Develop Bugs

[Q] Audio Quality

Was wondering everyone's opinion on how good the Note II is when listening to music? Does this have the same audio chip as the International version? Thanks.

As far as I know, the hardware is virtually identical to the international version, with the "customization" from AT&T being the major difference. I found the external speakers to play very well for mids and highs, but lacked any sort of bass.
As for the headphone input, it sounds great, as expected, when paired together with decent headphones. I havent really seen any noticable difference between any phone or Ipod that I have used concerning the headphone jack quality.... So I'm not entirely sure if its even a valid point to be asking about or bringing up.
Regardless, you won't claw your ears out when playing music through your phone.

Thanks for the response, this is a huge aspect of the phone for me since I use my phone to listen to music. Will there be any Voodoo sound mods/app for this phone? Was just wondering.

There is quite a bit of customization in the stock music player. I have able to produce some pretty good sound with a set of $20 Koss earbuds and playing with these settings.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium

I have my Astro A40's hooked up to my Note II here at work and they sound great. I am using the Google Play option so I uploaded my iTunes library to the Google servers and just stream the content. Overall can't complain about the quality.

As far as I've been able to tell, it sounds the same as the international n7100. Actually, it's a bit louder (in volume.)

Awesome, thanks for the info guys definitely going to get this phone now!

NumairRana said:
Awesome, thanks for the info guys definitely going to get this phone now!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One of the main reasons i was hesitant to switch from an IPHONe was for the audio quality, Honestly i think note 2 has beter sound quality than the ipod, im hearing the vocals much better, it sounds so much nicer on this, Also the external sound is RETARDEDLY Loud once you put loud booster mod, and just change the equalizer a bit, especialy turning up clarity to the max.

Problems with audio playback
Whenever I lock the screen with the audio playing and the headphone jack inserted, I get stuttery playback. The audio breaks in between. Does anybody have the same problem? Can anyone think of a solution? I tried turning off all the motion features to check if sensors being on caused it, but that was not the case. It looks like some kind of buffering problem when screen is locked or turned off. Any help would be appreciated.

[Q] Galaxy Note 2 Sound problem

Hi,
Nice place you got there. Into my story; I had an iPhone 4s over one year but switched to Note 2 once it came out as I wanted more freedom and the Android interested me as I would like to call my self a computer tech.
The issue is, from day one the sound was very low, even when full or increased in call. I rooted the phone and increased the volume even more. The thing is, its not clear enough. No matter on what level I put the sound on its not as clear as on my iPhone. At first I asked around to see if my phone has defects but many people across the web complain about the same thing.
Now I would like to have you opinion about this and if anything can be done about it.
Thank you for reading my first post and it will defiantly wont be my last as I have other questions and all.
-Adam

Sound quality on the note is very similar to iPhone hardware wise. Android has some bugs in terms of sound drivers and a hiss problem.
What you can do to improve the sound quality and allow you to play around with some of the dac options is:
1. Install perseus kernel
2. Purchase neutron player from the market.
3. Install headphones amp for free from the market
The kernel will allow low level access to the Wolfson dac and come with some tweaking options in stwaeks (installed with the kernel)
Neutron has it's own sound system and will avoid the android bugs in that terms. It has many options and you should explore and fiddle with it for a while.
The headphones amp app is a good company for the kernel as it hacks the volume button and allows for dac amplification instead of digitally increasing the volume, thus get a better sound.
With good headphones you should get very good results.
Good luck.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

Thank you for your reply.
So from what I understand is that if I install perseus kernel, the sound should get better. Will looking into it.
My main problem is getting a good sound through the phone's speaker at the moment as I don't use headphones much.

HMM low sound ? probably u have defect note 2
my N2 sounds great without any problem

Hiss on earphones with low volume

I got my note 4 dev edition on Tuesday. I like to listen to podcast via pocketcasts and music through amazon prime music app, pandora and spotify. I notice at low levels there is an annoying hiss/ white noise that constantly is audible. I use these same apps on my iphone 6 plus and have never experienced this. I usually use yurbuds that direct the sound directly into the ears but it occurs with my old samsung earphones as well. (Verizon to cheap to allow them to include the earphones).
Is anyone else experiencing this? I tried to go into the play music app and use the equalizer but this had little affect. Is is an issue in 4.4.4 or could I have a bad phone or bad DAC??

I get the same problem as well with a Canadian Note 4 (N910W8). It's very annoying trying to listen to audiobooks or podcasts. Did not have this problem with the same audiobooks on Nexus 4. It seems like the hissing / static does not get louder by raising the volume so it's always present if volume is not muted and is very noticeable with spoken voice. Tried several players and it happens with all so it's not just Samsung Music with SoundAlive. I hope this is something that can be eventually improved and not "by design".

Are you plugged into a USB charger when you are listening?

mithusingh32 said:
Are you plugged into a USB charger when you are listening?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought that might have been the problem as well but it sounds exactly the same when plugged in or not. It sounds like hissing and a bit of crackling after spoken words or pauses between sentences, very noticeable even at only 1 volume step from muted. Probably happens to music, videos and games as well but may not be as noticeable.
I've tried stock, custom roms, volume mods and Viper4Android and tried different players that I know use different playback methods.
I don't think there's a quick fix for this problem and we'll probably all have to live with it. Here's hoping Samsung's Lollipop update brings improvements.

Weird. I dont get a hiss at all unless its plugged into a USB charger.
Might be a hardware issue.

Turns out that it's affecting all 3 of my Sennheiser headphones but not the stock headphones. Never had a problem with these headphones on any device I had within the last 7 years.
It has to do with the low impedance of my headphones and the fact that the Note does not provide enough power to drive the headphones correctly. I went and purchased a 36ohm impedance adapter on eBay (from awaudio) and it got rid of my problem! My remote control on the headphones no longer work with the adapter but the microphone does. I've also got a 14ohm adapter in the mail that I've yet to try so I cannot currently comment on using more or less than the 36ohm I've got now.
I found the idea to try this reading through long threads in the Galaxy S3 forums so this isn't a new problem to Samsung. Many people have exchanged their S3s to correct the problem to no avail. The good news is that the problem was eventually fixed in a firmware update so I guess it's possible for the Note 4 as well but I'm not holding my breath for that.
I believe that the sound may not be quite as strong with the adapter but the ROM I'm using has the sound boost mod and is more than loud enough so I cannot complain. There may not be an easy way to fix this on a Verizon device if you need the volume as loud as with the stock headphones.
Night and day difference when listening to audiobooks or podcasts with low impedance headphones.

Power might be the issue, but I know a lot of others dealt with this and replacing ended up working. I think on the n2 the headphone Jacks were a bit loose but don't remember

Headphone Sound Quality ?

Hi guys,
I've been reading contradicting opinions on sound quality from headphones output for this device (adapter actually). How would you rate it in terms of loudness and overall sound quality? Also, do you find it inconvenient to use in any way?
Thanks,
g

gimche said:
Hi guys,
I've been reading contradicting opinions on sound quality from headphones output for this device (adapter actually). How would you rate it in terms of loudness and overall sound quality? Also, do you find it inconvenient to use in any way?
Thanks,
g
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dont believe thats contradicting opinions... i tested 3 or 4 handsfree (xiaomi noise cancellation usb-c, sony mdr nc-31 em and other cheapest) and i did a comparation with xperia (z3 and z5) and sound is more natural on xiaomi; loud is it enough (if u dont like ,u can root and increase manual the volume until u can damage ur ears)...is a very good phone about sound

Thanks 7tky. What I meant by contradicting, is that some reviewers claim that sound from wired headphones is awesome, and some claim it's crap. That's why I wanted to hear opinions from people that actually own and use this phone.

gimche said:
Thanks 7tky. What I meant by contradicting, is that some reviewers claim that sound from wired headphones is awesome, and some claim it's crap. That's why I wanted to hear opinions from people that actually own and use this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say sound from this phone is pretty damn good, and GSMarena's tests confirm that. The phone can power pretty big headphones too. It powers Sennheiser HD6XX's pretty well and those are 300ohm cans. Obviously not close to as clear as a dedicated DAP/Amp combo but still impressive that it can power such headphones to near uncomfortable volume. Also according to a review that I can't seem to find anymore, the phone outputs analag signal from the USB-C port so the dongle doesn't have a DAC and Amp in it. All it is doing is turning the USB-C port into a 3.5mm jack which probably explains the capability to power my Sennheiser's.

Yup, I looked into this myself. I had a DAC and AMP combo for my old Moto Nexus 6 (I wasn't happy with the sound quality of the jack). This phone is surprisingly nice. I ended up buying a few extra USB C headphone adapters straight from Google (the official ones for the the Pixels were $9 when I got them). I haven't needed my DAC and AMP since switching.
And from what I've seen the DAC is internal on this phone (as opposed to the Pixel 2 which needs the DAC to be in the dongle). Idk if that allows the port to send more power straight to the headphones or not. But I'm happy.
I thought I would get annoyed by the dongle, but I ended up just ordering a few of the Google ones and keeping them on my headphones.
Plus, Viper4Android works fine for me for some additional tuning of audio (I'm using AOSP ROMs though, not MIUI, not sure if it works in MIUI).
Keep in mind I just use some Klipsch earbuds (R6, X11, and AS-5i), nothing that requires a crazy amount of power to run.
Hope this helps.

Ok, I bought the phone and tested it for a while now, so thought I might share my experience here...
With global rom phone came with (unfortunately, I don't know the version), sound quality was great, but volume was low. Further, it had a weird bug - when I was listening to music and notification cut trough, volume would jump much higher. I could easily recreate the bug by playing music, then going to sound settings and touching slider for ringtone/notification volume, then back to music. Volume would jump higher every time. Some googling reviled that lots of people experienced similar volume jumping bugs.
OTA update (again, I don't know to which miui version) fixed this, but volume was still relatively low. When I say this, I'm comparing it to my previous devices. I'm not trying to fry my ears, though it's always nice to have the option as some music is simply mastered to much lower volume, especially older stuff.
Now I'm on lineage and volume bust is just what miui was missing - few notches higher. I listen modern pumped-up stuff 2 or 3 steps below max, and crank it up to max for very low volume old stuff. Perfect balance for me.
I guess tweaking the correct config file would adjust volume limit on miui. If anyone knows how to do that, please share, it would be much appreciated.
If someone's curious about it, I'm using zero audio carbo tenore earphones.

My audioquest Dragonfly usb DAC stopped working after a MIUI upgrade on my mix 2 since the summer. That is, the phone recognises the DAC but the sound quality light stays red (instead of say, indigo) to indicate no signal.. Updating to MIUI 10 made no difference. I've confirmed it works with the 2S running Android 8 opr 1.70623.032 - My Mix 2 has opr 1.70623.027 and he meeting if that's a difference or if anyone has similar issues of a USB digital audio converter not working on their Mix 2?

paul_mcbride said:
if anyone has similar issues of a USB digital audio converter not working on their Mix 2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm interested in answer to this question too. Have you tried messing with developer options? Is the problem miui related ; did someone test on linage / aosp based roms?
...anyone tried this thing?

bleached45 said:
Yup, I looked into this myself. I had a DAC and AMP combo for my old Moto Nexus 6 (I wasn't happy with the sound quality of the jack). This phone is surprisingly nice. I ended up buying a few extra USB C headphone adapters straight from Google (the official ones for the the Pixels were $9 when I got them). I haven't needed my DAC and AMP since switching.
And from what I've seen the DAC is internal on this phone (as opposed to the Pixel 2 which needs the DAC to be in the dongle). Idk if that allows the port to send more power straight to the headphones or not. But I'm happy.
I thought I would get annoyed by the dongle, but I ended up just ordering a few of the Google ones and keeping them on my headphones.
Plus, Viper4Android works fine for me for some additional tuning of audio (I'm using AOSP ROMs though, not MIUI, not sure if it works in MIUI).
Keep in mind I just use some Klipsch earbuds (R6, X11, and AS-5i), nothing that requires a crazy amount of power to run.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the google dongle more sturdy? i have a Brainwavz HM5 which have a thick cable and the flimsy cable in the dongle supplied with the mi mix 2s feels like it will break any second from the weight of the cable on my HM5.

i skipped the original adapter and buy a new adapter(it's a dac hidizs sonata hd )
and use with my earphones is 1more triple driver.
no comment for that, oh i just forgot that, 1 word - perfect :v

HELP 4 disabled boy - increase volume 4 bluetooth earphones (SM-N986N)

hi guys
I have a neighbor 12 y.o. boy that have hearing problem. he got 4 birthday present a Note 20 ultra 5g (korian).
This sweet kid really into music, but unfortunately the bluetooth headphones volume isnt good 4 him.
I checked the level that he need with another device (my home hifi), and I have to increase the phone volume by 20%./.
the device is: Device: SM-N986N (snapdragon), Android version: 10.
The family & the boy dont really care about loosing warranty, so any real solution - falshing mods\custom roms & so on - is great.
come on guys help do some good 4 that boy.
tnx

Good deed Sir
What device is he using to listen with?
Hearing destroying volume levels was a Samsung issue... not the opposite.
The Buds+ should be able to kick out an extra 20+% easy.
If his hearing loss extends below 400 hz the bass will not be sufficient otherwise they'll probably do nicely.
There are also LDAC based hi res bt headphones that can pump out much more decibels if needed.
However the last thing he needs is more hearing damage; make sure he understands he should keep it at a comfortable level. A custom set graphic equalizer can help with that by bringing up the levels were needed and add to listening pleasure/comfort/safety.
Poweramp has probably the best one available for playing Android based .wav, mp4, etc. files.
Make sure volume limiting is not enabled. Check the device's advance audio setting and play with them.

blackhawk said:
Good deed Sir
What device is he using to listen with?
Hearing destroying volume levels was a Samsung issue... not the opposite.
The Buds+ should be able to kick out an extra 20+% easy.
If his hearing loss extends below 400 hz the bass will not be sufficient otherwise they'll probably do nicely.
There are also LDAC based hi res bt headphones that can pump out much more decibels if needed.
However the last thing he needs is more hearing damage; make sure he understands he should keep it at a comfortable level. A custom set graphic equalizer can help with that by bringing up the levels were needed and add to listening pleasure/comfort/safety.
Poweramp has probably the best one available for playing Android based .wav, mp4, etc. files.
Make sure volume limiting is not enabled. Check the device's advance audio setting and play with them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi
i gave as present sennheiser momentum 3 earphones.
if it wasnt clear: he boy have bad hearing. so i dont think that samsung took it into consideration.
i already tried all the methods thats u mention - they didnkt work.
tnx

See if you can install (viper v4a) on your device
You can Increase volume levels a fair bit

rastamit said:
hi
i gave as present sennheiser momentum 3 earphones.
if it wasnt clear: he boy have bad hearing. so i dont think that samsung took it into consideration.
i already tried all the methods thats u mention - they didnkt work.
tnx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can read. The child has very acute hearing loss.
The Buds+ actually will go near the their driver's physical range limit*.
The driver will start to distort and then may even burn out.
A distorting driver isn't going to help.
Headphones (larger drivers but they have limits as well) then perhaps... check their specs.
Put head between two studio monitor speakers.
That's all I got...
*using Poweramp and most phone apks. Some online vids volumn are very low.

blackhawk said:
I can read. The child has very acute hearing loss.
The Buds+ actually will go near the their driver's physical range limit*.
The driver will start to distort and then may even burn out.
A distorting driver isn't going to help.
Headphones (larger drivers but they have limits as well) then perhaps... check their specs.
Put head between two studio monitor speakers.
That's all I got...
*using Poweramp and most phone apks. Some online vids volumn are very low.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im very happy that u can read.
it isnt buds its over ear-earphones, the drivers their r much bigger then the buds. they r the same earphones that i test with my home hi-fi .
tnx and b well

Be good if you knew how much hearing loss the child had so you could deal with hard numbers.
Are saying the devices are able to produce sufficient decibels throughout the audio spectrum for the child to hear but aren't?
Try a phone call with the bud in question; phone calls can go near the full volumn range of the device if sound level limiting is disabled.
Make sure the Buds+ firmware and Wearables software are up to date. Latest update was a week or two ago.
Try resetting network connections.

blackhawk said:
Be good if you knew how much hearing loss the child had so you could deal with hard numbers.
Are saying the devices are able to produce sufficient decibels throughout the audio spectrum for the child to hear but aren't?
Try a phone call with the bud in question; phone calls can go near the full volumn range of the device if sound level limiting is disabled.
Make sure the Buds+ firmware and Wearables software are up to date. Latest update was a week or two ago.
Try resetting network connections.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My dear friend.
1. The sennheiser momentum 3 r not buds. They r over ear phones.
2. Its obvious that u cant help me with the oroblem, but u cant hep urself preaching, mumbling with no help.
3. Im MD.
4. Good luck overcoming the urge to write the last (insignificance-) word.
Try 2 stay healthy.
Peace out.

rastamit said:
My dear friend.
1. The sennheiser momentum 3 r not buds. They r over ear phones.
2. Its obvious that u cant help me with the oroblem, but u cant hep urself preaching, mumbling with no help.
3. Im MD.
4. Good luck overcoming the urge to write the last (insignificance-) word.
Try 2 stay healthy.
Peace out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whatever. No facts supplied by you yet you want a detailed solution.
Medicine is an art not a science but that's no excuse for your reply.
If a set of studio monitors can't be heard at 2 feet away...
Cochlear Implants.
How you like me now?

Whoa, watch the disrespectful responses there, OP. I recently went 95% deaf and require like a 300% volume increase. So a 20% volume increase with over ear headphones means that they're much less deaf than me (probably around 10-30% deaf, or mild to medium hearing loss. Mine is highly severe hearing loss). Either way, if you can't modify the volume via the settings menus that were already mentioned, then you just have to upgrade to Android 11's beta or to normal Android 11 after the official release date near January. Since side loading the beta, the bluetooth volume has naturally increased by about 15-20% - which sounds like what you're looking for. But other than that, there's nothing that the poor kid can do to help him hear again (unless he's in the Northeast part of the US). He'll, unfortunately, have to get used to his hearing loss and give up on his passion for music. I specialized in audio production, so I used to PRODUCE music and listen to music for like five to six hours per day... Now, I listen to music for just one hour per week and never make music anymore. It took me around four months to adjust to my lack of hearing, but it ended up changing my lifestyle in order to help avoid the constant depression that comes along with hearing loss - especially when your life revolves around audio...
Oh, and side note, you're not supposed to use studio-esque over ear headphones with cellphones - especially not the Sennheiser brand. Sennheisers, for the most part, all naturally produce MUCH less sound when connected to a cellphone because they're not getting the extra volume boost via an amp that they were meant to receive the whole time. If you really think that his hearing issue is extremely bad, then get him some Aftershocks Aeropex bone conduction headphones - those are what I use now. Because even if you're completely deaf, you can still hear the the cochlear vibrations that they produce.

I use this. Besides being a music player it also came with a separate "Boom System FX" app that allows you to increase the volume system wide, whether using headphones, earbuds or just the phone speaker.

I know this isn't bluetooth, but this is probably the best solution you'll ever find for super loud high quality audio.
Fiio Q3 Dac/Amp -
Amazon.com: FiiO Q3 Headphone Amplifier DSD512 | 768K/32Bit AK4462DAC with THX AAA amp Technology for MobilePhone &PC with (2.5/3.5/4.4mm) Output : Electronics
Buy FiiO Q3 Headphone Amplifier DSD512 | 768K/32Bit AK4462DAC with THX AAA amp Technology for MobilePhone &PC with (2.5/3.5/4.4mm) Output: Amps - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com

Have you tried the app Volume Booster GOODEV. This is like a preamplifier that boosts and the amount can be adjusted. The phone volume can then be used. I use this and run it at 30% boost with 13% phone volume used only

rastamit said:
My dear friend.
1. The sennheiser momentum 3 r not buds. They r over ear phones.
2. Its obvious that u cant help me with the oroblem, but u cant hep urself preaching, mumbling with no help.
3. Im MD.
4. Good luck overcoming the urge to write the last (insignificance-) word.
Try 2 stay healthy.
Peace out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The guys trying to help you out and you respond back in this manner, unbelievable.

The volume controls can be adapted to allow volume outside of the parameters using a developer option and GOODEV volume booster. Go into developer options and disable Absolute Volume control.

rastamit said:
hi guys
I have a neighbor 12 y.o. boy that have hearing problem. he got 4 birthday present a Note 20 ultra 5g (korian).
This sweet kid really into music, but unfortunately the bluetooth headphones volume isnt good 4 him.
I checked the level that he need with another device (my home hifi), and I have to increase the phone volume by 20%./.
the device is: Device: SM-N986N (snapdragon), Android version: 10.
The family & the boy dont really care about loosing warranty, so any real solution - falshing mods\custom roms & so on - is great.
come on guys help do some good 4 that boy.
tnx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does he have hearing aids?
My daughter is legally deaf...
We bought few.months back new hearing aids,
Phonak naida marvel...they have bluetooth, andnit changed the world for her.

@rastamit
maybe the following app is something for you:
Poweramp Equalizer - Apps on Google Play
Poweramp Equalizer is an advanced audio processing app
play.google.com
The Dev of Poweramp has release an early access "Poweramp Equalizer" app. I use it for Spotify with Galaxy Buds. You can increase the volume easily up to 50% I guess. Actually I have it on 25% and sound is still good quality.