Database Users

Noise Cancellation

I'm leaning on upgrading to the Nexus S from the Nexus One, but have a few questions concerning noise cancellation. In the tech specs, the Nexus S states it has software noise cancellation. So is it safe to assume it uses software to remove background noise as opposed to the Nexus One which used a secondary mic? How is the software based noise cancellation on the Nexus S performing for people? Would love feedback. I work at a manufacturing plant, and being able to hold conversations in and around noisy equipment is a must. Last question is, does the built in VoIP stack on the Nexus S make use of the noise cancellation?
I would really appreciate the feedback.

I don't know, but in another thread someone posted that their new nexus s performed very bad in a noisy environment, unusable actually. So its worth investigating and owners posting their results for now.

I am pretty sure that "software noise cancellation" is bull****. they just didnt want to disappoint existing Nexus One owners. Maybe Gingerbread in general tries to improve sound quality, but it has nothing to do with Nexus S

I haven't been in a "plant" environment, but have been in a noisy office, and it has performed as well as the N1. I also frequently use the google chat voip calling feature that was added to gmail recently. It mentions "software based" noise canceling. If it's the NS uses the same, then it will be awesome.
How does your N1 perform in your plant environment? I'm guessing it also will have problems.

rhca50 said:
How does your N1 perform in your plant environment? I'm guessing it also will have problems.
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The Nexus One performs great when it comes to noise cancellation. Never had anyone complain. I have tested the noise cancellation by leaving myself a voicemail on my work phone standing next to a centrifuge, and was shocked at the results. Not a hint of background noise. My voice was pronounced and clear, albeit a tad "digitized", which I'm sure is a side-effect of the noise cancellation. Only gripe I have is the low earpiece volume. Even on "full" blast, it's still too low in noisy environments.

I am having complaints from people I talk to using my nexus s. They say that it sounds like they are on speaker phone and that the call is nice and quiet until I start talking; which they say has a lot of static and background noise. Any other people getting complaints from people you talk to using your nexus s?
p.s. I work in a loud environment and never had issues using my N1.

I have commented on this in other threads. I've used a N1 since its launch. I returned my NS after having used it for 3 weeks as my primary phone. The main reason that I returned it is the lack of noise canceling, the ear speaker sounds tinny and on a busy street the traffic noise is picked up by the mic and broadcast in my ear. My N1's in call sound quality is far superior to the NS. The noise canceling really does a good job.

given that the Nexus S uses software noise cancellation instead of a secondary mic, is this something that may be able to be fixed with a new ROM or custom kernel?

generalagony said:
given that the Nexus S uses software noise cancellation instead of a secondary mic, is this something that may be able to be fixed with a new ROM or custom kernel?
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I doubt it, for noise canceling to work in an intelligent way, I would think there needs to be more than one mic. All of the noise canceling headsets I've seen have two mics, including my Jawbone bluetooth which has a button that rests on my cheek.

if you work in noisy environment don't buy this phone. I returned it only because of this problem. Every other problem that people complain here on this forum I didn't have and are nothing when it comes to phone calls. The primary function of the phone is the worst ever. Nobody hear me when I made phone calls from my car (driving, not using blue tooth - yes still legal in some countries) and I had to put the phone always on the speaker phone to be able to hear the other callers. Finally give up and returned the phone. Same isuue with my old Samsung i8910, but i was able to tweak the speaker settings in phone service software.
otherwise great phone.

I have found the that the NS works better than my N1 in general as a phone. The call quality is much better and the ear piece is MUCH better than the N1. N1 was hard to hear in anything above an avg room noise. NS I have to turn it down most of the time and much richer sound than the tin sound of the N1. Been in a few coffee shops that are loud and did calls in them. People on the other end said they could hear the background noise but it was very low and I was very loud and clear. Just my 2 cents.

I am going to try an exchange. I bought one of the first units sold at my local best buy on release morning so maybe I got a bad one. Friend of mine who bought just before me exchanged his and said his new one has much better call quality.

I am going to try to put this to the test. Although currently I am unhappy with the results I am getting recording wise.
The situation is that I own a Galaxy S GT-I9000 and often had complaints about sounding muffled. Now a Nexus S and the complaints are gone.
However. It is very difficult to understand an issue OTHER people are hearing, so I am doing some recording tests in different situations and I will be posting the results to http://technocrate.net in the next day or so.

I'm in the same boat with ya. I thought I was the only one. yeah perfect on the N1 now my wife says I sound garbled on the end. I changed the radio thought that would help but didn't. Just upgraded my from the N1 to the NS other wise the phone is great. I guess there's not a fix for this. I'll be returning mine then. even with the newest radio KI1, same way
Edit: Returning my second one, I'm done with this phone. I'm sad to see it go really like it beside the mic problem. Did samsung happen to fix this later on in a rev. batch?

Phone Fixed Post above
Well called samsung and they me told to send in my second phone in. I explained the issue about the mic to the tech which said they never heard about that issue. Ok well havent got a chance to make it home yet to test it but they replace more than just the mic:
Original Problem:
TECHNICAL INQUIRY - AUDIO/SPEAKER/SOUND/VIBRATION - SPEAKERPHONE NOT WORKING
Problem found:
RINGERTONE INAUDIBLE/NO ADJUST - CAMERA FAILURE - LOCK UP DURING OPERATION (SW)
Solution:
REPLACED COMPONENT - REPLACED COMPONENT - REPLACED PBA
Til i check it when I get home, just to let you guys know. The problem at the top, there system didn't have an option for the microphone. They replaced a lot of stuff but the mic only problem was the problem? I was liked its not the speaker just the mic to the tech. She said it was in the notes about the problem. I've been very happy with samsung trying to fix this issue. so far til i get home.

problems with the microphone?

I got mine yesterday, everything works fine except its microphone's quality. The other people hear me like I talk from distance away.
Is this common problem or just mine?
Thank you

This is something that I experienced initially when I got my Atrix, I resolved it by moving the phone up closer to my mouth. I tend to let the phone hang from my ear where I hold it near the top and it put's some distance between me and the mic. I'm a former iPhone user and was lazy with where the phone sat on the side of my head, once I made this change though people have said I sound clearer than when I was on my iPhone.

I can't talk closer, the speaker is exactly on my ear. It looks the microphone has very bad sensitivity. Too bad all Motorola cellphones i had in the past they had excellent quality.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

Active nooise cancle
I have same problem, I turned off noise cancellation and got some improvement. I'm pretty sure it is a software issue. I also put a clear bra type case on it from some 3m stuff I have, I didn't cut out for the mic on the back. I'm hoping this too helps but have not tried yet.

[Q] For those with their Nexus 4, is the earpiece making a screeching noise?

If I place my Nexus 4 against my ear, I can hear high pitched screeching and some popping coming from the earpiece, even when a call is not taking place. At first I thought it was a heat issue, maybe some capacitors or something getting a bit hot and whistling, so I turned the phone off and the noises stopped instantly.
This is pretty annoying and surely shouldn't be happening

Yes, mine too
losimagic said:
If I place my Nexus 4 against my ear, I can hear high pitched screeching and some popping coming from the earpiece, even when a call is not taking place. At first I thought it was a heat issue, maybe some capacitors or something getting a bit hot and whistling, so I turned the phone off and the noises stopped instantly.
This is pretty annoying and surely shouldn't be happening
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I'm glad you posted that, mine does it too - and I thought I had a faulty phone.
According to support I'm the first to report such a problem, have you called support about it? - 0800 328 6081.
The more of us that call, the better the chance it's sorted (if it's possible).
I can't live with that noise, it's too loud for me as I have sensitive hearing on interference like that.
So it looks like I'm sending mine back for a refund and go buy a S3
It does sound like poor build quality in suppressing electrical interference to the ear speaker, as you say capacitors or even a processor is leaking noise to that speaker in the same way cell/mobile radio causes to external speakers when brought close to them.

WOW so many problems already with this thing!!! I don't know about this phone right now

rshea said:
I'm glad you posted that, mine does it too - and I thought I had a faulty phone.
According to support I'm the first to report such a problem, have you called support about it? - 0800 328 6081.
The more of us that call, the better the chance it's sorted (if it's possible).
I can't live with that noise, it's too loud for me as I have sensitive hearing on interference like that.
So it looks like I'm sending mine back for a refund and go buy a S3
It does sound like poor build quality in suppressing electrical interference to the ear speaker, as you say capacitors or even a processor is leaking noise to that speaker in the same way cell/mobile radio causes to external speakers when brought close to them.
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I returned it to the store for a refund - they refused to swap it for another as they couldn't hear it . I've ordered another which I should get tomorrow, and if that has the same issue I'm not sure what to do - it doesn't really sound like something that can be fixed through software, does it?
I asked on another forum and one person replied saying that there's was ok, but maybe they're ears just aren't as sensitive as ours.
I remember as a kid, I could hear CRT TVs from a long way off (no sound was coming through the speakers) and nobody else could.

losimagic said:
I returned it to the store for a refund - they refused to swap it for another as they couldn't hear it . I've ordered another which I should get tomorrow, and if that has the same issue I'm not sure what to do - it doesn't really sound like something that can be fixed through software, does it?
I asked on another forum and one person replied saying that there's was ok, but maybe they're ears just aren't as sensitive as ours.
I remember as a kid, I could hear CRT TVs from a long way off (no sound was coming through the speakers) and nobody else could.
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I think you're right, I too always heard a CRT working (I still can when I see one working!)
Maybe we're hearing interference the average user is not going to hear.
If anyone else is reading this and owns a Nexus 4, try calling your voicemail (which I assume would be free for you) - during the call wait for a few seconds and listen carefully, it's more obvious when you're not talking and in a call.
The noise is almost like having a small fly trapped between the phone and your ear at times, it also reminds me of the noise a hard drive makes at times and most of us know what that sounds like.

rshea said:
I think you're right, I too always heard a CRT working (I still can when I see one working!)
Maybe we're hearing interference the average user is not going to hear.
If anyone else is reading this and owns a Nexus 4, try calling your voicemail (which I assume would be free for you) - during the call wait for a few seconds and listen carefully, it's more obvious when you're not talking and in a call.
The noise is almost like having a small fly trapped between the phone and your ear at times, it also reminds me of the noise a hard drive makes at times and most of us know what that sounds like.
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I got it even when I wasn't on a call - a few seconds after powering up the phone and it was there

You guys are nerds
No, I can feel your pain! Hopefully you guys can sort this out and this is in general not a common problem with the N4.

i don't have this issue

It seems to be an issue with the electromagnetic shielding. I get this problem when I am next to my sound system and amplifier. Those things arent shielded. Now in school where theres basically nothing else here my earpiece is completely clean. Not even a hiss.

does it also emit a sound when it is swithced on, but the screen is off? i remember i had sth. like this (high-pitched sound) on my first google nexus s, but it was clearly coming from the screen rather than the earpiece.

Received a replacement today - it's A LOT better. There's still a very feint buzz, but it's barely noticeable.

Hallucinogen775 said:
does it also emit a sound when it is swithced on, but the screen is off? i remember i had sth. like this (high-pitched sound) on my first google nexus s, but it was clearly coming from the screen rather than the earpiece.
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Yes, even did it without a simcard inside. Definitely coming from the earpiece, if I moved my ear down the phone it was quieter/silent.

What about in airplane mode?

jacklebott said:
What about in airplane mode?
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Didn't test the previous one in airplane mode, but just tried this one and it's the same.

Definitely getting the same issue with my N4; screen on or off. Can't imagine this being fixed by firmware, sounds like a bad hardware design.
I'm also once of these people who gets irritated by the sound of DVD Players/VCR/TV etc. But two other people I have shown seem to think its an issue too.

It's good to read a replacement was better, that's made my day.
The problem is certainly a electromagnetic shielding issue with the earpiece, I can stand in a middle of a field and it has that sound you often get from PC or Hi-Fi speakers when you stand close to them.
But with the earpiece you can't move it of course - so clearly a design flaw, and hopefully only on a batch?
That said, it does seem to be an intermittent fault, I've also noticed it doesn't happen within the first 10-30 seconds of a call. I wonder if the phone stops all background processes during the start of a call, but then later kicks in which causes those noises.

losimagic said:
I remember as a kid, I could hear CRT TVs from a long way off (no sound was coming through the speakers) and nobody else could.
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I can hear the high pitched noise from a CRT from, like, 100'. Can a lot of other people really not hear them? Also, deer/dog/insect deterrents that people use in their homes and yard give me an instant headache from the sound. Great. This does not bode well. Oh well, I'll cross that bridge if/when I get to it.

Same here

estallings15 said:
I can hear the high pitched noise from a CRT from, like, 100'. Can a lot of other people really not hear them? Also, deer/dog/insect deterrents that people use in their homes and yard give me an instant headache from the sound. Great. This does not bode well. Oh well, I'll cross that bridge if/when I get to it.
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Exactly that, those who can't hear those audible repellents for pets, or not hear the Apps available which also emit very annoying high pitch sounds - then would not be bothered by the noise we mention here.
I'm certain if I took my N4 into a shop, the typical response from staff would be "we can't hear it"

I have this issue with my phone as well. Screen on or off. Charging or not. Noise is still present.

[Q] Really quiet microphone. Normal?

Hi guys, I didn't see anything posted here about this so maybe it's just my phone, but does anyone else seem to have a quiet microphone? People are telling me they can barely hear me. I notice this issue on all ROMs including stock, and even though I have the phone NV unlocked for AT&T, even the sound recorder app is playing back my audio at a low volume.
Has anyone else experienced this? Is there any fix (software or hardware)?

If you have taken the phone to the gym and sweat or simply haven't cleaned out the mic area that will probably fixture issue. I took the phone to the gym a couple times and my fiance couldn't hear me afterwards whatsoever. Cleaned the mic and all of as back to normal.
Sent from my XT907 using xda app-developers app

Jersey846 said:
If you have taken the phone to the gym and sweat or simply haven't cleaned out the mic area that will probably fixture issue. I took the phone to the gym a couple times and my fiance couldn't hear me afterwards whatsoever. Cleaned the mic and all of as back to normal.
Sent from my XT907 using xda app-developers app
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Hmm, well the mic area looked clean to me, but this was a pre-owned phone I bought from Swappa so I'm not sure if the previous owner did anything. In any case, I called some friends and they said they could hear me fine. I don't know if cleaning the mic did the trick, because using a voice recorder app it still sounds low, but as long as other people can hear what I say, I'm fine with it. Thanks a lot for your help!

phantomsniper773 said:
Hmm, well the mic area looked clean to me, but this was a pre-owned phone I bought from Swappa so I'm not sure if the previous owner did anything. In any case, I called some friends and they said they could hear me fine. I don't know if cleaning the mic did the trick, because using a voice recorder app it still sounds low, but as long as other people can hear what I say, I'm fine with it. Thanks a lot for your help!
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Glad it's working better.. let me know if it persists and I'll do some more research.

I recently snagged an M from Craigslist. The phone is in pretty much brand new condition, not a scratch on this thing, the guy even threw in a brand new Otter Box case for it. It works great, except for the terrible mic quality. No matter who I call, they all complain about the quality, whether I have 5 bars of 4G or not. I've downloaded a few voice recorder apps, and they seem to record in fairly reasonable quality, so I'm not quite sure what the deal is. I've been looking for any reference to poor mic quality for the xt907 for a few days now and this is one of maybe 3 threads on the topic. So obviously it's not a very widespread issue. But I'd still like to be able to use my new phone without resorting to Bluetooth or a wired headset.
Does anyone have any experience with this issue? Or replacing the actual physical mic inside the phone? I've found replacement parts here and there, but they all just say 'XT907 Replacement Mic" etc. If someone has an actual model/part number for the microphone, or know where to find it, I'd greatly appreciate the info.
For the OP, when you cleaned your mic, how exactly did you go about it? I've hit it with compressed air but I haven't taken the phone apart yet.
Thanks again for any help.

WusteHase said:
I recently snagged an M from Craigslist. The phone is in pretty much brand new condition, not a scratch on this thing, the guy even threw in a brand new Otter Box case for it. It works great, except for the terrible mic quality. No matter who I call, they all complain about the quality, whether I have 5 bars of 4G or not. I've downloaded a few voice recorder apps, and they seem to record in fairly reasonable quality, so I'm not quite sure what the deal is. I've been looking for any reference to poor mic quality for the xt907 for a few days now and this is one of maybe 3 threads on the topic. So obviously it's not a very widespread issue. But I'd still like to be able to use my new phone without resorting to Bluetooth or a wired headset.
Does anyone have any experience with this issue? Or replacing the actual physical mic inside the phone? I've found replacement parts here and there, but they all just say 'XT907 Replacement Mic" etc. If someone has an actual model/part number for the microphone, or know where to find it, I'd greatly appreciate the info.
For the OP, when you cleaned your mic, how exactly did you go about it? I've hit it with compressed air but I haven't taken the phone apart yet.
Thanks again for any help.
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Compressed air would probably work, I just blew into it to clear any dust, and I tried to take a small microfiber cloth and insert the corner into the mic piece just in case there was any extra dust, though the mic hole was pretty clean to begin with.
I mostly had the problem when I called my dad though, and I found out the problem was a problem with the earpiece in the Droid 2 Global that my dad was using. When I switched him to an older Sony Ericsson w518a, the voice still seemed a *tiny* bit quieter than I think it should, but by no means was it as bad as with the Droid 2 Global.
tl;dr: I pretty much came to the conclusion that the earpiece of the other person was faulty, not the mic of the Razr M.

I also have the same issue with the outgoing voice quality of the Razr M. After a lot of researching I have come to the conclusion that it is actually the Noise-Cancelling feature of the phone that is not tuned correctly or outright defective on some devices. The secondary mic is located on top of the back camera. If you try to cover it completely with tape or something rigid, the voice quality improves somewhat.
Since the default phone application is the only one that seems to utilize the noise cancelling feature, it also seems to be the only one that suffers from horrendous outgoing voice quality. All my other apps that use a mic, like Viber, Voice recorder and VoIP apps, do not have this problem.
There is no way to disable this feature, on some phones it's a simple toggle but not on the Razr M with JB. I know of other mods where it can be disabled in the Phone.apk by disassembling it and removing the lines of code that way, but I have no knowledge of doing that. If someone is able to shed some light on this process, please help us out.

Problem with noise suppression, nothing else. Try to remove second mic from the board.

Call quality

When you call granny, does she keep saying "Huh?! Wut?!" or does the conversation flow pretty well? Rate this thread to express how you feel about the Razer Phone's call quality. A higher rating indicates that calls are clear and crisp, and that regardless of background noise, you can hear the other party clearly (and with ample volume) and they can hear you.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

Very Quiet
The in-call volume is SO quiet and the mic is too sensitive; family can hear themselves loudly when I use speakerphone.

yes the call volume is dramatically quiet as if you are speaking to someone long distance in the 80s. very unhappy about this. razer sort!

Hmm. Perhaps a bluetooth device is required until Razer sorts this out.
Between the camera and this I still have to give them props for their first device. I don't see more problems than the Iphone X and Pixel 2 so far.. lol

no issues here, i can hear well and no complaints on the other end

Sounds pretty normal to me. I do have to kinda be precise on my ear placement but not terrible nor overly treble-thick.

Regular call volume is great for me. However when connected through Bluetooth if I make a call i can barely hear the other person, as if they are really far away. Incoming call on BT is fine though. Has anyone else experienced this?

MegaAmpKid said:
Regular call volume is great for me. However when connected through Bluetooth if I make a call i can barely hear the other person, as if they are really far away. Incoming call on BT is fine though. Has anyone else experienced this?
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I have this exact issue. Calls on the headset and speakerphone are fine. However just like you incoming BT calls are fine but outgoing are almost impossible to hear. I have tried removing and re-adding the pairing but no change.

A quick update. There was an update that I needed to restart to get. That fixed the bluetooth issue. Hope it works for anyone else too.

call volume is too quiet

xdamatter said:
call volume is too quiet
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Yes, call volume is very very quiet. Something needs to be done about call quality and clarity..

When making an outgoing call, even the ringing tone is quiet.

After having the phone a bit, I will have to agree that call is very quiet.. Even turned up all the way... In fact you have to have it up all the way just to be able to have a conversation.

And yet they say "Oh that's strange. We've had no complaints of that."
If you complain enough, they'll replace it under warranty if you say you've factory reset it 4 or so times.
But there's no Limited Editions left so you'll only get a regular one.
Also they post your replacement only after you've sent yours and you've given them a tracking number.

Call quality has been excellent for me. I appreciate how well I can hear the folks on the other end of the line.

I hear people very quiet when calling them. This phone performance wise is really good battery as well but i have a dilemma because i can swap it for what ever i want note 8 or iphone 8 plus huawei mate 10 pro currently my main phone is the Iphone X 256gb
Sent from my Phone using Tapatalk

Have had the phone for two days
Mixed experience regarding call quality
Sometimes loud and sometimes a little low volume , although not too much.
Strange

rainbowkittypaw said:
And yet they say "Oh that's strange. We've had no complaints of that."
If you complain enough, they'll replace it under warranty if you say you've factory reset it 4 or so times.
But there's no Limited Editions left so you'll only get a regular one.
Also they post your replacement only after you've sent yours and you've given them a tracking number.
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The limited edition, is not special. It's a sticker.
Also, in defense of Razer, they give you a prepaid label.

kungpaoshizi said:
The limited edition, is not special. It's a sticker.
Also, in defense of Razer, they give you a prepaid label.
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It's also on your box. The green is a status symbol. It stands out as being one of the few that were available at launch.
It's a little thing that let's you be proud that you managed to get one.
That's the difference.

rainbowkittypaw said:
It's also on your box. The green is a status symbol. It stands out as being one of the few that were available at launch.
It's a little thing that let's you be proud that you managed to get one.
That's the difference.
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If you're more concerned about a sticker's color to the point you're afraid to RMA it, that's on you.
Otherwise if it were me? I would tear the sticker off before I RMA it and explain to customer service they're getting a phone back without the sticker.
I understand what you're saying, but I feel it's unnecessary especially since it's a sticker. But I guess if the sticker makes you happier than the phone makes ya, grats.
I'm willing to bet it wouldn't be that hard to duplicate the sticker. I'm pretty tempted to do so just to make all the folks who think it's so important realize, it's not. No serial numbers anyways.