Develop Bugs

HTC Desire FM Radio..

Anyone confirm if the receiver is built into the phone, as opposed to being built into the wired stereo headphones?

It's in the headphones, as usual.

Don't think that's right. Usually, the radio is built into the phone but you need headphones connected - not necessarily the supplied headphones - for the radio to work. That's certainly how it was with my HD2. Otherwise, it means you could not use your own headset.
The headset cable usually acts as the antenna.

Usually these type of devices (phones/mp3 players etc...) have the receiver in the device but they use the headphones as the antenna so if you want to get any signal you need some (Any) headphones connected.

shawon007 said:
Anyone confirm if the receiver is built into the phone, as opposed to being built into the wired stereo headphones?
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I have read it somewhere, .. I confirm that the radio receiver is IN the headset, not inside the phone!

............

How ...?
can ANY headphone be used as an antenna?? even ones I bought from ebay??

irkan said:
I have read it somewhere, .. I confirm that the radio receiver is IN the headset, not inside the phone!
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Maybe you should really think before writing though
-
Ofcourse the reciever is in the phone and yes you can use any headset.
The headset purely acts as an antenna.

There are reports that non OEM headsets are a bit hit and miss. Some work, some don't.
Not a feature I will get to use as I have bluetooth headphones

shawon007,
Question - have you tried siwtching your phone off & back on? Your thread made me realise I hadn't tried out the radio on my desire, or the headphone jack for that matter....
Imagine my surprise when I tried the radio with normal headphones and the radio didn't work ... so I tried the official headphones, and they didn't work either, whether for radio or even playing music .... so I grumped about it and figured the jack was faulty. Then I tried powering the phone off & back on (early firmware) and bingo, the radio works.
Oh and standard headphones work just fine too.
Dougie

RDS is missing.. too bad because it was working well on the Tattoo

I'm sure some clever person might be able add it!
What i'd like to know is if it would be possible to add a radio record button
a bit like the ipod nano's

bewA said:
I'm sure some clever person might be able add it!
What i'd like to know is if it would be possible to add a radio record button
a bit like the ipod nano's
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Hi.
This is my first post on this forum. I'm happy to find so many skilled guys on smartphones and android, specifically (though I've never had smartphone development experiences yet ).
I'm very seriously thinking about buying a HTC Desire (I think it's gorgeous) but the missing RDS feature is quite annoying to me.
Maybe someone of you could tell me if the radio chipset is capable of handling RDS, and so a rooted firmware will fix the problem?
Thanks.

shawon007 said:
How ...?
can ANY headphone be used as an antenna?? even ones I bought from ebay??
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Click to collapse
My iPod ones work fine...

My Sennheiser earphones do work with the FM Radio, but the reception is quite poor unfortunately
The HTC ones supplied work perfectly, reception is great, shame about the quality of the earphones themselves though.

Cronnie said:
My Sennheiser earphones do work with the FM Radio, but the reception is quite poor unfortunately
The HTC ones supplied work perfectly, reception is great, shame about the quality of the earphones themselves though.
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Maybe armored cable on good earphones don't make a good antenna :/
PS : don't know if "armored" is the correct word in english I want to say "a cable with much protection over electric fields".

Kiiv said:
Maybe armored cable on good earphones don't make a good antenna :/
PS : don't know if "armored" is the correct word in english I want to say "a cable with much protection over electric fields".
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No worries, I know what you mean
I rarely use the radio anyway (got around 10GB of music and videos to keep me occupied), so I guess I will be sticking to my Sennheiser earphones.

Has anyone else had any issues with the radio? When I was using it the other day it completely freaked out and locked up my phone.
Oh and when I was first setting it up and went to set presets it knew the names for some of the stations already, how is it doing that without RDS?

Does it also have FM transmitter?

MoxFulder_CH said:
RDS is missing.. too bad because it was working well on the Tattoo
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Are you sure? After i tuned to several stations, it's picked up the names fine. BBC Radio 1 is displayed as Radio 1, BBC Radio 2 is shown as BBC R2
pascanu said:
Does it also have FM transmitter?
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No it can't transmit.

FM Radio Question

Is it possible to play FM radio without headset inserted by using some sort of hack.

That hack would involve convincing your phone to tune into a signal without an aerial. That will be quite the feat...let us know how that works out.

Ok that was my original thought. So what would happen if i where to get a pair of headphones and cut all the wire off and just use the plug. Do you think i would still get signal then or would it need the wire.

The wire IS the aerial. you need it. The phone's inbuilt antenna won't do it, the plug is also not sufficient. Sorry

Darn it!!!
oh well i suppose last FM will do.
Thanks for your replys m8

one way i always used to do it (and works on the desire perfectly)
is get some old, maybe non working headphones, cut them off at about 5 cm from the plug, and there you go.
you will ofcourse not get as good reception as usually, but where i live i have no trouble at all, the signal is crystal clear

ziao said:
one way i always used to do it (and works on the desire perfectly)
is get some old, maybe non working headphones, cut them off at about 5 cm from the plug, and there you go.
you will ofcourse not get as good reception as usually, but where i live i have no trouble at all, the signal is crystal clear
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Cheers M8 I'll give that a go tonight been dying to cut my Iphone headphones up since i got rid of it.

FM Reception?

Do you have issues? This is my second desire and it has the same issue as the first, reception is dire, unless your stood under the transmitter all I seem to get is static, its a major pain as I still have to take my Sony Ericsson to work to listen to the radio.

I have better FM reception on my desire than some radios in my house. I found with most phone radios it requires the earphone cable to be more horizontal than vertical.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

El_Zilcho said:
I have better FM reception on my desire than some radios in my house. I found with most phone radios it requires the earphone cable to be more horizontal than vertical.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
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Hmm interesting, It not to bad when out in the open, but go inside and all reception goes.

mine is attrocious indoors and bearable outdoors. it seems to take a while to warm up as the reception is much better on the way back from a journey over the exact same route. the angle and position of my headphone cable does seem to make a massive difference which is annoying.
over all, reception is not a patch on my last SE phone ...

I found using different headphones work better. Using desktop headphones and having no issues at all.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

I use Sennheiser in ear headphones and they work great with the radio.

using the same headset i use on my mp3 player that has a radio inbuilt, i get better reception on the mp3 player, to such a point i can listen to the radio on my mp3 player where my desire is just static.
though it's a phone not a radio the length of the earphones will make a difference to the reception.
""I don't know what conductor works best as an aerial (copper or steel), or what lengths suit what wavelengths. I would think that less shielding on the cable would give better signal strength. Normally more shielding is a good thing as it stops interference from nearby electronic devices, but in this instance less shielding will give you a better radio signal""

Music quality with earphones

Hi i hvnt purchased a desire yet but im looking into it, howver i just need to know one other thing before purchasing.
I have heard the sound qualoty isnt good from the speakers but insread i need to know if the music/sound quality is good through earphones, i currently have an x10 and i can safely say the quality through earphones is terrible, no equaliser, very quiet.
Also does the desire have equaliser?
Thanks guys
Sent from my X10i using XDA App

I have the nokia bh-903 headset http://europe.nokia.com/find-produc...ies/headsets/bluetooth-stereo-headsets/bh-903
The sound from desire is low, and no, there is no equilizer on desire AFAIK

SpideRMaN-17 said:
I have the nokia bh-903 headset http://europe.nokia.com/find-produc...ies/headsets/bluetooth-stereo-headsets/bh-903
The sound from desire is low, and no, there is no equilizer on desire AFAIK
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most roms now come with the dspmanager .... there are also apps on the market to remove the european restrictions with the low headset volume

AndroHero said:
most roms now come with the dspmanager .... there are also apps on the market to remove the european restrictions with the low headset volume
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Thanks for your reply,
can you mention any apps that remove the euro. restriction pls ?

I have have a set of sennheiser PXC 250 sound is very good..... or depends what you need .. and at what level the mp3s etc are at .. 320bit is better than 128 etc..

I have a non-branded unrooted Desire. the sound level is very good, I have no complaints. the big problem for me is the lack of equalizer, as the bass output is very weak. I have a pair of good expensive headphones that have bass booster and it's still very low. Unfortunately I cannot correct it without an equalizer.

SpideRMaN-17 said:
Thanks for your reply,
can you mention any apps that remove the euro. restriction pls ?
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you could try louder volume hack

I use mixzing music player, I highly recommend it. It has EQ.
Standard headphones sound ok, but I prefer the ear canal type.
The volume from the stock ROM is fine.

AndroHero said:
you could try louder volume hack
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I am not lucky with the Market today
@ShugM
Mixzing is indeed a nice app. thanks for sharing

Sound quality is terrible through speaker and headphones. I wouldn't recommend using the desire as an mp3 player. Battery is bad enough without playing music.

I just bought the Sony Ericsson MW600 HiFi Bluetooth headset with FM Radio and the volume is incredible compared to the stock headsets it comes with. Plus as a side benefit, the in call function works great too.
So while the stock sound and headsets aren't the best, there are some good 3rd party solutions out there.
Now I have to say, I love the commute to work now wearing my new headsets. It makes my Desire a great MP3 player.
BTW, I agree with the battery issue. It isnt the best. But all the smartphones are not that great.

Depends very much on the headphones being used. I'm currently using Philips SHE 9850 and let me tell you -- they are awesome, the best I've ever had. Volume is more then sufficient (I'm usually at 50-60%), sound is very balanced, clear and rich. No need for an EQ.
You should also consider which radios (2G/3G/WLAN/BT) you are on when using certain headphones. At least mine tend to pick up (due to a pretty low impedance -- "ohm") quite some noise by the radio when on 2G. When loading a website it sounds like an old modem. Fortunately, most of the time I'm on 3G/WLAN which produces much less audible noise ("heartbeats").

doinbox said:
Sound quality is terrible through speaker and headphones. I wouldn't recommend using the desire as an mp3 player. Battery is bad enough without playing music.
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Saying that I find the quality much better than my iPod with stock headphones!

AdamLC said:
Saying that I find the quality much better than my iPod with stock headphones!
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That's funny coz I bought a portable speaker and my desire sounds okish through it and my ipod sounds miles better.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

doinbox said:
That's funny coz I bought a portable speaker and my desire sounds okish through it and my ipod sounds miles better.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
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i also own an ipod and the sound quality of the desire it quite easly on par with it

Mixzing all the way, perfect since the 2.2 update! Has a warmer sound than my Ipod touch through headphones.

Wow u guys thanks for all the info, now its settled im getting a desire, i like the fact its up to date and has decent hardware, not too bothered about duel processors just yet... ill be looking into those earphones you have been mentioning, just need to ebay my x10 and 3g first...
by the way guys never get an x10...just my 2 cents
Sent from my X10i using XDA App

To me, sound quality of the Desire via the headphones is great for a "walkman". I have also compared it to iPod and, to me, it seems the same. So, that means it's FAR from rubbish...
I can also recommend great and cheap headphones if you want very good sound:
Search for NuForce ne-6 or ne-7m (they are the same, but the 7m also has a mic so one can receive phone calls and has playback controls).

Yeah the sound quality isnt the best concerning the volume that the Desire puts out, but its ok (and even better if you use 3rd party earphones, which by the way, I thank all those who made suggestions because I upgraded too).
But common people, comparing the sound quality with an iPod and then complaining isnt cool. The Desire was built as a phone and all the other stuff is extras. So when you consider that it is a multifunctional smartphone, then I have to say that the Desire is FANTASTIC!!!!!!! I have had mine for a month and it rocks.
Sure there are some little quirks, but every smartphone out there has its quirks. But compared to all the ones I've had before, the Desire is lightyears ahead. Especially given that I watched a new tv show episode that I transfered to the Desire and watched it on the bus this morning using my 3rd party Sony Ericsson MW600 HiFi Bluetooth headset with FM Radio and it was indeed a great experience (and a great commute to work this morning).

Yeah the sound quality isnt the best concerning the volume that the Desire puts out, but its ok (and even better if you use 3rd party earphones, which by the way, I thank all those who made suggestions because I upgraded too).
But come on people, comparing the sound quality with an iPod and then complaining isnt cool. The Desire was built as a phone and all the other stuff is extras. So when you consider that it is a multifunctional smartphone, then I have to say that the Desire is FANTASTIC!!!!!!! I have had mine for a month and it rocks.
Sure there are some little quirks, but every smartphone out there has its quirks. But compared to all the ones I've had before, the Desire is lightyears ahead. Especially given that I watched a new tv show episode that I transfered to the Desire and watched it on the bus this morning using my 3rd party Sony Ericsson MW600 HiFi Bluetooth headset with FM Radio and it was indeed a great experience (and a great commute to work this morning).

FM transmitter

So here's my problem.. I've got an aux port in my personal car which works great for my commute to and from work but once I'm in my work car I lose that ability..
I've purchased a cheap FM transmitter from ebay but there's a lot of static.. anyone have a suggestion for a good transmitter that's not ridiculously priced?
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

I have a belken one that doesn't have that much static. You can go to belken website and they give you suggestions on which stations are the best to use in your area.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

There are also those bluetooth trasnmiter that work really well.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

FM
Best bang for your buck is a device that uses bluetooth to grab the music and then has an FM transmitter in it... like the blackberry VM-605 .. that way you can use it in your house too.

ready5 said:
Best bang for your buck is a device that uses bluetooth to grab the music and then has an FM transmitter in it... like the blackberry VM-605 .. that way you can use it in your house too.
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would my radio need to be bluetooth ready for this to work?
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

Powell730 said:
would my radio need to be bluetooth ready for this to work?
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
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yep, which is almost pointless (for this topic) because aux ports are in a lot more head units than bluetooth

i was able to get away with a cheap one from walmart ~$20 and it worked great for me even used it on a trip that i was in the back and phone was 10-15 feet away from the antenna and i still had very little static.

Get a blackberry Bluetooth gateway. It plugs in to your aux port and connects to your device via Bluetooth. I use one with my stereo and used to use one in the car until I upgraded the car to a Bluetooth ready system. It will connect to any Bluetooth device that supports a2dp.
Sent from my thunderstick

yea, but if his company car dont have an AUX port, I seriously doubt that it would have bluetooth...
I went to Wal-Mart and in the Ipod/headphones section found a good FM transmitter by Griffin. It plugs into the cig port for power and then plugs into your phones Headphone jack. a little time playing with different stations and you can find one that works real good and is nice and clear.

schollianmj said:
yea, but if his company car dont have an AUX port, I seriously doubt that it would have bluetooth...
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This.. I'll just have to stick with
an fm transmitter unfortunately.. They just don't produce the quality I'd like but oh well
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

I was actually thinking of buying this for myself, according to reviews it seem great
GOgroove Flexsmart X2 Advanced Wireless In-Car Bluetooth FM Transmitter with Charging, Music Control and Hands-Free Calling Capability for Android, iPhone, Blackberry and Windows Smartphones
I cant add the amazon link sadly since I dont have enough posts, but google
GOgroove Flexsmart X2 and you will find it.
this should be exactly what your looking for, its still a fm transmitter but besides bluetooth or aux you have no choice but to use fm transmitter, the reviews on that looks great (saw on amazon)

The best ones to get are the ones from crap storeslike big lots and etc. The cheaper the better for some reason. You have to remember that truck bridges and heavy metal objects will obstruct it. I personal have an M gear. For it from big lots for $4.99. But in the end they all suck.

I picked up a motorola roadster for a steal at a verizon store, was about 50 bucks there (they kind of screwed up a lot and tried to charge me about 300 dollars more on one bill, raised hell got credits for accesories) and the thing actually works pretty well. There are a few minor issues with it, but those are easily solved and the sound quality is actually surprisingly good over FM.
Now there is the problem with degradation of sound when broadcasted over bluetooth, then over FM, but unless you are an audiophile and have high end speakers in your car (and i'm assuming you aren't because you were asking for an fm transmitter) then I doubt you could really tell the difference.
Another handy dandy feature of this device is that it searches for OPEN fm channels so you aren't manually tuning one frequency by one and instead looking for a frequency you can actually break through.
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Road...7KOK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308640277&sr=8-1
The only problems I have with this unit is sometimes the BT disconnects for a second or so then it reconnects, but that only happens like once a week. Also sometimes coming out of sleep mode it won't kick on the FM transmitter. This is fixed by unplugging, turning off, waiting a few seconds then turning the device back on again. Other than that, this would seem to be the perfect solution to your problem.
I have also heard great things about the GOGroove Flexsmart X2, but have not tried it out so I cannot give an honest review of it.
Heres the link for that one: http://www.amazon.com/Transmitter-H...erry-Smartphones/dp/B003PPGOC0/ref=pd_sim_e_3

I tried the flexgroove it worked great with Bluetooth for the exception of no bass output. Speaking on it was not great but that's just my cars power outlet location making it to far for people to hear me. My brother got a jensen kit from amazon with steering wheel controls and separate lcd to see songs,calls and phone book that one worked great the Mic was external.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

Cassette Option?
If your work car has a cassette tape, the best solution I have found is this:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Car-iPo...sette-Adapters/abcat0307013.c?id=abcat0307013
I don't remember which one I bought, but I got it at Wal-Mart a few years ago and it works perfect. You don't have to worry about traveling through areas where the FM stations change, and you don't lose any quality by transmitting over the FM signal.