Develop Bugs

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..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is the exactly scenario i meant by some audio are softer by default.

CM10, PA, AOKP, AOSP sound issue workaround.

You will need these three apps
Voodoo LOUDER, speakerboost, and volume boost. All of which can be found in the play store or app store, whatever you call it. If you already brought Voodoo LOUDER like I did great! If not well you will needs it. For volume boost, there are two versions of the app, the 7 days trail version and the full paid version. Both work great but of coarse with the trail version you have 7 days of use. Spearkerboost is completely free by the way.
Step 1. Launch voodoo LOUDER, follow what the app tells you to do and once everything is set. Do the following.
Limit > Maximum Boost > +6 dB
Next got to slider set the volume to +6 dB.
Step 2. Launch volume boost go to setting and check Auto start.
Step 3. Launch speaketboost got setting > maximum allowed boost > 100% then check everything else on the settings screen.
Step 4. Play your music.
Issues:
The paid version of volume boost will seem to be low at first, simply lower the phone volume and bring it back up.
Speaketboost goes on and off sometimes.
Disclaimer: If you damage your ears, it wasn't my fault.

Is this really necessary? Is the sound that low for some of you? I didn't notice any issues for me on. AOSP or PA. Aren't you afraid you are going to blow your speaker with these extreme settings? I would be a little concerned.
I believe I experienced a little bit of an issue in Skype but I wasn't sure if it was Skype's issue. I have used some of these apps in the past but it would also boost ring tones which I am not to fond of. I currently use SpeakerBoost on a low setting and it seems to be fine for me.
Just wanted to share my thoughts.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

igorb81 said:
Is this really necessary? Is the sound that low for some of you? I didn't notice any issues for me on. AOSP or PA. Aren't you afraid you are going to blow your speaker with these extreme settings? I would be a little concerned.
I believe I experienced a little bit of an issue in Skype but I wasn't sure if it was Skype's issue. I have used some of these apps in the past but it would also boost ring tones which I am not to fond of. I currently use SpeakerBoost on a low setting and it seems to be fine for me.
Just wanted to share my thoughts.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its really about the headphones not speakers. And yes for some of us its that low.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

Indeed, I also found that the sound coming from the headset jack was too low for my tastes. Using Power Amp, there are settings (or rather a preamp) that allows for the volume to be increased but at the cost of major sound degradation. Bass becomes distorted, overall sound is blown out.
I'd be afraid that these apps might do the same? I wanted to try Voodoo sound on my last JB attempt but unfortunately the kernel wouldn't allow it.
I'm too cheap for the paid version...

while a workaround, it isnt a very good one, the sound out the headphones is very, very crappy. so crappy that i have been dealing with the low volume. you can say "is the sound out the headphone jack that big of an issue" but i didnt pay $150 for my headphones to listen to classical crap that would be best at low volumes.
thankfully i paid for power amp, which helps the issue a bit, but not much. by far the best music player for people who know how to tweak an equalizer
cant wait till its fixed, i have a pair of brand new skullcandies waiting to be used

ShinigamiH4ck3r said:
but i didnt pay $150 for my headphones to listen to classical crap that would be best at low volumes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll take your jab as a playful one...
Regardless of your taste in music, all should be able to be played at ear melting levels without degradation of quality or distortion of sound. I think about all the clubs I've DJed over the past 12 years and how some of the best systems were the ones that didn't need sheer power to sound good. Clean sound is not necessarily loud sound.
That said, it remains that there is something in the way JB is talking to the audio chip that is not allowing for power AND clean sound to come through. This is why I've stuck with ICS running Power Amp. Until this issue can be fixed, I just can't use JB.
And if I'd paid $150 for some headphones, I'd be expecting some good, clean and LOUD sound as well...

DCHFoundations said:
I'll take your jab as a playful one...
Regardless of your taste in music, all should be able to be played at ear melting levels without degradation of quality or distortion of sound. I think about all the clubs I've DJed over the past 12 years and how some of the best systems were the ones that didn't need sheer power to sound good. Clean sound is not necessarily loud sound.
That said, it remains that there is something in the way JB is talking to the audio chip that is not allowing for power AND clean sound to come through. This is why I've stuck with ICS running Power Amp. Until this issue can be fixed, I just can't use JB.
And if I'd paid $150 for some headphones, I'd be expecting some good, clean and LOUD sound as well...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol yea no offense to classical listeners, just making a point. and i would go back to ics too if jb paranoid android wasnt so awesome. and i know clean =/= loud, i just like both

Does the free version of Voodoo work for you?
Someone posted this in another forum:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9gle8ouk80mqsgf/Aosp__SGS2_VolumeFix_signed.apk
Not sure if this'll help since you're on PA.

ShinigamiH4ck3r said:
while a workaround, it isnt a very good one, the sound out the headphones is very, very crappy. so crappy that i have been dealing with the low volume. you can say "is the sound out the headphone jack that big of an issue" but i didnt pay $150 for my headphones to listen to classical crap that would be best at low volumes.
thankfully i paid for power amp, which helps the issue a bit, but not much. by far the best music player for people who know how to tweak an equalizer
cant wait till its fixed, i have a pair of brand new skullcandies waiting to be used
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With "Skullcandies" you wouldn't notice the difference between decent or crappy sound.
Just kidding...well not really, but I'm not a basshead myself, but to each their own.

Originally Posted by ShinigamiH4ck3r<br />
while a workaround, it isnt a very good one, the sound out the headphones is very, very crappy. so crappy that i have been dealing with the low volume. you can say "is the sound out the headphone jack that big of an issue" but i didnt pay $150 for my headphones to listen to classical crap that would be best at low volumes.<br />
<br />
thankfully i paid for power amp, which helps the issue a bit, but not much. by far the best music player for people who know how to tweak an equalizer<br />
<br />
cant wait till its fixed, i have a pair of brand new skullcandies waiting to be used
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
<br />
<br />
With "Skullcandies" you wouldn't notice the difference between decent or crappy sound. <br />
<br />
Just kidding...well not really, but I'm not a basshead myself, but to each their own.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got shchinder or what ever that company is lol
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

I had no sound issues whatsoever in CM10, AOKP, AOSP :screwy:
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2.4 / http://supportmymoto.com

I cannot get voodoo louder to work on cm9 beta1. I know I just need a build.prop hack to revert the device is to what we originally had. But not sure what else that will break.
sent from my BAD A$$ Epic touch

I love JB, but the headphone soundiissue is killing me! I'll stick with JB until Saturday night, going back to ics without jb fix. I hate/stoped listening to music in my car due topoor sound : (

Omar04 said:
I had no sound issues whatsoever in CM10, AOKP, AOSP :screwy:
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2.4 / http://supportmymoto.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using the headphone jack to listen to music? I've tried it on 3 different music players, apollo, google music and double twist. They are all quiet. I can usually have my radio on 30 and its plenty loud but now I've got to turn it up to 40 (maxed out on my radio) and it still isn't loud enough. It doesn't help I have a loud car to begin with, borderline race car.

why not try ac!d audio technology .zip? works better than beats audio.. it actually has beats audio, sony xloud and other engines incorporated and sounds clean
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
edit: link
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1888366

I'm willing to try anything. Listening to the radio is killing me.

hayabusa03rx said:
I'm willing to try anything. Listening to the radio is killing me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
acid audio worked/works for me
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

It worked, its not as loud as before but it gets the job done. I'm happy.

Yea the sound on JB kills me i had to go back to 2.3 its sooo much louder
Epic.

iUseJuGGZz said:
Yea the sound on JB kills me i had to go back to 2.3 its sooo much louder
Epic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im on aokp jb.. sounds perfect.. not sure if its the rom or acid audio because i flashed it right after the rom..
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

Sound volume is too low!!!!

Cant use this phone to listen to music the sound is extremely low. Looked online for hours for a solution but it seems its designed this way. It is absolutely gross. I carry my old phone with me. Do not buy this phone if listening to music is somewhat important to you. I would totally return it if i didnt lose my box and hapily pay $35 restocking fee. If you know a solution to this obviously let me know. Thnx

anobi98 said:
Cant use this phone to listen to music the sound is extremely low. Looked online for hours for a solution but it seems its designed this way. It is absolutely gross. I carry my old phone with me. Do not buy this phone if listening to music is somewhat important to you. I would totally return it if i didnt lose my box and hapily pay $35 restocking fee. If you know a solution to this obviously let me know. Thnx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alter sound levels on mediatec chips
*#*#3646633#*#*

markjaxx3 said:
Alter sound levels on mediatec chips
*#*#3646633#*#*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey i am not sure what you mean by that
Can explain ? thanks

markjaxx3 said:
Alter sound levels on mediatec chips
*#*#3646633#*#*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange, tried this several times but it does nothing at all. Right back at the dialer again...

^ As said, tried the very same code on 2 different XA1 Ultra, not working. Even tried several apps which access the service menu, either crashes or says not supported.
Could this be because both devices are having unlocked bootloaders and rooted with custom recovery??

I hope that this will be resolved on updates, because I like this phone, and I'm thinking about buying it, but I need ring tones to be strong so I can hear well calls and notifications

Got my XA1 Ultra yesterday. The volume is very loud for me, not problems at all.

flipp0 said:
Got my XA1 Ultra yesterday. The volume is very loud for me, not problems at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess it varies from device to device. I would not say the volume is low, but it could be more...

OP talking about headphone volume I assume? Max volume on mine (G3223) is fine and very clean sounding to me at max, although I'm no audiophile.. I guess I wouldn't mind just one more notch because I do like my music pretty loud, mostly been listening with Sony in-ear headphones (MDR-XB50AP), also tested a bit with my Sennheiser HD558s and they are very loud at max but I only tested in a quiet spot indoors, the Sony in-ears are my usual daily mobile headphones, also have an older pair of on-ear Sony (MDR-ZX100) which I tested briefly and they are noticeably quieter but they are pretty low end on-ear headphones so not surprising.