Database Users

Speaker quality

Anyone else notice how the Nexus S speaker sound quality is a bit distorted, sort of like static but not really static? It is not that it isn't loud - it is. Rather, the sounds like the sound is not properly coming from the speaker, like something is blocking part of it.
Is it just me?
(BTW I am talking about the speaker in the back, not the ear piece.)

DarkAgent said:
Anyone else notice how the Nexus S speaker sound quality is a bit distorted, sort of like static but not really static? It is not that it isn't loud - it is. Rather, the sounds like the sound is not properly coming from the speaker, like something is blocking part of it.
Is it just me?
(BTW I am talking about the speaker in the back, not the ear piece.)
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ive yet to really notice ANY issue with my phone yet, the speaker sounds just as good as my N1 did

It must be my speaker, then. It is really bothering me.

DarkAgent said:
It must be my speaker, then. It is really bothering me.
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other people have been reporting it as well, maybe im just lucky, but idk

Mine sounds fine... Maybe take it to a local BBY and compare ringtones on each? Maybe that could help you justify your decision.

Mine sounds fine too, although I'll admit the sound isn't as clear and loud as my Epic was.

zachthemaster said:
Mine sounds fine... Maybe take it to a local BBY and compare ringtones on each? Maybe that could help you justify your decision.
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I just did. Same issue on it. I am going to assume it is the same issue on all Nexus S phones.

I would say that on my NS the loud speaker on the back is quite good with amazing bass for a phone speaker, however the phone ear speaker is tinny sounding and very noisy in calls compared to my N1 because of the lack of the noise canceling 2nd microphone. It is a bit disappointing and is the main reason that I may return the NS and hold on to my N1.

slowz3r said:
ive yet to really notice ANY issue with my phone yet, the speaker sounds just as good as my N1 did
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Mine actually sounds a lot better than my N1 did. A lot louder that's for sure.

mine is loud and crisp.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

People have told me that my phone is picking up tons of ambient noise when I am talking to them and my earpiece volume is pretty low on my end. Only complaint about the phone. Hoping that once the custom roms drop they will have the same volume boost i loved so much on my n1 cyanogen roms.

I first noticed it sounded a bit muffled compared to my Vibrant, which should have a similar if not the same speaker. I think it's just a tweaking of the treble that will fix it though... the Vibrant sounded a bit more tinny so I'm quite sure it can be adjusted with an equalizer to sound similar.
DarkAgent said:
Anyone else notice how the Nexus S speaker sound quality is a bit distorted, sort of like static but not really static? It is not that it isn't loud - it is. Rather, the sounds like the sound is not properly coming from the speaker, like something is blocking part of it.
Is it just me?
(BTW I am talking about the speaker in the back, not the ear piece.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

my ear piece is distorted if on max

Loudspeaker Quality

As there is no similar topic specially for Loudspeaker I decided to create one.
I like the speakers of the phone sound good and bassy.
Although I had to replace the speakers (repair),
(cuz it got low by it self (hardware defect))
But I noticed the bottom speaker is thinner and more high frequency specialized in the other side the top speaker for low frequency (bass)
Idk if it is hardware fault or it is designed by Sony,
I want to know your thoughts abt the loudspeakers ?

I don't know about Z3, but in the Z2 the top speaker is more clear than the bottom one. I think it's probably some kind of technology. But in the other side, if you're watching a film in horizontal direction, you can hear that everything is happening on the left side and that's annoying.

if the phone gets wet especially the loudspeaker area the loudspeakers stop making sound and thd sound is emitted from some sort of loudspeakers internal to the phone which appears the be louder from the back of the phone.
i listen music in the shower, so thats how i found out. though it was interesting to share

BrainstormPL said:
I don't know about Z3, but in the Z2 the top speaker is more clear than the bottom one. I think it's probably some kind of technology. But in the other side, if you're watching a film in horizontal direction, you can hear that everything is happening on the left side and that's annoying.
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That's kind of weird, my neighbor have the Z2 and he never had such problem, are you sure it's not hardware fault? If my neighbor find such problems he directly comes to me to ask me what's this etc, but I know he don't have this problem cuz u also use his phone to compare etc, so I guess for you its a hardware fault maybe?
raviboy100 said:
if the phone gets wet especially the loudspeaker area the loudspeakers stop making sound and thd sound is emitted from some sort of loudspeakers internal to the phone which appears the be louder from the back of the phone.
i listen music in the shower, so thats how i found out. though it was interesting to share
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Yeah I also listen to music when I shower and I can confirm that,

oh no dont get me wrong it's not a complaint, im suprised the phone knows when its wet enough to stop the loudspeaker, its a good thing =)

raviboy100 said:
oh no dont get me wrong it's not a complaint, im suprised the phone knows when its wet enough to stop the loudspeaker, its a good thing =)
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Hmm maybe the speakers feel pressure when it gets wet and it shows the volume down / stops the speakers ?

As an audiophile I will say that as a Mobile Loudspeaker it is quite good. Compared to anything else though it is still a low sound quality speaker.
But as a mobile speaker though, it is very good. It is loud, clear and doesn't "break up" that much. It got some bass, but not much.
I think it sounds better with the surround function on. :good:

Its pretty good, but not near the M8. Id say second best of any phone out. I don't get the left/right mismatch many of you have mentioned., I have been through 4 Z3s for cosmetic defects and all sound equal. Maybe its a quality control issue or I have bad ears.

When I go into the service menu and do a test of the speakers, I get the sound coming out of the top/left speaker on both. What's going on there? There is perhaps some sound coming out of the bottom/right but it's tiny in comparison.

The Galaxy S6 is MUCH LOUDER than the S5 (VIDEO)

So happy about this! The Galaxy S5 speaker was not very loud at all even at full volume
http://youtu.be/258qh9CidKA

smooth4lyfe said:
So happy about this! The Galaxy S5 speaker was not very loud at all even at full volume
http://youtu.be/258qh9CidKA
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Man his reaction was priceless hahahhah. The S6 is such a winner

it's already confirmed by samsung that it will be louder, but unless you're semi-deaf, louder isn't better if it still sounds like a tin-can like all the rest of the galaxy phones.. i have always been perfectly fine with the loudness of all the galaxies i've own, S3,4 and 5, i keep my ears pretty clean, would rather have better lows and mid sound than a phone that sounds like a screeching siren.
also the video is rather dumb as the S5 is laying flat on its speaker, so it's obvious which would be louder in that scenario.

tft said:
it's already confirmed by samsung that it will be louder, but unless you're semi-deaf, louder isn't better if it still sounds like a tin-can like all the rest of the galaxy phones.. i have always been perfectly fine with the loudness of all the galaxies i've own, S3,4 and 5, i keep my ears pretty clean, would rather have better lows and mid sound than a phone that sounds like a screeching siren.
also the video is rather dumb as the S5 is laying flat on its speaker, so it's obvious which would be louder in that scenario.
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My S5 speaker was not as loud as the S4 when I had it. Especially when the phone was flat down.
As for the video, they flipped the phone around towards the end
They said they S6 will have better Bass as well, we will see when it comes out
The iPhone 6 speaker is pretty good, hopefully its like that if not better

hopefully one day samsung will learn a thing or two from HTC with dual stereo speakers and put those damn upper and lower bezels to use rather than bloating it with a bunch of useless sensors...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0n8ssUJrfk

tft said:
hopefully one day samsung will learn a thing or two from HTC with dual stereo speakers and put those damn upper and lower bezels to use rather than bloating it with a bunch of useless sensors...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0n8ssUJrfk
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Atleast this I can agree on

I don't ever listen to music or movies without headphones, so I am happy with no front speakers taking up space.
I do, however, want a louder speaker for hearing the ringer and notifications in noisy areas.
A louder speakerphone than the S5 would be nice too. Even if tinny.

tft said:
also the video is rather dumb as the S5 is laying flat on its speaker, so it's obvious which would be louder in that scenario.
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In the end, they turn the s5 around so the speaker is facing up. They comment how that does not really make any difference to the volume level.
And I tried that with my girlfriends s5, as long as it is laying on a hard surface, there is little to no difference in volume level regardless of the speaker facing up or down.

smooth4lyfe said:
My S5 speaker was not as loud as the S4 when I had it. Especially when the phone was flat down.
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Waterproofing tends to do that.

lopri said:
Waterproofing tends to do that.
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not true. the Z3 is pretty damn loud, sounds great (almost comparable to HTC boom sound) and it's water resistant. again, it just all boils down to samsung using cheap speakers (at least in past devices) can't speak for the S6 yet as i haven't heard it in person.

tft said:
not true. the Z3 is pretty damn loud, sounds great (almost comparable to HTC boom sound) and it's water resistant. again, it just all boils down to samsung using cheap speakers (at least in past devices) can't speak for the S6 yet as i haven't heard it in person.
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Lol not even close.. Mr fanboy.

Tron666 said:
Lol not even close.. Mr fanboy.
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for the record i own NEITHER phones., but heard them both in person.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmy-lZjlz6M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwgYJh2zGVs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2Z_vp9NMB0
and if that isn't enough there are plenty more comparisons you can use the internet to find them..

tft said:
for the record i own NEITHER phones., but heard them both in person.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmy-lZjlz6M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwgYJh2zGVs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2Z_vp9NMB0
and if that isn't enough there are plenty more comparisons you can use the internet to find them..
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I did listen to the first two (didn't bother with the third but if you say there is a convincing proof in that clip I will watch it) and the HTC speakers sound fuller and more dynamic, and does not help proving your thesis?
I do have a Z Ultra and waterproofing does have negative impact on speaker quality. I think 3.5mm headphone jack volume suffers slightly, too.
tbh Speaker quality is not at the top of my list in selecting a smartphone, which is why I do not care about Z Ultra's speaker sound. But I do agree that there are situational benefit and that can vary significantly per individual usage pattern.

I know someone who has Z and, when I listened I thought the same, waterproofing has a bad impact on the quality

This sounds reasonable when I imagine that they need to prevent the inside from water and it means to give more limitation on the speaker.
David_freestyle said:
I know someone who has Z and, when I listened I thought the same, waterproofing has a bad impact on the quality
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David_freestyle said:
I know someone who has Z and, when I listened I thought the same, waterproofing has a bad impact on the quality
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Click to collapse
could be dirty ears. funny because if you go in the Z3 forum you'd hardly find anyone complaining about sound.
regardless, the Z3 sounds better than any past samsung phone. any type of effect waterproofing has on sound is minor unless you're some anal audiophile.

Yes, I suppose it'll be fixed with time

I hope the S6 will be loud enough with BT earphones too, the good thing with my M8 is the loud volume output with earphones and BT earphones, I use the HTC stereoclip BT to 3.5mm adapter in my car too, so it's very important for me.
I am pretty much convinced to switch to S6 Edge instead of M9 for the camera and now the sound looks loud enough too :fingers-crossed:

vegetaleb said:
I hope the S6 will be loud enough with BT earphones too, the good thing with my M8 is the loud volume output with earphones and BT earphones, I use the HTC stereoclip BT to 3.5mm adapter in my car too, so it's very important for me.
I am pretty much convinced to switch to S6 Edge instead of M9 for the camera and now the sound looks loud enough too :fingers-crossed:
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In one of the Samsung Official hands on videos, they show the S6 playing music and a message about an "enhanced amplifier" is also shown. They could have possibly solved the low volume output through the use of this new amplifier and since the S6 should be using a Wolfram DAC, audio output should turn out to be pretty good.
http://youtu.be/LgeU-GjHMOk
Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

Bottom Firing Speaker

So I was thinking about all these people complaining and whining about the pixel not having a front firing speaker or dual front speakers for stereo and I got to thinking how would that sound while the phone is inside the DayDream VR with the speakers facing your eyes? Perhaps the bottom firing is better after all?
I for one hold, and semi cup the top/bottom while holding the phone horizontally watching video, so the sound reflects back at me anyways. Coming from an LG v10 I am used to this. Compared both phones watching the same music video on youtube at best buy and they were pretty much equal in volume..
What ya think?

Agreed..... You'd have those speakers firing right into your eyes. Google is really pushing Daydream so I'm sure that played a roll.
In all honesty compared to my 6P the only time I miss the stereo speakers is when the phone is in landscape. I much prefer the sound signature of the Pixel in comparison for everything else but don't like the sound coming out of one side in landscape.

It's the best single speaker I've had on a device. Loud and clear sound. With the phone face down in my pocket I can actually hear my notifications because of the speaker placement.

nadiros said:
It's the best single speaker I've had on a device. Loud and clear sound. With the phone face down in my pocket I can actually hear my notifications because of the speaker placement.
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This is true as well. Can't tell you how many important emails I replied to late because in a noisy warehouse environment I did not hear the notification because the speakers were pressed into my leg.

I'm guessing most people will use headphones when using the headset, otherwise you won't be able to get a sense of location from the sound. I doubt VR was part of the decision.

nadiros said:
It's the best single speaker I've had on a device. Loud and clear sound. With the phone face down in my pocket I can actually hear my notifications because of the speaker placement.
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AndrasLOHF said:
This is true as well. Can't tell you how many important emails I replied to late because in a noisy warehouse environment I did not hear the notification because the speakers were pressed into my leg.
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Ditto, I have a really loud DING type notification sound just because of this same reason. When I have the phone out, people freak out literally.. Yelling at me, wtf why don't you change that tone or put it on vibrate.. I'm like it's also set to vibrate, but just like I miss the tones, in a loud environment (outside), while walking I can not really differentiate the vibration on my leg..

The LG G4 has the speaker on the back. Nice looking phone but you can't hear much.

Anyone else think earpiece is too quiet?

Maybe my nexus 6 was just that good but it feels like the v20's earpiece speaker isnt very clear or loud....I can live with lower quality but the sound level is kind of low (hard to hear people in noisy places)

bob2300nx said:
Maybe my nexus 6 was just that good but it feels like the v20's earpiece speaker isnt very clear or loud....I can live with lower quality but the sound level is kind of low (hard to hear people in noisy places)
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Yeah its low (with my over the ear cans), went all in on a descent amp that can usb of my pc and/or directly off my phone. Like my cans to rattle sometimes. With my IEMs though it gets loud after 50-60. Id make sure you have enabled Hi-Fi sound on the phone first and found this app to be very useful in adding some punch and volume to my tracks. ----> Equalizer (by Smart Android Apps)
Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

JkdJedi said:
Yeah its low (with my over the ear cans), went all in on a descent amp that can usb of my pc and/or directly off my phone. Like my cans to rattle sometimes. With my IEMs though it gets loud after 50-60. Id make sure you have enabled Hi-Fi sound on the phone first and found this app to be very useful in adding some punch and volume to my tracks. ----> Equalizer (by Smart Android Apps)
Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
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Im talking about in call volume through the speaker that you hold up to your ear.

bob2300nx said:
Im talking about in call volume through the speaker that you hold up to your ear.
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Lol!! Oh. No not at all, that's way better than the last phone I had the lgg3.
Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

Check your phone call settings. There may be an option in there that was enabled by accident.
And/or tell your correspondence to speak up. Lol.

yeah idk, my s7 sounded like crap for phone calls. could never understand the person on the other line. but my V20 sounds amazing. clear, loud etc. kills the s7
Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

I'm experiencing the same. Extremely clear, no issues whatsoever.

Speaking of the Nexus 6. That phone was hands down the best Android phone ever made. If they re-released it with a fingerprint sensor, I would buy it again. Best speakers and sound of any phone. It could have used a better camera, but other than that, 9 out of 10.
As for the speaker sound in the V20. I think it could be a a bit louder. Clarity isn't an issue for me. But it's def not very loud.

On the T-Mobile variant this thing is loud and clear. If I turn it all the way up I can hold it away from my ear in front of me and still hear the other person clear enough to understand them. definitely no issues so far involving that

Lgv20user said:
Check your phone call settings. There may be an option in there that was enabled by accident.
And/or tell your correspondence to speak up. Lol.
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What settings are you talking about?
And people calling me didnt magically decide to speak quietly just because I bought a new phone.
Mikekelso421 said:
Speaking of the Nexus 6. That phone was hands down the best Android phone ever made. If they re-released it with a fingerprint sensor, I would buy it again. Best speakers and sound of any phone. It could have used a better camera, but other than that, 9 out of 10.
As for the speaker sound in the V20. I think it could be a a bit louder. Clarity isn't an issue for me. But it's def not very loud.
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Yes loudness is the issue. Its too quiet if you are anywhere with noise like the grocery store.
Nexus 6 was a good phone but had issues (guess all phones do). The camera was pretty bad and buggy at times. Speakers were great but if you had lower battery they would automatically decrease the volume like 50% (even at max volume) that was insanely annoying. And lastly it throttled speed pretty badly when battery got low. Oh and it was pretty big, alittle smaller screen with the v20 but much smaller in the hand.

bob2300nx said:
What settings are you talking about?
And people calling me didnt magically decide to speak quietly just because I bought a new phone.
Yes loudness is the issue. Its too quiet if you are anywhere with noise like the grocery store.
Nexus 6 was a good phone but had issues (guess all phones do). The camera was pretty bad and buggy at times. Speakers were great but if you had lower battery they would automatically decrease the volume like 50% (even at max volume) that was insanely annoying. And lastly it throttled speed pretty badly when battery got low. Oh and it was pretty big, alittle smaller screen with the v20 but much smaller in the hand.
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Pull up your phone app. Make sure it's on the dial menu and hit the 3 vertical dots in the upper right hand corner. Go to call settings. The last option should be one that reads "more" . Peruse that and see what may help. Good luck.

bob2300nx said:
What settings are you talking about?
And people calling me didnt magically decide to speak quietly just because I bought a new phone.
Yes loudness is the issue. Its too quiet if you are anywhere with noise like the grocery store.
Nexus 6 was a good phone but had issues (guess all phones do). The camera was pretty bad and buggy at times. Speakers were great but if you had lower battery they would automatically decrease the volume like 50% (even at max volume) that was insanely annoying. And lastly it throttled speed pretty badly when battery got low. Oh and it was pretty big, alittle smaller screen with the v20 but much smaller in the hand.
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Only thing I can think of would be to try turning on hearing aid compatibility or maybe messing with the call clarity and noise suppression options and see if that affects anything for ya.
I have both voice clarity and noise suppression turned on and have no problems with low volume at all. I remember reading somewhere on a different phone e that the hearing aid option made it noticeably louder on that specific phone so you could try that and see if it works for this phone.

bob2300nx said:
Maybe my nexus 6 was just that good but it feels like the v20's earpiece speaker isnt very clear or loud....I can live with lower quality but the sound level is kind of low (hard to hear people in noisy places)
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Am finding the same too, this time i have the voice clarity option enabled, lets see if it makes a difference. I find it soft in a quiet room, no idea how this will work out on the street. Might be forced to get a headset in that case.
Which would be a pity becaue this phone is all about audio. My speakers are perfectly fine. Why does the earpiece have to be so quiet