Database Users

Case to "fix" the low speaker volume issue

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?

Fixing the speaker all models!!!!

OKAY so after some delving i have concluded that the speaker is of quality construction, HOWEVER the system eq (or what ever plays any sounds) has been set with to much bass. some of the notification sounds for example (pollox) sounds completely washed out because i believe the speaker is playing some lower notes SUB 500 Hertz that decimate the cone of the speaker.
Is there a way for the devs to change the lower registers to play a few db less SYSTEMICALLY on the HANDSET SPEAKER ONLY. For example if the eq is flat and it has 5 bands lower the last 2 bands by at least 2 or 3 db. i think this will solve any speaker wash out, and more over potential speaker damage. IDK just what im thinking
ALW

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.

A possible fix to low in-call volume

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..

Any way to increase output sound on ZE551KL? (ringtones, notifications, speakerphone)

I am using a ZE551KL while waiting on my ZE551ML to return from RMA. The ZE551KL is a decent phone but it does not measure up to the ZE551ML, but I am sticking with it while Asus takes their merry time on repairing my phone.
Anyway, has anyone had any success in increasing the volume levels of the back speaker? The loudness of the ringtones and notifications leaves much to be desired, at least for me. I have everything maxed and the Audio Wizard is on and set to Smart but I seldom catch my email notification and I carry my phone in my shirt's chest pocket. These are the same tones I used on my ZE551ML so they are recorded/saved loud enough.
Any help would be appreciated as I will passing this phone down to a family member once I get mine back from Asus... whatever year that occurs.

Yeah it's pretty pathetic. When i try to listen to a podcast out of the back speaker while I'm washing my face or doing other things where I can't have headphones in, I can't hear it over the sound of the water running.
I put it on "voice" and turn on "dialouge enhancement" and turn up all frequencies to the max and it makes it maybe a third louder, but it still leaves a lot to be desired. I guess you have to cut some corners with a 200 dollar phone. Skimping on the engineering and materials it would take to make an impressively loud compact speaker seems to be one of the places they tried to save money.

I wondered about buying an after market speaker replacement. And swapping it out.
Sent from my A1R using XDA-Developers mobile app

this is a software issue with the Asus stock ROM.
Flash the Cyanogenmod ROM, and the sound output from both the external speaker and the headphone port is way, WAY better.

nujaxx said:
I wondered about buying an after market speaker replacement. And swapping it out.
Sent from my A1R using XDA-Developers mobile app
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That might be possible, actually. I had to replace the screen on my ZE551KL and unlike the models with Intel hardware, the speaker unit seems to be connected by what looks like a miniature version of a 3.5 mm headphone plug. Seems like the vibration motor and speaker might be housed in the same rubber unit, though. I did a successful screen replacement, but I wasn't always certain exactly what I was looking at. :silly:
There's ZERO documentation or videos about the internals of the ZE551KL available online, but you can get a good luck at the audio plug leading into the speaker just by removing the 8 to 12 tiny screws that secure the backplate of the phone on. Keep in mind that will void your warranty though.

The speaker itself would be an easy switch. I've replaced some before and it was relatively easy. Can't see the Asus being different. It's nearly identical to the lgg3 in placement, interestingly enough.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00TD using XDA-Developers mobile app

argblah said:
Yeah it's pretty pathetic. When i try to listen to a podcast out of the back speaker while I'm washing my face or doing other things where I can't have headphones in, I can't hear it over the sound of the water running.
I put it on "voice" and turn on "dialouge enhancement" and turn up all frequencies to the max and it makes it maybe a third louder, but it still leaves a lot to be desired. I guess you have to cut some corners with a 200 dollar phone. Skimping on the engineering and materials it would take to make an impressively loud compact speaker seems to be one of the places they tried to save money.
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Seems to have made a big difference. Much appreciated, mate.

Install custom audio mods such as viper4android, dolby atmos, or biohazard sound mod