Develop Bugs

[Q] Bluetooth quality issues?

So, posting here was a last resort, but I've exhausted all my other options. I'll try to make this as concise as possible:
I just did a bluetooth/aux input retrofit for my car so I can stop using CDs for music. Aux sounds crystal clear, bluetooth with my 2nd generation iPod touch sounds crystal clear, bluetooth with my Optimus G Pro has static, crackling at certain frequencies. Doesn't sound compressed necessarily, just crackly.
What I've done:
1) Hard reset.
2) Tried both the original 4.1.2 and the new "value pack" update.
3) Actually sent my phone back to AT&T and got a refurbished one in the mail.
4) Sent my bluetooth retrofit unit back and got a new one in the mail.
5) Rooted the phone, installed freegee and twrp, and flashed the hkfriends kernel.
None of this fixed my issues. When playing the same exact song on my iPod and Android phone, the iPod wins every time.
P.S. My friend's Verizon phone (I think it's a Motorola Razr) has the same sound quality issues. Not sure of Android version, though.
Music is the absolute most important thing for me, and if I can't get this resolved I will have to switch back to Windows Phone/iPhone, despite how much I love Android. I have no knowledge or time to develop a new Rom for the G Pro and there's no telling when we'll get one that could fix my issues.
Is anyone else having these problems, or does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!

For some reason my phone decided to play music using "Phone Audio". I disabled phone audio for the device in bluetooth setting, then it connected as an AV signal, and quality improved drastically.

khenault said:
For some reason my phone decided to play music using "Phone Audio". I disabled phone audio for the device in bluetooth setting, then it connected as an AV signal, and quality improved drastically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion. Just tried it, unfortunately did not seem to make any noticeable difference for me. To clarify, the sound quality is fine for the most part, it's just at certain frequencies I hear crackling.
By the way, earlier I also edited the audio.conf file under /system/etc/bluetooth and changed the values of "SBCSources=1" and "MPEG12Sources=0" to 0 and 1 respectively, which I read should force better quality out of bluetooth. Additionally I changed the value "Master=false" to true, which I also read could improve quality. It might be my mind playing tricks on me but it does seem to sound better, however I still hear the crackling at times, so I'm definitely not where I want to be.
Highly disappointing. Any other suggestions?

Which music player are you using on your phone? And have you tried any of the equalizer apps from the market?
Sent from my LG-E980 using xda premium

I've tried both the Music app that LG includes, and Google's Play Music app, which I prefer. No difference. Have not tried any equalizers, but not quite sure what that would do aside from eliminating the frequencies that have issues through bluetooth but work fine through an aux input? I don't consider butchering the music as an acceptable solution, unfortunately.

try this, it might help
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=51930699

Does this help with volume output?
russilker said:
Thanks for the suggestion. Just tried it, unfortunately did not seem to make any noticeable difference for me. To clarify, the sound quality is fine for the most part, it's just at certain frequencies I hear crackling.
By the way, earlier I also edited the audio.conf file under /system/etc/bluetooth and changed the values of "SBCSources=1" and "MPEG12Sources=0" to 0 and 1 respectively, which I read should force better quality out of bluetooth. Additionally I changed the value "Master=false" to true, which I also read could improve quality. It might be my mind playing tricks on me but it does seem to sound better, however I still hear the crackling at times, so I'm definitely not where I want to be.
Highly disappointing. Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just out of curiosity - how did you find out editing the audio.conf file? I'm looking for a way to boost the output volume for my bluetooth, did a quick search and saw your post and it made me curious...
Will this change boost the output volume at all or is there a separate line or file to be edited?
Thanks for your help.

Bluetooth audio stutter/skipping

This is incredibly frustrating. I had none of these issues with bluetooth on my S8+ whatsoever.
So one annoying thing that stood out was the bluetooth on this device. It keeps skipping and stuttering tracks whenever I play it on my Bose QuietComfort 35. It's normal on all my other wired cans but I usually use the QC35 alongside my phone during commutes.
Just to clarify, I'll list down all the "fixes" that I've tried. Obviously NONE of them fixed, or even alleviated the problem.
Cleared cache (this one just doesn't make sense imo)
Removed battery optimization on my music apps
Turned off WiFi & Bluetooth scanning
Switch Bluetooth audio codecs
Updated to 4.7.6
and PLEASE... if you DON'T have this problem, do NOT post how you DON'T HAVE THIS PROBLEM here, I'm looking for fixes, not jokes. Thank you.

I also have a QC35 and I don't have any issue but I post anyway
Joking aside I'm using 4.7.6 and my QC35's firmware is 1.3.4 and using the HBC codec.
What's your bose firmware ?
What do you use as a music player ? (I'm using the default Google Play music)
And what do you mean my "It's normal on all my other wired cans" ? Why would wired headphones have stutters ?

raptor2003 said:
I also have a QC35 and I don't have any issue but I post anyway
Joking aside I'm using 4.7.6 and my QC35's firmware is 1.3.4 and using the HBC codec.
What's your bose firmware ?
What do you use as a music player ? (I'm using the default Google Play music)
And what do you mean my "It's normal on all my other wired cans" ? Why would wired headphones have stutters ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything's the same as you except I use PowerAmp as my music player and SoundCloud for streaming (both stutters/skips as well). I stated that I didn't have this problem on my wired headphones just to clarify.
I notice the problem most when I'm commuting and I have mobile data turned on. It went even more haywire when I downloaded something on Google Drive. Hopefully it gets addressed with Android Oreo and the official Bluetooth audio codecs being implemented.

Oh bad me I read the you said it was normal to have stutters while being red... Night too short.
I'll trying PowerAmp to see how it goes.

raptor2003 said:
Oh bad me I read the you said it was normal to have stutters while being red... Night too short.
I'll trying PowerAmp to see how it goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it has something to do more with the connections. It goes even bonkers when I'm moving around rather than laying in one place.

EpsilonT51b said:
This is incredibly frustrating. I had none of these issues with bluetooth on my S8+ whatsoever.
So one annoying thing that stood out was the bluetooth on this device. It keeps skipping and stuttering tracks whenever I play it on my Bose QuietComfort 35. It's normal on all my other wired cans but I usually use the QC35 alongside my phone during commutes.
Just to clarify, I'll list down all the "fixes" that I've tried. Obviously NONE of them fixed, or even alleviated the problem.
Cleared cache (this one just doesn't make sense imo)
Removed battery optimization on my music apps
Turned off WiFi & Bluetooth scanning
Switch Bluetooth audio codecs
Updated to 4.7.6
and PLEASE... if you DON'T have this problem, do NOT post how you DON'T HAVE THIS PROBLEM here, I'm looking for fixes, not jokes. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I saw somewhere it's an issue with aptx HD, try to force Bluetooth codec in advanced settings to aptx or sbc.

vkass said:
I think I saw somewhere it's an issue with aptx HD, try to force Bluetooth codec in advanced settings to aptx or sbc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just said that switching Bluetooth codecs didn't work.

I'm having Bluetooth quality issues as well, particularly crackling and skipping. I noticed that if I download a file while streaming the quality will drop dramatically and the audio stream will crackle like crazy. I have tried all three codecs in nougat to no avail.
Should I upgrade to Oreo to get this sorted? Do custom kernels cause issues with the quality?
Thanks.
OnePlus 5t, theOne 7.1.1 (stock basically), viper4arise and Dolby

Update: when into EX Kernel Manager (specifically under the misc I/O settings), and change the I/O from ZEN to FIOPS. Not once has the music stuttered since, though I have only tested on SBC. If I get more results I'll bring them in.
Please note - I am on blu_spark, and I honestly do think it may have been the cause of the bluetooth skips/scratchiness. I turned off Dolby Atmos and Viper just to be sure.

Latest Oreo Beta build. Stream bluetooth, Pandora, iHeart and talk on the hands free no problems here. Lexus CT200h vehicle.
Would really check your cars manufacturer website. Most have a section where you can download latest firmware to a USB and flash your car to ensure you have the latest bluetooth firmware.
Working flawlessly on my car.

Anyone have any experience with the Oreo update?
Since updating to 4.7.6, I've experienced the following issues:
despite being connected to a bluetooth device, sound still comes out of phone speakers
static/distortion for a few minutes when initially connected to my car (2017 Chevy SS)
Upon connecting to car bluetooth, randomly the phone will call my phone number
I can usually fix these issues by either going into airplane mode for a minute or two or rebooting. Sometimes, I have to do this multiple times.
I've cleared cache but made no difference and I don't want to have to factory reset after every single update. Is it possible to flash factory images without nuking your data? You can do this with Google's Nexus/Pixel factory images.

I've got a different problem with 8.1 and BT audio. After upgrading to android 8.1, suddenly my car audio system doesn't receive songs data (artist, song, album). It's just display "no title".
Does anyone encountered similar issue?

raven6679 said:
I've got a different problem with 8.1 and BT audio. After upgrading to android 8.1, suddenly my car audio system doesn't receive songs data (artist, song, album). It's just display "no title".
Does anyone encountered similar issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ugh, exact same issue. I don't suppose you're using a car with a UConnect system in it? Dodge, Jeep? All those crappy brands?
I am able to make phone calls just fine but I can't stream audio to save my f**king life. This happened right after the upgrade to 8.1 and latest update did nothing to fix this nor did it mention the issue. Has Oneplus even acknowledged the issue?

Im actually having the same exact issue, with Uconnect on a 2017 Chrysler 300s. Bluetooth skipping and sounds like crap. Have tried pretty much everything so far and no fixes

this what happen to me ...bluetooth to speaker klipsch ... sometimes got crack sound ...i mean wtf

Has anyone been able to figure this out? I'm still experiencing issues as well. OP5T and QC35.

I've been working OP support for almost 2 months via email and the cannot figure out how to fix this for be BT CALLS sound terrible,

I'm having problems with Bluetooth in a ford fiesta 2015. The phone is on 8.1.0 stock, no root. The device itself connects to the car perfectly, but fails to download the phone book, and says I loose signal when trying to make a call. The device registers that I've asked to call a certain person but nothing else happens afterwards.
I didn't have this problem on 5.0.4

Sound effects not working?

It seems that both Dolby Atmos and other sound effects on my brand new Galaxy Tab S4 are not working. Changing the settings does not make any noticeble difference. Are your sound settings functioning properly?

Goldenrooster said:
It seems that both Dolby Atmos and other sound effects on my brand new Galaxy Tab S4 are not working. Changing the settings does not make any noticeble difference. Are your sound settings functioning properly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah mines working. Not a massive difference but noticeable

The Atmos setting seems to be quite impressive to me, especially when watching video that has Dolby AC3 encoding (5.1). I was actually shocked that sounds were coming from BEHIND me at times. I am not quite sure how they are doing that in a tablet with just 4 tiny speakers in front of me.

Looks like there is a bug in the dolby atmos implementation as it suddenly stops working and you get a normal flat sound , only a restart solves this problem for some reason and makes the atmos work again , some other times
Disabling then enabling the dolby atmos solves this problem , but this problem seems to exist from day 1 i bought this tablet and it still there in the current firmware (Security patch 1 july 2019)
When dolby atmos works you can't miss it as it is as crxssi described the sound is coming from all directions EVEN FROM BEHIND YOU and it is literlly the best 3d sound i heared from any device (In my opinion) ,
It is a real waste That this bug is killing that feature and it is still present until this day , some times i need 2 reboots before it works again but keep trying it will eventually work , i really hope that they sort out this bug soon.

I think at this time developement for our obsolete (in Samsung's eyes) device has been ended... We might, if we're extremely lucky, get some updated features from the TabS6 if Samsung wants to throw the scraps our way but I wouldn't hold my breath. They can't even keep the security updates current which is against Googles own policies....
Security is a major feature in a business device and they are sadly lacking in that department, why would they rush to fix anything else when they can direct you to a shiny NEW tablet that is better in every way (but still probably has the same issue)...

Random loud screeching/white noise when bluetooth is on?

Recently, my phone's started to randomly shriek with white noise and it scares me silly. I think I've narrowed it down to when bluetooth is enabled and playing music (spotify).
Has anyone ever encountered this issue or could suggest what solutions I can try out? I've rebooted my phone and I don't want to immediately jump to a factory reset quite yet.

firstblud said:
Recently, my phone's started to randomly shriek with white noise and it scares me silly. I think I've narrowed it down to when bluetooth is enabled and playing music (spotify).
Has anyone ever encountered this issue or could suggest what solutions I can try out? I've rebooted my phone and I don't want to immediately jump to a factory reset quite yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an AT&T LG G8 running Android 10 (SW ver. G820UM20k.) I've also had this issue for some months now. However, while I have Spotify installed I am almost never using it; the noise occurs anyway.
My usage pattern when it occurs typically involves going between YouTube, Chrome, and Twitter apps, and occasionally other social media apps. Often happens when playing a video or audio in the background, but occasionally get the noise when dead silent in between apps too.
I've noted that if I stop what I'm doing when I hear it and immediately switch the audio path back to the phone (via the notification toggle,) the noise often occurs again but out of the phone speaker after a short time.
Now, I've not experienced any random noises the past couple of weeks, but haven't found a definite solution either. Searching the internet for "phone random static burst" or "phone making loud noise randomly" yields similar complaints going back the last few years, across different devices (and presumably Android versions.) Disabling/ force stopping Chrome was a more popular suggestion that came up, as well as fiddling with the Bluetooth codec in developer options. (I'd also suggest making sure all installed apps are updated, if the bug is indeed related to apps mishandling audio somehow.)
Given the range of system specs with these similar complaints, my hunch is the core issue may have to do with certain Bluetooth stack implementations just having problems in certain scenarios. FWIW I have my Bluetooth currently set to AVRCP 1.6 (Default is 1.4) and audio codec to SBC (Default is System Selection.) In months prior when I had the noise issue, these were set to default. My Bluetooth earbuds (Sony WF-1000XM3) prefer to default to AAC codec but do support SBC; I believe I haven't had the noise since forcing the system codec to be SBC only. If nothing else works, may be worth toggling that setting and hoping it fixes the noise. Good luck.

General Audio driver problems

So wanted to comment on this
First, this is the best phone I’ve ever owned, although its lacking in a couple of things i was used to (coming from a oneplus 9 that had a lot of settings compared to this one, still this is a waaaay better phone) the speed, screen size and battery life makes it all worth it
Though! I use a lot of external dacs through the usb c connector (main reason to have a big battery)
I’m finding some issues in the audio department:
Tidal mqa files are not being played if the dac doesnt have mqa decoding (normally they would play without issues in iPadOS and one ui/ oxygen os
Some dacs (specially ifi hifi link) will not play files until a mqa file is played, though any system sound will interrupt the communication with the dac, it can be fixed played any master quality track and then going back to flac/ hifi quality in tidal, YouTube doesn’t work at all with this dac.
Facebook and YouTube wont play audio sometimes,my theory is that the player goes for the oem 3.5 out instead of the dac. That could be fixed if we got an audio output selector in the notifications player, though the option is not available as the player plays as a simplified notification, so no audio selection is possible
Of course the 3.5 jack in this is quite nice but … usb c dacs are a bit better at handling hi res files and streaming and of course demanding headphones.
Sent already this to nubia. Hopefully there will be a work around, UAPP is a viable solution of course but the easiness to surf through playlists is better in the tidal app.
So anyway, anyone surfing for an answer: its in the developers hands
Just wanted to leave this in case anyone looking in the internet is looking for answers on this
No audio switch app works on android 13 (lesser audio switch, etc)
Although there’s work around for using the external dacs, it comes as a surprise the first times. Though the phone is a beast and i truly love the battery life and extended display, a couple of tweaks and this would be the best phone out there

Kinda figure it out. The DTS ultra app was the culprit, even if it showed the toggle off, it was turning on (and screwing the sound for me) , just disabled the "auto start" or link button on the app preferences. all audio is being processed by the external dac. At least YouTube and fb are working flawlessly so far
Update: Some dacs are still having issues with the mqa decoder, but the general audio is coming out of the usb c port at least.

Alextakatu said:
Kinda figure it out. The DTS ultra app was the culprit, even if it showed the toggle off, it was turning on (and screwing the sound for me) , just disabled the "auto start" or link button on the app preferences. all audio is being processed by the external dac. At least YouTube and fb are working flawlessly so far
Update: Some dacs are still having issues with the mqa decoder, but the general audio is coming out of the usb c port at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which version of redmagic OS are you on? DTS ultra doesnt work for me

edzchen said:
Which version of redmagic OS are you on? DTS ultra doesnt work for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4.12 eu

Alextakatu said:
4.12 eu
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you mind sending your DTS ultra app APK? It doesn't appear as an app for me and I cannot launch it, thanks!

edzchen said:
Would you mind sending your DTS ultra app APK? It doesn't appear as an app for me and I cannot launch it, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dm

Hi there. I had the same problem. But I was able to access my DTS Ultra app. It doesn't appear in my app drawer but I found the audio effects app for DTS Ultra using Activitylauncher from play store.
I could be wrong but I also noticed there is no way to EQ the speakers on the phone. The DTS Ultra app only shows up for headphones and gives the "Disconnect External Devices" error on speakers. I find the speakers to be good quality but slightly lacking in tuning, is there any way to perhaps tune them through 3rd party means? Thanks for the help.

psycho.b94 said:
Hi there. I had the same problem. But I was able to access my DTS Ultra app. It doesn't appear in my app drawer but I found the audio effects app for DTS Ultra using Activitylauncher from play store.
I could be wrong but I also noticed there is no way to EQ the speakers on the phone. The DTS Ultra app only shows up for headphones and gives the "Disconnect External Devices" error on speakers. I find the speakers to be good quality but slightly lacking in tuning, is there any way to perhaps tune them through 3rd party means? Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe with power amp eq app?