Database Users

[Q] Playback through Car aux connection

I play audio podcasts through car's aux in and just plug in the other end to my Focus's headphone jack. I have noticed that many times the podcast suddenly lowers volume to nearly inaudible levels and happens intermittently.
Once the problem shows up if I
- play songs, the volume level is fine
- stop and start playback of podcast, the problem persists.
- unplug and continue playback on Focus' speaker, the volume level is just fine
- unplug and plug it back in and the problem goes away.
- never have this problem when playing back over headphones (when in gym)
I have this problem only with Podcasts and don't get it at all with songs or videos.
Anyone else noticed this?

Audio output sucks on this phone, that is for sure. Major issues. Sorry to hear about yours.

Thresher said:
Audio output sucks on this phone, that is for sure. Major issues. Sorry to hear about yours.
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Click to collapse
how so? i'm not having any problems at all.

Did any of you notice it's not your standard 35mm jack? The headphones that come with the phone are clearly deeper than the standard jack, and have two bands around it instead of the normal one.
I presume you are using standard cable to connect to car's aux jack....
I would check to see if there is a special samsung accessory to make the proprietary jack into a standard aux output?
Samsung are notorious for using this style of jack on their phones. The Galaxy line of android phones use the same jack.

dead_on_the_floor said:
Did any of you notice it's not your standard 35mm jack? The headphones that come with the phone are clearly deeper than the standard jack, and have two bands around it instead of the normal one.
I presume you are using standard cable to connect to car's aux jack....
I would check to see if there is a special samsung accessory to make the proprietary jack into a standard aux output?
Samsung are notorious for using this style of jack on their phones. The Galaxy line of android phones use the same jack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is weird. i hook mine up to my car with the same jack i used for my iphone with no problems. in fact i am under the assumption the sound quality is actually better than with the iphone.
maybe this is a canada thing?

The plug is set up to use headsets with the microphone, and may not work well with some older stereo audio cables. However, I have used it with a podcast and found it to work quite well. I suggest trying another cable, cuz the Focus works fine.

The line level output of the 3.5mm jack is approx. 40% less than that of the iphone, or my HTC Tilt2. That is the issue I have and that others have commented on.
For instance, iphone plugged in playing on my car stereo, Panteras Cemetary Gates @ 320kbps MP3 is mind boggling loud at 50% volume on the car and 100% volume on the iphone. With the Focus the car stereo volume needs to be at 90% to be equal to the volume of the iphone.
Also, since the Focus needs to be at 100% and the car stereo nearly 100% you hear the phones whining, hissing and popping and every non-music portion.
Super lame.

There's some volume problems that I've noticed on the Focus, in that it's not consistent through playback sessions and such.
The iPhone 4 uses a Cirrus Logic codec with an integrated headphone amplifier, the Focus seems to use the built-in codec with it's headphone amplifier, which might not have the same amount of oomph.
I've measured a 7-8dB lower volume on the Focus when using a line-out cable to an Audio Precision test machine.

Thanks for reporting that! Great post.

Does anyone have this problem?
Ok, I have a mp3 car adaptor that I used with my Tilt and Tilt2 without any problems. Rich sound and bass. I plugged in my Focus (just got it last night) and music only comes out one speaker.

In my '95 M3, I run an Alpine HU (9814 IIRC) with a Line in Adaptor, I run very HD (thick) gold plated lines and a Splitter (all from Monoprice.com, one goes to my portable Sirius, other pops up by my center console sunglass cubby, split happens under the passeger seat) and I usually have my 120Gb Zune attached to it, but I tried with the Phone the other day and it worked great. Played a Tool concert and it sounded as good as the Zune. Like the Zune I set the volume to about 80%, still had plenty of head room for serious volume in the Alpine. (only way to listen to Tool is LOUD!) I do run an old school Pioneer Amp, Pioneer Kevlar Components, 2 JL Audio Stealth Boxes (each is an 8" Sub).

I want to escalate this issue but I need you guys to quickly reply on the MS forums so that it gets taken seriously. Please hit the "I need an answer too" button and give some sort of descriptive reply.
http://social.answers.microsoft.com...7/thread/9c92dad9-5e12-465d-a0fb-b9465179b436
I hope that his is a software side optimization since we are able to make the volume higher with the diagnostic codes.

I added my vote there.

Raptor550 said:
I have a second complaint. When I stick a headphone jack in the mic turns off, it probably is expecting an inline mic with the headphones. My problem is when I then go to pull out my headphones the phone doesn't notice and will continue to not hear. It takes two or three times reinserting and pulling out the headphones to remidy this. Is anyone else haveing this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same problem here. But is worst, I connect the Focus to my Car Auxiliary jack to use it as a mega speaker, I mean, when someone calls I can hear them, but they can not hear me. The microphone is dead when I plug it in. Someone knows a fix for this?

jaraya13 said:
Same problem here. But is worst, I connect the Focus to my Car Auxiliary jack to use it as a mega speaker, I mean, when someone calls I can hear them, but they can not hear me. The microphone is dead when I plug it in. Someone knows a fix for this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't say that I have a fix for it, but it may be the connection your cable is making with the jack in the phone. I do the same thing, have the phone mounted in a jack around the same height as my head unit and people hear me fine when I speak during a call. I am currently using a cable from radioshack designed for recessed headphone jacks. Can't think of the brand off the top of my head however.

rswilson411 said:
Can't say that I have a fix for it, but it may be the connection your cable is making with the jack in the phone. I do the same thing, have the phone mounted in a jack around the same height as my head unit and people hear me fine when I speak during a call. I am currently using a cable from radioshack designed for recessed headphone jacks. Can't think of the brand off the top of my head however.
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Click to collapse
Hi pal, thanks for the reply, but I couldn't understand very well your explanation. What is a recessed headphone jack? What is the head unit?
Thanks in advance!

I have not noticed this problem however the microphone shutting off is very annoying and funny since at&t says texting while driving is unsafe yet i have to unplug my phone while driving to turn on speaker and talk. they need to fix that ASAP

Volume headphone jack.

Here's my issue, hooking up the phone thru the headphone jack to the aux of my benz the volume level is extremely low. I have the volume on phone all the way up. I have to turn it up extremely loud on the car volume to hear it. Is there like a child protection volume setting or? Didn't have this issue with the gnex
Thanks for any help...
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Hi,
This is the same for me Anyone got a solution?

Pandora is much quieter than Google Play if you're using one or the other. I find the volume on mine to be on par with my MP3 player so I am satisfied. If you haven't run an aux into your car before you may be just unaware of how 'loud' you have to make it. My car stereo has been to turned up to 45 to hear it while driving, but I listen to the FM radio on like 22.
Nothing much else I can say about this sorry.

You are correct. Its much much lower. My n4 on my car stereo is at like 30 compared to my wife's iPhone at 20. Through Bluetooth its a bit more normal.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

I actually find my N4's headphone jack to be a bit louder than my LG G2x's; I have to turn down the speakers from where I had been setting them. (Both require a higher volume than the radio or a CD, though.)

Yea I can't even listen to music without hearing other peoples conversation on the train, Stock Android Volume has always been Low what the heck is Google smoking , the iPhone has great volume levels, I know the N4 3.5mm jack is more than capable

Had the GSM Galaxy Nexus before the N4. In my car, the volume goes from 0-40, 40 being max. On my GN I had the volume from 15 to 25, with 25 being incredibly loud. Anything above that would probably make your ears bleed.
On my N4 with the volume all of the way up and the EQ off (loudest setting) I have to turn the volume up to 40 to hear it at all. I'd say my GN at this volume level would mean my car was on 10, whereas with my N4 is has to be at 40.
The volume is MASSIVELY lower - basically unusably so. I've warrantied out my current N4 in hopes that this is a hardware problem, but after seeing threads like this, I'm beginning to wonder if it's just ridiculously low on purpose.

I don't notice it on headphones/car aux in, I do notice it on a cheap set of external speakers...I haven't found a fix.

any of you tried the volume+ app from the store? I used it on my Sony xperia and it did the trick....
Sent from my cm_tenderloin using Tapatalk 2

Atrix27 said:
Here's my issue, hooking up the phone thru the headphone jack to the aux of my benz the volume level is extremely low. I have the volume on phone all the way up. I have to turn it up extremely loud on the car volume to hear it. Is there like a child protection volume setting or? Didn't have this issue with the gnex
Thanks for any help...
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Problem solved through Bluetooth Audio: http://www.amazon.com/GOgroove-BlueGate-Wireless-Bluetooth-Headphones/dp/B00727FE5U/

my headphone goes in crooked.
Yeah.

I tried my bluetooth adapter and, while it's slightly louder, it's still not really that loud. Why do manufacturers choose to make the volume out on phones SOOOO quiet?
Also, Bluetooth audio (A2DP) always sounds so bad to me. I'd much rather have a real, physical connection.

This just seems to be what you get with Android phones. They dont get it. At 100% volume it should be as loud as the radio or CD, except its like 30% lower. My iPod touch and regular ipod were just as loud as the radio and I didnt need to adjust the volume when switching between sources, on my Android stuff I have to crank the stereo volume to unsafe levels and then hope to god I remember to turn it down before switching to the radio. If Im riding on a loud road I have to turn the volume up to like 80% to hear it, that would blow out my speakers if I switched to radio at that volume.
Android makers simply dont understand that AUX needs a pure audio signal at native db, they design the phones for headphone use and have probably never even heard of AUX.

qwahchees said:
my headphone goes in crooked.
Yeah.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol mine is crooked too. I'll get used to it I guess

I'm having the same issue and its driving me crazy! I read somewhere to try "Volume+" but apparently its not compatible with Jelly Bean...

Low earphone volume - Solved !
My friend who is an audio engineer, measured the audio output from nexus 4.
This is what he recommended.
Use a earphone with 16 ohm impedence. (Most commercial phones are 30 ohm).
The sensitivity of the earphone must be 108 dB/mW or higher. Higher the better.
Sensitivity measures the efficiency of conversion of electrical enery into sound.
Based on this, I bought a JVC HA-F150-B. Now audio volume is practically doubled.
You can buy one at ebay for cheap prices.

i have the same problem hooking up my nexus to my car stereo through aux. at first i thought it was just the songza app, but i had no issues with it on my gnex. its to the point where its so low i had to crank my volume on phone and car stereo all the way up and it was still not even as loud as say a cd at half the volume. tried volume + which i was using on my gnex but it doesnt seem to work with my nexus 4. its so annoying .

I bought a Fiio E6 headphone amplifier and called it a day. Problem solved for me at least.

It's not a problem with the phone, it's a problem with the car receiver expecting higher voltage.
Go through the receiver manual and find out if there is a way to adjust the input voltage.

Bump.
I'm facing exactly the same. I'm coming from a cheap Huawei phone that sufferered the same problem (extremely low output, though not as clean) but before that I was using a tiny Samsung Galaxy 5 which cost £30 new and had PERFECT audio/levels on all roms.
I do most of my listening via Tunein which doesn't have any kind of built in amp which can help. I have to crank the volume to max (50 on my Blaupunkt unit) to hear it at an acceptable level, and often that isn't enough. I use radio traffic reports but god help me and the cars around me if they come in while the N4 is hooked up, it'd be deafening!
Surely this can be fixed? I understand the need for safe volumes but there's nothing safe about having to crank everything to max only to have your eardrums popped when you go to listen to the radio.
Very frustrating!!

Low Volume using Aux Jack

Hey all, im currently on 4.2.1
I have this small radio at work that has an aux in and been playing my music fine with my old Nexus S but today was the first time using my Nexus 4 and the volume is really low. Im using power amp for my music player. In the car it seems okay and the actual phone speaker seems alright. Just curious if anyone has experienced a low volume issue.
Thanks

Yes, I have!
The speaker on the phone is pretty loud. Over bluetooth it is pretty loud. Out of AUX and I need to jack the volume up to 60 (Max on this unit) for normal listening whereas my G2X was 30 for normal listening and 40 for LOUD! Now I cannot get to LOUD....
Using stock (Google Music) app.
(Have not tested on 4.2.2 to see if there is any improvement)

Yeah I'm going to try another cable and see.
Sent from my Nexus 4.

Low AUX Volume (ZE551KL)

I don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but the volume output from the 3.5mm headphone jack is much lower for me than any other phone I've owned. With the volume maxed out, I have to almost crank my car audio volume all the way up to hear songs, and in general, I need to have it at least twice as high as I did with my Galaxy S3 or Droid 4.
I've tried a few volume boosting apps in the Play Store, but none of them made a significant difference. I've also tried messing with every setting in the Audio Manager App, which can make it slightly louder, but also distorts the audio (crackling noises).
I've read that rooting and using a root-specific app of some kind may help the issue, but I don't believe rooting is an option for the ZE551KL yet.
Anyone know a solution that will work?

With earphones working good?

pedrazadixon said:
With earphones working good?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is less noticeable with headphones, but I haven't used them for an extended period of time. I thought maybe it was my AUX cable, but its the same one I used with my older phones and had no issues.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00TD using Tapatalk

Is there a way to increase headphone jack volume?

I upgraded from n6 to 6p and I noticed volume from headphone jack is alot quieter. I travel for work alot so I use an aux cord for my music and have to have the car stereo volume a good 12-15 digits higher for same volume level I had with n6. Anyone know of a way to correct this?
Thanks

jdpeck said:
I upgraded from n6 to 6p and I noticed volume from headphone jack is alot quieter. I travel for work alot so I use an aux cord for my music and have to have the car stereo volume a good 12-15 digits higher for same volume level I had with n6. Anyone know of a way to correct this?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe viper4android

This worked for me...change the values to match what is highlighted in post #5 of this thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3237661