Recently I found my Z3c had a dramatic drop in earpiece volume. I could barely hear the caller's voice when in a quiet surrounding (like office or home), and impossible to follow the talk when outside. This was quite annoying, because it's a phone and making calls is one of its essentials regardless of whatever extra functions added to it. So I did a lot of work trying to bring the volume back. I rooted the phone (eventually), tried some sound mod, and even worked on the mixer_paths.xml directly. None of these gave me any luck. As the problem seemed irrelevant to the software flaw at the stage, I was thinking about possible hardware cause.
The first thing I did was to open the top side flap, which covers the micro SD and USB. Then I made a call to my voicemail and compared the voice I heard from both the flap opening and the top speaker. I could tell immediately that the sound was much louder and clearer from the flap opening, while the sound from the top speaker was distant and isolated. Wait a sec...
From my research on posts, I was told that there is a film lying on the speakers to make the Z3c dust proof. You can see them through the speaker cuts. To allow the sound goes through it, the film has to be perforated. Could those tiny holes be blocked after spending time with dust, water and soap (yes I did wash my Z3c frequently, thanks Sony for the water proof!). A user did mention the volume on both speakers were much gained after removing those films. I don't want to go extreme, but that did give me a hint.
So I used a pair of tweezers, with pointed tips. I slightly scratched them on those films. Immediately the color changed from dark black to lighter gray. I kept scratching them and made the grey evenly, and made another call to the voicemail. Guess what...the earpiece volume was noticeably increased! Then I airbrushed those films and tried again, this time I could not tell the improvement, but the sound was loud enough that I could hear the voice even from a distance. Now the sound coming from the flap opening would also match with that from the top speaker. I would call it a success.
To summarize: what I did was simply cleaning those meshed films on the speakers, by scratching dust off them. These films can be penetrated if you pushed too hard, so please be gentle. And I'm not sure if this trick would work for others, I'm just sharing my experience, with a good wish that this could work for others who are also bothered by the low in-call volume as I was. Still, try those software fix as well, as the cause to the same phenomenon may be different.
Thanks for reading. Let me know your comments/thoughts/tricks and treats (Happy Halloween!)
Thanks for sharing, I have same issue --- did you test its waterproofing if it still works after cleaning the speaker's mesh?
Has anyone issue with the lower speaker? I actually tried to touch it, its very hollow --- are all units like this? Thank you.
Shizuwi said:
Thanks for sharing, I have same issue --- did you test its waterproofing if it still works after cleaning the speaker's mesh?
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Had it showered once, nothing wrong so far.
today-g said:
Had it showered once, nothing wrong so far.
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done, so far great improvement with sound, i can hear the other person on the phone better --- but not sure about my bottom speaker, its very hollow.
This was one of the reasons why I'd sent in my phone. I thought the speaker was broken. Seems they've just cleaned or replaced that mesh because the volume works well on the returned phone.
Thanks for sharing :good::good:
I push chewing gum in to the grills and mic to clean them out.
Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk
wow.. it realy works... thanks a lot bro ... !!!
Thx for sharing I'll try it
How does such a thin layer of perforated material manage to block so much sound?
You're my hero!!!!!
I was about to send it back cause of the awfully low earpiece volume. Now that I have cleaned it it's even too loud!
Thanks mate I really appreciated it
Cheers:good:
Great tip bro. Immediate improvement to volume level. However I guess I pushed it further that the sound is now cracking at high volume when the phone rings.
But am still happy that I can hear the other party.
Good job man.
Those of you who are claiming this works, could you please go into your service menu (*#*#service#*#*) from your dialer and run the stereo speaker test? Do both speakers have the same volume output or is one significantly louder than the other?
Sent from the only flagship phone that actually fits in my hand... The Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
So, I'm almost embarrassed to report that I had no issues with my earpiece, but thought I'd give this method of "cleaning" it out a try. I used a piece of chewing gum to remove any dirt from the screen and almost immediately noticed a drastic DECREASE in output from that speaker. Now, calls sound hollow and tinny, and the stereo speaker affect is nearly gone because the top speaker is so much quieter.
I'm afraid that I somehow caused my top speaker to produce less sound by trying this method. I've tried to wipe away any sticky residue caused by the gum, but nothing seems to help. I can't send my phone back to Sony because it's been rooted and they wont honor the warranty. I can't believe that thin piece of speaker grill would actually be able to block sound. What now?
I managed to get higher volume by cleaning the upper speaker with a chewing-gum but my operation removed the thin grey layer. Do you think I've lost waterproof?
zar69 said:
I managed to get higher volume by cleaning the upper speaker with a chewing-gum but my operation removed the thin grey layer. Do you think I've lost waterproof?
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No you haven't. Speaker attached to the lcd panel by a plastic staff so water can't goes inside.. I removed the speaker cover too but i admit without that cover phone looks ugly
2russell said:
No you haven't. Speaker attached to the lcd panel by a plastic staff so water can't goes inside.. I removed the speaker cover too but i admit without that cover phone looks ugly
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OK, thanks.
Has anyone tried replacing both speakers with Z3/Z3 dual/Z3+ ones? I was looking at the pictures of spare parts and it might be possible to put some of those in our Z3c, since the sound on Z3c is really low by default, and the ones on Z3 do sound quite louder.
I had same problem, could barely hear a phone call. I scrapped off the black material protecting the speaker now I can hear through the earpiece. I'm guessing now the phone is not water proof..
Related
Hey all, watching some flash videos today made me notice how poorly the N1 puts sound out the back speaker, even compared to my old G1. I remember back in my Blackberry days that people used to mod the backs to "let more sound get out", and so I started looking into this...
First off, the speaker is GINORMOUS in relation to the slit. If you look inside the back where the speaker is, you can see a little internal grille, and the small slit for sound to escape. There's also a TON more room where that grille isnt attached to the back (same shape as the slit, only about 5x the size) that could be milled out pretty easily, and still retain the "keep crap out of the back" feature of the grille.
So, this leaves me with a few questions:
Where can I get a replacement back, in case my mill catches a bit more than I anticipate?
Anyone else interested? I figure if I set up to do one, I might as well bang a few others out instead of setting up multiple times.
Once I get a second back, I will be going at this with pics and hopefully notable improvement in projecting sound into my hand, and back toward my face!
I might not be a software hacker, but when it comes to this sort of thing, I figure its the best way I can give back to the community!
Give HTC support a call and tell them your cover doesn't line up properly(I don't think any of them do) they'll send you out a replacement. If they don't they can sell you one for ten bucks I think.
Hope to hear good results from your mod, might do it myself.
I actually think the small slit does something to amplify the sound..
Take the back off, play music, put it on. Notice it gets louder when you place it back on..
I don't know though, but I'll be following this thread!
Wisefire said:
I actually think the small slit does something to amplify the sound..
Take the back off, play music, put it on. Notice it gets louder when you place it back on..
I don't know though, but I'll be following this thread!
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Yea, I think the OP should test and see if there's even a noticeable difference without the back cover. I would think not...
Try removing the cover, sounds WAY worse.
Yes, I completely realize the back sounds bad off, its acting as a resonator, or isolating front from back waves of the speaker, which causes phase cancellation. Thus why im not removing the cover, just making the one hole bigger. It SHOULD not lose the "low end" that it has with the back on (if you want to call it that.
Either way, Im hacking at least one up, Ill post results!
Do it. (poor phone!)
I would suggest to replace the speaker with a Desire one, some people who have both phones pretend it's way louder on Desire, and yes it's the same form factor and size so it should fit
It is quite a bit louder without the cover but sounds bad due to the lack of resonance.
Shouldnt be too bad with just an enlargement, make sure you put something to block out dust. Let us know how it goes.
I've found that attaching one of these to the back quite useful...
or try a vuvuzela
I think the engineer who designed that whole was well aware of resonance qualities. If you make that whole and turns out better, you should apply to HTC job hehe...
@Hummeroid
Good idea ...
What about drilling mini-holes arround the "slit" ?
Instead of making ONE BIG hole ...
Very Interesting mod idea...I think the small drilled holes would be an effective test.
Or just cup your left hand around the back of the phone.
I looking for the out come of this.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
mrbkkt1 said:
Or just cup your left hand around the back of the phone.
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hah, I've never seen anyone else do it, but I do this all the time if I'm showing people a video or am in a noisy setting (ie. party)
clickwir said:
hah, I've never seen anyone else do it, but I do this all the time if I'm showing people a video or am in a noisy setting (ie. party)
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Nah, everyone does it.. I mostly do it when I want to listen to something quiet, I can turn it down and redirect the sound towards me.
I actually have a really good pair of earphones. I prefer that the main speaker is in the back, instead of in the earpiece like some phones. Prevents earspeaker blowout and call quality is damn good with this phone so far.
mrbkkt1 said:
Or just cup your left hand around the back of the phone.
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I try to put it up against a wall. Your hand can work to absorb sound waves, thus deadening sound and lowering overall quality; but drywall bounces the sound waves back nearly impeccably. Desks, etc, any hard surface should do the trick.
Everyone here is probably familiar with the DHD speaker volume issue.
The GSM Hero also suffers from a similar problem except that hardly anyone complains because the battery cover acts as a passive diaphragm which amplifies the audio from the tiny speaker. Removing the cover makes the Hero sound just like the DHD.
That got me thinking... a properly designed or modified case may be able to do the same for the DHD that the battery cover does for the Hero.
I'd be interested to hear feedback especially if someone has a DHD case that they think would make a good candidate. Mods might include patching the speaker hole and etching a speaker port.
if you have the design and wanted to make it happen. Why don't you try kickstarter? I am sure there are a lot of DHD owner will support you (if your case really works)
I've experimented with several materials but am unable to reproduce the effect seen on the HTC Hero. My best guess is that the Hero's plastic body transmits speaker vibrations efficiently to the large battery cover diaphragm whereas the DHD's solid unibody construction dampens vibrations needed to produce sound from a case.
Another solution may be to build a larger case with a thin film speaker via the headphone jack. A juice pack and kick stand might be cool too.
Has anyone noticed it is twice as loud when laid on its back on a hard surface, like a table? Probably the same idea of reflected sound that Bose engineers dine out on.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
It's made to be placed screen down when using the speaker, for music anyway.
I use Tasker to turn off the notification sounds at night when phone plugged in (so I can sleep).
I too have very low/bad speaker sound but noticed something weird yesterday and today, if I remove the power (therefore automatically reverting notification volume to 100%) BEFORE dismissing the alarm then the alarm temporarily got very much louder (for maybe a second).
This makes me think the issue is actually software/firmware, particularly as some people seem to think the speak volume is OK. I've tried turning off pocket mode etc, so far no good
Yes, I too observed the same. if i start any game, the initial sound for may be 2 secs is very louder and then fades away to usual self. It might be a firmware issue, but no one from HTC seems to be acknowledging this or trying to provide a fix.
This hasn't got anything to do with the 'make my phone louder when it's in my pocket ' setting has it? Perhaps it knows its on your desk so doesn't crank up the volume?
Just a thought ......
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
I actually places the speaker on the table to bounce the volume up. It works somehow.
Just thought I'd add that I've been watching videos in bed lately. I prop it up by making a dip in the covers, which bounces the sound back. The sound, especially in dolby, goes from being awful to being really good. In fact I find it better than putting it on a hard surface...
MisterBuggie said:
Just thought I'd add that I've been watching videos in bed lately. I prop it up by making a dip in the covers, which bounces the sound back. The sound, especially in dolby, goes from being awful to being really good. In fact I find it better than putting it on a hard surface...
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Any picture?
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
just use a custom rom they have increase the volume...
or wait for offical GB that will maybe increase too.
i think 1.84... has an boost?
Aria has the ringer/speaker behind the phone.
Because of that, if I have my phone face up speaker is completely blocked and I can barely hear it ringing.
Anyone else experience this problem? any bright idea to solve this problem other than just putting the phone upside down?
I'm thinking this probably is design defect..
That might be for speaker on back.
Solution I use is leave phone face down.
Sent from my Liberty using Tapatalk
Yeah, it's definitely a poor design. I usually place my phone on top of my wallet in a way so that the speaker isn't covered.
I'm finding it sound much louder if the phone is slightly lifted from the surface.
It doesn't have to be much. Just lifted 1/16" and it was enough to make it much louder.
May be I will apply some sort of spacer to make some room for sound to escape.
First time poster, long time lurker here.
I use the gel case HTC makes for the Aria. Since it has a cut out for the speaker and camera, the sound isn't muffled when resting speaker down on a table.
Just get a type of case that makes the aria body a little bit bulky that way you have somewhat of a lift and your speaker isn't full face down.
Signatures are fancy.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
First time poster, long time lurker here.
I use the gel case HTC makes for the Aria. Since it has a cut out for the speaker and camera, the sound isn't muffled when resting speaker down on a table.
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Click to collapse
You are talking about smoke color case. Right?
I actually use the same case.
It still muffles speaker. I also have silicone case, which does the same.
I just folded paper and stick it just below the speaker, so the case bulges out little bit. That seems to do the trick.
A couple of questions here, so humor me.
What volume is your ringer set at?
Are you using a custom ringtone?
I'm asking these questions because with the gel case on the phone I have no problem hearing my ringtones. However, I use custom-made ringtones that have been amplified using Audacity, and have the volume set to near maximum.
I have a gel case with a hole for the speaker, and i find if i sit the phone face up, but with one side resting a few millimetres on a surface (usually a headphone cable or sumtin on my desk), with a hard surface behind it, it reflects the sound out the gap pretty well, so if you face the gap towards yourself it kinda amplifies the ring volume, as the surfaces all bounce the sound waves towards you. But yeh leaving it face down gives the best volume.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
A couple of questions here, so humor me.
What volume is your ringer set at?
Are you using a custom ringtone?
I'm asking these questions because with the gel case on the phone I have no problem hearing my ringtones. However, I use custom-made ringtones that have been amplified using Audacity, and have the volume set to near maximum.
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Click to collapse
Volume is set one step lower from maximum. Putting it at maximum makes it too loud when the phone is not placed on flat surface.
I am using custom ringtone with quiet large volume.
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.
I've recently noticed that my left/top speaker is incredibly more quiet than the bottom/right one. It's almost as if it's stuck in "phone call" mode.
I'm rooted, still on Marshmallow (last available version). I've tried rebooting in safe mode, nothing changed. I've tried disabling all Xposed modules, nothing changed.
The speaker is not dead. It simply plays extremely quiet when compared to the other one. Could it be broken or is there something still left to try via software?
I have the exact same issue. Unfortunetly restoring stock Google image didn't help either. I think it's the hardware
same, but mine is bottom/right speaker. it will come on intermittently, usually if i flip phone around a bit into landscape....
am on 7.0 stock/rooted...battery issue has become an annoyance to...ugh
I had this happen after a drop of oil (skin treament oil, not motor oil) must have landed on the grill. At least that is what I hypotheseized. Problem was, because it was an oil, it wouldn't dry any time soon. It was actually so quite, when I made my first call the next day, I thought my phone wasn't working, then I heard a very, very, very faint noise from it. Compressed air in a can helped clean some of it out, and it got better- tolerable. Over the next few months it's very slowly improved, but it's still a little muffled sounding compared to the right, but the volumes almost match now. The grill in that speakers still gathers more junk than the bottom one, and I have to keep it cleaned out regularly. So, any chance a contaminant of any kind got in there? Try canned air, or gently use a clothing pin to remove any dirt/debris.
I think it's a poor design, because my Moto X Pure never had any issues with speakers getting wet or dirty.
Edit, I'll add that the entire speaker was muffled, not just one part of it, the whole thing sounded like it was broken, and I thought it was a hardware issue at first. Until the canned air got a little tiny bit of liquid/oil out. It improved by 50% with the canned air, then over months it slowly evaporated.
Check for metal shavings in the grill as well. I work in a factory and get it all the time.
gorman42 said:
I've recently noticed that my left/top speaker is incredibly more quiet than the bottom/right one. It's almost as if it's stuck in "phone call" mode.
I'm rooted, still on Marshmallow (last available version). I've tried rebooting in safe mode, nothing changed. I've tried disabling all Xposed modules, nothing changed.
The speaker is not dead. It simply plays extremely quiet when compared to the other one. Could it be broken or is there something still left to try via software?
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Hello... Don't know if you're running stock kernel, but you could try to change the gain of the top speaker with a kernel manager app: Kernel Adiutor, EX Kernel Manager, etc... If your kernel supports it. Most custom kernels do.
Good luck...
5.1 said:
Hello... Don't know if you're running stock kernel, but you could try to change the gain of the top speaker with a kernel manager app: Kernel Adiutor, EX Kernel Manager, etc... If your kernel supports it. Most custom kernels do.
Good luck...
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I could do this but I fear that to get acceptable results I would run the speakers entirely out of specifications limits.
If opening it was easier I would have checked for oil/water/anything inside.
It's supposedly still covered by its warranty but that would lead to an undefinable period of time with no phone... and that's unacceptable for me.
gorman42 said:
I could do this but I fear that to get acceptable results I would run the speakers entirely out of specifications limits.
If opening it was easier I would have checked for oil/water/anything inside.
It's supposedly still covered by its warranty but that would lead to an undefinable period of time with no phone... and that's unacceptable for me.
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Click to collapse
Hey. Sorry, I didn't think about the "out of specs thing". The warranty won't cover water damage anyway. Though a repair seems to be the only way to get it to work.
I fear myself the day I'll have to open mine...
Goos luck...
Success! Re-reading everything that was written here I tried remembering if something happened that could justify what I was experiencing. And I remembered a cocktail spilling on the phone. Back then I didn't give it much thought because the phone kept on working and I wiped away everything almost immediately. I tried blowing hard inside the speaker grill and blowing and blowing, I noticed some liquid coming out of the speaker, very little drops obviously. Then I "slapped" the phone against my thigh repeatedly.
Thanks to everybody chiming in and especially @HikingMoose that made me think about this.
And now volume appears normal from both sides of the speakers. Using GoneMad Music Player I can adjust speaker balance and both seem to be playing at equal volume.
I have the solution for that
I'm pretty sure I have the solution. That's not b cause I'm claiming smart lol but thats because exactly what has happened to my nexus 6p recently. I got this nexus 6p as a replacement so it was new. A month later the top speaker got extremely low. If you go to YouTube and type stereo speaker test. You would here the difference. I thoughts it's the Oreo update/hard reset/ google support but no luck.
Anyways I thought of taking of the speaker grill to see if any dirt is blocking it. Believe it or not: as soon as I took the top speaker off I noticed the speaker got back to work asbestos loud as the bottom one. So it's the grill mate.
JUST BE CAREFUL THOUGH, it's hard to put the speaker back in. You might not be able too unless you glue it or something. I could not find anywhere to buy a replacement. Just be careful
Hani84 said:
I'm pretty sure I have the solution. That's not b cause I'm claiming smart lol but thats because exactly what has happened to my nexus 6p recently. I got this nexus 6p as a replacement so it was new. A month later the top speaker got extremely low. If you go to YouTube and type stereo speaker test. You would here the difference. I thoughts it's the Oreo update/hard reset/ google support but no luck.
Anyways I thought of taking of the speaker grill to see if any dirt is blocking it. Believe it or not: as soon as I took the top speaker off I noticed the speaker got back to work asbestos loud as the bottom one. So it's the grill mate.
JUST BE CAREFUL THOUGH, it's hard to put the speaker back in. You might not be able too unless you glue it or something. I could not find anywhere to buy a replacement. Just be careful
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I'm having the same problem on the top/left speaker, sounds seem muffled after accidentally poured chili oil on it (lol). Anyway, how did you managed to take out the speaker grill?