[Q]Earphone volume too high? - AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III

it is only my phone? or do you guys find this phone has the earspeaker volume too high, even when it is set to the lowest?
People next to me can hear the other person as if i had it on speaker phone. With the volume so high, i dont need to use the speakerphone anymore. I somehow feel i do not have privacy. I can literally put the phone in my desk and hear it. I have talked to my mom like that while i worked.
EDIT: I think is an issue with AOSP. The volume on the Sammy ICS rom in my wife's phone worked as expected. At its lower setting, it was very decent, i couldnt hear it when I put the phone down.

I haven't really noticed... perhaps you should try different earbuds (that won't disturb neighbors so much)?
For what it's worth too, not sure if you're running a custom ROM, but I just saw something about CM10 adding a 30-stage volume meter (instead of the stock 15) on at least one device. Not on the S3 yet, but I'd expect we'll see this soon. That should give you finer control of all volume ranges, including low volumes.

sjb933 said:
I haven't really noticed... perhaps you should try different earbuds (that won't disturb neighbors so much)?
For what it's worth too, not sure if you're running a custom ROM, but I just saw something about CM10 adding a 30-stage volume meter (instead of the stock 15) on at least one device. Not on the S3 yet, but I'd expect we'll see this soon. That should give you finer control of all volume ranges, including low volumes.
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im running AOKP. The earbuds are actually fine. Is the phone ear speakers themselves which are too loud.

Agreed with above, my earbuds are fine.. Stock volume is too high though

Agreed also, volume way to high for lowest settings, i cant listen anymore to my music when i want to go to bed since my gf can hear it so much and see cant sleep with music.
disappointing that Samsung didn't catch that.

I think is an issue with AOSP. The volume on the Sammy ICS rom in my wife's phone worked as expected. At its lower setting, it was very decent, i couldnt hear when I put the phone down.

Related

Speaker/headphone volume VERY low.....

I sold my HD2 on Thursday and let me say first off that I have no regrets whatsoever: I absolutely love this phone. Before I sold the HD2 I played some music tracks on both devices through the loudspeaker and headphones jack and noticed a HUGE differential in volume.....I thought the HD2 speaker was pretty tinny but it was at least audible; the Desire speaker volume is incredibly underpowered...being practically inaudible in a moderately noisy environment. This problem seems to extend even as far as the headphones socket since some of the songs I was unable to play at full volume on the HD2 for fear of bursting my eardrums are simply not loud enough for me on the Desire.
Am I the only person to think the volume levels are too low? Is there perhaps a way to increase the pre amp levels. It's as quiet as the first generation iPhone which was REALLY BAD.
Any thoughts from anyone here?
Hi there - I've been searching online to see if anyone else has been having this problem and came across your post.
Had my Desire for a week now, and I love it. But the volume via headphones is WAY too low. Stupidly too low. I can't hear it on the tube at all, for example.
I was looking forward to using it - and Spotify, in partcular - as a replacement for my aging iPod. But there's just no way.
I can't believe this is common to every phone, as surely there would be more people complaining about it. Are there different firmware versions knocking about? It's got me pretty frustrated.
Ok this is not nice, speaker volume is very important to me. This is the first time I see somebody be this negative about it though...
Damn..
Further, you coming from the HD2, any more thoughts you want to share about the switch?
How is the 4.3 inch to 3.7 inch 'jump'?
Kind regards
Screen size is not a problem for me, colours are beautiful on the Desire and the screen seems note responsive. I tried using the HD2 for a day after getting the Desire and hated it bycomparison! Only massive annoyance though is that it is nowhere near as loud.
I suspect that people are still in their honeymoon period with the phone and that complaints will start to surface about the speaker volume in time. As far as I can recall all my other Android devices were a lot louder than this.
Don't have the device yet but in a video review the guy said the speaker was pretty loud, so it's probably only a software problem
chipshop said:
Had my Desire for a week now, and I love it. But the volume via headphones is WAY too low. Stupidly too low. I can't hear it on the tube at all, for example..
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Juste buy in-ear headphones ! your ear will thanks you, pushing the volume to 100db because the tube is masking noise : not a good idea believe me.
I too, coming from an iPhone, find the headphone volume painfully low.
I use an under speaker pillow to listen to podcasts without disturbing the wife, and on the iPhone she'd sometimes complain that she could hear it. Now with the Desire I find that sometimes I can't hear it and that's at full volume.
I know this is probably obvious but I take it you have gone through. Audio settings
And maxed the volume? And checked any volume controls on headphones? If both set to max
And still not loud then the handset is faulty so get it replaced
Now!!
Mine set to max would be at ear bleeding levels!!
The speaker quality isn't great, but considering I don't use them that much it is good enough for me.
Am a little surprised with the headphone issues, considering that I have my volume set just under halfway and it is more than loud enough for me.
I am using my Sennheiser earphones, but the volume is fine with the supplied HTC ones too.
what kind of bit-rates are you using for music? ... 128? or more, ... as the quality effects the loudness somehow I believe.
try experimenting with different bit rates and see how that goes
leoni1980 said:
Screen size is not a problem for me, colours are beautiful on the Desire and the screen seems note responsive. I tried using the HD2 for a day after getting the Desire and hated it bycomparison! Only massive annoyance though is that it is nowhere near as loud.
I suspect that people are still in their honeymoon period with the phone and that complaints will start to surface about the speaker volume in time. As far as I can recall all my other Android devices were a lot louder than this.
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Click to collapse
I think this might be due to new UE regulations about maximum volume in mobile devices, though im not 100% sure if its already in the system.
However Im pretty sure that in couple days/weeks there will be some hacks/apps/ to change that
So have I got a faulty phone?
Or are people just overly forgiving??
Everything is set to max. I've also noticed that the Mic quality in videos is also shockingly poor in terms of volume. I wonder if all of these functions are shared by the same chipset.
leoni, I'm having just the same problem. I think it must be a problem with some of these phones. I can't believe that people are just being overly forgiving.
I'm not looking to push the volume up too high, but if I can't hear it when there's a little background noise going on, then that's a serious design flaw.
I'd like to do a comparison with another Desire at some point, hopefully I'll bump into someone using one soon...
Just to answer some of the above questions/suggestions:-
I'm using MP3s in 256k bit rate format. All volume controls are set to max and there is no volume control on the headphones I am using.
I'm sending mine back. I'm due an upgrade on Monday anyway so I'll test one in the shop and see if It's the same. The headphone volume is the main issue for me; its just too low.
I also think that the volume is way too low. Just out of curiosity, could this be a Rom issue? I'm using the stock TMO Rom. To the people who think it's loud enough, which Rom are you on?
My biggest problem is with the volume through the headphones....speaker volume I can live with, though it is crap and tinny
I think this must be an issue on your phone or you expect it to be crazy loud. I swapped out my ipod for this today on a good set of headphones (AKG KE518LE's) and the volume levels seem identical. As for the speaker, i find mine is a tad on the loud side to be honest. I find myself having to knock it dont a few notches on the volume.
alex101uk said:
I think this must be an issue on your phone or you expect it to be crazy loud. I swapped out my ipod for this today on a good set of headphones (AKG KE518LE's) and the volume levels seem identical. As for the speaker, i find mine is a tad on the loud side to be honest. I find myself having to knock it dont a few notches on the volume.
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are you on TMO ROM?
Loud speaker isn't audible above the sound of my shower, which is a real shame as coming from a n95 8gb the loud speaker was great. Oh well. I'm a forgiving type!
I have found music volume to be pretty low but I'm fairly convinced it is a software/Rom issue because the volume in some applications is loud! Doesn't made much sense. Running T-mob here.

Media Volume too loud

Hi everyone
I recently bought a pair of Ultimate Ears Super.Fi vi 5's to use with my HTC Desire. However, even on the lowest media volume (1/15), it still hurts my ears when playing music through the headset.
Is there some way to reduce the volume further?
I've tried a few applications, but they just have the same volume increments as the default volume control. I want something like 1/100. =D
What are you, a bat? The lowest volume hurts? You're saying your phone goes from mute to deafening with nothing in between?
I'd say either your phone volume rocker is broken or you have yourself the worlds greatest amplifying earphones.
Haha, I had a feeling something like that would be the first reply.
The rocker is fine and the volume incrementally increases to a max. It's just that it starts off too high. The stock HTC headset work ok, so the phone itself shouldn't be faulty. I just want a lower starting volume.
The earphones have a pretty low impedance of 13ohms, so yes, they'd be pretty amplifying.
i wonder is it the low impedance thats causing the problem? i'm using sony headphones with mine and they are fine..
It most likely is the low impedance ... hence why I want to set the volume lower.
Although I don't think I'll find an application to do that. I installed the SDK for Android and had a poke around. It turns out the max value for the media/music audio stream is 15. And you can only set it by integers. =(. I was hoping to just write my own app which sets the volume to what I want, but it doesn't seem like its possible without diving further into the Android OS.
For those who've gone into such business with rooted phones, modded custom roms etc, is it even possible?
Unless i've missed something is you phone rooted?
Anyways i say to save the the trouble send em back and get some normal philips earphones lol
Seriously it not the phone cause default the volume level isnt high until you root the phone
Nope, Stock rom straight from Handtec from the very first batch.
These earphones are nice, quite recommended infact. =D. Also, being canalphones, you can't *just* return them.
I found this which might do the trick to lower sound levels.
ht tp://ww w.kvconnection.com/product-p/km-iphone-mic42-a22.htm
If I'm not mistaken, it oughta do the trick on a hardware level. =D
I'm having exactly the same issue, using a pair of Jerry Harvey JH5. There are quite a few higher quality headphones that have this issue. My headphones are worth more than the phone itself, so please don't just tell me to "get some normal philips earphones". While getting a volume attenuator may be a viable workaround, it seems a bit of a pain, and isn't really a solution. Any help would be very much appreciated.

Problem I had..

Well I returned my phone with a full refund.
The volume was so low on my GNex I could hardly hear YouTube videos/Music /Notifications so I returned it. Is this the same on all GNex? (Volume Bug was another reason for returning)
Long story short I regret returning it cause I loved ICS but the volume problems were enough to drive me crazy.
So my question - Is the volume low on your Gnex's ? I don't want to pick one up again if the volume truly is that low compared to other phones.
recklesslife85 said:
Well I returned my phone with a full refund.
The volume was so low on my GNex I could hardly hear YouTube videos/Music /Notifications so I returned it. Is this the same on all GNex? (Volume Bug was another reason for returning)
Long story short I regret returning it cause I loved ICS but the volume problems were enough to drive me crazy.
So my question - Is the volume low on your Gnex's ? I don't want to pick one up again if the volume truly is that low compared to other phones.
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Click to collapse
forget about GNexus.
have yourself actually come across any devices that have a speaker that is loud enough for you under crowd environment? (even my xoom doesn't provide volume loud enough). plus you have to check if the audio of that music/video is originally softer or louder. certain audio/video are slightly softer by default. hence its really hard to measure.
i find the GNexus is loud enough under quiet environment.
Yeah, it is a bit low compared to other phones. If that's a deal-breaker then that's unfortunate. Maybe along the line someone will make a custom kernel/rom that will boost the volume though so you should keep an eye out.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
qwerp_ said:
forget about GNexus.
have yourself actually come across any devices that have a speaker that is loud enough for you under crowd environment? (even my xoom doesn't provide volume loud enough). plus you have to check if the audio of that music/video is originally softer or louder. certain audio/video are slightly softer by default. hence its really hard to measure.
i find the GNexus is loud enough under quiet environment.
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Click to collapse
Chrono_Tata said:
Yeah, it is a bit low compared to other phones. If that's a deal-breaker then that's unfortunate. Maybe along the line someone will make a custom kernel/rom that will boost the volume though so you should keep an eye out.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
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Thanks for the replies guys. Well I currently have an iPhone 4S which is perfect sound wise and so is my Dell Venue Pro. I can hear them both easy without a problem but I couldn't hear my Gnex when I was in the house talking to family. I may have had a faulty phone? Was well quiet. Considering the Galaxy Note right now but really want the Gnex again.
It is more quiet than my previous HTC Desire. But I love that it is not too loud that you are close to hearing the speakers cracking. I am not afraid to put the device in full volume anymore.
I found it way too low (as in I was close to returning it) but use Volume+ to boost it up to very respectable levels without distortion. Was happy with that then had Volume+ crash a couple of times so hoping for a proper patch (official or community) at some point.
Can't find the thread anymore, but some users with the same problem reported good results using Volume+. Think it was mainly the speaker volume when ringing that was an issue for him/her/them.
Might be worth a shot!
recklesslife85 said:
Thanks for the replies guys. Well I currently have an iPhone 4S which is perfect sound wise and so is my Dell Venue Pro. I can hear them both easy without a problem but I couldn't hear my Gnex when I was in the house talking to family. I may have had a faulty phone? Was well quiet. Considering the Galaxy Note right now but really want the Gnex again.
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do bear in mind that the iphone and dell venue both have side loaded speakers. and primarily all new android phones has their speaker at the back of the phones. ny default, the audio is blasted away from you (if you are watching youtube). you need some sort of deflector to deflect the audio back to the front to make it louder.
for instant, if you are listening to music, and have the phone facing backward, i don't think you will have any big issues.
qwerp_ said:
do bear in mind that the iphone and dell venue both have side loaded speakers. and primarily all new android phones has their speaker at the back of the phones. ny default, the audio is blasted away from you (if you are watching youtube). you need some sort of deflector to deflect the audio back to the front to make it louder.
for instant, if you are listening to music, and have the phone facing backward, i don't think you will have any big issues.
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True, but sound on my old Galaxy S2 was good with the speaker on the back. (Sold it before picking up the Gnex) I'm Androidless at the moment.. so its between picking this back up or the Note.
recklesslife85 said:
True, but sound on my old Galaxy S2 was good with the speaker on the back. (Sold it before picking up the Gnex) I'm Androidless at the moment.. so its between picking this back up or the Note.
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Click to collapse
i have not really tested the SGS2, so i can't comment much in that. primarily throughout all nexus i had, Nexus one, Nexus S and now Galaxy Nexus, they are all about the same, i would say.
maybe you should give +Volume a shot, it could be something samsung has modified in their touchwiz to boost the volume, like how the Beats ranges from HTC.
qwerp_ said:
i have not really tested the SGS2, so i can't comment much in that. primarily throughout all nexus i had, Nexus one, Nexus S and now Galaxy Nexus, they are all about the same, i would say.
maybe you should give +Volume a shot, it could be something samsung has modified in their touchwiz to boost the volume, like how the Beats ranges from HTC.
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Click to collapse
Yeah true. I'll try +Volume if I can force myself to pick one back up haha! Thanks for the input anyways.
I found the ringtones and notifications quite low, but all i do is use Audacity to boost the volume of my ringtones then put them on my phone!
Problem solved
Evileddie said:
I found the ringtones and notifications quite low, but all i do is use Audacity to boost the volume of my ringtones then put them on my phone!
Problem solved
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Click to collapse
I'll check it out, thanks.
Evileddie said:
I found the ringtones and notifications quite low, but all i do is use Audacity to boost the volume of my ringtones then put them on my phone!
Problem solved
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this is the exactly scenario i meant by some audio are softer by default.

[Q] In call volume too low

Hey guys, the volume when I am talking to someone on the phone (no headset & no speaker) is way to low. Compared to my previous phone, the G2x, this is like a mouse. Is there anyway to make it louder? I just don't like to press my face against the phone to be able to listen to someone speak.
I agree and always wondered if there Was a way to fix it.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
Agreed
10char
Coming from the HTC Sensation, I'd say this phone's volume is actually pretty damn good.
If you're having issues with volume, take it back to the store and compare your phone to the display model or ask the employee to let you see their phone and make a call from that.
You may have a defective ear speaker in your phone & may qualify for an exchange.
I'd do that first
Go into settings>call and check hearing aid compatibilty. See if that helps
You can also try: http://droidtricks.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-to-boost-or-increase-earphone.html It's for the I9100, but may work (try at your own risk).

[Q] Is there a fix for low volume, even though we aren't rooted?

Any help would be great! Volume in general is low, especially headset volume! Thanks!
jreed3786 said:
Any help would be great! Volume in general is low, especially headset volume! Thanks!
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Click to collapse
I don't even think there is with root, to be honest. A custom recovery would be needed. With the T-Mobile Note 4, I just flashed a volume mod, but then my back speaker sounded like crap. Personally, I'd love to know why Samsung devices have the lowest freaking headphone output.
Without root I do not see that we can configure this at all. On my S3 and S4 rooted I was able to modify a file to increase the sound a bit.
I had also used a sound mod on each S3 and S4 and got the horrible noise distortion, so that is why I had messed with the file and made it not as big of a jump compared to the sound mod used. Then it was louder and still sounded good.
Just another reason root someday would be NICE...
On my S4 the file is located in System/Etc/snd_soc_msm/snd_soc_msm_2x_Fusion3_auxpcm
Is the volume on the Note 4 considered low? When I had my S4 I couldn't even hear it walking around in a grocery store but when I first heard the volume on the Note 4 while trying to change the ringtone, I literally jumped because it was too loud.
Don't set volume to 100% set it one click below and see if it is still low.
Has to do with safe hearing levels.

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