After using Nexus 4 for a week, I just found out that there's an inherent flaw of design. The proximity sensor is so close to the earphone jack that when it is turned on, it induces interference in earphone signals, causing significant noises.
Here's how I found out about it. In order to avoid the hassle of having to press a button every time to turn off the screen to save battery, I install an app that automatically turns off display when proximity sensor is covered. Normally the sensor is off, and when i turn on this app, it enables the sensor. Then I plugged in my earphones to listen to music, and then I hear the constant noise that accompanies any sound. When I turn the app off, then sensor goes off and the noise immediately disappears.
So, what can I say... good job by LG and Google, Not sure which one of them exactly is responsible for screwing this up. If they were to adopt this design, at least they should have had enough basic physics to realize there was going to be induced current that makes the sound go **** and add some sort of shielding.
I'm really disappointed. The launch on google play store was a disaster that lasted for months and the phone doesn't run as smooth as I expected, not to mention the battery life...
Is it a common choice to put these two things right next to each other to make phones more compact? Does this problem occur on other phones?
Seems like you're the only one with the problem.
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Well, they didn't know that there will be one guy, who is desperate to use his proximity sensor and listen to the music in the same time. **** happens.
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scream4cheese said:
Seems like you're the only one with the problem.
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No he's not, I have the same problem.
My proximity sensor is always active, because I also use an app that works with the sensor (IntelliCover) to turn on/off the screen.
Maybe it is the app. I hear no noise when I listen to music and then launch Sensor Test (thus verifying the sensor is on and functioning).
Cause who actually wants to push the power button every time they want their screen to turn on and off gawdd
Super first world xda problems
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To solutions etcetera: I don't think you tested correctly. You need to use some app that enables your proximity sensor and keeps it active constantly. Then put on your earphones and you'll here the noise due to the active proximity sensor.
Also I don't think it's a problem of any individual app because I tried several similar ones and the problem persists. The post above also confirms the issue on another device using a different app.
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givoltage said:
To solutions etcetera: I don't think you tested correctly. You need to use some app that enables your proximity sensor and keeps it active constantly. Then put on your earphones and you'll here the noise due to the active proximity sensor.
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How is Sensor Test not an app that enables the proximity sensor?
You need to make sure the sensor is on before you play music through headphone, not afterwards. Also make your music volume low so the noise is not covered. You can pause the music and the problem will be very obvious.
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givoltage said:
You need to make sure the sensor is on before you play music through headphone, not afterwards. Also make your music volume low so the noise is not covered. You can pause the music and the problem will be very obvious.
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Not obvious at all. I set up a Tasker profile that flashes a word to the screen from the proximity sensor (so it is indeed on full time), Launch Play Music and listen to music and there is no noise, paused or otherwise.
I installed the app you mentioned and was able to reproduce the problem. Again you are testing it wrong.
The app only enables sensors when it's active. Once you switch to player and it goes to the background, it stops detecting.
Not sure what tasker profile you were talking about
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givoltage said:
Not sure what tasker profile you were talking about... Again you are testing it wrong.
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You win... I give up.
But mine works just fine.
Seriously, Sensor Test doesn't keep your sensor active full-time.
You can try any of those apps which auto turn off the screen, and you'll be able to hear the noise in headphone.
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givoltage said:
Seriously, Sensor Test doesn't keep your sensor active full-time.
You can try any of those apps which auto turn off the screen, and you'll be able to hear the noise in headphone.
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Seriously, Tasker does... and I don't hear it.
Last comment as your continued denial is tiresome. Take it for what it's worth... the sensor is not causing any issues with audio on my Nexus 4.
I don't believe it. There must be something wrong and I cannot tell without actually buying and testing with Tasker. I read something about tasker turning off the sensor to save battery. You might look into that.
I suggest you use something that has been confirmed to keep the sensor constantly on to run the test, instead of denying the issue by mere experience with a not-well-understood app.
If you do so, first you can confirm the issue happens on all Nexus 4 devices. Second you would prove that Tasker indeed turns it off without your knowing it.
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I did testing. I downloaded IntelliCover and plugged headphones in. As soon as I hit the on button in the application, I heard that faint buzzing noise - no music required. But here's the thing: The sound is only momentary. It buzzes for ten seconds and stops, and then when you wave your hand over it to turn it off, it starts buzzing again and then it stops.
Never had this kind of problem and i am using a lot the hands free.
rr5678 said:
I did testing. I downloaded IntelliCover and plugged headphones in. As soon as I hit the on button in the application, I heard that faint buzzing noise - no music required. But here's the thing: The sound is only momentary. It buzzes for ten seconds and stops, and then when you wave your hand over it to turn it off, it starts buzzing again and then it stops.
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This is exactly what I was talking about.
As long as (1) proximity sensor is on (2) any sound is played, the buzzing noise will occur.
If you trigger one sound and stay silent, it fades out. If you play music it's always there.
Essentially it's interfering with the audio signal passed to the cable by the audio jack.
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givoltage said:
This is exactly what I was talking about.
As long as (1) proximity sensor is on (2) any sound is played, the buzzing noise will occur.
If you trigger one sound and stay silent, it fades out. If you play music it's always there.
Essentially it's interfering with the audio signal passed to the cable by the audio jack.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
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If it's what I think it is......it's an unfixable hardware defect. I am assuming that the traces for the proximity sensor are too close to the audio jack's traces - interference.
AW: [Q] Conflict between proximity sensor and earphone jack on Nexus 4
rr5678 said:
If it's what I think it is......it's an unfixable hardware defect.
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I'm afraid you're right.
Had a RMA and got the actual revision 11.
Same problem with the new device.
Hello all,
Very happy with the Note 3 so far, which is no mean feat since I came from an S4.
I have however found an issue which could end up being very annoying. I use my phone for listening to music through a headphone amp and a set of UE Triple-Fi, so I'm sensitive to potential issues. I've found that when the phone is idle (no music playing, no other apps using the sound subsystem) there is a constant and very clear hiss. If I press the volume rocker down for example, it "thumps" and goes quiet for a few seconds, then the hiss returns. Similarly, if I start playing some music (Spotify or Google Music for example) again it thumps and goes as quiet as as I can hear.
Just to make it absolutely clear:
1) there's no hiss when a sound is playing, just when the phone is not outputting anything sound-wise.
2) when going from no sound to an app starting to play a sound, there's a clear, audible click/thump.
So from all the above it doesn't sound (ahem...) like a DAC SNR issue for example, just potentially a software bug. Has anyone else noticed this, are there any fixes?
Thanks!
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Yepp, same problem here...and I hate it. I haven´t found a solution yet. The N2 I had before didn´t suffer of this backgroundnoise.
Thanks for replying, at least I know it's not me going crazy! Can anyone else reproduce this, or is it just us? If it's not everyone then we've got faulty devices, at least that has a solution. Thanks!
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My laptop does this.
Set the brightness to full. (and turn off auto brightness.)
Also try disabling any battery-savers.
Nope, this doesn't cause it. The problem is there all the time, no matter what battery options I use.
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And changing the brightness to full also has no effect? (That was the main cause on several devices.)
If not, I suspect something else is running in the background. Since it briefly stops when you press the volume keys, it is unlikely to be caused by dust in the headset port. So it has to be an app causing this.
It's still there after the latest updates. I think I might actually take a trip to a Samsung store or just an EE store and see if another Note 3 has the same problem, at least then I know if it's a general issue or if mine's faulty. To be honest, I'm starting to get a bit annoyed with it now just because of this.
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On my Note 3, if the phone is in vibrate with the headphones plugged in I dont get the notification sound. I was told it was supposed to do play the notification through the headphones. Any ideas.
It does play the notification through the headphones when the sound is on.
If ur ringtone is set to vibrant or silence it won't have any notification sound. Kinda the whole point of being on vibe. You can bump ur ringtone up one level past vibe with the side volume rocker and then use ur notifications volume that way. That would be the easiest way lol. Someone smarter may know better than I, I'm sure. Hope that helped
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Just got my N5 had it for a couple of days now and I love it, only issue with it is the speaker volume and weak vibration but anyone know of a alarm app that is louder than the default sounds too low.
Go to the play store and download the Zedge app and get some loud tones. Search for "loud tones" within the app
NX5
Wow that's loud thank you will definitly wake me up lol
Is there a fix for the weak vibration or third party app because it's really weak
Updateing to 4.4.1 will increase the sound, and in order to increase the vibration intensity you can download vibration config but you need root access
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I've been playing Fallout Shelter and Pokémon Go a lot lately and I noticed that if I have the sound on and I receive a notification, the in-game sound mutes. I'm not able to turn the sound back on without completely exiting and closing the app in the Recents screen. Does anyone else have this problem? It doesn't matter if it's a text, email, etc. Sound dies.
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Does the same thing to me too. I'm also curious if there's a answer to this
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