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Earphone speaker query

During voice calls the earphone speaker seems to sound really muddy to me. So much that I cannot understand what the person on the other end is saying if there is a bit of ambient noise around me.
Compared to my 3G iphone it's terrible.
Anyone else experience this or know if the sound through the earpiece can be tweaked?

Hey even i have the same problem. Got my SGS today and iam loving the phone in all of its bits. Excelleny phone but little tiny bugs and issues here and there. hope firmwares and froyo can make a vast difference in the experience. I dont think they can increase earpiece volume with any firmwares.

earphone and speaker quality
I also am having trouble. The speaker sound is "muddy" or muffled. People I call on the Galaxy complain that I am difficult to understand. I don't have any of these problems on my iPhone 3G, it is much clearer.
The headphones are of poor quality and are the ear canal type which I don't like at all as they don't hold in the ear. The ear bud type of headphone are much better (like iPhone) but are not available from Samsung and I have been unable to find or purchase any other brands that work satisfactorily.
A phone is primarily about voice communication and this is where the Samsung Galaxy s i9000 fails and is disappointing. Everything else about the phone is quite good.

I find the earphones to be decent quality (ipod/iphone earpieces suck!!!).
However I do have also have the voice calls problem. It is a little difficult hearing people on the other side, however they don't seem to have any trouble hearing me.
Maybe we can use one of the "secret" menus in the phone to increase the speaker volume? I haven't looked yet.

2G/3G?
When i'm on 3G networks, i get ok sound, sounds a bit muffled, but nothing serious.
When forcing 2G, i get very clear sound with sifficient volume.
I can at least say it's not a hardware problem.

Muddy sound
The headphones do sound ok, the problem that I find is that they will not stay inserted in the ear and block most other sounds hence why I prefer the ear bud types but I guess this is a personal choice. Unfortunately, the choice of headphone is not apparent until the box seal is broken by which time you have agreed to the carrier's contract by breaking such seal. As Samsung have there own headphone socket and impedance design, other manufacturers headphones are not suitable.
The muddy audio is not so much a level problem but a frequency problem. When holding the phone to my ear, the sound lacks some higher frequencies and hence sounds muffled or muddy if you like. Clearly, others are having similar issues. This should be easily fixed by Samsung and perhaps a control to do so would be ideal then it could be adjusted to suit all users.
When I talk to other people on the phone, they complain that I am hard to understand - again the audio is muffled and a little distorted. This should also be easily fixable.

nsgtr34 said:
During voice calls the earphone speaker seems to sound really muddy to me. So much that I cannot understand what the person on the other end is saying if there is a bit of ambient noise around me.
Compared to my 3G iphone it's terrible.
Anyone else experience this or know if the sound through the earpiece can be tweaked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel the same too, comparing it with my iphone 3gs and 3g. Another thing that I'm trying to get used to is the inability to control music fully without having to turn on the screen. On my jailbroken iphone I'm able to use either the standard headset to pause, play, forward, backward, volume up, volume down without touching the phone itself. Alternatively I can do all these actions with only the phones volume buttons alone. I usually connect my phone via the 3.5 mm audio jack to external speakers before I sleep and this feature on my jail broken iphone let's me fully control the music without having to turn on and look at the screen. I also miss my music videos which can be combined with the audio musics in the same playlist and played with the screen switched off. I also miss the fine increment in volume level of iphone, where I can have the exactly volume I want.
I'm also experiencing pauses and skips in music playing.
Viewing pictures and movies is a far better experience on SGS though.

I have a whole different problem with regards to the stock earphones. When I listen to music (via Music Player) and have my headphones plugged in, it does not seem to deactivate the external speaker. So I hear the music coming from the external speaker and the earphones. And the sound quality coming from the earphones is just horrible. I've tested this with a number of different earphones. I've also tested this with TuneWiki and get the same results.
I'm using the latest firmware JG5.
Anyone else having this issue as well?

Could it be some design and or manufacturing flaw in the phone jack itself? I find it difficult to fully push the plug kind in to get complete sound. Sometime I get sound from one side only. When trying to push all the way in the music stops saying that the earphone was unplugged.

Ok looks like I worked out how to get rid of the "muddy" sound coming from the handset.
Enter service mode
*#197328640#
Tap [5] Audio
Tap [1] Handset
Tap [9] Diamond Solution
Tap [3] Voice Booster (mine was off)
Tap [1] , press Menu, Enter "1" as value(without "").
Tap [2] hpf_cutoff
Now you can enter anything from 1-8, 1 will sound bassy/muddy and 8 will sound clearer but a tad harsh depending on your hearing. Experiment with whatever suits you, every speaker may be different. I assume hpf stands for high pass filter.
Now if you want even more volume during a call you can change the [5]limit level to a lower value. Mine was on 21 at default. I've set it to 12 for now.
To exit the menu just press Menu then tap end.
My default values were.
[1] off
[2] 8
[3] 8192
[4] 6
[5] 12
Let me know if yours were different.

Thank you for that info. Fortunately, Optus have eventually agreed that my phone was faulty and I am waiting for it to be fixed or replaced. The info you have supplied may be useful for some fine tuning if required.

Is there anyway to boost the speaker volume in those settings?
Tried to find one but tbh I didn't have a clue what all the settings in the speaker menu were

my suggestion switch to bluetooth, there is always a degree of issues related to wired earbuds / headphones / headsets

[Q] Has the focus audio volume issues been sorted out yet?

Tried to ask in another thread but it was kinda off topic.
Last I knew people were playing with diagnostic codes but there was no consensus on what did or did not work.
Audio from the headphone jack and seemly the blue tooth was too quiet.
Is this still an issue?

Is that a no?

In all truth, i don't use the bluetooth. But i just checked my headphones, and they sound OK. My sony earphones work great on the phone. I did d/l that one app... Media Volume Settings and set the volume all the way to 100...that may be what is making mine work better. Hope this helps!

haven't tried Bluetooth...
But when i tried headphones it was waay to loud even at 1.
I don't know how to lower the volume using codes.

You should look through the diagnostics codes thread. It has some stuff about sound changes in there as well as some of the registry tweaks you should look up if you're unhappy enough with it to need to change something.

Funkadube: I did and couldn't seem to get any reliable change. Plus having to redo it everytime I restarted the phone seemed crazy.
I know when I had mine the volume level out of the head phone port was NOT loud enough when hooked to my car radio even though every other phone I've ever had was. You'd have to goto MAX VOLUME to get it very loud and if it was a quiet song or something not at loud (I'm staring at YOU SLACKER RADIO) then you could barely get it listenable.
I then installed Bluetooth module into the car and had the same issue with it also.
I'd wish I knew someone with one I could test IRL to see if its still a problem. I'd love to switch back to WP7...

Is there a way to boost the out-of-call Bluetooth volume on the Samsung Focus? Between builds 7712 and 7720, the Bluetooth volume for voice dial responses, TellMe, and text-to-speech were drastically reduced and now they are so low that I can't hear them with the phone turned all the way up to 30/30. I used to use the phone at 20/30 with my car's Bluetooth without a problem on 7712 and 7390. Has anyone else noticed this change since upgrading to 7720?

I didn't see other people complaining about the volume in the accessories thread.
I also have a bt headset and works fine for me.

EnderPsp said:
I didn't see other people complaining about the volume in the accessories thread.
I also have a bt headset and works fine for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Bluetooth headset and it isn't as bad with the headset. But the text-to-speech is still significantly lower than call volume. In fact, the real issue is that there's a huge imbalance between the out-of-call volume and in-call volume with Bluetooth headsets in 7720.
As I mentioned before, when the phone is paired to the car I can turn the phone up to 30/30 from 20/30, but I still have to boost the volume from the car side about 5 levels higher when I'm out-of-a-call to get any decent level of audio out of the phone. The problem then is that when I take a call it is way too loud and I have to rush to turn down the volume on the car side. It makes the use of the feature so inconvenient that I've just turned it off. While I would be perfectly content with Microsoft returning volume levels to what they were since 7004, I'd just as readily use the Samsung Diagnostic app to make the adjustment myself, if it is possible. I'm looking for any remedy at this point.
Text-to-speech was the feature I was looking forward to the most in Mango, and now it's the only feature of the OS I can't use. I can't express how frustrated and disappointed I am that this has happened, and I just can't understand why this change was made. I've seen no reports of anyone ever complaining that the volume was too loud before 7720. It's one thing if I was seeking a feature that wasn't implemented, but it is implemented and it's broken. I just wish there was some solution or recourse to make it usable again.

Low Voice Calls when on a Wired Headset

When I'm using a wired headset to talk to someone on a call the volume is kinda low, I have it set max but its still pretty low, works fine on speaker or BT. Also the same wired headset works very loud when on a movie or music, just low when on a call.
Any fix to this?

Would like to know this aswell... Impossible to hear what people are saying when using the headset

I too find that headset and speaker volume are low. ( comparison to few other phones )
Cannot hear in a noisy environment.
Tried Volume + but does not seem to help .

I experienced this problem as well. Looks like this is a hardware problem (either the pin or the socket).
Try using a different headset - one without a mic. You sould see a significant gain in volume.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

Its a hardware issue, swapped my phone for a new one today and dont have the problem anymore.
The service menu edit doesnt really help at all and the volume gain is minimal.
Anyone else having issues like this should request your carrier or samsung for a replacement. It only happens to a handful of phones.
I assume there are two seperate audio chips, the yamaha one for audio and another for voice calls??
Can anyone confirm?

[Q] Earphones Mic too low volume

From Day one i have been trying to get good earphones with Mic for nexus 4
tested out more than 6-7 quality earphones with mic like J6M, Klipsh, etc
but the microphone volume on the other end of call is too less compared to apple ear phones( recently switched from iphone)
I have to keep the mic piece really close to my mouth for a good conversation...
can someone help me here.. the mic on nexus 4 works perfect but when i connect earphones the problem begins... i used mic sensitivity apps to test and they pick very less volume from the connected mic
How do i boost the mic sensitivity on earphones or should i return the phone

Will try with my skullcandy's and revert

spaceguyy said:
From Day one i have been trying to get good earphones with Mic for nexus 4
tested out more than 6-7 quality earphones with mic like J6M, Klipsh, etc
but the microphone volume on the other end of call is too less compared to apple ear phones( recently switched from iphone)
I have to keep the mic piece really close to my mouth for a good conversation...
can someone help me here.. the mic on nexus 4 works perfect but when i connect earphones the problem begins... i used mic sensitivity apps to test and they pick very less volume from the connected mic
How do i boost the mic sensitivity on earphones or should i return the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having the exact same problem - did you find a fix?

I tried quite a few.. expensive as well as cheap ones. finally i got hold of a cheap ear phone set and the volume to the other end is good to be heard (as I have been reported).. While trying them all, I was calling my friend and asking him.. so thats how I know i picked the best one. However, since it extremely loud.. i kinda have to keep it away from my ear a bit and volume on phone is turned down to minimum.. Plus, due to its sheer loudness, I can hear the buzzing sound.. For the first time i noticed it, i.e.: through these extreme loud ear phones. The other party hears it too. Never heard it while on call directly using the ear piece. Strange.

filthykid said:
I tried quite a few.. expensive as well as cheap ones. finally i got hold of a cheap ear phone set and the volume to the other end is good to be heard (as I have been reported).. While trying them all, I was calling my friend and asking him.. so thats how I know i picked the best one. However, since it extremely loud.. i kinda have to keep it away from my ear a bit and volume on phone is turned down to minimum.. Plus, due to its sheer loudness, I can hear the buzzing sound.. For the first time i noticed it, i.e.: through these extreme loud ear phones. The other party hears it too. Never heard it while on call directly using the ear piece. Strange.
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Click to collapse
Do you mind me asking which brand headphones you are referring too here? I have the same issue.

I bought from a local shop. It was a knock off of beats audio. The sounds it throws is EXTREMELY loud.

Is it just me, or does the OP make very little sense? I'm completely lost at what he's trying to ask.. Something about the mic? or the sound output of the "earbuds"?
No trouble here with any of the wired earbud sets I've tried. Clear as a bell and no buzzing.
If its so Loud for you, what are you not adjusting the volume? Would kinda of make sense to do so...
Or you could upgrade in your tech and get a bluetooth earbud.. I have absolutely no problem with volume levels from my Jawbone; I'm hear clearly and I can hear them just find (even when driving with all windows down, it sounds like they are right next to me yelling)

UberSlackr said:
Is it just me, or does the OP make very little sense? I'm completely lost at what he's trying to ask.. Something about the mic? or the sound output of the "earbuds"?
No trouble here with any of the wired earbud sets I've tried. Clear as a bell and no buzzing.
If its so Loud for you, what are you not adjusting the volume? Would kinda of make sense to do so...
Or you could upgrade in your tech and get a bluetooth earbud.. I have absolutely no problem with volume levels from my Jawbone; I'm hear clearly and I can hear them just find (even when driving with all windows down, it sounds like they are right next to me yelling)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, it's you. OP was referring to the mic volume on the headset being low, but in filthykids response, he mentioned that the headphones that solved the quiet mic is also very loud on the earpieces.
Also having the same problem, BTW.

N9005 - Mic volume too low while on speaker phone

Hi guys,
Recently bought a Note 3 N9005 and just wanted to confirm if anyone else is experiencing problems with people listening to you while on speakerphone.
I realised after a few days of use that many people are complaining on the other end of the call quality. I sound too low and far away. When I switch off speakerphone the call quality changes drastically on the other end. One person compared the difference as going from a 10 to a 2 when switching to speakerphone.
This has to be a software problem as when I turn speakerphone off and hold the phone away from me the person on the other end says I still sound loud enough. This points to maybe the volume level for the mic is set too low, but I could be wrong and it may be just my phone.
I'm coming from a Note 1 which has excellent call quality on either end with speaker phone. Because of the size of these phones I tend to use speakerphone a lot and very reliant on it. I also noticed at max volume there's a bit of a vibrating sound during volume peaks on speakerphone also, but that is not an issue as it's plenty loud at one notch lower.
Region: Australian stock
Build number: XXUBMI7
Your experiences are appreciated guys.

Mine is fine. Is your volume at full or thw speaker is not blocked
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Post removed - duplicate

baste07 said:
Mine is fine. Is your volume at full or thw speaker is not blocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On my end it's fine. It's the other end that has trouble listening, which leads me to believe the mic on the Note 3 during speaker calls is not set high enough.
I think i've worked it out. This only appears to happen on calls with another person who's phone is also compatible with HD Voice. This did not happen with a normal voice call today. The other end could hear me just fine.
This could be crap if it really is only happening with HD Voice calls as more and more phones are becoming compatible with it. Hopefully it can be fixed with software if it's the case.
Thanks for weighing in though Baste07, appreciate it.

Just go to settings, sound, call, uncheck noise reduction option. Now you can talk 5m away from your phone with crystal clear voice

Solved
So I followed the instructions here regarding the sound noise reduction thing and worked as planned, after done everything possible, including factory reset and opening and cleaning the hardware, I had a hitch that wasn't hardware, so yes it was the new system. If your phone loudspeaker microphone isn't working is because the noise reduction feature inside settings. Look up there and remove it.
swift1 said:
Hi guys,
Recently bought a Note 3 N9005 and just wanted to confirm if anyone else is experiencing problems with people listening to you while on speakerphone.
I realised after a few days of use that many people are complaining on the other end of the call quality. I sound too low and far away. When I switch off speakerphone the call quality changes drastically on the other end. One person compared the difference as going from a 10 to a 2 when switching to speakerphone.
This has to be a software problem as when I turn speakerphone off and hold the phone away from me the person on the other end says I still sound loud enough. This points to maybe the volume level for the mic is set too low, but I could be wrong and it may be just my phone.
I'm coming from a Note 1 which has excellent call quality on either end with speaker phone. Because of the size of these phones I tend to use speakerphone a lot and very reliant on it. I also noticed at max volume there's a bit of a vibrating sound during volume peaks on speakerphone also, but that is not an issue as it's plenty loud at one notch lower.
Region: Australian stock
Build number: XXUBMI7
Your experiences are appreciated guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse