Database Users

Very Strange Audio Output problem on the 2.5mm Jack

Hi,
I've noticed an audio output distortion of some frequencies when listening to music, in the sound coming out of the 2.5mm jack.
When the speakers on the device is used, there is no problem.
When I plug the headphone, there is sound output, I hear the music, but some frequencies are lowered so much that I can't hear the singers voice. When I unplug, the speakers work fine and I can hear the singer again.
In additon that, most of the background instruments can be heard as well as the backvocals, if they are female.
It's like the sound is being processed (like an equalizer) when I plug the headphone, some frequencies are lowered, given some echo, reverb etc.
I don't understand how this is possible. I am thinking of a hardware contact problem, but it's hard to believe if this is a hw problem.
I've tried two firmwares (2.16.x, 2.25.11.1) and made hard reset also. No result.
Any ideas?
Note: I can try to actually record the sound tonight if anyone wants to hear.
Best regards,
Fast

maybe try a different headset first?....could be a short in the cable, because what you are describing is a phasing issue with the headset speakers......

Thanks for the response Kiru,
Just tried a different headset plugging it into my HAMA 2.5 --> 3.5 adapter. same result.
I will try the original headphone came with the Wizard. If the source of the problem is the HAMA adaptor, this should resolve it. (i hope it is)
Could you please elaborate on the "phasing issue" ?

fastguy said:
Could you please elaborate on the "phasing issue" ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm....how can I explain.....Let's start with the speaker itself. A speaker has two terminals on it, one postive and one negative. What we want is to have the positve from the source (ie. Amplifier) to the positive terminal of the speaker, and the same for the negative. Since there is a pair of speakers, we want them to be hooked-up correctly. If hook-up correctly then the speakers are in phase with each other, and this is called constructive interference, hence in phase. When ONLY ONE of the speakers is hooked-up backwards, we call this destructive interference, hence being out of phase. Being out of phase causes frequencies to cancel or sound muffled. Hope you kind of get what I mean, but I highly doubt that this is the problem with headphones because heaphones nowadays rarely get manufactured with this problem. This is just the electrical part of phasing. Also, you can have one speaker, and it could sound out of phase because of the distance it is firing from walls or the shape of the room due to the reflections of sound, this is called acustical phasing.
A short in the cable, meaning the positve and negative wire are somewhat touching, can cause a similar effect, and I suspect that this is problem for you. As you now state that you are using an 2.5 to 3.5 adaptor, I would agree with you that most likey you have a faulty adaptor.
Hope this helps! and keep me posted!

Hi again,
Thanks again for the explanation Kiru, I know a bit of electronics so I got the problem.
However, I'm now home and tried to original headset, no result. The same problem is existing.
This makes me believe that I've broken something inside the Wizard which shortcircuits something. I'm very dissapointed.
Maybe the only way is now to buy a stereo bluetooth headset...
Thanks for your help

Any reason that you can't return to orange for repair/replacement?

PROBLEM SOLVED
I got this unit from priceminister second hand. It's origin is not France, I don't have a purchase receipt neither.
By the way, I solved the problem. I disassambled the unit using the info given in one of the posts in the forum. I played a little with the contacts, there was oxidation in the outer solders, i cleared them up etc, it 's working at the moment.
I'll post some pictures afterwards.
and I hope i will be able to reassamble it, I already have a piece of thing which I don't know where to put

I got the same problem. Was working fine for 2 months then all of a sudden the headphone plug is all messed up. Volume is all distorted I can sometimes hear a song but quality is no where near the original. Usually everything sounds echoed. I think something is wrong with the plug

I've had the same problem. The headphone jack on the Wizard is crap. If you have your Wizard in your pocket with an adapter, as you move, the adapter pries back and forth on the jack. This breaks the cheap jack.
If you want to listen to your Wizard as an music player, you should invest in a nice set of bluetooth headphones and only plug the jack in when the wizard won't be moved around a lot, like a home or car stereo.
I recommend Nextlink Spider headphones. They double as a headset and you can navigate through your library with the button on them.

MUSIC Speed
I got the same problem here. The SE stereo btooth headset isnt yet in our place.
Anyway, i experienced this one with ROM2.16 Imate. The sound speed or music speed seems to being played faster than normal. But when i tried to plug the 2.3-3.5 adopter and quickly pull it out, the sound is played in normal speed then. strange.....

are you all sure that the wizard has a stereo output ? I thought it was mono.
Anyway you can get earpieces and headphones with a 2.5mm jack so you don't need a 2.5-3.5mm adapter.
Maybe the contacts on your jack are not connecting properly with the internal contacts of your adaptor

Hissing/static noise everytime G1 plays sound. Both speaker and headset. Just me?

I have a noise problem, I don't think it's quite the same as previously posted noise problems.
I get a hissinh/static noise from the phones speaker (on the back) and from headphones. It is only happening while the phone plays sound (and some seconds later). Every time I up or down the sound with the volume keys, there are noise coming out of the speaker for some seconds. Please report if you have the same issue, especially eith headphones.
I could live with the speaker-noise, it's not that big a deal.. What's worse is it is in the headphones. I have a quite low impedance set of in-ear plugs from creative (I am able to hear the hard drive spinning up in my old mp3-player, but no constant noise) Crap. I want to use the phone for music listening. Question is: software or hardware related? Using JF 1.51 ADP for the record
I hope it is hardware related - I bought mine off ebay, allthoug brand new and everything, I don't know how I would go about getting it fixed/a new one with no receipt. Shipping it back and forth to England isn't really tempting either.

It's not just you, it's piss-poor rf isolation on the audio outputs. Listening with bluetooth doesn't solve the issue either as bluetooth has its own noise.

Yeah, I have yet to listen to a decent pair of BT headsets.
So this is a known problem, and it's definitely a HW issue? The fact that it's only there when sound is played, and is also there with a headset (where shielding around connectors is not and should not be a problem at ALL) made me hope this was softwar related. Argh, what to do then? The sound quality despite this seemed prety decent, although a headache today prevents me from really listening to music and say for sure. Shame.
*Pondering refund options.*
Any chance of isolating around the connector and fixing this, if it is "airborne" caused noise, or will the noice enter the equation before the connector (cabling, sound chip)?
I will try with a relatively high impedance headset (sennheiser 555) and see if it is better there. But can't take them on the bus anyway. But a couple of Ωs could always be added somewhere along the cable and might do some good. Have to have the sound at the lowest levels with the in-ears. Maybe a software fix to lower the volume output will help? Or won't it, if RF noise is the cause?
red: I will buy this item and hope it helps. And will look into lowering the volume output when using headphones as well. Should be possible (atleast it usually is with tweaks in WinMo.)

I have similar problem with HTC Magic: forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=633035
Here is one more post regarding HTC Jade: forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=463365

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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] What Volume SHOULD the speakers achieve? whats the spec

Friends obviously a LOT of Nexus 7 owners have complained about sound issues, from obviously defective units to the simple issue of volume being inadequate for use
My question is what is "normal" on this device? anyone know a db / sound-pressure at radius specification?
other than obvious noise through a speaker, how does anyone know if their unit is "normal" ?

cognus said:
Friends obviously a LOT of Nexus 7 owners have complained about sound issues, from obviously defective units to the simple issue of volume being inadequate for use
My question is what is "normal" on this device? anyone know a db / sound-pressure at radius specification?
other than obvious noise through a speaker, how does anyone know if their unit is "normal" ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My speaker is defective, and in need of going out for repair/replacement, but the volume seems like it will be fine for my needs once the rattle/vibration is fixed. It only happens at certain frequencies, so I can still get a solid sense of the output level.
Trying to determine the exact db at a specific distance isn't going to do you much good, because it will be based on either the loudest frequency, or 1khz. The 1khz rating is somewhat reasonable to use, but what if there's a massive spike there (and on small speakers, there generally is). Say it could hit 95-100db at 1khz, it still will likely only hit about 5db at 40hz. See where I'm going with this?
I don't know, I could grab my spl meter, and run a whole series of tests at 1 meter in a quasi-anechoic environment (though it's really cold outside here), if you're really that keen on finding out precise measurements of the frequency output over the 20-20 range. Seems a little overboard for a 7" tablet though. I would consider the volume more than adequate for listening to the news, or voip calls, but there isn't a tablet that exists where I would be happy with the sound of the speakers for music.
Of course, I'm kind of picky about these things.
From what I see in the boards, there are three types of view points on the output.
1. Plenty good for normal use.
2. Terribly low for music.
3. Flat out broken, so you can only turn it up half way (the second is my current situation).
Also, don't forget that the speaker is in the back, so you'll have to keep it turned around or bouncing straight off of a hard surface, to get the full output to your ears. Some cases may also significantly reduce the output as well.

more questions: if we presume/conclude "there is a volume problem even when the speakers are not defective", then two follow-on questions:
1. is it JUST speakers?
2. combo of lousy speakers and a problem with the DSP/firmware/software/etc.... ?
I think it is 2 but I'd love to hear a root cause on the whole issue.
with SOME music sources I can get through the speakers a little bit louder response, at FULL volume max'd - than I can with MX Player on a video with the Player set on Volume Boost [200%].
in the case of MX Player, its basically worthless through the speakers both from a dynamics standpoint [obvious...] and just volume unless you are in a stone-quiet area and are craning toward the device to hear.... and you have acutely good hearing.
Then, if one is unconcerned about warranty: anyone have suggestions on replacement speaker that perhaps would help?

cognus said:
more questions: if we presume/conclude "there is a volume problem even when the speakers are not defective", then two follow-on questions:
1. is it JUST speakers?
2. combo of lousy speakers and a problem with the DSP/firmware/software/etc.... ?
I think it is 2 but I'd love to hear a root cause on the whole issue.
with SOME music sources I can get through the speakers a little bit louder response, at FULL volume max'd - than I can with MX Player on a video with the Player set on Volume Boost [200%].
in the case of MX Player, its basically worthless through the speakers both from a dynamics standpoint [obvious...] and just volume unless you are in a stone-quiet area and are craning toward the device to hear.... and you have acutely good hearing.
Then, if one is unconcerned about warranty: anyone have suggestions on replacement speaker that perhaps would help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
#2
When I connect the Nexus 7 to my car stereo inline, via the headphone output, I get mixed results. I generally have to crank the car stereo way up, which can cause voltage induction through the 1/8" to RCA connector, if I have the Nexus charging simultaneously.
Now granted, induction of this sort is not something that is a Nexus only problem, and has more to do with the quality of cable shielding. If I move the USB charger so that it doesn't line up with the headphone output wire, the problem is reduced.
However, the issue is more that the headphone output is somewhat inconsistent, so that means that some audio will require me to turn the stereo to a level where the inductance is moot, and sometimes I will have to turn up the stereo to the point where charging and listening to audio through the car stereo is just brutal. Of course, you weren't asking specifically about car audio, but it leads to my theory.
Now, here in lies why I think it's you're "#2". If it were purely hardware, there shouldn't be that great of a difference from the headphone jack, assuming relatively similar reference volumes from the source. So software would seem to be at play here, as well as hardware.
As far as the speakers go, I don't think you'll be able to replace the internals. They're a very awkward shape, which probably doesn't help, and there is very little room in there.
Your best bet would be to find out if there is an external speaker option which can easily work for tablets. I listened to an Ipad 4 last night, and it wasn't good either. I think you have to consider the size of these things. A speaker the size of your pinky nail, can only be asked to do so much. Trying to cram one the size of your thumbnail in there, won't do much more, and just wouldn't fit.

now we're talking real issues. thank you.
yes, compared to any of my other android or pc or apple devices this one is uniquely odd
all as you have noted. inconsistent, output device matters, etc.
I admit I'm skewed by the ipad Mini - if you get a chance, sample that in terms of speaker performance. I have not access to Ipad 4 in my shop.
in my case, there is no distortion that I can observe/detect with my ears - clear enough, but there's not much substance there, oddly except for notifications which are crystal clear at full volume, if not particularly loud [my ancient droid optimus is louder - obnoxiously so which is why I keep it on vibe].
bladebarrier said:
#2
When I connect the Nexus 7 to my car stereo inline, via the headphone output, I get mixed results. I generally have to crank the car stereo way up, which can cause voltage induction through the 1/8" to RCA connector, if I have the Nexus charging simultaneously.
Now granted, induction of this sort is not something that is a Nexus only problem, and has more to do with the quality of cable shielding. If I move the USB charger so that it doesn't line up with the headphone output wire, the problem is reduced.
However, the issue is more that the headphone output is somewhat inconsistent, so that means that some audio will require me to turn the stereo to a level where the inductance is moot, and sometimes I will have to turn up the stereo to the point where charging and listening to audio through the car stereo is just brutal. Of course, you weren't asking specifically about car audio, but it leads to my theory.
Now, here in lies why I think it's you're "#2". If it were purely hardware, there shouldn't be that great of a difference from the headphone jack, assuming relatively similar reference volumes from the source. So software would seem to be at play here, as well as hardware.
As far as the speakers go, I don't think you'll be able to replace the internals. They're a very awkward shape, which probably doesn't help, and there is very little room in there.
Your best bet would be to find out if there is an external speaker option which can easily work for tablets. I listened to an Ipad 4 last night, and it wasn't good either. I think you have to consider the size of these things. A speaker the size of your pinky nail, can only be asked to do so much. Trying to cram one the size of your thumbnail in there, won't do much more, and just wouldn't fit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Static / buzzing from speakers at low volumes

I just started playing a few games on this Nexus 7, and I turned the volume down to the lowest setting because it is late at night and other people in my house are sleeping. I immediately noticed a soft but very audible static buzz coming from the speakers... about the same volume as the audio itself. I held my ear up to the hardware and confirmed it is both top and bottom speakers.
Anybody else experience this?

copyists sorpeno
I didn't notice at first. Noticed this morning with audio low as well.
I'd like to know if anyone else has this too. Kinda wanna know if its hardware since I purchased at best buy and only have 2 weeks to return.

Yup, I was going to report this too, but since it only occurs at minimal volume I didn't bother. I lost my good headphones so I can test the audio jack. Does it happen to you with them on too?
Btw- if this the trade off with the fantastic (for tablet speakers) surround sound I'll take it. Watch the test video on the Play Videos app.
Sent from my Nexus 7

I don't hear it. on mine. But My hearing is horked.

It's because the Nexus 7 uses a crappy digital volume control that simply reduces the volume of the digital waveform before it hits the DAC, instead of having a real analog volume control -an op-amp that adjusts the volume of the signal before it hits the headphone/speaker amplifier.
What you're hearing is quantization noise as at the lowest volume the audio uses only 2-4 bits of dynamic range instead of the full 16 (or 24, dunno what DAC is in this thing). It's the same as the bit-crushing effect you hear in some dubstep and other electronic music that degrades the audio into a robotic crunchy mess, only here it's not on purpose, it's just cheap design.
There is nothing you can do about it.

I've also noticed this (at first I was like, WTF? Is it raining in my game?). If what was said above is true, that makes me sad that nothing can be done about it.

siraltus said:
It's because the Nexus 7 uses a crappy digital volume control that simply reduces the volume of the digital waveform before it hits the DAC, instead of having a real analog volume control -an op-amp that adjusts the volume of the signal before it hits the headphone/speaker amplifier.
What you're hearing is quantization noise as at the lowest volume the audio uses only 2-4 bits of dynamic range instead of the full 16 (or 24, dunno what DAC is in this thing). It's the same as the bit-crushing effect you hear in some dubstep and other electronic music that degrades the audio into a robotic crunchy mess, only here it's not on purpose, it's just cheap design.
There is nothing you can do about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure how you know that but if you're right I guess that means it would happen on all of them... which.. sucks.. Is there anyone that doesn't have this issue to disprove this?

smurfqq said:
I'm not sure how you know that but if you're right I guess that means it would happen on all of them... which.. sucks.. Is there anyone that doesn't have this issue to disprove this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a professional audio engineer, I know exactly how these things work. Most cheap devices do volume controls that way, because adding a dedicated op-amp for analog volume control increases costs of the device, and the Nexus 7 is a budget device.
It does happen on mine, too, in every app that plays sound.

I love when pros come in here and give the technical explanation haha hats off to you, sir!
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

siraltus said:
It's because the Nexus 7 uses a crappy digital volume control that simply reduces the volume of the digital waveform before it hits the DAC, instead of having a real analog volume control -an op-amp that adjusts the volume of the signal before it hits the headphone/speaker amplifier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As the others have said, thanks for the explanation. Nice to hear from somebody who understands it, and if the problem is present in all units that actually makes me feel better since I don't have to worry about returning my otherwise perfect unit.
Question though, how come I don't hear the static when using headphones, even on the lowest volume settings where I hear the static from the built-in speakers? That makes me think it's related to the speakers and not the audio hardware... but you obviously know more than me on this.

mrmartin86 said:
I've also noticed this (at first I was like, WTF? Is it raining in my game?). If what was said above is true, that makes me sad that nothing can be done about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, funny thing is the first game I played was Bad Piggies on some levels with an ocean tide moving back and forth at the bottom of the screen. I thought the static was the tide sounds... until I heard it in another game too.

tweaked said:
I don't hear it. on mine. But My hearing is horked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It only happens at the absolute lowest volume setting... i.e. one notch up from muted. It sort of happens at the next notch up too, but is most noticeable at the quietest setting, and you need to be in a quiet room. I only noticed because I was using the device in a small echoey mostly tile room (you can probably guess where) and because of the room having such acoustics I put the device on the lowest setting just above mute.

Had something like this on my original nexus 7
Except it happened regardless of the volume setting. Wasn't that audible- had to put my ear against the speaker to really hear it, but it did interfere with other devices, such as my radio, or keyboard with a head phone jack. It would make a sound like a quick DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH...DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH. My nexus 4 can sometimes cause static interference with other devices, too. Haven't gotten the new nexus 7 so I cannot say whether or not my new one has this issue

Well.. mine's not only happening at the lowest volume notch. If I put it to my ear (never actually going to do this for normal use) it's there at every volume level, just hard to hear once whatever I'm playing gets loud enough. The display unit at a local best buy does the same. I can hear it in a quiet room at the first couple notches (normal use), which is annoying. Also, since someone asked - No it doesn't happen through headphones.

The111 said:
As the others have said, thanks for the explanation. Nice to hear from somebody who understands it, and if the problem is present in all units that actually makes me feel better since I don't have to worry about returning my otherwise perfect unit.
Question though, how come I don't hear the static when using headphones, even on the lowest volume settings where I hear the static from the built-in speakers? That makes me think it's related to the speakers and not the audio hardware... but you obviously know more than me on this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My pleasure! There's tons of FUD on XDA about many things, so I try to contribute on stuff I know well to reduce that.
Without looking at the schematics of the thing I can only guess:
The speaker amplifier is probably just a simple design that outputs 100% power all the time, so you have to control the volume of the signal that enters it, whereas the headphone amp probably has an integrated analog volume control.
A volume control is much easier (read: cheaper) to do in an integrated chip with low power signals (headphone out) than higher power (speaker out), and again, cheaper was the way to go with the Nexus 7.
Hence, there are two separate outputs from the audio chip - one that feeds the speaker amplifier and uses the bit-crushing digital volume control, the other outputs full-scale audio to the headphone amplifier which controls the volume in analog.

siraltus said:
My pleasure! There's tons of FUD on XDA about many things, so I try to contribute on stuff I know well to reduce that.
Without looking at the schematics of the thing I can only guess:
The speaker amplifier is probably just a simple design that outputs 100% power all the time, so you have to control the volume of the signal that enters it, whereas the headphone amp probably has an integrated analog volume control.
A volume control is much easier (read: cheaper) to do in an integrated chip with low power signals (headphone out) than higher power (speaker out), and again, cheaper was the way to go with the Nexus 7.
Hence, there are two separate outputs from the audio chip - one that feeds the speaker amplifier and uses the bit-crushing digital volume control, the other outputs full-scale audio to the headphone amplifier which controls the volume in analog.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Makes sense. Thanks again.

siraltus said:
My pleasure! There's tons of FUD on XDA about many things, so I try to contribute on stuff I know well to reduce that.
Without looking at the schematics of the thing I can only guess:
The speaker amplifier is probably just a simple design that outputs 100% power all the time, so you have to control the volume of the signal that enters it, whereas the headphone amp probably has an integrated analog volume control.
A volume control is much easier (read: cheaper) to do in an integrated chip with low power signals (headphone out) than higher power (speaker out), and again, cheaper was the way to go with the Nexus 7.
Hence, there are two separate outputs from the audio chip - one that feeds the speaker amplifier and uses the bit-crushing digital volume control, the other outputs full-scale audio to the headphone amplifier which controls the volume in analog.
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Is this something they can fix (or at least mitigate) in a software update?

paxunix said:
Is this something they can fix (or at least mitigate) in a software update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, this is how the hardware is designed.

Noticed this too from the speakers regardless of volume, and regardless of what is playing audio. It's a high pitched squeal to my ears which I can't stand. I've thrown out computer power supplies and video cards that have made similar(obviously, louder) noises.
Was hoping it could be something improved in software, but I guess not. Time to sell this.

http://youtu.be/c9aQnuOrTY8
Recorded what it sounds like at lower volumes with a small condenser mic next to it. Let me know if that's similar to what you guys are hearing too.