I have been quite upset after getting my new Moto X because Moto Voice doesn't work as well as I had imagined. I came from Moto G 1st gen and really enjoyed the experience with Google Now's always listening when the phone was plugged in. I thought Moto X would deliver the same experience. However, while the phone did a decent job of recognizing the launch phrase, it doesn't recognize my commands as well as Google Now. This surprised me because what ever I say is supposed to be transferred to Google Now if Moto Voice failed to recognize it. Still, whatever I say is recognized much better directly through Google Now than indirectly through Moto Voice. I did some research on this but didn't find any definite explanation. So this is my hypothesis that I hope someone here can confirm if it is true:
- Moto Voice uses a different microphone from the normal microphone that Google Now use. That microphone is used for the always listening function and so it uses less power and therefore, doesn't record voice as clear as the normal microphone. When Moto Voice transfers my commands to Google Now, it transfers the commands that were recorded by that low-powered mic.
- When I plug in an earphone with mic, Google Now will receive the launch phrase from the earphone's mic, which is closer to my mouth (if I leave the phone in my pocket) and record voice much better. Meanwhile, Moto Voice still uses its designated mic, making it impossible for the phone to hear me clearly if it is in my pocket. Thus, the experience gets significantly worse when I'm on my earphone and assumse that Moto Voice will listen through the earphone's mic.
If my hypothesis is right, I wonder if there is anyway to make Moto Voice use the better mic. I mean it can use the designated mic to recognize the launch phrase and be activated, but then it will switch the mic for listening to commands.
If my hypothesis is wrong, what is the explanation for Moto Voice's inferior voice recognition to Google Now and can I swap Google Now as my main voice assistant that can also listen to me off-screen, uncharged?
I feel fortunate when it works at all. Sometimes mine turns off for weeks at a time, then shows back up randomly.
Mines perfect, works every time,maybe you need to use it more as it's suppose to improve the more you do. I use OK Moto X and I've never had a problem.
Related
Considering this is my first post, I just would like to thank all the members of this forum. I have gotten so many programs, flashed, and learned a lot about my newly bought T-Mobile MDA. I have been searching for about an hour and a half and could not find a solution to my problem. Though I'm sure somebody will show me that there has already been a post.
Anyway, my issue lies with using my BT headset (Jabra BT150) and my MDA. It works fine, it listens, it comes on when I hit the button, etc. However, it does not seem to understand me correctly. Though I can dial contacts without much of a problem, it's when I try to give it a number to dial. It works perfectly on the device itself when I am not using BT, but either it gets really close or it's completly off. My main issue lies with the number "six". I don't think I've gotten it to understand me saying a "six" yet. I'm not quite sure what the problem is. I have voice recorded myself on both and there really isn't a huge difference except the BT sounds a good amount quieter.
If anyone can point me in the right direction, I would be very greatful. I'm beginning to wonder if it was my tempation to be "conservative" *cough* cheap *cough* when buying the 150 as opposed to like the 250.
Regards,
ChrisG
I, too, had a problem with VC recognizing the number six. A possible explanation lies here, where someone at Microsoft gives details on Bluetooth and the speech recognition technology.
Apparently, the Voice Command team team built their speech recognition engine around a 16Khz sampling rate. Unfortunately, the Bluetooth headsets we're thinking of only do 8Khz. I'm not sure if this is a Bth profile limitation so I'm not sure if the higher-end (maybe the stereo ones, for example) headsets/headphones support higher sampling rates.
Where does the sampling rate difference come into play? With higher frequencies. Sibilance (the 'sss' sound) is basically a bunch of high frequencies. A lower sampling rate means these higher frequencies can't be captured as accurately or even at all. (Related reading: Nyquist theorem)
So, not surprisingly, Voice Command has a lot of trouble recognizing the number six, which has a lot of sibilance both in its intial attack and its release*. Combine that with the fact that the user's environment may be noisy, the mic may not be placed at an ideal position, etc. and you have a difficult situation for the speech recognition engine to deal with.
Try this: Call yourself on voicemail and leave yourself a message, repeating the command VC has trouble with. Then, listen to the recording you just made. This is what VC hears. Find out where the mic on your headset is. Now, call your voicemail again, but try to adjust the position of the headset until it begins to sound clearer and sibilance more pronounced. If you have to, physically take the headset off your ear and hold it in front of your mouth--close enough to capture more sibilance but not too close as to cause popping or other nasties. Not the most elegant solution, but a solution nonetheless.
I noticed the speech recognition problems when I went shopping for Bth headsets. I tried four--Plantronics 510, Motorola HS840 and H700, and finally the Plantronics 610. The 610 was the only one that actually recognized my sixes sometimes. Still, though, there's only around a 30% chance that it gets the whole phone number correct, until I take the headset off my head and hold it some distance away from my mouth.
Sucks, but hey. This is a situation where we're doing something that's not supported, so quirks have to be tolerated. Sometimes stuff like this works flawlessly, sometimes it doesn't.
* (maybe these aren't the correct terms, but coming from a music background, these are the closest terms I can relate to)
Thank you for your reply. I have already tried your suggestions numerous times to no avail. I have used the voice recording feature to record both from the phone and the headset and they don't sound all that different. Since it does dial from the phone itself anyway, I might be inclined to buy it and hope for an upgrade. Thanks for your detailed reply once again.
Thanks for posting this -- I hooked up my HS820 with my 8125 and VC and seemingly had no problems on Day One. Then yesterday (Day Two), I all of the sudden couldn't get anywhere: half my "call [Contact]" requests didn't go through and my sixes were all eights:
Me: "Dial six one one."
VC Lady: "Dial eight one one?"
Me: "Dial six six six six six six six."
VC Lady: "Dial eight eight eight eight eight eight eight?"
Me: "No, you idiot!"
Sorry to hear it's a technical issue rather than a solveable thing. I suppose at least the contacts mostly work without voicetags, so it's slightly better than the built-in voice recognition.
As a note, my previous phone (RAZR V3C), which altogether wasn't anything special, had amazing voice recognition by comparison. No voicetags, always got digits and contacts via BT without issue. How can we install that software on the Wizard??
Y
Has anyone had issues using the TF to video call and the mic not being loud enough? I use Google Talk and while I can hear the other side ok, they usually have a problem hearing me. I can't find any settings in Google Talk for the mic volume. I end up trying to shout in the direction of the mic (which I think is located on the right side next to the audio jack). I also use the SE MW600 bluetooth headset with the TF a lot and Google Talk doesn't seem to output to headsets. That would solve the low volume issue as well. Any insights or confirmation would be appreciated.
The mic on my wife's transformer is defective, but my transformer is fine. We are going to have to send hers back. Try google voice search, if it has a hard time hearing you when talking normally, then you may have a hardware problem too.
Looks like I have the same issue. I tried using google talk today with no luck. SO I tested the mic with both the sound recorder and the voice search. The volume indicated with those shows a problem.
Its very directional. If I angle it so my mouth has some line of sight to it then its fine but facing head on I have to speak up. I wonder if a small plug in mic angled to the front would help.
I am surprised that the BT headset did not work. I use one all the time on my laptop with Skype.
I have noticed an issue that did not exist with the Galaxy Nexus.
When not on speakerphone the microphone sensitivity is down-regulated significantly from the way it is when it is on speakerphone.
Frequently people connect the phone via auxiliary cable in the car (as a hands-free approach), but in order for it to route the audio to the speakers for the car, it cannot be on speakerphone. However when not on speakerphone the sensitivity of the microphone is limited, it is not the same as on speakerphone, therefore unless you have the phone right beside your mouth, the other party will be unable to hear you (due to low volume).
I assume this is an software change in 4.2, I have tested the issue on two Nexus 4's. When turning back on speakerphone, the microphone increases sensitivity again, and the other party is able to hear clearly again.
This poses a problem if you want to have the phone in your car connected to auxiliary and not right beside your mouth/face. I assume they added this because they assume that if the phone was not on speakerphone then it would be right beside your mouth/face during a call, however this is not at all always the case, especially if you connect your phone via aux in the car.
Anybody else experienced this? Any work-around?
Yes, thats really a shame.
I think, it is the noise cancellation. Nexus One has Niose Cancellation, too.
There I've found out, that I have to make a change in the build.prop to disable this
but I really don't know, where to find the line in build.prop to disable the noise cancellation.
And: You have to root your phone to do this.
It's really a shame, I can't use my Nexus 4 in my car plugged into the auxiliary input
hmm anyone can disable it via build.prop?
reminds me a of the days in Nexus one..
I've opened an issue on Google.
Hoping for many votes, that they can see it.
UKROB86 said:
I have noticed an issue that did not exist with the Galaxy Nexus.
When not on speakerphone the microphone sensitivity is down-regulated significantly from the way it is when it is on speakerphone.
Frequently people connect the phone via auxiliary cable in the car (as a hands-free approach), but in order for it to route the audio to the speakers for the car, it cannot be on speakerphone. However when not on speakerphone the sensitivity of the microphone is limited, it is not the same as on speakerphone, therefore unless you have the phone right beside your mouth, the other party will be unable to hear you (due to low volume).
I assume this is an software change in 4.2, I have tested the issue on two Nexus 4's. When turning back on speakerphone, the microphone increases sensitivity again, and the other party is able to hear clearly again.
This poses a problem if you want to have the phone in your car connected to auxiliary and not right beside your mouth/face. I assume they added this because they assume that if the phone was not on speakerphone then it would be right beside your mouth/face during a call, however this is not at all always the case, especially if you connect your phone via aux in the car.
Anybody else experienced this? Any work-around?
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Click to collapse
Thank you so much for bringing this up. This is my main beef with the phone coming from my Gnex. Hopefully a fix can be found soon.:good:
My suspicion is that this has to do with noise cancellation. The way noise cancellation works is that there are two different microphones at opposite ends of the phone; the one farther away from your mouth picks up ambient sounds and, more faintly, your voice. The one nearer your mouth picks up ambient sounds and, more loudly, your voice. What gets sent over the phone connection is, effectively, the difference between the signals from the two microphones, leaving mostly your voice.
If the two microphones are roughly equal distances from your mouth, they both pick up your voice about equally strongly, meaning that your voice is mostly filtered out with the rest of the ambient noise. Speakerphone mode disables the noise cancellation, so your voice comes through strongly.
.... as I've said in the second post. Other phones don't have trouble with it.
Send from my iPhone 6s
FormelLMS said:
.... as I've said in the second post. Other phones don't have trouble with it.
Send from my iPhone 6s
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Exactly. This is not simply a noise cancellation problem IMO. Other phones have noise cancellation too but don't have this problem.
FormelLMS said:
.... as I've said in the second post. Other phones don't have trouble with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for inadvertently repeating what you said in that post; it's been nearly two weeks since then, and I had forgotten it had been previously mentioned.
Perhaps the other phones with noise cancellation that don't exhibit this behavior simply turn it off if a headphone is plugged in. That would make sense for a speaker-only headphone, but not necessarily for a headphone with an inline microphone, where the voice microphone would still be nearer to you than the auxiliary microphone. If that's the case, it would be nice if that setting were exposed as a controllable option.
Please look here and add as many stars, as you all can:
http://code.google.com/p/android/is... 4&colspec=ID Type Status Owner Summary Stars
I'm the only one who has told it to google and with one star I think no one will see this problem there.
So we have to gewt as many stars and comments as possible.
Any developers can help with the build.prop line to disable this?
I remember pm founder of cyanogen mod and he pointed me the line to disable in nexus one..
I heard if you get an external mic it is much better but I haven't tried myself. This is annoying because I usually just use the aux with my nexus s with no problems >.< Anyone out there got any other solutions?
Yea seriously bump on this topic. This is a massive problem..
Have you all voted on Google page for this problem?
FormelLMS said:
Have you all voted on Google page for this problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I voted for 1, lets make another
Yes big problem.. I am driving using speaker phone and I can't hear ****..
mgear356 said:
Yes big problem.. I am driving using speaker phone and I can't hear ****..
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Click to collapse
It's the other party not being able to hear when on aux.
Misread.. But Yea if using speakerphone to avoid this problem ull barely be able to hear them, simply not loud enough
Does anyone else have the problem where the other person can't hear you when you use a pair of headphones while in a call? When removed, they can hear me fine. I'm hoping that this is a software issue that can be resolved in an update. If not, then i want to return it before my remorse period is over.
I am having distorted sound - other party hearing it unclear and distorted..
looks like a hardware issue.. tried with 2 earpiece... no luck.
I'm actually starting to wonder about that. It may actually be a software/driver issue. I was on the phone yesterday and decided to do some testing. Unplugging them and plugging them back in provides perfect audio to the other person for a few seconds before going back to garbage, as does muting and then un-muting the microphone when in a call. Something I've noticed about the microphone is that the gain seems to be set too high - try to make a recording of cars going by - guaranteed clipping (don't have the volume too loud or you could blow out the speaker you're listening to it on).
rr5678 said:
Does anyone else have the problem where the other person can't hear you when you use a pair of headphones while in a call? When removed, they can hear me fine. I'm hoping that this is a software issue that can be resolved in an update. If not, then i want to return it before my remorse period is over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ran into the same issue. However, the headphones I was using didn't have a built in microphone. I discovered that if I plug in headphones that lacked a built-in mic, the phone switches its internal microphone's gain to the gain it would use if you were holding the headset to your ear. I held the microphone in close proximity to my mouth and that solved the issue.
I guess this would be a software issue.
KlipperKyle said:
I ran into the same issue. However, the headphones I was using didn't have a built in microphone. I discovered that if I plug in headphones that lacked a built-in mic, the phone switches its internal microphone's gain to the gain it would use if you were holding the headset to your ear. I held the microphone in close proximity to my mouth and that solved the issue.
I guess this would be a software issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly the testing I did and exactly what I was thinking. Now to wait for LG or Google to fix it.
Another experiment you might try would be to put your finger over the secondary microphone on top of the phone and see if that makes a difference. (My guess is that the reason your voice comes through softly with the headphone plugged in is that the phone is still doing background noise suppression, which works by taking the difference between the main microphone, which picks up your voice plus ambient noise, and the secondary microphone, which mostly picks up just the ambient noise. When your mouth is far away from the phone, your voice is equally loud in both microphones, so the difference doesn't yield much voice signal. If your voice comes through louder after stopping up the secondary microphone, that would confirm this explanation for the problem.)
wmm said:
Another experiment you might try would be to put your finger over the secondary microphone on top of the phone and see if that makes a difference. (My guess is that the reason your voice comes through softly with the headphone plugged in is that the phone is still doing background noise suppression, which works by taking the difference between the main microphone, which picks up your voice plus ambient noise, and the secondary microphone, which mostly picks up just the ambient noise. When your mouth is far away from the phone, your voice is equally loud in both microphones, so the difference doesn't yield much voice signal. If your voice comes through louder after stopping up the secondary microphone, that would confirm this explanation for the problem.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Next time I'm in a long phone call where I am using headphones, I'm going to try that. It could be possible.
wmm said:
Another experiment you might try would be to put your finger over the secondary microphone on top of the phone and see if that makes a difference. (My guess is that the reason your voice comes through softly with the headphone plugged in is that the phone is still doing background noise suppression, which works by taking the difference between the main microphone, which picks up your voice plus ambient noise, and the secondary microphone, which mostly picks up just the ambient noise. When your mouth is far away from the phone, your voice is equally loud in both microphones, so the difference doesn't yield much voice signal. If your voice comes through louder after stopping up the secondary microphone, that would confirm this explanation for the problem.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This appears to be what is happening. The top mic is doing noise cancelation for the bottom mic.
I called a friend and plugged in headphones. When I didn't cover either mic, she said I was quiet (because the phone thought I was background noise). When I covered the top mic, she could hear me fine.
At this point, I'm inclined to say this is a software issue because the phone app can switch between microphones and which one is used for background noise cancelation. (Putting the device in speaker mode appears to use the top mic only.)
Sent from my Nexus 10
That's good confirmation -- thanks for running the experiment. Maybe I'll put a little wad of putty in the car to stick over the top microphone while I'm driving!
Hey guys!
So I got an update for the Moto Voice app recently on my PE running 5.0. Moto voice used to change ringer volume to work but would leave it at around 75% volume afterwards. I always have my Moto X on vibrate so this was really annoying...
But now after this update it doesn't do that anymore. It sets it back to vibrate once it completes whatever command I issued. Finally! I don't know if this issue has also been fixed in Assist (drive), haven't had a chance to test it out yet.
Just thought I would let you guys know!
Edit: It seems to be faster at processing the commands too! It doesn't take as long to pass the command onto google.
Noticed the quickness had been updated. Not sure about drive is fixed either. But I can vouch it is way quicker processing commands..
Took them long enough. I'd like to give them thumbs up for fixing it but it should have been done last year.
Now, how about they fix attentive display???
I have noticed that the moto voice notifications are a bit louder than before. Still not on equal footing with other apps like Play Music.
When in driving mode, connected to my car's BT radio, to keep the moto voice alerts balanced with play music, I can now turn play music to 75% volume vs 50% volume. The moto voice is turned to 100%. It's an improvement. I would still like to see the moto voice alerts on equal volume level as all other apps though.
It's faster passing commands to Google search for sure.
Unfortunately It now changes your interruption setting (if set to NONE) to ALL. Don't these clowns test this stuff before shipping?!?
Boneheads!
Solutions Etcetera said:
Unfortunately It now changes your interruption setting (if set to NONE) to ALL. Don't these clowns test this stuff before shipping?!?
Boneheads!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm unable to reproduce this
sailindawg said:
I have noticed that the moto voice notifications are a bit louder than before. Still not on equal footing with other apps like Play Music.
When in driving mode, connected to my car's BT radio, to keep the moto voice alerts balanced with play music, I can now turn play music to 75% volume vs 50% volume. The moto voice is turned to 100%. It's an improvement. I would still like to see the moto voice alerts on equal volume level as all other apps though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how do you change moto voice alerts volume? I cant hear a thing on my car. It stops the music but the voice is really really low. In contrast, google maps directions work just fine.
piccit said:
I'm unable to reproduce this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You using a XT1095 running 5.0?
Solutions Etcetera said:
Unfortunately It now changes your interruption setting (if set to NONE) to ALL. Don't these clowns test this stuff before shipping?!?
Boneheads!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I can reproduce that on my PE.
Solutions Etcetera said:
You using a XT1095 running 5.0?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1095 running USC 5.0.2
evilnolo said:
how do you change moto voice alerts volume? I cant hear a thing on my car. It stops the music but the voice is really really low. In contrast, google maps directions work just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When it activates with the volume up button. You have to be quick or have it read notifications so it stays on a bit longer.
sailindawg said:
When it activates with the volume up button. You have to be quick or have it read notifications so it stays on a bit longer.
Click to expand...
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Oh ok, I checked it is on full volume. It is really strange, if im using my earphones and playing music, I can hear google voice perfectly, but while using an audio cable connected to my car, I cant hear it at all. Any suggestions? Could it be that my cable is faulty? I can hear everything else just fine....
I've never seen that. I use Google Play music, BeyondPod & NPR One in the car. I keep those programs adjusted to 50-75% volume when using my car bluetooth.
However, at work I drive a Ford Escape. Using Microsoft Sync in that car, I find that the volume of Moto voice & my music / podcast apps to be almost on equal footing since the Google services update.
I know that whatever version Sync the car has, it is probably what came stock with the car. The car is probably 5 years old. It seems I get my best in car connectivity with the Escape Sync.
Could be a driver issue with the device or how the phone connects.
I would like it if I could get an aftermarket head with Sync, but it seems only Ford uses this.
If you find this helpful, just give me a thumbs up.
sailindawg said:
I've never seen that. I use Google Play music, BeyondPod & NPR One in the car. I keep those programs adjusted to 50-75% volume when using my car bluetooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always have the music (play music) at a 100 on my car. Maybe thats the fault. btw I connect through audio cable, not bluetooth. I will try lowering the music volume and also with another cable just to be sure.
Thanks.