Database Users

Interesting microphone discovery!

I got some moisture in my A500 while putting a screen cover on it and the unit was misbehaving. I have that cleared up now (hopefully), but noticed something about the microphone. It was partially covered by a tag from one of the wiring looms! I don't know if moving this tag out of the way will improve the microphone, but it sure as heck aint going to hurt it! Since the microphone points away from you as you hold the tablet, I'm not sure it's ever going to pick up your voice properly.
Pics are attached
Rob
update: I put my a500 back together, but forgot I had the sd card still in there. The end result was that I cracked the sd card which renders it useless. I'll have to buy another one now. The microphone recording volume is still quite low, no improvement there. I think it's a design oversight and any tablet should probably have front and rear facing microphones. Only use the one facing away for video recording, othewise use the one facing the user.

Did you try turning the mic over? Maybe they made two mistakes. Putting the mic in wrong and then covering it with the tag

The A500 has a 2 microphones array, for noise canceling effect.
The microphone you put the tag label away from is the noise canceling one, the main microphone is just at the left of that one and its facing front. As you put away that tag you may have an improvement on the noise canceling effect, if you try to turn over the mic it will not harm the device but I'm pretty sure it will not help noise canceling.
Holding the A500 landscape and dock port down, the gap of the front facing mic is between the screen glass and the upper frame, is just right in the middle, it is hard to see but can be seen from certain angles and light conditions.
Also you provided the proof that I'm not writing nonsenses, in the first picture attached, there are those two alike connectors, both have plugged microphones, and they have the same tag flap with the same codes and digits imprinted. If you look closely you can see the edge of the front facing mic, it's at the left of the back facing mic and it's almost covered by the circuit board where both microphones connectors are.

I as well had taken my tablet apart due tons issue with video cable loose.and noticed exactly where the mice are at. Thinking about going tobeadeo shak or order from black box better mic to out in.I have done this on laptop before

silverball.slayer said:
update: I put my a500 back together, but forgot I had the sd card still in there. The end result was that I cracked the sd card which renders it useless. I'll have to buy another one now. The microphone recording volume is still quite low, no improvement there. I think it's a design oversight and any tablet should probably have front and rear facing microphones. Only use the one facing away for video recording, othewise use the one facing the user.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did a few recordings to test the noise canceling array, and be able to notice the noise canceling effect when recording video with front facing camera, when recording with back facing camera, I notice no noise canceling, the recording level is a little low, but was ok, I'm not sure if this feature is binded to which camera the user is using during record, also I have no professional equipment or applications to make sure that the noise canceling effect/feature was working or not.
I agree that this kind of double microphone array should be a lot more user friendly, letting a user decide to use both microphones, or using only one and which one, or turn on or off noise canceling, or any other feature as the recording level, will not harm anyone. And having the device defaults to record using front facing camera with front mic and noise canceling, and when using back facing camera with back mic, without noise canceling, will work as most users wanted it to work.

The microphone on my third A500 is working great so far. I returned the second one today because the microphone audio was very low. It's still running 3.01 stock because the 3.01 OTA update isn't available yet for my unit.
Rob

ACER A500 Microphone Fix?

Hi, guys Ive been looking for microphone fix on my A500 , when i record any video it has this loud background noise...which in fact my room is silent , also when I'm recording videos outside & using Skype . Im using HC 3.2.1 rooted with thor's CMW ver 1.5 . I been searching the forum for a fix but i cant find it or so as I read that they will fix this issue on HC 3.2, but still i get this issues . Is this a Hardware problem or OS issue?
Also can I still return this tablet to walmart & get a refund? I already exchange the first 1 cuz It got a charging issue. SO basically I'm returning an exchange tablet. It hasn't been 14 days yet. as they mentioned for returns & refunds.
Thanks.

hatyrei said:
Hi, guys Ive been looking for microphone fix on my A500
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Click to collapse
Funny, I was coming here to ask for help about something similar...
In my case, I have a refurbished A500 which has been awesome so far, with the exception of the microphone. It records terribly, lots of noise and distortion in any recording I make (using Recorder as the test app I made a short .amr recording which I attach 7zip-compressed).
A friend has an A500, and it doesn't seem to display this issue. While it's no deal-breaker (I can live without recording audio...playback of tv shows loaded on the card works better-than-fine!), I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to fix it, or at least make it a little less...noisy.

I believe the culprit has to do with the speakers creating feedback. The workaround is to use headphones. Hope this works for you.

Take a look here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1065219

tabasco22 said:
Take a look here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1065219
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Click to collapse
I did read that entire thread, which only tells me there are multiple unrelated issues around audio recording on the A500...these issues seem to get all mixed-together in that thread, with people who only care about Skype focusing on that and cross-talking to people who have completely different recording issues. I was hoping this thread could avoid the whole need-to-use-Skype distraction and focus on the specific issue of seemingly over-driven recordings. (With the refurb, I'm also out of the whole keep-complaining-to-acer-until-they-do-something-to-fix-it focus there seems to be on that thread. I can't really complain, and any warranty I had expired a while ago.)
The earlier suggestion to use a headset is, however, something I should have considered first (even read in the earlier Skype-centric thread), and am a little embarrassed I didn't. Sometime this weekend I'll pick up a cheap 3.5 mic/headphone set and see if that makes any difference. If it does, and the recordings though it are cleaner, I can be more comfortable it will work for one thing I care about...using the A500 with the SquareUp CC processor.

Mic - Solution for me.
Problem: Microphone recordings sound terrible. Soft, Choppy, Mechanical, like a bad cell call, bathroom (NOT the severe helicopter sound as others have reported). My hypothesis like others have suggested, seems to be noise cancellation issues. Especially since the issues vary app to app. These mics are right beside each other and I assume they're pretty much hearing the same thing, and the rear is trying to cancel what it hears, which is the same as the front! End result being filtering what it hears, ie filtering everything? FAIL.
Test 1: Using Recorder and Skype Test call, I tested different distances talking to the front/back, covering front mic, covering back mic, case on, case off, headphones plugged in/out, etc. In some instances you could hear some, and other hear nothing, some sound ok, some sound horrible. I wasn't satisfied with ANY.
Test 2: Popped off back of tablet and disconnected REAR facing mic. They are side/side, make sure you disconnect the correct one, the one with the diaphragm pointing out. Simple connector. Then tried Recorder/Skype Test call and both sounded Excellent. I have not tried a call with Skype, just the test. EDIT: Tested a real Skype call last night. No sound issues on my end or other end.
Conclusion: Removal of rear mic provided the best quality. There is zero filtering/cancellation/etc.

Gotta try this
Hmm!
Should of thought of this myself. Going to give it shot and post back later!
Unhooked the rear mike --it helps the front m ike is usable now. Not perfect but works.
So for me
1 Run Flexreaper ICS by Civato = better mike
2 Drill hole for front mike = not as muffled
3 Disconnect rear mike= almost as good as a phone but not as sensitive.
Okay on recording and search but Skype still noisy without headset.
Damn connectors were a pain to unhook.

appoaf said:
Problem: Microphone recordings sound terrible. Soft, Choppy, Mechanical, like a bad cell call, bathroom (NOT the severe helicopter sound as others have reported). My hypothesis like others have suggested, seems to be noise cancellation issues. Especially since the issues vary app to app. These mics are right beside each other and I assume they're pretty much hearing the same thing, and the rear is trying to cancel what it hears, which is the same as the front! End result being filtering what it hears, ie filtering everything? FAIL.
Test 1: Using Recorder and Skype Test call, I tested different distances talking to the front/back, covering front mic, covering back mic, case on, case off, headphones plugged in/out, etc. In some instances you could hear some, and other hear nothing, some sound ok, some sound horrible. I wasn't satisfied with ANY.
Test 2: Popped off back of tablet and disconnected REAR facing mic. They are side/side, make sure you disconnect the correct one, the one with the diaphragm pointing out. Simple connector. Then tried Recorder/Skype Test call and both sounded Excellent. I have not tried a call with Skype, just the test. EDIT: Tested a real Skype call last night. No sound issues on my end or other end.
Conclusion: Removal of rear mic provided the best quality. There is zero filtering/cancellation/etc.
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Click to collapse
I did and I agree this is a fix if you want to use recorder, Skype, talk, tango, etc. But I also learned to forget using the video camera UNLESS you have it using the rear camera (this is one you use by default when you Skype). Looks like it uses the microphone that points in the direction of the active camera.
So I would suspect the noise cancelling algorithm settings are to blame for poor sound recordings.

I solve this issue by using my stereo earphone with mic that came with my Nokia phone. I have tried a bluetooth stereo headset with mic and another wired earbuds with mic, there was either still a lot of noise or the sound level was very low. Basically, it is the same as using a headset. Finally I found one earphone with mic that works well. I actually have two of the same earbuds from 2 identical Nokia 5230. I tested them on two Iconia A500 with voice chat and video chat, it works very well both ways. I have also tried to turned off the Dolby Mobile as suggested by someone. It actually makes it worse and the sound level went down a lot.

acer a501 microphone fix
hi all
today i finally got to the bottom of the microphone issue
versions 3.x had some issues with the mic that cant be fixed - tried different internal and external mics but no good - i thought it was a hardware issue
and not able to solve but after ota update of ics the external mic is perfect - crystal clear and no noise and heaps of level.
the internal mic is crap so i decided to change the microphone with anything i could find - it has to be electret mic.
I had a few lying around and some worked well and some did not - i eventually found one that worked really well will heaps of level - the
only prob was that it was twice the size of the original.
i had to cut some of the plastic away but eventually got it installed.
The internal mic works great now - much better than the muffled one that came with the unit.
I left the second mic connected as it seems to make no difference in or out.
So what i have found -
firmware on 3.x no good for mic
ics makes mic work well if you use exeternal.
internal mic - get rid of it as it is useless.
hope this helps someone as i spent lots of time trying to fix this

OK but...
jzaiter said:
hi all
today i finally got to the bottom of the microphone issue
versions 3.x had some issues with the mic that cant be fixed - tried different internal and external mics but no good - i thought it was a hardware issue
and not able to solve but after ota update of ics the external mic is perfect - crystal clear and no noise and heaps of level.
the internal mic is crap so i decided to change the microphone with anything i could find - it has to be electret mic.
I had a few lying around and some worked well and some did not - i eventually found one that worked really well will heaps of level - the
only prob was that it was twice the size of the original.
i had to cut some of the plastic away but eventually got it installed.
The internal mic works great now - much better than the muffled one that came with the unit.
I left the second mic connected as it seems to make no difference in or out.
So what i have found -
firmware on 3.x no good for mic
ics makes mic work well if you use exeternal.
internal mic - get rid of it as it is useless.
hope this helps someone as i spent lots of time trying to fix this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HoneyComb 3.2 disconnected the rear microphone, Resulted in Better Quality without helicopter noise specially better for skype Etc.
Video recording still Just hardly acceptable. but quality is still bad.
Wont buy from acer anymore.

Galaxy s4 audio water tap hiss in recorded video

Hi
I have a i9500 which I have enjoyed its high res images and full HD detailed images in 13MP (ozcan rom capability). Everything works flawlessly in my s4. Am not so sure what the problem could be when it comes to the recording of sound in video and voice recording.
I have been scrounging the net for a possible solution but realized that the s4 has a design flaw of pop and crack sounds when video recording. I do experience those but negligible. The sound quality recording is very good on the s4. My issue is it comes with an unpleasant water tap hiss that requires ambient audio to be a certain threshold to completely drown it like an ordinary conversation in a few feet from the microphone. This problem I encountered in both stock rom & ozcan rom.
The trouble comes in when you decide to record video in absolute or near silence. It will be very notable on playback at volume 10 but hardly audible at volume 4. This happens both in voice or cam recorder. Has anyone figured out how to rid of this unpleasant hiss?

Isn't anyone experiencing /has experienced this at all?

Hi,
I have experienced this while recording myself playing guitar, but I thought it was the amplifier hahaha. Sorry I can't help, it seems it's an issue with S4 itself, and if that's the case you can't do anything AFAIK. If I end up discovering a solution I'll update you on this, but I don't think I'll find anything...
~Lord

XxLordxX said:
Hi,
I have experienced this while recording myself playing guitar, but I thought it was the amplifier hahaha. Sorry I can't help, it seems it's an issue with S4 itself, and if that's the case you can't do anything AFAIK. If I end up discovering a solution I'll update you on this, but I don't think I'll find anything...
~Lord
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, I've just seen your reply, I hope am not too late. An in depth further analysis on the nature of this problem is, in the recorded video if you care to open it in a professional video editor, the left audio channel is the one with the distortion. The right one is crystal clear for my case with 0% hiss. In voice recording, only one channel is doing the recording and I assume it is the left one because the distortion is also present in it as bad. I'd like to here of your case though.
Just now I plugged in the earphones with the mic and voice recorder app automatically switched to using the mic on the earphones and this only happens in voice recording. Video recording doesn't automatically switch to external mic with the earphones plugged in, am not certain it is a video mic vs earphone mic compatibility issue. The good news is the earphone mic picks up very faint clear sounds even whispers in 1.5 feet proximity and WITHOUT ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT the distortion (water tap/whistling sound I get) that I get from the internal mic of the phone in voice recording only. Now what is the chance that it is my internal mic next to my charging port that is at fault?

After doing alittle more research right now, I have learnt that the voice recorder does its recording in mono hence has only one channel and the Video recorder does its recording in stereo since it has two audio channels (left and right). This now explains when it fails to use the earphone microphone as an audio external recorder.
Now the S4 has two different microphones as now seen by the video recorder's audio output. I have established that the culprit channel is the left channel. One simple test has now narrowed down which microphone is faulty. I ran the voice recorder app and placed my phone on my bed. I scratched with my finger really close to where the mic 1 (next to the usb charger is) then did the same to the mic 2 next to the earphone jack port. Thank God!! the audio recording has confirmed that it is indeed using the left channel which is the mic 1 placed next to the charging port. This gives me the chance to use this video to rectify the issue. My only problem is finding a genuine part because there are people complaining of quality issues with the replacement parts.

Kernel ranger said:
After doing alittle more research right now, I have learnt that the voice recorder does its recording in mono hence has only one channel and the Video recorder does its recording in stereo since it has two audio channels (left and right). This now explains when it fails to use the earphone microphone as an audio external recorder.
Now the S4 has two different microphones as now seen by the video recorder's audio output. I have established that the culprit channel is the left channel. One simple test has now narrowed down which microphone is faulty. I ran the voice recorder app and placed my phone on my bed. I scratched with my finger really close to where the mic 1 (next to the usb charger is) then did the same to the mic 2 next to the earphone jack port. Thank God!! the audio recording has confirmed that it is indeed using the left channel which is the mic 1 placed next to the charging port. This gives me the chance to use this video to rectify the issue. My only problem is finding a genuine part because there are people complaining of quality issues with the replacement parts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there Kernel ranger! Did you manage to fix the noise of the mic? I'm having the same trouble. This morning I recorded a Koto concert from a distance and the left channel is plagued with some kind of electrostatic noise. Right channel seems ok, though. I think I will have to clean that rubbish with Ozone...
Regards

chinchulin01 said:
Hi there Kernel ranger! Did you manage to fix the noise of the mic? I'm having the same trouble. This morning I recorded a Koto concert from a distance and the left channel is plagued with some kind of electrostatic noise. Right channel seems ok, though. I think I will have to clean that rubbish with Ozone...
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Am glad people with the same issue are following this thread. I'm telling you! I ran all the tests I could and confirmed 100% that my Microphone Mic Flex Cable Ribbon part needed replacement but before I could even do it, someone liked my s4 as it was and I sold it to them. What is your s4 model number? Now I got a Note 4.
What you can do is first get it cleaned with even rubbing alcohol if necessary, if this problem just started just recently. After cleaning it and the problem persists, you will have to get a repair kit like I did from ebay then order Microphone Mic Flex Cable Ribbon part to replace the faulty one. Youtube has tonnes of video about how to replace that part and it will only cost you $10 at the most if you do it yourself correctly.

Poor call quality (both over cellular network and WiFi)

Hey fellas,
So the call quality on my g4+ absolutely sucks. It doesn't matter if I am using the cellular network (for voice calls) or WiFi (Skype, Duo etc.). People always complain that either there is a lot of static or as if I am talking from an extremely windy location (No I'm not actually in a windy location). And the funny thing is that the problems are the same on both networks, which leads me to believe that it could be a local problem. Maybe something with the microphone or the voice cancellation or perhapps the radio on the device ? Listeners also complain that my microphone is too silent. For video calls, I literally have to put my mouth next to the mic for the other side to listen to me properly.
I have tested my WiFi connection by placing same calls on Skype using G4 plus and my G1 one after another. Not a speck of noise in the G1.
Now I bought this device in India and am currently in Germany which makes approaching customer service a bit tricky.
Has anyone had problems like this? Any suggestions or fixes? BTW, running a stock device with no custom changes whatsoever.

I wouldn't say for sure but maybe it's cause the in-call audio and loudspeaker both use the same speaker.
Or something to do with your network provider? Perhaps?
But like I said, I am not sure if this might be a reason for poor call quality.
from Moto™ G⁴ Plus (XT1643) running BeanStalk 6 ROM

I am leaning on striking off network issues as the same SIM and WiFi result in clear voice on my 1st gen G. I just went through resetting network settings first and the whole device finally, but to no use.
Can anyone share how their mic works during a video call. Is it loud enough from around 15cm distance for the other side to hear them properly? Just want to make sure that it's not a general device problem.

OK, so I have isolated the problem to be (mostly) in phone's mic or its noise cancellation. I say this because when I use a headset mic, the world is noise-free again.
Does anyone have an idea if noise cancellation works when using the headset mic? If yes, then I guess the only solution to my problem would be to get the mic replaced.

pratik11 said:
OK, so I have isolated the problem to be (mostly) in phone's mic or its noise cancellation. I say this because when I use a headset mic, the world is noise-free again.
Does anyone have an idea if noise cancellation works when using the headset mic? If yes, then I guess the only solution to my problem would be to get the mic replaced.
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Click to collapse
Do you use a body cover?because some covers can also cover the noise reduction hole.

anhoxhrs said:
Do you use a body cover?because some covers can also cover the noise reduction hole.
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Click to collapse
I do yes. But I have checked that already. Removing the back cover doesn't help
I tried recording video and audio today as well. Its a lot more noise/static than my voice. And given that no one else is experiencing this, I am beginning to believe that it is a mic issue with my device.

pratik11 said:
I do yes. But I have checked that already. Removing the back cover doesn't help
I tried recording video and audio today as well. Its a lot more noise/static than my voice. And given that no one else is experiencing this, I am beginning to believe that it is a mic issue with my device.
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Click to collapse
Lol,then i would suggest visiting service center.

Weird microphone issue?

I am familiar with how many people are dealing with microphone sound issues on their 6P, however mine is a little bit different. My phone had "slight" liquid damage that was repaired by replacing a few parts and drying out. Everything on the phone has been working 100% except for an issue with the microphone.
Initially, there was no sound being recorded on the phone at all, and so I decided to try replacing the daughterboard on the bottom of the phone (where one of the microphones is). Immediately I had sound being recorded again!
However, I have found that I will record sound only from a few particular instances.
This is what works:
Phone call microphone (not speakerphone)
General voice recording apps
Google Now / Assistant
This is what doesn't work:
Camcorder microphone recording
Speakerphone microphone
Hangouts / Duo video calling (will work if i set to 'headset' speaker as opposed to speakerphone)
I am assuming it has something to do with the other microphones on the device, whether they are failing or it has something to do with the noise canceling effects.
Has anyone experienced an issue similar to this on this device (or other devices) and found a solution?
The only other option would be to replace the entire motherboard that contains the other microphone (which happens to be about a $200 part, with new EVERYTHING)
Short of removing and resoldering a replacement 'mic' on that board, is there any software solutions?
I love this phone dearly, and it's especially sad that I cannot even record video of my baby daughter with sound.
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Nathan