Develop Bugs

[Q] Low Mic volume when plugging in earbuds

During either a skype, or google hangouts call, if I plug a pair of earbuds into my Nexus 7 (2013) the internal microphone level drops significantly (around 70-80%). This makes internet calls while wearing earbuds impossible. Using the speakers everything works fine, but this leads to feedback noise.
Through a couple hours of research I heard of a similar, but different, issue occurring with Nexus 4 phones in inline headsets would be very quiet. But this issue is different, as it happens with any pair of regular earbuds and headphones.
I tested during a skype call, as soon as I plugged in my earbuds the microphone volume dropped. Once I unplugged them the microphone level went back to a normal level.
Has anyone else dealt with this problem? My brother owns a nexus 7 as well and has the EXACT same issue. Might there be any patch or fix that my googling missed? Thank you,
- TheMaskedHamburger

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?
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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

[Q] Noise on earphones (Stock ROMS)

Hello , how are you? First, sorry for my english.
I need help, and I think that you would help me. I have a G3, and I've noticed that the earphones are making a noise when a sound is emitted. I've noticed too that this happen only in Lollipop ROMS (stock based).
I've installed Kit Kat and CM12 baseds and the noise doesn't appears. I already installed via Flash Tools and TWRP, with all wipes, but the noise persists. I've noticed the noise after I've installed the app Sound booster for G3.
I dont think that is hardware, because in Kit Kat and CM12 works perfectly. The noise happens too in all sounds of system (including music, video).
I've tested with more than one earphone. And before installing the app to boost the sound, it worked perfectly.
The noise doesn't happens in speaker.
Can you help me please?

I have this little noise too, but i note that it happens only when charging. Disappears when not charging. Probably an interference. Between earphone plug and charge

It's a fairly common lollipop occurrence. It happens in other devices too...
Sent from my SHIELD Tablet using Tapatalk

I've just noticed additional noise whilst music is playing (on top of the beeps when plugging in and hiss whilst no sound is playing). This noise is best describable as unwanted distortion on sound of particular amplitude, though a quick experiment just now makes me wonder whether the hardware design is bad. (AIUI G3 audio's handled by the Snapdragon MSM8975AC SOC, unlike my old Samsung S3 LTE which had a discrete Wolfson DAC).
This problem is also VERY audible on the bundled LD "QuadBeat 2" headphones, in both ears at various points. I'll see if I can get a recording of it.
Methodology:
I loaded the "Wave" signal generator app and tested various volumes - noise is evident at particular amplitudes. I set the variables thus: a 100 Hz tone, 30 seconds duration, varying amplitudes. Finally set Wave amplitude to 0.02, turned the device volume to max and listened to try and ascertain whether this noise was being introduced by the chipset or the Android OS.
Results:
There's very noticeable 'fuzz' and unpleasant distortion in the left channel, which goes away both under and over a particular amplitude threshold -- which leaves you with an annoying band of amplitude where you will always have additional noise overlaid onto the sound.
Frustratingly, this is often in fade-outs or quiet passages of songs where you're listening most intently. It also renders the G3 useless for any kind of analytical or accurate audio output, a crying shame. My Google Fu is lacking too, because I didn't see this thread before buying mine... I wonder if installing CM12 might fix it?
Unless this is a problem with the stock kernels and the way they handle audio output, I'm becoming concerned that this handset is faulty by design and I'm going to have to swap for another make. Until it died, my old S3 had great audio capabilities, and a nice chipset to boot!
I've sent a customer service request to LG specifically about this. Here's what I wrote:
I'm experiencing significant audio problems with my new G3 handset.
When headphones are plugged in with no audio playing, I hear two beeps in the left channel. Then, a low level - but constant hissing - in the left channel, until the sound chip is initialised to play audio. The right channel makes occasional warbly, 'squeaky' noise, seemingly modulating with CPU activity.
Also, since updating at the weekend to Android 5.0 Lollipop (OTA via the LG Software Update process), I have noticed that whilst playing any audio, if I adjust the device volume to around 50%, additional noise is introduced into the signal chain (audible as a dithered 'fuzz' over the audio content).
I have tested with various pairs of professional headphones (I am a qualified sound engineer) and the problems are present throughout. I am concerned that these are significant design flaws. Please advise if a software fix is available, and whether these are known issues with this handset.
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I have found a workaround for this
I have tested 3 LG D855 and all of them have noise/static/high-freq leak from the processor out to the headphones. It might be a faulty design for the headphones amplification stage for headphones (when the headphones logo appears on the status bar). However, when using line level output (the jack appears on the status bar) the problem does not reproduce.
Therefore the workaround I've found is to trick the phone into line level output mode and then plug the headphones. To do this you need to plug in a 3.5mm jack extensor or a 2-to-1 3.5mm Y-adapter with no load, that's it, with nothing connected to it. At that moment, the phone will activate the line level output mode. Only after that you will connect the headphones, and you'll see there are no artifacts on the audio.
That being said, I'm not sure this will work with all kind of headphones as I have only tried with mines that are low-impedance ones, but on those it works perfectly. To be checked if the level of the signal in line mode is enough to drive other headphones.
In any case, it is a shame this happens with a high-end and expensive smartphone. I was hopping this will be fixed in a newer hardware revision but I got two replacements of mine and no luck. I have read somewhere this might be a flaw in Snapdragon 801, as it integrates completely the signal routings but isolates badly highfreq noise from processor stages, etc. etc. but I do not remember where I did read it unfortunately.
I hope this helps!

Bluetooth volume not very loud

I recently purchased a pair of Bluetooth headphones. They connect fine, but with the volume on max, they aren't very loud. I have used some Bluetooth headphone in the past and I had the same issues but I figured it was just those headphones. However, when I connected them to my iPad and turned it up, the were almost unbearably loud. Much louder than on my Pixel.
Anyone has that issue and been able to resolve it?
I did try disabling absolute volume but that didn't do anything.
My pixel is stock and not rooted.

I have three sets of BT headphones and all I run at volume lever 8-10. Max level would hurt my ears. Sounds like you have a hardware defect, likely the BT radio. RMA that thing.

Pkt_Lnt said:
I have three sets of BT headphones and all I run at volume lever 8-10. Max level would hurt my ears. Sounds like you have a hardware defect, likely the BT radio. RMA that thing.
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Not necessarily. I've seen a video that someone was reviewing a pair of BT headsets and the Pixel 2 XL did have a lower output than the iPhone. I wouldn't be surprised if your BT headphones would be even louder on an iPhone too. Those and mine just happened to be loud enough for us but we don't know any better because we don't connect them to an iPhone.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

I don't have that issue with my studio beats. Them things are very very loud on my pixel. I could put it to Max volume have the beats just hanging around my neck and you can hear everything perfectly that's how loud it is.

A few questions to help troubleshoot:
1. What BT headphones are these?
2. Do you have developer options enabled? If so, have you changed any BT codec settings there? If not, enable developer options and test various BT settings, based on the recommended connection for your headphones
I have a set of blueant pump airs and they are heaps loud - i can't go past 50% on my phone otherwise it'll do some serious damage.

Bluetooth volume significantly lower than other devices.

So I've been using the same bluetooth headset for several months with a variety of different audio sources. I recently bought a galaxy watch to serve as the audio source while I'm cycling. The problem is that the volume is so much lower than it is from other sources. Even running the same podcasts or music, the maximum volume is probably 30-40% lower than what I get from my phone, tablet, and my older Ticwatch. It is so low, in fact, that the Galaxy Watch will not be able to serve the main function for which I purchased it - I simply cannot hear the audio when I am at speed.
I can't seem to find any bluetooth audio control on the watch that might account for it. Is there some trick to this, or am I going to have to return it?
Phone: Pixel 2XL on Android 10
Bluetooth Headset: Aftershokz Aeropex bone conduction. (Yes I know these will not give the same volume as other, standard in-ear headsets. My problem is that I'm not getting the same volume from these on the Galaxy Watch as I do with the phone, laptop, Ticwatch S, or Zenpad tablet.