Speaker frequency response limited, very limited! - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshootin

I'm wondering if my phone is defective!
All of my previous phones from iphones, android, etc. have always been able to produce high frequency sounds from their internal speakers. To 20KHz and beyond. I was shocked to find that this phone can't, even 15K, 12K, even 10K falls silent from the speaker! At 15KHz at full volume there is strange distortion like hissing and a buzzing sound. App used is free from play store, called function generator. This is actually quite important to be able to generate these tones and a deal breaker for me!
Try it once and tell me the results. Most good ears can hear 15K, it's close the whine of an old CRT TV set. And 10K, uck that should be heard by anyone under 60 or so, very annoyingly loud. I hope this is just a fluke, going to pair to my jambox, try headphones, etc.
The speaker itself sounds pretty decent for the phone function and gets plenty loud.
One thing I did notice is the lack of "fuzzy" sound on visual voice mail which could be a clue to a sharp high frequency roll off as these artifacts are in the higher frequency range. Just as if you fry a tweeter on a two way system and all you're left with is a woofer, going to be rather dull, even muffled!

My phone is able to produce those high frequency sounds so it sounds (no pun intended) like you have a hardware issue.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

mg2195 said:
My phone is able to produce those high frequency sounds so it sounds (no pun intended) like you have a hardware issue.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
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Thanks for checking, it appears this is somewhat of a false alarm! The hardware seems OK as I can use other apps that can generate this signal and it works fine. The function generator app (downloaded again) is just broken with the S4.
This phone will keep the app devs busy it seems.

Related

Low ring volume?

Is it just me, or does the Nexus One seem to have a somewhat low ring volume?
When some one calls me, or I get a text message or new e-mail or any other notification of some sort I'm barley able to hear it when I'm at work?
Tried to crank the notification and ring volume to the maximum, but it's still way lower than what I'm used to with every other phone I've had before?
If I dare compare it to when I used my iPhone 3G at work, I had the volume set to about 70% and I was still able to hear it loud and clear every single time?
RamGuy said:
Is it just me, or does the Nexus One seem to have a somewhat low ring volume?
When some one calls me, or I get a text message or new e-mail or any other notification of some sort I'm barley able to hear it when I'm at work?
Tried to crank the notification and ring volume to the maximum, but it's still way lower than what I'm used to with every other phone I've had before?
If I dare compare it to when I used my iPhone 3G at work, I had the volume set to about 70% and I was still able to hear it loud and clear every single time?
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I have the complete opposite experience with my phone; I have to keep the volume at around 40% in order for it to be remotely acceptable volume in the workplace. At full volume every call and notification is so loud that I am almost embarrassed for drawing the attention of everyone remotely close to me.
The speaker is not of the highest quality, in my opinion, but it is damn loud.
I don't know of any secret options that affect ringtone volume, so I am curious to hear other people's testimonies to see if there is a widespread difference.
I agree with the opening post, my Nexus One is too damn quiet, I've missed loads of call and text message notifications. Mind you, I do tend to keep my phone in it's sleeve, so that is obviously a contributing factor, but even outside of the sleeve the speaker is really quiet.
I had a Nokia 5800 previously, which had exceptional speakers - loud and very good sound quality, so maybe it's just that I'm used to something a lot louder.
Although, my only other HTC experience was the Touch Pro (which I hated with an unholy passion), and the speakers on that were really crap too.
I also agree with OP. It is really low for me even at max volume i miss a lot of texts and some calls. I do keep the phone in my pants but with my previous phones was way louder.
It's lower volume than I was use to with other devices. Not sure if there is a way to pump it up some?
I've noticed that some of the ringtones are much more audible than others. Cricket, for example, "carries" pretty well, as a sound. I'm guessing you've tried them all though, if you're not happy with the volume.
FWIW, for various notifications, I have Cricket, Captain's Log and Pizzicato in use, all of which seemed fairly audible to me. For sure more so than the default one.
Going through them again now, I'm wondering if some of the other notifications haven't been made a bit louder/more shrill in today's update. Damn updates. Make me imagine all kinds of things have changed
My workplace is a lab, so it's pretty quiet. I might well have complaints about the volume if I worked in a noisier place. And I honestly don't receive a bunch of calls on it, just emails and SMS.
Rediculously Quiet
Well I’m a bit of a gadget nut, and own pretty much every top phone on the market. Huge fan of this phone but the ring volume is pretty much a killer. At maximum volume its way less than any phone I have at 50% volume. I miss calls all the time and therefore have dropped it as my goto phone. What purpose does a phone have if you can’t hear it ring. Seems crazy to me that all my other WM HTC phones are acceptable or crazy loud. Just to hear my phone in my pocket I have had to make a MP3 ring tone mixing it at max volume, that was my only solution but it’s still not loud enough and now the speaker begins to distort and crackle the sound, making me think there will be no soft fix for this.
Huge Disappointment
That's the main reason I want to get a Desire rather than N1
vegetaleb said:
That's the main reason I want to get a Desire rather than N1
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And you heard Desire ring tone?
vegetaleb said:
That's the main reason I want to get a Desire rather than N1
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I highly doubt the Desire would fix any of these issues. It's the same phone essentially.
Uhh. I usually keep my Milestone at 1 notch from bottom and I can hear it clearly. Today I missed 3 calls on my N1 with it 1 notch from the bottom. I later realized I probably need it around 50-60% volume to hear it well for a near 100% catch rate. Forget noisy places like the subway. If I put my Milestone at 50-60%, it'll rock my office.
I've gone through an iPhone 3GS, Nokia N82, Moto Milestone, and the N1 ranks dead LAST in terms of ring volume. That speakerphone is just terrible. 40-50% on the N1 can't even compare to a Droid at like 20% or so.
The same goes with the Earpiece. I can make calls perfectly fine at 10-20% on my Milestone whereas I gotta crank up to 80% or so on my N1. Unacceptable.
Some people reported a significant raise in volume when using Desire ROM on N1 and if you look at the Desire pics you will notice that the speaker openings are larger than the 3mm one of N1
vegetaleb said:
Some people reported a significant raise in volume when using Desire ROM on N1 and if you look at the Desire pics you will notice that the speaker openings are larger than the 3mm one of N1
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Click to collapse
That would be good =) maybe I should ask some people about this more. The voice on the N1 also sounds very tiny through the earpiece (you know like when you turn your volume way too high on earbuds and the sound leaks out?). The Milestone seems more stereo and filling as if I'm in a room carrying out a normal conversation. I hope the Desire can address these issues.
See what I mean on the attached pics?
Also perhaps google asked HTC to do it quiet for safety reasons, the Legend which is the little brother of the Desire has a very loud volume...
I would think it has to be very high on the hardware development importance list to include a decent speaker especially with many using these phones in conference call situations these days. This volume on the Nexus phone seems crazy low and indeed we are throwing conspiracy theories out there but HTC are going to sell the Desire, the exact same machine (little less cool and with that weird touch nav) out onto the market right in Google's face for 200$ more! My bet is yes the hardware on this Desire is the grade 'A' stuff including the speaker.
Please let there be some kind of code fix for the Nexus 1,
Anyone had any experience with the Desire Rom on Nexus 1 regarding volume increase?
Someone on the Android Help forum said that the loudspeaker is programmed to output 75% of its maximum volume. Can someone verify that?
jsoverson said:
I don't know of any secret options that affect ringtone volume, so I am curious to hear other people's testimonies to see if there is a widespread difference.
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Just convert the ringtone file using any converter and maximize the volume in settings... I tried it once with TVC but the sound became distorted
NexusDro said:
Someone on the Android Help forum said that the loudspeaker is programmed to output 75% of its maximum volume. Can someone verify that?
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I'm not sure where someone got that from.
I've been searching through the Nexus source and, as far as i can tell, the audio is all controlled via the kernel and nothing else, volume wise anyway. I'm not sure why Google changed HTCs method (which was easy as hell to hack) but they've definitely removed it.
how do we open the kernel to get to these sound files, if someone walks me through it, i will hack the files, i dont care about htc copyright, i want a phone i can hear ringing.
PM me if you want me to, and i wont upload any copyright stuff here, i will host the file somewhere else ehhhm rapid shares cough cough
Sleeve trick
If you guys are using the sleeve this might help a lot (it does for me)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=641995&highlight=sleeve+trick
Blaiz said:
HTC are going to sell the Desire, the exact same machine (little less cool and with that weird touch nav) out onto the market right in Google's face for 200$ more! My bet is yes the hardware on this Desire is the grade 'A' stuff including the speaker.
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Click to collapse
You mean the Desire will be 100$ less, at least in Europe and Asia

EVO earpiece distorted

Anyone notice distortion through the earpiece when set at the highest volume?
Yep. I notice it when the phone is ringing. The ring is usually clear, but on the Evo there's a slight buzz/distortion. Seems to continue in phone calls, too.
It's not terrible, but it's noticeable. I compared with a Hero, and the Hero sounds great.
Also, I noticed the max volume on the earpiece during a phone call is relatively quiet. I think it's a little quieter than the Hero.
if you enable the Hearing aids feature, it will amplify the max in call volume; it will be much louder. it seems to distort the sound somewhat as well. i could see myself using this feature in noisy surroundings. you access the feature via Settings->Call->Hearing aids.
yes, i have noticed this as well. every word is distorted/rattling. the loudest setting is way too quiet as well, but all i get is distorting. i can't stand talking on the evo because of this. every word from every person...
4thephil said:
yes, i have noticed this as well. every word is distorted/rattling. the loudest setting is way too quiet as well, but all i get is distorting. i can't stand talking on the evo because of this. every word from every person...
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Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=696648
Freelancerx said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=696648
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thanks, but that ##778 number didn't work for me on my sprint evo :/ sounds promising if i could have dialed it though :/
I was hoping after a few days that this crackling wouldn't bother me so much...but its really annoying..looks like ill be exchanging since some people appear to be having better luck when doing so. Here's my question thought...since I bought the phone from best buy, Do I have to exchange there or can I go to a Sprint store? I have the Sprint insurance.
Did changing the vocoder resolve the distortion issue for you?
I notice a little buzzing at times in my conversations. It is subtle, but very annoying. I'm skeptical this is a vocoder issue though -- almost seems like a speaker problem. Seems to get better if I turn the volume down.

Voodoo sound kernel?

I've been reading rave reviews about Supercurio's Voodoo Sound and was interested in giving it a try but it requires a kernel update. Does anyone know if there is a kernel for the Fascinate that supports Voodoo Sound?
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
See here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=871915
Rexxe said:
See here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=871915
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, supercurio put in some serious Q & A time over the weekend.
yeah it was fun. the kernel is amazing.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk
Just installed
What does everyone use for settings in Voodoo Sound? I am also using my favorite app PowerAmp and I wanted to see if anyone else was using that combo and what equalizer/preamp/headphone amp settings other people were using.
Benew0 said:
What does everyone use for settings in Voodoo Sound? I am also using my favorite app PowerAmp and I wanted to see if anyone else was using that combo and what equalizer/preamp/headphone amp settings other people were using.
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Click to collapse
EQ settings are going to depend largely on your headphones. I also use poweramp and for the moment have turned the EQ off so that i can get comfortable listening to the effect of the new sound driver. My normal listening headphones are a set of klipsch Image S4s which frankly for the money ($79) sound quite good, but are a little too strong in the midrange and roll off too quickly up top.
Typically with the poweramp EQ I've been cutting a little in the upper midrange and boosting a little up top to compensate for this, but after a few minutes listening to the new sound driver with the SNR boost and 128x oversampling enabled, i don't think i'm going to need as much boost on the top end.
I'll play with the EQ later after my ears adjust, but i'm really looking forward to Supercurio implementing the EQ in his app so that i can use it as a global EQ for all sources (especially since i listen through the same headphones all the time).
This Voodoo Sound kernel sounds excellent using PowerAmp and my equalizer settings. If you're interested in my equalizer setup, I've attached a picture. I'm using my Grado Sr60i headphones right now, I haven't tried out the new Voodoo sound kernal on my Koss Ksc75 headphones yet, however.
I listen to my phones music primarily through a cassette adapter to my car stereo. Will this new kernel have any real effect my music or not
Sent from my sch-i500 using dl09 supah clean
Ahodson1985 said:
I listen to my phones music primarily through a cassette adapter to my car stereo. Will this new kernel have any real effect my music or not
Sent from my sch-i500 using dl09 supah clean
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It should, but I don't know how noticeable it will be. It seems that most people say that it's a very noticeable difference, so you could test it and find out.
nmyeti said:
EQ settings are going to depend largely on your headphones. I also use poweramp and for the moment have turned the EQ off so that i can get comfortable listening to the effect of the new sound driver. My normal listening headphones are a set of klipsch Image S4s which frankly for the money ($79) sound quite good, but are a little too strong in the midrange and roll off too quickly up top.
Typically with the poweramp EQ I've been cutting a little in the upper midrange and boosting a little up top to compensate for this, but after a few minutes listening to the new sound driver with the SNR boost and 128x oversampling enabled, i don't think i'm going to need as much boost on the top end.
I'll play with the EQ later after my ears adjust, but i'm really looking forward to Supercurio implementing the EQ in his app so that i can use it as a global EQ for all sources (especially since i listen through the same headphones all the time).
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Funny enough I just bought these headphones today at best buy! I can't agree enough, for the money they are easily as good as my Shures that cost about 60 bucks more. When you find out what you think are good settings could you maybe PM to me? I need to get some flac files on here to set it up properly, but I just don't feel like getting rid of some of my music in order to make space for flac versions. TLDR PM me your settings please!
Is anyone else having issues with bluetooth audio out? Like, it's not audible at all...
Benew0 said:
Funny enough I just bought these headphones today at best buy! I can't agree enough, for the money they are easily as good as my Shures that cost about 60 bucks more. When you find out what you think are good settings could you maybe PM to me? I need to get some flac files on here to set it up properly, but I just don't feel like getting rid of some of my music in order to make space for flac versions. TLDR PM me your settings please!
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Click to collapse
Once I get comfortable with the new voodoo sound, i'll post up or pm you some settings.
I can tell you that the new kernel has me really questioning some of my source material. Everything without it was pretty muddy, which is why I had to cut around 2k iirc and boost the top end, but with voodoo most if my stuff sounds fantastic dead flat except for a few files which is causing me to to doubt the quality of the conversion.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
ya so far I am pretty amazed at having everything on flat, my voodoo amp at -8 db and then checking just the DAC 1.5 db gain. I'm not sure what exactly either of those check boxes does and it may be all in my head, (there always seems to be a constant battle between my head and ears) but maybe you could enlighten me as to what the benefits are of those 2 check boxes?
From supercurio
"oversampling improve the digital filtering quality of the signal before it's sent to the DAC, and makes the DAC runs at a higher rate.
It reduces the distortion and improve the SNR too a little bit, but mostly, it helps filter high frequencies people cannot hear but only feel and it acts on the listening fatigue."
Also from Supercurio
"Internally, the audio codec reserve some headroom for the signal, allowing to do some processing without reaching saturating levels.
The +1.5dB SNR boost disable this conservative settings using a non-documented trick and now a lot of people tested it: looks like it cause 0 issue!
It makes the sound +1.5dB louder without creating any noise. As consequence, the signal to noise ratio is also improved by +1.5dB.
It's all good"
Okay, with my earbuds, which are not the cheapest, but not super high dollar, I thought this sounded pretty good. Then tonight I plugged my phone into my car stereo (2008 Jeep with factory Infinity premium audio system). H...O...L...Y...C...O...W...! I thought my ears were going to burst into flames. I actually had to crank down the EQ settings in PowerAMP some, because the bass and treble were absolutely ridiculous. I think I've got it set to a pretty good level now, but it still thumps the subwoofer pretty good. And the clarity in general is unreal. I'm hearing things in my mp3s that I've never heard before because the levels were so muddy, even with PowerAMP's EQ. Anybody with decent speakers who has installed this sound fix knows exactly what I mean, and those that haven't most definitely should.
Meh, and to think I was considering $300+ on an aftermarket head unit to get more power, when all I needed to do was add a few lines of code to my phone. I think Samsung needs to fire all their programmers and start over, because they're insanely crippling their hardware with crap code. I think the Galaxy S phones really would be the Android equivalent of the iPhone right now, in terms of cult following, if people only knew how good the hardware really is. Sorry Motorola, but the Droid X has got absolutely nothin' on this phone in the hardware department. You can keep your few extra pixels.
ivorycruncher said:
I think Samsung needs to fire all their programmers and start over, because they're insanely crippling their hardware with crap code.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, it looks like supercurio pitched a plan to Samsung for them to use the community (and, of course, help it by releasing beta source, etc) to overhaul their phone software strategy. Good luck to him.
Wow, if he pulls that off, that would be awesome.
Posted from my DL09 SuperClean Fascinate with Voodoo

Noise on earphone output

Hi!
I have i9100 phone and it is amazing, but i have a problem with earphone output.
I try it with original earphone and Sennheiser too, when it pluged, no music just surf in menu i can hear quiet noise. The noise is louder when i tap an icon and after that it fade.
In my opinion the music quality is not so good.
Have anybody the same noise?
Yep, I've got the same quiet noise on mine aswell. Also had it on my previous 4 Galaxy SII's. You need good ears to catch it, and it needs to be pretty much silent in the room youre in to be able to hear it.
Just got to live with it unfortunately.
drm111 said:
Yep, I've got the same quiet noise on mine aswell. Also had it on my previous 4 Galaxy SII's. You need good ears to catch it, and it needs to be pretty much silent in the room youre in to be able to hear it.
Just got to live with it unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here - think this has to do with weak em shielding...
maybee supercurio can do something about that, but if it's really related to poor
shielding i fear this would not be possible!
Oh, that is not a good thing.
I agree, but it's by no means limited to the SGS2. Nearly every computer I've used (including Macs) have some sort of interference when doing CPU intensive work.
There's a long thread discussing this. A couple of us with high-end headsets got different results. I have Shure 530s and hear no side noise from the phone while idling or listening to music. Someone with the exact same headset does. No one knows why.
David Horn said:
I agree, but it's by no means limited to the SGS2. Nearly every computer I've used (including Macs) have some sort of interference when doing CPU intensive work.
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Click to collapse
That's why I always use a discrete souns card... I usually have this problem with integrated audio.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

[Q] Operating noise

Do any of you hear a little noise when your Transformer is awake? You can hear it only from an inch or so along the sides, and only in a silent room, like when you are in your bed, reading before sleep or something like that. It is getting really annoyng for me, i guess my ears just tunned themselves on that noise's frequency.
Please don't say it is normal for a device having dual-core SOC inside, etc. cause it's just not right. My Samsung Galaxy S 2 is a bit more powerfull in that way and is dead silent when in airplane mode (it makes also a slight noise when using it's 3G data).
PS I've tested it also on airplane mode, with it's speakers on silent, and it makes no difference at all. It doesn't also make any difference if the device was used a lot, or just picked up after a long time, so I guess it is not beacuse of overheating also.
can't hear a thing. Might wanna return it.
Mines perfectly silent, as a solid state device should be.
If its very high pitch, you may have a cap on its way out.
Check out my posts in THIS thread. While it wasn't applicable to that guys issue it sounds like it may be for yours.
stuntdouble said:
Check out my posts in THIS thread. While it wasn't applicable to that guys issue it sounds like it may be for yours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep... I guess it IS the backlight frequency or something else (hardware) inside making that noise. It's running on stock ROM from Asus, and it is not application dependant. It's allways there. But like someone there said, it's only me hearing it, since I am a musician and I have very sensitive ears, and also none of the other people around me who tested are hearing it.
Nevermind. As I said, it is very low. I was only questioning it because none of my other mobile devices are having this issue. Must foul my ears to listen to something else.

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