...anyone?

tgg12 said:
...anyone?
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i have this problem too...
but i have found that it does with some earphones... i guess its a matter of shielding, as posted before.

Headphones Distortion / Background Noise

Hi - just wondering if anyone else noticed some background noise / distortion when using headphones on the tab 7.7.
Happens when playing any sound and continues for 2-3 seconds after it stops. Tested with the stock buds and some replacement buds I picked up a few days ago. With my over the ear headphones I can't hear it though. Easiest way to test is just by playing a movie and pausing it.... there is a hissing noise for a few seconds afterwards.
Maybe related: even with headphones plugged in, notification sounds come out of the speakers - this is my first Android device so I'm not sure if that's normal or not.
Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this or if it might be hardware related. Thanks!

rembo10 said:
Hi - just wondering if anyone else noticed some background noise / distortion when using headphones on the tab 7.7.
Happens when playing any sound and continues for 2-3 seconds after it stops. Tested with the stock buds and some replacement buds I picked up a few days ago. With my over the ear headphones I can't hear it though. Easiest way to test is just by playing a movie and pausing it.... there is a hissing noise for a few seconds afterwards.
Maybe related: even with headphones plugged in, notification sounds come out of the speakers - this is my first Android device so I'm not sure if that's normal or not.
Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this or if it might be hardware related. Thanks!
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Yeah I get that too. Doesn't really bother me though. I mean, it's not like I can still hear it while playing music or anything...

Mine's pretty noticable, even when playing music/videos. Weird that it's totally quiet with my over-the-ear headphones

rembo10 said:
Mine's pretty noticable, even when playing music/videos. Weird that it's totally quiet with my over-the-ear headphones
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Personally, I only really notice it if there's a trailing silence from music or videos, but while there's actually sound, I can't detect it.