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Sound distortion playing music with some headphones

I have found some strange behaviour that i'm hoping someone else can test out on their Galaxy S.
I have found that some headphones seem to work fine with the phone for music playing but others result in the sound being distorted with the vocals being very faint as if the left and right channel are cancelling each other out (with vocals generally being on left and right channel).
The packaged Samsung headphones appear to work properly although the quality seems average. I tried my iPhone headphones but these resulted in the strange sound distortion described above. I also tried a pair of cheap Sennheiser which were a free give away with a purchase from Richer Sounds and they worked well. Another pair of no-name cheap headphones exhibited the same distortion problems as the iPhone headphones.
Oddly, the FM radio sounded ok with all the headphones, it's just the music player that has the problem. I have also tried a couple of other music apps including the doubletwist player to rule out the software.
I'm considering taking it back to the shop to swap for a replacement. I'd be grateful if anyone could try out some headphones (particularly iPhone ones) on their Galaxy S and report their results to see if this is just a quirk with my phone or the Galaxy S in general.
Many Thanks

I just need some clarification because I know that a headset, and not headphones, is delivered with the Iphone. If it was a headset then I might suspect that different Iphones use different polarity as opposed to Samsung. Try out the Samsung headset on the Iphone.
EDIT:
Obviously not the problem. I must have skipped over the radio experience.
I can't post a link to it, but I remembered that GSMArena did a thorough review of the SGS. If you find your way to it, go to page 6 and see the sound chart at the bottom. SGS is superior in sound to iPhone. Perhaps the iPhone headset/headphones and the cheap ones are not sufficient for the SGS? I'm guessing

I had a similar experience when I tried to use the Samsung Spica headset on my HTC Hero. It seems that it might be a difference in polarity as suggested above.
Does all the headsets that give distorted sounds have a microphone on them? (E.g. not headphones)

the iPhone's headphones have extremely high distortion regardless of the media using to play them. The SGS is probably just overpowering them because they are very loud headphones as well/easily powered.

No it's nothing to do with them being overpowered.
I have an expensive pair of etymotic in ear headphones that are exhibiting the very same problem. Strangely I found a fix. They have a microphone on them and pressing in the answer button on them seems to fix the problem. I have taped the button down now and everything works perfectly. The second that button is released though, everything goes back to being faint, muffled and distorted.
Odd!
PS. This isn't just with the music player. I noticed it first watching a video.

It sounds like Samsung has their own way of producing the 3.5mm port with regards to the microphone support.
The Samsung headset distorts music on my HTC Hero.
The HTC headset distorts music on my gfs Galaxy Spica

To be clear, are you saying the problem only affects headsets with microphones? I have etymotic er4p headphones and it would be a deal breaker if they didn't work right with this phone.

If its only showing up in the media player, check that you havent enabled the 5.1 button in the the top right of the player. This can really screw with the sound and entire frequency ranges can be lost. I'm guessing this is whats happening.
The default headphones work fine for me if a little tinny, but with my Senheissers, the results are very pleasing. Apart from a slight gap between tracks that should seemlessly play through, I prefer using it to my iPod Touch. Being able to change tracks and volume without unlocking is a nice feature.
I threw my iPod headphones out years ago, they're the most ridiculous design ever, with the cable tapping the inside sleeve all the time when you walk or run.

k2snowboards88 said:
To be clear, are you saying the problem only affects headsets with microphones? I have etymotic er4p headphones and it would be a deal breaker if they didn't work right with this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sounds like that the problem is with headsets with microphones, yes. Not sure if it happens with all 3rd party headsets w/ mic though.
Considering you have etymotic, and ClownShoes a few posts up have problems with this brand, I guess you're out of luck unless you wanna tape the answering button like he did.

The er4p is just headphones, so it sounds like i'm in luck.

Got my GS a few days ago and im having exactly the same problem with the Etymotic hf2 Headset with mic. So yeah it looks like it the mic that causes the problems.

sim87 said:
Got my GS a few days ago and im having exactly the same problem with the Etymotic hf2 Headset with mic. So yeah it looks like it the mic that causes the problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a little bit crude, but taping the button down does work.

I have the same issue with with Monster Studios even with the cable without the integrated mic. Would be great to have some sort of fix.

Headphone issues
Just thought I would post what I knew about the issue, both me and my dad purchased the same pair of headphones to use on mp3 players (the headphones are ultimate ears metro fi 220 vi's if I remember correctly, these have an in-line microphone as well as a single button for answering calls and to control music playback). Whilst I experienced no distortion when using them on my iPod Classic, my Dad's Creative player would produce the issues described above - he found that either taping the button down or slightly pulling the headphones out would solve the issue however it ended up annoying him so much that he went back to using another set of headphones.
I don't know what causes the issue but I just thought I would let people know

i have some sennsihaur sport headphones which work fine no problems. i also a monster fm transmitter in the car.. again no problesm.. just make sure the volume is not on max but 1 setting below max.

Hmmmm, a few problems here. Obviously the standard Samsung headphones are fine, no humming, no background noise. However if I connect the following:
1. Standard Apple iPhone (with mic) loads of background noise, humming etc
2. Shure (no mic) loads of background noise, humming etc
3. B&O (no mic) loads of background noise, humming etc
4. Shure (with mic adaptor) loads of background noise, humming etc greatly reduced by pressing the mute key.
Using the Shure adaptor with the others resulting in the same as 4.
Needless to say I'm not happy!

That's too bad. Not being able to use my Shure with the phone renders it useless for music and that IS important.

In the SERVICE MODE *#*#197328640#*#* there is an audio menu
there you can change the headset settings too like NR noise reducion.
i did not test and changed the settings but when i had the samsung omnia2 last year
i had some problems with my headset and fix it in in the sevice menu.
when you gonne do some tests write down the orginal settings before you try.
hope this will help some of you..... and post the results

im sure its the jack, cos the galaxy s has a 4pole trrs at left/right/mic/ground
iphone compatible headset have a 4pole trrs at left/right/ground/mic
thats why pressing the mic button clears up the sound as it closes the circuit
so it a matter of finding an adaptor that switches the mic and ground terminals
I have a tf10vi and im trying to diy one
will post the results

Just saw the post and thought I would check mine again, not that I noticed anything....anyway tried few songs and different types and all are sounding amazing, I use Sure 530 so music needs to be no lower than 256 to get the best out of the phones, most of my music tracks are 320bit.

Sound Quality

Anyone having issues with sound quality on their focus. Everytime a sound is played a pronounced hiss and distortion comes through my headphones. When listening to podcasts this hiss is very apparent. I wanted this phone to replace my ipod touch, which does not have this issue. Feedback please, thanks.

I do not have feedback or hiss in any music or app so far. My headset works well too. Not sure but something is up. Have you tried a hard reset and a new set of headphones?
I do notice low overall volume out of the stereo port though...compared to the Tilt 2 my car stereo needs to be turned up about 25% louder to be equivalent.

i think the sound is amazing, especially the external speakers.
As for headphones, have you put the headphones all the way in? It could be that or either worn-out wiring on the headphone cable.

My complaint about the sound is the alarm. When u test a sound for alarm is its very loud. When u set an alarm to go off it seems 1/2 as loud.

Ok, I have done a hard reset and tried with several headphones. The pronounced hiss is still there with some crackling when I change a song. My best guess is the audio output is not working properly. I did test the headphones on my ipod touch with no distortion coming through. Will be taking a trip to the att store for an exchange. While there I will test the floor model to confirm a problem with my device. I hope they are in stock because I took the last one two days ago. I love the phone and with clean audio output I will love it even more.

pancake04 said:
Ok, I have done a hard reset and tried with several headphones. The pronounced hiss is still there with some crackling when I change a song. My best guess is the audio output is not working properly. I did test the headphones on my ipod touch with no distortion coming through. Will be taking a trip to the att store for an exchange. While there I will test the floor model to confirm a problem with my device. I hope they are in stock because I took the last one two days ago. I love the phone and with clean audio output I will love it even more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what became of the at&t store test?

I've had my Focus now for 10 days and I am completely satisfied with it. I have never had any sounds like you describe. Just clean, clear and much better reception than I had on my 2+ year old Fuze that I dearly loved. It was hard to switch to Samsung for me, but I think I made the right choice. So far I really like my Focus and the display is nothing short of fantastic!

I'm having a similiar hissing issue with my Focus as there seems to be a noticeable hiss at low volumes. The sound quality does not appear to be as good as my iPhone 3GS or Zune 80GB.
I'm still within my return window so I'm debating returning the phone and exchanging it for a new Focus.

is there any update on this? i'm really cutting it close to my 30 day warranty period, and i'm not sure if i should return the phone or not.
my issue is that when playing music in zune, you can hear a very faint hiss. if you pause the music, you can hear it for a half second before it stops outputting audio.

uwbadgers16 said:
is there any update on this? i'm really cutting it close to my 30 day warranty period, and i'm not sure if i should return the phone or not.
my issue is that when playing music in zune, you can hear a very faint hiss. if you pause the music, you can hear it for a half second before it stops outputting audio.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try switching it for a new one while you're still in your window.

Make the switch... before the deadline. No harm no foul and really it is a legitimate complaint.

Strange static noise

I have noticed that when using the supplied earphones I can hear static background noise when I scroll through menus and buttons while music is playing. This only happens when music is activated and I can hear a low annoying fuzzy static that gets louder the more I scroll for example.
I can barely hear it when I put on headphones but can with earphones, seems quite strange wonder if anyone else experiences the same thing?

No one? Just try it, turn the volume down while listening to music then go to home screen and scroll left constantly or right and the hissing noise will get louder.
Audio chip or whatever must be quite crappy.

Restarted phone and can't seem to hear it now. Strange.

I'm glad that by talking to your self you've managed to fix this problem.

I spoke to myself to soon! Its back and I suspect it has something to do with the wifi sharing. As I activated kies air, uploaded a song, listened to song and hissing is back! argh.

jonkrav said:
I spoke to myself to soon! Its back and I suspect it has something to do with the wifi sharing. As I activated kies air, uploaded a song, listened to song and hissing is back! argh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try force stopping it? I've frozen most Samsung apps but even before then I had no problems at all with something like this tbh...although I don't use the stock music player.

I have annoying static background noise while using earphones, it can be better heard whilr using the phone when no music is playing.
This is a general issue or isolated cause?

I have this!!! I seem to get possibly some kind of audible distortion just before i play a song, and then when i pause the song and touch the screen it makes the weird static noise (and possibly when the song is playing as well, but its less identifiable). For me this noise only lasts for about 5 seconds after i have paused it and then stops. And yes, it also seems to be louder in earphones than headphones.
HAVE YOU FOUND A FIX? Firmware upgrades? Sent it back and got a replacement? what did you guys do? Let me know, thanks.

Could it be evp?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

I installed the Backslash Kernel and THEN noticed this, rebooted and it went.
It came back a while after. I also unplugged the headphones with the music app running and the phone rebooted.
Re-flashed the CF-Root KG1 Kernel and it went away, not had any 'noise' or reboots since :/

I got a replacement from orange as this issue was too distracting. My replacement has just come, but exactly the same 'static noise while and after listening to music' issue is still here!!! Is this really what its like for everyone but people don't bother saying?
PDA: I9100BVKE2
PHONE: I9100BVKE2
CSC: I9100ORAKE2
BUILD INFO : Wed May 11 22:56:39
KERNAL VERSION: [email protected] #2
On my last phone i tried flashing to generic KE7 AND KF3 (using odin). Both seemed to make the sound last for not as long after i pause the music, but did not solve the issue. Will rooting the phone, using different kernals and whatnot fix this? Could it be a dodgy batch of phones from orange? (I have no knowledge of what rooting and kernals actually is, let alone what ones i should use)

I have also experienced this. It seems the screen is the problem since the noise is gone when the screen is off.
What headphones are you using?

I have used the supplied headphones, but i have also tried other headphones as well. All seem to give the same sound but possibly at varying levels of volume. Do you still have the problem?

I use the Sennheiser CX300 II and I do not experience it any longer.
It depends on the impedance of the headphones. If the impedance is 16 ohm I cannot hear it but on 12 ohm headphones it is pretty obvious (but they are able to play louder).
I have not tried the supplied ones myself because they ALWAYS sound awful but if you had a specific name for a proper headphone you have tried, you can easily find their impedance on the internet.

Hmm well i have tried my creative EP-630 headphones which have impedance of 16 Ohm and i can still hear the noise. I have used many terrible headphones on terrible 'mp3 players' over the years and i have never experienced this, so i don't see why i should now go out and buy some new headphones. Although if you are really saying that the Sennheiser CX300 II headphones completely cured your problem then it might be worth it? Was your problem exactly the same as the one i described? Cheers.

It's obviously a problem of the audio amp picking up electrical noise from the other components of the device. I'm skeptic that anything can be done to solve it.
I also can hear some faint background noise on mine when scroling the screen and using memory, but anyway it's very faint... not enough to bother even in quiet environments.

I have to agree, it's bad shielding in the design. Something we will all have to live with.
I notice it most between songs when listening to music. Each songs starts with a little blast of noise.

Hmmm well i've heard that with certain kernals it is not there. Also for me, simply changing to different stock firmware reduced the time that the static sound lasts after i pause a song, so surely that can mean it can be stopped altogether. Im not prepared to give up on this (yet).
I would be grateful for other information and reports from other people about this issue, even simply if you don't have it. :/

...anyone?

tgg12 said:
...anyone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have this problem too...
but i have found that it does with some earphones... i guess its a matter of shielding, as posted before.

audio hiss after 4.4.2 update.

<<SOLVED>> The moto G Opamp is not very efficient. It struggles to go down to 2Ohm stable. This means average earbud type headphones rated at 16Ohms. will have hiss and other artifacts. Higher impedance headphones. 40-70Ohms have much better sq. Much above 70Ohms and I suspect the Moto G won't be powerful enough to drive them.... so, that's the sweet spot!
Hey,
Since I updated to kitkta4.4.2 I notice there is a significant background hiss listening with headphones.
As soon as you use an app that activates the audio jack the hiss kicks in, it is constant, not volume dependent. If you turn the volume down to zero, but the app keeps the sound output active the hiss remains.
when the app is closed, the hiss abruptly stops (presumably when the sound API deactivates the inbuilt opamp to save battery)
I'm about 90% sure this wasn't present under 4.3 or was far less noticeable.
I'm not being picky either, this is bad enough that it would make using the phone as a walkman at a low or moderate volume unpleasant. From experience I'd estimate the hiss at approx -20dB.. this is similar to the hiss you would hear from your average desktop PC fan at idle under your desk..
can anyone test this too, on 4.3 and 4.4.2?
Oh, and use earbud headphones or good closed cup ones. Open phones, unless you are somewhere very quiet won't give a good idea of the hiss..
thanks

Can confirm this on 4.4.2, too bad I didn't see your post before updating, as I don't really remember how it was on 4.3 :/
You don't actually have to use earphones, it's noticeable through the speaker, too (well I'm in my room alone and I put my ear close to it). However, I wouldn't say it's very significant - when using earphones I can hear it when muted, on the 1st bar after mute; on the 2nd you can't really say if you hear it or is it your imagination; and on the 3rd bar it's unnoticeable.

I can't notice any hiss in 4.3, even if I use a headphone amp. No clicking sounds either when the opamp turns on.
Sent from my XT1032 using xda app-developers app

UnknownAX said:
I can't notice any hiss in 4.3, even if I use a headphone amp. No clicking sounds either when the opamp turns on.
Sent from my XT1032 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is what I was worried about. I didnt notice any hiss before either, and I had it connected to a car stereo so would amplify the issue (if it was there).
maybe something did change in the audio settings/drivers then. I have already tried dissablying all the dsp stuff with no luck, still the hiss and click when the opamp switches on/off.
Maybe it was there before though, and it's bad luck with the phone, rather than the OS version.

I have got UK Retail 4.4.2 and I have tried to replicate this. I have tried YouTube, Spotify Play Music and TuneIn. I do not experience a hiss!

UnknownAX said:
I can't notice any hiss in 4.3, even if I use a headphone amp. No clicking sounds either when the opamp turns on.
Sent from my XT1032 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dhilluk said:
I have got UK Retail 4.4.2 and I have tried to replicate this. I have tried YouTube, Spotify Play Music and TuneIn. I do not experience a hiss!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Under 4.3 to save battery I disabled apps I wasn't using, including the Audio Effects app, and google play. When you disable them it forces you to 'uninstall updates' which I didnt realise at the time, but I think may have been specific to the moto g, as you cannot redownload them from playstore, or update them.
Would someone be so kind as to upload the FULL apk of their google play and and Sound Effects, from their stock 4.4.2 build?
Im pretty sure this is down to the software API that activates the opamp. (as it is very distinct), it even happens when you activate audio by using the rocker to increase the ringtone volume!?!?!???
It sounds like listening to a really cheap mp3 player with a low S/N ratio...
** edit I mean 'Play Music' not 'google play'

Hi,
I actually just registered to say this was very much present on my moto g on android 4.3 and is still the same on KitKat. It definitely sounds like a cheap mp3 player. Does anyone know of a fix?
Thanks
helppme said:
Hey,
Since I updated to kitkta4.4.2 I notice there is a significant background hiss listening with headphones.
As soon as you use an app that activates the audio jack the hiss kicks in, it is constant, not volume dependent. If you turn the volume down to zero, but the app keeps the sound output active the hiss remains.
when the app is closed, the hiss abruptly stops (presumably when the sound API deactivates the inbuilt opamp to save battery)
I'm about 90% sure this wasn't present under 4.3 or was far less noticeable.
I'm not being picky either, this is bad enough that it would make using the phone as a walkman at a low or moderate volume unpleasant. From experience I'd estimate the hiss at approx -20dB.. this is similar to the hiss you would hear from your average desktop PC fan at idle under your desk..
can anyone test this too, on 4.3 and 4.4.2?
Oh, and use earbud headphones or good closed cup ones. Open phones, unless you are somewhere very quiet won't give a good idea of the hiss..
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

motg-gm said:
Hi,
I actually just registered to say this was very much present on my moto g on android 4.3 and is still the same on KitKat. It definitely sounds like a cheap mp3 player. Does anyone know of a fix?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now this is getting weird. I think I'll install the ota to see how mine behaves. The G's audio quality decent enough imo. Probably above Android smartphone average. But what I like the most is that it's 100% silent, regardless of the volume setting, headphones or the amp.
Having said that, I will still get a USB DAC solution for it, which luckily has native support on both stock ROMs.

UnknownAX said:
Now this is getting weird. I think I'll install the ota to see how mine behaves. The G's audio quality decent enough imo. Probably above Android smartphone average. But what I like the most is that it's 100% silent, regardless of the volume setting, headphones or the amp.
Having said that, I will still get a USB DAC solution for it, which luckily has native support on both stock ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there anyway to update the phone without wifi ?? ...my friend as unlimited data but no wifi and she really wants to update ?

boe323 said:
Is there anyway to update the phone without wifi ?? ...my friend as unlimited data but no wifi and she really wants to update ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see how this is on-topic, but of course, you can download the update either on Wi-Fi or mobile data.

I don't know what you mean with "hiss", but since I updated mine (today - uk), i have started to notice some "clicks" in musics, that i didn't have before.
I was using PlayerPro, turned off the equalizer, uninstalled and reinstalled it again, and it was solved.
Google music, had no issues.

RickPinto said:
I don't know what you mean with "hiss", but since I updated mine (today - uk), i have started to notice some "clicks" in musics, that i didn't have before.
I was using PlayerPro, turned off the equalizer, uninstalled and reinstalled it again, and it was solved.
Google music, had no issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
by hiss, I mean hiss. It is probably around 18KHz, and is similar tot he sound of RF interference on a stereo (alsmost like the snow screen sound on a tv).
It is not volume dependent so it is defenitely downstream from the DAC, and must be the opamp or downsteram from the opamp in the phone. It is most likely from a poor ground some where in the audio path (assuming the opamp isn't awful, anyone know the chip?). It could be due to the single board set up of the Moto G mainboard design. I'm guessing here, but if the PCB has the audio channel close to any of the ground of power channels, this would explain my hiss. If it is built to tight tollerance, this could also explain why some people have it, others don't.
In laymans terms, I'm saying the audio signal is 'dirty. If anyone has every used a PC with crappy audio on the motherboard, they will know exactly what this problem is like. When no program is using the audio driver, the board puts the audio to 'sleep', when you open a program that uses that audio driver, the audio wakes up and you get some hiss, noise through the audio and pc speakers. This is exactly what I experience with my moto G.
if im honest, it's unlistenable, however I'm a bit of an audiophile so I can appreciate for most people they won't see it as a problem..

helppme said:
if im honest, it's unlistenable, however I'm a bit of an audiophile so I can appreciate for most people they won't see it as a problem..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found 4.3 to already be noisy with the hiss when using my earphones, which have a low attenuation and so even low volumes sound loud on them. To get around this problem I bought an attenuator which connects between the phone and the earphones. Then I set the phone audio to maximum, and reduced the volume using the attenuator. Setting the phone audio to loud means the hiss volume is low compared to the volume of the sound coming out of the phone.
This is the attenuator I use:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008EWP07E

RickPinto said:
I don't know what you mean with "hiss", but since I updated mine (today - uk), i have started to notice some "clicks" in musics, that i didn't have before.
I was using PlayerPro, turned off the equalizer, uninstalled and reinstalled it again, and it was solved.
Google music, had no issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
superusr said:
I found 4.3 to already be noisy with the hiss when using my earphones, which have a low attenuation and so even low volumes sound loud on them. To get around this problem I bought an attenuator which connects between the phone and the earphones. Then I set the phone audio to maximum, and reduced the volume using the attenuator. Setting the phone audio to loud means the hiss volume is low compared to the volume of the sound coming out of the phone.
This is the attenuator I use:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008EWP07E
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is a possibility, but its not ideal... sadly this is looking like a hardware issue not a software one though as if it was software, I'd expect it to be upstream of the opamp. The fact your attenuator solution works, is more evidence this is a downstream issue . (as implification induced noise increases with the square of the volume (assuming a logarithmic volume scale))

I'm on 4.4. I notice a slight hiss when music is coming out of the phones speaker, though its completely undetectable if the phone is at around half volume. No hiss when coming through headphones.
Sent from my XT1034 using xda app-developers app

Ravinxx said:
I'm on 4.4. I notice a slight hiss when music is coming out of the phones speaker, though its completely undetectable if the phone is at around half volume. No hiss when coming through headphones.
Sent from my XT1034 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please can you test something, with some sensitive in ear headphones (or in a quiet room if they are normal headphones.)
>Connect headphones to phone
>Make sure ALL apps are closed.
>turn the phones ring volume to zero
>you should hear silence.(regardless of what headphone volume is)
>On the home screen, Press the Up volume rocker 3 times quite quickly.
>On my phone, the headphones go from silent to Hiss, then I hear the 'Beep'.....'Beep' of the volume increase on top of the hiss. Wait 2 seconds after the second beep and you hear the Hiss abruptly stop, and you are back to silent.
I have this problem with all audio activity on the phone, but the ringtone volume trick is the easiest way to demonstrate it.

helppme said:
Please can you test something, with some sensitive in ear headphones (or in a quiet room if they are normal headphones.)
>Connect headphones to phone
>Make sure ALL apps are closed.
>turn the phones ring volume to zero
>you should hear silence.(regardless of what headphone volume is)
>On the home screen, Press the Up volume rocker 3 times quite quickly.
>On my phone, the headphones go from silent to Hiss, then I hear the 'Beep'.....'Beep' of the volume increase on top of the hiss. Wait 2 seconds after the second beep and you hear the Hiss abruptly stop, and you are back to silent.
I have this problem with all audio activity on the phone, but the ringtone volume trick is the easiest way to demonstrate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or even easier, just press the volume down or up button once in any direction with headphones plugged in. Regardless of what it was set to and becomes set to, you will hear a faint background hum/hiss be emitted through the headphones for a second. This is fairly normal on any phone and even most audio devices. I don't know what you expect really in a smart phone that costs £129 in the UK. It is a compact environment to build so much electronics into and will never be a hifi device.
I tested with 3 phones on my desk right now and they all have a hiss when you first do something to make audio come through the headphones like quickly play and then pause a track. In fact, one phone (Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus) has not only a hiss, but a screech/high pitched whine as well. All of these "noises" that are detectable, become undetectable when volume of anything is turned up past the first or second bar anyway.

Ravinxx said:
I'm on 4.4. I notice a slight hiss when music is coming out of the phones speaker, though its completely undetectable if the phone is at around half volume. No hiss when coming through headphones.
Sent from my XT1034 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
coursemyhorse said:
Or even easier, just press the volume down or up button once in any direction with headphones plugged in. Regardless of what it was set to and becomes set to, you will hear a faint background hum/hiss be emitted through the headphones for a second. This is fairly normal on any phone and even most audio devices. I don't know what you expect really in a smart phone that costs £129 in the UK. It is a compact environment to build so much electronics into and will never be a hifi device.
I tested with 3 phones on my desk right now and they all have a hiss when you first do something to make audio come through the headphones like quickly play and then pause a track. In fact, one phone (Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus) has not only a hiss, but a screech/high pitched whine as well. All of these "noises" that are detectable, become undetectable when volume of anything is turned up past the first or second bar anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a fair point, and I agree is not surprising given the phones price. I think the reason I have posed this question was to a) determine if it could be software related (4.3 vs 4.4.2) but It doesn't looks so. b) Is it universal, or could be a slight lottery and maybe my phone is worse than others. As some people say they definitely have no issue. (granted it could be subjective)
Also, I would say, although it is present in most devices to some degree, it is noticeably worse on this phone than any other I have had. Multiple sony erricsons, galaxy Ace, Nokias.. And my last phone Galaxy S2 had extremely clean audio production. (i compared directly with moto g).
I do concede I am an audio snob though, so don't like listening to poor quality. I never really expected to use the moto g for music, but would have been a nice to have.

helppme said:
This is a fair point, and I agree is not surprising given the phones price. I think the reason I have posed this question was to a) determine if it could be software related (4.3 vs 4.4.2) but It doesn't looks so. b) Is it universal, or could be a slight lottery and maybe my phone is worse than others. As some people say they definitely have no issue. (granted it could be subjective)
Also, I would say, although it is present in most devices to some degree, it is noticeably worse on this phone than any other I have had. Multiple sony erricsons, galaxy Ace, Nokias.. And my last phone Galaxy S2 had extremely clean audio production. (i compared directly with moto g).
I do concede I am an audio snob though, so don't like listening to poor quality. I never really expected to use the moto g for music, but would have been a nice to have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it seems to me too that you are a bit more on the audio than most people
By the way, I was wondering up to which levels can you really say that you hear the hiss? As I've said before, for me it's definite hiss when muted and 1st level, weird feeling on the 2nd and I can't hear it from the 3rd.

theArchitektas said:
Yeah, it seems to me too that you are a bit more on the audio than most people
By the way, I was wondering up to which levels (just the volume slider, no music) can you really say that you hear the hiss? As I've said before, for me it's definite hiss when muted and 1st level, weird feeling on the 2nd and I can't hear it from the 3rd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends on the music. pop music which has a lot of mids and highs, the hiss isnt noticible from notch 4 up maybe.
Quiet music, classical, R&B & hihop with a lot of bass beats but not many highs, you can hear the background his up to maybe 2 notches off max. But its acceptable from maybe half volume.
tbh it's more of a shame than an issue. I didn't expect this to replace a decent mp3 player, would just have been convenient is all.

Fundamental audio buzzing problem with a brand new LG G3...unacceptable!

Hi all,
So I recently bought a new LG G3 - after having screen problems with the Oppo Find 7 - had the Oppo fully refunded, so was on the hunt for a new phone.
Bought the LG G3 instead - great phone (apart from the stupid button placement)...but there's a fundamental flaw with it - just sharing this here, to hear if anyone else has been testing it the way I have done in the video:
(Essentially the audio has a buzzing noise to it, when using the phone - this happens when you amplify the source)
I don't find it acceptable for a 2014 flagship phone to be like this.
I'm on the fence now to root it and/or flash another ROM OR just return it for a full refund - anyone else have any experience with different ROMs (ie 5.0 ROMs)?
EDIT:
I'm returning the phone: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=57514537&postcount=12
Some test results: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=57514889&postcount=13
Cheers

That "beep beep" sound when connecting your audio jack appears to be unique to your device as I haven't seen any other G3 do that before.
Also, I stated in another thread about this issue, It only happens while the cpu is under load AND there is no audio.
Once the cpu load drops to idle the issue is gone.
Once there is audio playing the issue is gone too.
It's annoying while no audio is playing, But it's not gonna degrade your audio experience in any way what so ever when there is sound coming out of your phone.

Amb669 said:
That "beep beep" sound when connecting your audio jack appears to be unique to your device as I haven't seen any other G3 do that before.
Also, I stated in another thread about this issue, It only happens while the cpu is under load AND there is no audio.
Once the cpu load drops to idle the issue is gone.
Once there is audio playing the issue is gone too.
It's annoying while no audio is playing, But it's not gonna degrade your audio experience in any way what so ever when there is sound coming out of your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the input.
Well that's odd, I've gotten others saying the beep beep is normal, but the buzzing isn't lol.
Out of interest, do you have the same issue?
And it's also a matter of principle, rather than it also being a fundamental flaw in the design. No flagship phone should have such an issue.
Whilst music is playing it's not noticeable at the levels I play it at, but at low volumes, and whilst using the phone at the same time, I can hear the problem. I'll retest tomorrow to make sure.
Not because I'm looking it for it, but because something doesn't sound 'right'in my music.
If it's CPU causing it, then is it linked somewhat to the kernel (ramp up and down of the CPU) or is it due to the placement or 'communication' it has to do within the phone (hardware problem)?

Mine does the Beep beep thing when i plug in my phone to the sound system at my work. It's done it on every ROM i have tried. The hissing, i haven't heard for a while though.
To be honest though, it is completely unacceptable it's not been sorted though yet.

neo6776 said:
Mine does the Beep beep thing when i plug in my phone to the sound system at my work. It's done it on every ROM i have tried. The hissing, i haven't heard for a while though.
To be honest though, it is completely unacceptable it's not been sorted though yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the input!

Hi !
I think the audio system is the only problem with this phone.
When hearphones are plugged and there's no sound, you can hear a weird sound (especially when you touch the screen).
I also have a problem when I listen to music, sometimes the music has a little lag, a little buzzing for less than a second, as if the phone didn't have the time to load the music. It sounds like an old used CD. It happens once every ten minutes approximately. I don't know if it comes from the fact that I listen to music from my SD card, which isn't a very good card (64Gb, 20$ on amazon). I should test it from internal storage to check that...
Anyway, I'm using ChupaChups ROM and the problem you're talking about is also present. But Chupa Chups is a stock-like ROM, so this isn't a surprise.
I'm planning on installing CyanogenMod to see the difference.
I'll report back here after that

Sideness said:
Hi !
I think the audio system is the only problem with this phone.
When hearphones are plugged and there's no sound, you can hear a weird sound (especially when you touch the screen).
I also have a problem when I listen to music, sometimes the music has a little lag, a little buzzing for less than a second, as if the phone didn't have the time to load the music. It sounds like an old used CD. It happens once every ten minutes approximately. I don't know if it comes from the fact that I listen to music from my SD card, which isn't a very good card (64Gb, 20$ on amazon). I should test it from internal storage to check that...
Anyway, I'm using ChupaChups ROM and the problem you're talking about is also present. But Chupa Chups is a stock-like ROM, so this isn't a surprise.
I'm planning on installing CyanogenMod to see the difference.
I'll report back here after that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you!!
As for your issue - you tried disabling throttling from the secret menu?
I've done so - in order to avoid temp capping

TotallydubbedHD said:
Thank you!!
As for your issue - you tried disabling throttling from the secret menu?
I've done so - in order to avoid temp capping
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What hidden menu ? Dev options ?
ChupaChups ROM includes a mod which allows the processor to have an higher temperature (I think the original limit is 65°, the mod is set to 75°). The mod is supposed to erase this kind of issue.

Sideness said:
What hidden menu ? Dev options ?
ChupaChups ROM includes a mod which allows the processor to have an higher temperature (I think the original limit is 65°, the mod is set to 75°). The mod is supposed to erase this kind of issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it's not much of a "mod" - just a setting that you enable/disable:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/lg...-mitigation-offa-option-tweaks-does-work.html
That's a link to what I did.
Essentially the reason I'm saying it for you - is the laggy nature of what you said - with my brief use of the G3, I noticed a little alg, until I disabled the temp and throttling

TotallydubbedHD said:
Well it's not much of a "mod" - just a setting that you enable/disable:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/lg...-mitigation-offa-option-tweaks-does-work.html
That's a link to what I did.
Essentially the reason I'm saying it for you - is the laggy nature of what you said - with my brief use of the G3, I noticed a little alg, until I disabled the temp and throttling
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, thanks for the info.
I just installed CyanogenMod 12 (The ROM looks very stable, but I only got it 20 minutes ago so...). The first thing I tested was the issue we're talking about here... It's also present on Cyanogen ! The problem does not come from the Stock ROM !

Sideness said:
Okay, thanks for the info.
I just installed CyanogenMod 12 (The ROM looks very stable, but I only got it 20 minutes ago so...). The first thing I tested was the issue we're talking about here... It's also present on Cyanogen ! The problem does not come from the Stock ROM !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Legend - seems hardware related (as initially thought)
Unless CM use the same stock kernel - highly doubt that though!

OK guys - went into O2 store in the UK - they had a G3 on display.
(It was plugged in) - I could hear a LOT of static noise on my earphones with the amp connected.
Then I unplugged it from the mains - the static went away.
I then did the same tests as before and boom - same issue.
It's 100% not my device only and is present in the international G3 version.
My LG G3 is being returned tomorrow. It's unacceptable.

Amb669 said:
That "beep beep" sound when connecting your audio jack appears to be unique to your device as I haven't seen any other G3 do that before.
Also, I stated in another thread about this issue, It only happens while the cpu is under load AND there is no audio.
Once the cpu load drops to idle the issue is gone.
Once there is audio playing the issue is gone too.
It's annoying while no audio is playing, But it's not gonna degrade your audio experience in any way what so ever when there is sound coming out of your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK so I did tests -
Without the micro USB cord connected:
Audio playing - 0% volume (thus you can't hear anything) - static noise, no HDD-esk noise
Audio playing - 1st notch (you can hear music faintly) - static noise, no HDD-esk noise
Audio not playing - HDD-esk noise
WITH the micro USB cord connected - charging:
Audio not playing - Louder static noise, minimal HDD-esk noise
Audio playing - 0% volume (thus you can't hear anything) - louder static noise, no HDD-esk noise
Audio playing - 1st notch (you can hear music faintly) - louder static noise, no HDD-esk noise
Hope this helps everyone looking at this thread

So, I have a set of Sennheiser HD 598, a pair of Monster DNA headphones and Sennheiser CX275S in-ear earphones (for Android smartphones).
When I connect the HD 598 and the Monster DNA to the phone directly. I get no noise.
But when I connect the CX275S, I get the noise.
Could it be something to do with the impedance/resistance of the headphones and/or cable that is being used?
However I am not using an amp. Do you get the noise without the amp? Have you tried a variety of headsets??

sirdj said:
So, I have a set of Sennheiser HD 598, a pair of Monster DNA headphones and Sennheiser CX275S in-ear earphones (for Android smartphones).
When I connect the HD 598 and the Monster DNA to the phone directly. I get no noise.
But when I connect the CX275S, I get the noise.
Could it be something to do with the impedance/resistance of the headphones and/or cable that is being used?
However I am not using an amp. Do you get the noise without the amp? Have you tried a variety of headsets??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it can be the impedance - however this doesn't apply when I connect the amp -as it is picking up more than the source usually shows.
In other words - you CX earphones could be more sensitive (which I find surprising vs the HD 598) - but if you were to put an amp - I think all of them would show.
I've tested with a bunch of earphones and my headphones - all of which showed the same problem with the amp.
I know for sure now it's to do with the phone - now if some people would notice it or not with their given setup is another thing.
ie. their setup might not reveal the flaw (ie if I had never put the amp - I wouldn't have heard the problem).
Also - I've noticed a audible "click" / "lag" when music was changing. making me say: "Yup 100% this phone is being sent back"
Can't believe I'm back to my SGS3. over 3yrs old - no problems and trumps these flagship phones in terms of audio quality.

Just to add my part, the "beep beep" is normal when connecting headphones. I usually get a very quiet buzzing noise when I have the phone connected to a power source and have headphones in. I'll report back in a week, getting a warranty replacement so may be different
EDIT: Using a pair of Audio Technica CKS-77X in ear headphones

GuyInTheCorner said:
Just to add my part, the "beep beep" is normal when connecting headphones. I usually get a very quiet buzzing noise when I have the phone connected to a power source and have headphones in. I'll report back in a week, getting a warranty replacement so may be different
EDIT: Using a pair of Audio Technica CKS-77X in ear headphones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
excellent thanks for letting me know - why are you getting a replacement? (this issue?)
I've already packaged mine ready for an amazon return.

I decided to pull out all the earphones and speakers that I have. And here are the results.
1. LG earphones that came with the phone - no noise
2. Old Samsung Galaxy S2 earphones - no noise
3. Old iRiver earphones - no noise
4. Sennheiser HD 239 headphones - no noise
5. Bose Soundlink speakers in aux mode using a cable - at the highest 2 levels of volume I can hear the noise.
So it may be an amplification issue.
I am not sure that LG would accept the product back here in Australia if I tried to return it as there is no noise with the supplied earphones and any problems with amps would probably be out of their warranty terms.

TotallydubbedHD said:
excellent thanks for letting me know - why are you getting a replacement? (this issue?)
I've already packaged mine ready for an amazon return.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cracks on the top IR Blaster (the one used for Quick Remote not for the camera) and your bottom microphone. Its a know defect with the G3 and they'll replace the phone for free

sirdj said:
I decided to pull out all the earphones and speakers that I have. And here are the results.
1. LG earphones that came with the phone - no noise
2. Old Samsung Galaxy S2 earphones - no noise
3. Old iRiver earphones - no noise
4. Sennheiser HD 239 headphones - no noise
5. Bose Soundlink speakers in aux mode using a cable - at the highest 2 levels of volume I can hear the noise.
So it may be an amplification issue.
I am not sure that LG would accept the product back here in Australia if I tried to return it as there is no noise with the supplied earphones and any problems with amps would probably be out of their warranty terms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not an amp issue - I think I showed that by comparing multiple devices.
It's the fact the source doesn't like to be amplified - and when done so, shows these problems quite easily.
The source (LG G3 jack) doesn't seem to be isolated/shielded well - that's the issue. Therefore normally nothing happens, crank the source up a little and it fails miserably.
It's 100% down to LG here - I won't say it again, but I've returned the LG G3 now. I'm done with their crap implementation. How on earth they would have missed it is beyond me.
Reviewers also need to wake up when they do audio tests. Useless.
GuyInTheCorner said:
Cracks on the top IR Blaster (the one used for Quick Remote not for the camera) and your bottom microphone. Its a know defect with the G3 and they'll replace the phone for free
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dam ok