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Apache MP3 Playback quality has mild static?

I'm noticing very faint static when I play back my music files in Windows Media on my Sprint 6700 (Apache). I've tried different headphones and ruled that out. I know the files are good...they play back fine on my Imate Jam.
My guess is that the software or ROM isn't optimized in some way and its causing the distortion.
Anyone else notice this? Any ideas for improving the quality?

After 3 days with the 6700, I'm sending it back. I've been a fan of HTC products back to the first XDA. I've owner 4 of their phones - the XDA, PDA2K, I-Mate JAM, and now the Sprint 6700.
While it's a great product in many ways, it misses the mark in terms of audio quality. For the past year, I've use my I-Mate Jam every day at the gym...it's my IPOD with all my favorite music. I use Yahoo's music service and constantly fill it with new tunes. When the 6700 arrived, I copied my library over and was eager to try it out.
Within five minutes, I was disappointed. First, the volume was amazingly low compared to my JAM. Nealy 40% lower. So much so that on certain songs, it was hard to hear. On my JAM, the volume is so loud it hurts. While I don't turn it up that high, its great to know when you're in a noisy room or on a plane you can hear your music. Bluetooth was even worse. I have an Acura TL with built-in hands free. The JAM works great here. With the 6700, I have to crank the volume nearly twice as much just to hear.
Second, there is a lot of distortion. It's like listening to a dusty record or a worn cassette. Pops, crackles, and skips are very noticeable. My music is encoded at 192Kps...on the Jam its like a CD. On the 6700 its annoying...like I'm listening to my old Sony Walkman from 1985. Some music actually skips a beat.
I just don't get it. This is the 5th generation device from HTC. How come after all this they can't get it right? With each device there have been bad quirks. Things like the PDA2K's faulty Bluetooth support (read the posts and you'll see what I mean) or the JAM's really poor camera. There's always something. Don't they learn from past experience? By now, it should be nearly perfect. Boards like this are full of feedback.
Uggg. I like the rest of the device. WM5 is great. EVDO...WOW! Nice improvements in many areas. The keyboard is solid...more useable than to Palm's Treo. But if you're into music, this device really misses the mark and in my case, that's every day.
I'm going to exchange it in hopes that maybe it's a bad unit. I doubt it though. I've tried four different headphones from the ones inside the box to high-end Bose...all sound the same. It's too bad...I really thought this would be the perfect PDA/Phone combo.

[Q] Loudspeaker hardware mod?

No matter how much we try to deny it, or try not to talk about it- we must all admit that the speaker output of the Sensation isn't amongst the best we've come across. I've missed calls numerous times (especially in a crowded street or so) just because I couldn't hear the ringer.
Yes, we do have apps such as Volume+ and PowerAmp which does seem to do an alright job- but still doesn't satisfy our need.
Here's my Q- Would installing a speaker from a different model/ phone have a better output? I understand that it might need additional software tweaks as well ( not to mention finding a suitable speaker which fits )- but is it possible?
PS. I'm not a sound crazy noob who just wants to impress people with a loud phone, I honestly can't hear it half the time.
Regards,
Tony

Would be interesting! This is my chief complaint with my phone.

I dont understand why this has not been touched yet. Its been the number one issue since day one, volume+ only helps with media.

Dacoit said:
I dont understand why this has not been touched yet. Its been the number one issue since day one, volume+ only helps with media.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure has been. Any input from someone who has a better understanding of the internals of a Sensation would definitely be helpful. And I for one definitely wouldn't mind risking the warranty if it actually seems possible.
Which one of the HTC line would have the most powerful loudspeaker? I suppose those within the HTC family maybe an easier fit.

I think HTC Sensation has the same speaker as the HTC Droid Incredible 2, HTC Evo 3d(expected),HTC Freestyle & HTC Incredible S based to how they used the same picture for these phones speakers on www.repairsuniverse.com. Anybody know about the sound quality from these phones?

I've heard that the Evo 3D stores a pretty powerful sound output. Judging by the link, I'd say it might be a good fit on the sensation as well.
But I sure hope it isn't exactly the same speaker. That'd be like installing a Sensation XE speaker on the Sensation- Foolish.

The only thing i fear is that our phones have a weak speaker because of the design of the case. The hole for the speaker on the sensation is small and off center of the actual speaker. The Evo3d has a seemingly larger slits for the speaker and it seems to be on center so that might be the difference. Has anybody opened the phone and used the speaker without the plastic body and the battery cover in the way?

kevinliu2336 said:
The only thing i fear is that our phones have a weak speaker because of the design of the case. The hole for the speaker on the sensation is small and off center of the actual speaker. The Evo3d has a seemingly larger slits for the speaker and it seems to be on center so that might be the difference. Has anybody opened the phone and used the speaker without the plastic body and the battery cover in the way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had that suspicion earlier today as well. And I did try it out with the rear housing off. There really wasn't much of a difference- it might seem a bit louder with the back off, but at the same time it seems to pump more bass with it on.
I wouldn't mind trying out an EVO 3D speaker on mine to figure if it does make a difference, but I'd need someone to confirm that they aren't the same speakers as the sensation. Any additional info/ tips would be appreciated- Let me get this done and make myself a bit useful to the forum

If you are using an mp3 as a ringtone, that can be re-recorded at a higher output level. Not sure if there is an Android audio app that would let you do that directly on the phone, but certainly there are lots of audio apps for Mac and PC that will do the job.

stroobach said:
If you are using an mp3 as a ringtone, that can be re-recorded at a higher output level. Not sure if there is an Android audio app that would let you do that directly on the phone, but certainly there are lots of audio apps for Mac and PC that will do the job.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure there are apps which would help increase output to a certain level, but still does't reach expected levels. For all having issues with the loudspeaker output- I'd recommend this thread for now: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1389756
All credits go to the OP of that thread- that sure was an amazing find! Worked well for me, and editing that particular file whilst installing a different speaker might help even better. Will get back on that as soon as I'm done with a project deadline.

I guess we all agree that the loudspeaker on the Sensation is woeful. I own a Touch Pro 2 and the dual speakers are LOUD. They are probably the loudest speaker phone that you can ever find from the entire HTC product line. Interestingly, the dual speakers are also designed such that the left speaker is behaving like the tweeter (higher pitch sounds) while the right speaker is the woofer (lower pitch sounds). It is very apparent when you cover up one and then the other while some music is playing.
I have ordered a spare speaker (meant for repairs) for the Touch Pro 2 and will be playing around with it to see if some hardware mods are possible to improve the Sensation's speakers. The delivery is expected to take 3 weeks to arrive.

I don't wish to dig up zombies, but I thought it better to continue an old thread than start a new one due to others insights.
Has anyone tried other speakers to see if they fit in the Sensation? I too have come from the Touch Pro2, and there was a tweak on it which made the speaker even louder (it was already quite loud!). I could hold a conversation, hands-free, in my car with the window down on the motorway no problem. And now, coming to the Senny, I'm almost embarrased to play music to anyone (unless using the headphones). I realise we can't get the TP2 speakers on the Senny (as there is more involved than just swapping a speaker - even if there was room for 2 larger speakers in the Senny).
Anyway. @darkytoothpaste, or anyone else, has there been any progress with the speaker hardware?

[Q] Solutions to low volume speakers

Hi everyone,
I have the RT, absolutly love it. BUT, the speakes are too quiet. I travel for busines, so having seporate speakers don't work all the time. Headphones work great when I am on te train, but in hotel rooms watching a movie or listening to music when I am working just doesn't cut it. External speakers are too big to pack, (I am a one samll bag packer!) Plus, I just don't want to spend money on external speakers as I don't have much of that green stuff!
Besides the techincal route of making the voluming higher, what have you guys done to fix this issue? Is there something small and cheap that you can buy? I don't know.
lgnationrc

Most hotel rooms are quiet enough that I've found the Surface was easily loud enough for me (and I travel a good bit for work). With that said, if I'm watching a movie on it, I'm sitting or lying close enough that earbuds (or headphones, but they're bigger to pack) are easily usable.
While I agree that the volume limit is low, the situations you describe are actually not at all where I have a problem with it. The biggest problem I have is trying to use it in a noisy environment where I need to be able to hear other people (so, no earbuds); the click feedback from the Touch Cover get lost in the noise.
Bluetooth headsets would work fine, I guess; Surface RT supports it.

GoodDayToDie said:
Most hotel rooms are quiet enough that I've found the Surface was easily loud enough for me (and I travel a good bit for work). With that said, if I'm watching a movie on it, I'm sitting or lying close enough that earbuds (or headphones, but they're bigger to pack) are easily usable.
While I agree that the volume limit is low, the situations you describe are actually not at all where I have a problem with it. The biggest problem I have is trying to use it in a noisy environment where I need to be able to hear other people (so, no earbuds); the click feedback from the Touch Cover get lost in the noise.
Bluetooth headsets would work fine, I guess; Surface RT supports it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must stay at nice hotels then! I can't afford those. lol Heck, I can't hear the darn thing in my apartment! I can't hear it at all with the windows open, and I can just barely hear it when I am cooking and the thing is three feet away from my head. Even closing the windows its still heard to hear the thing.
Headphones when I am laying down in bed? No, ears hurt. How about when I am watching a movie with the girlfreind? Two sets of earphones? Maybe your enviroment is nicer than mine, China.
Maybe there is no options out there... Just looking to see what others have done...

lgnationrc said:
Hi everyone,
I have the RT, absolutly love it. BUT, the speakes are too quiet. I travel for busines, so having seporate speakers don't work all the time. Headphones work great when I am on te train, but in hotel rooms watching a movie or listening to music when I am working just doesn't cut it. External speakers are too big to pack, (I am a one samll bag packer!) Plus, I just don't want to spend money on external speakers as I don't have much of that green stuff!
Besides the techincal route of making the voluming higher, what have you guys done to fix this issue? Is there something small and cheap that you can buy? I don't know.
lgnationrc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You try step 14 from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1970464 :
14. Boost Speaker Volume
Surface's volume is quite low. Go to Control Panel, then Sound, then click on Speakers, then Properties, then Enhancements and check Loudness Equalisation and Virtual Surround too if you wish. Apply changes.

These tips definitely help, but at the end of the day, speaker placement is probably the bigger issue. Thats why a Nexus 10, with the speakers facing you sounds so much better than my surface pro or my sisters ipad when watching movies.

Cupping my hands behind the speakers makes them a little louder in front (at the cost of some audio quality). I wonder if there's a market for a third-party "audio guide" that's just a piece of shaped plastic which directs the sound from the Surface speakers forward...

GoodDayToDie said:
Cupping my hands behind the speakers makes them a little louder in front (at the cost of some audio quality). I wonder if there's a market for a third-party "audio guide" that's just a piece of shaped plastic which directs the sound from the Surface speakers forward...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought about that too. Using something like mickey mouse ears to redirect the sound up front
Sent from my telephone device thingy

This is 1 of the main reasons I didn't get a surface. I played with 1 in the store & the sound fires away from you. I settled on a Samsung galaxy note 10.1. I can't believe how this is overlooked by tablet makers lol.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using xda app-developers app

I have one of those rock-it "turn any surface into a speaker" things and it works surprisingly well, but you have to have the right kind of surface to mount it to. Applying it to the kickstand on the Surface while open produces nice loud sound, but it is a bit metallic. Putting it on a cardboard box works very well with a nice warm sound, if you happen to have one around when you want to watch a movie. I have stuck it to a hardback book cover and dvd case with pretty decent effect as well.

low speaker volume HW or SW issue?

just got my nexus 5 after nearly a month of waiting. only had two days with it so far, but coming from an iPhone 5, the speaker volume is rather lacking. Compared the same exact music/sounds with my iPhone 5. iPhone practically stomped on volume loudness. the most bothersome of this issue is that ringtones, google voice, etc is not very audible, even at the nexus 5's highest volume. so, is this issue a software issue that can be fixed in an update? like has it been confirmed? im aware of the hardware mod on this forum, but id rather wait on voiding my warranty if I can, so im willing to wait if a firmware update CAN fix this.

unvaluablespace said:
just got my nexus 5 after nearly a month of waiting. only had two days with it so far, but coming from an iPhone 5, the speaker volume is rather lacking. Compared the same exact music/sounds with my iPhone 5. iPhone practically stomped on volume loudness. the most bothersome of this issue is that ringtones, google voice, etc is not very audible, even at the nexus 5's highest volume. so, is this issue a software issue that can be fixed in an update? like has it been confirmed? im aware of the hardware mod on this forum, but id rather wait on voiding my warranty if I can, so im willing to wait if a firmware update CAN fix this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to this, it's a software issue but I don't know how anyone will know for sure until a software update comes out.

unvaluablespace said:
just got my nexus 5 after nearly a month of waiting. only had two days with it so far, but coming from an iPhone 5, the speaker volume is rather lacking. Compared the same exact music/sounds with my iPhone 5. iPhone practically stomped on volume loudness. the most bothersome of this issue is that ringtones, google voice, etc is not very audible, even at the nexus 5's highest volume. so, is this issue a software issue that can be fixed in an update? like has it been confirmed? im aware of the hardware mod on this forum, but id rather wait on voiding my warranty if I can, so im willing to wait if a firmware update CAN fix this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being one of the people who did the HW mod, I'd say both. The HW is definitely not properly made, most notably the speaker hosing is sealed which doesn't allow the speaker to move air efficiently and so makes for a very lousy sound. There also have been some success in SW which makes me think that with 5min spent to do the HW mod and decent SW update the phone can finally become borderline usable as far as speaker goes.
Vibration is another issue...

Some success in software? Is this something I can try before resorting to he mod? (I will probably wait before going the latter route)
Vibration doesn't seem too much of an issue to me. Not sure though, haven't compared with my old phone, though I will say the haptic feedback (I think that's what its called) every time I click a button or use the keyboard, is kind of annoying lol
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

unvaluablespace said:
Some success in software? Is this something I can try before resorting to he mod? (I will probably wait before going the latter route)
Vibration doesn't seem too much of an issue to me. Not sure though, haven't compared with my old phone, though I will say the haptic feedback (I think that's what its called) every time I click a button or use the keyboard, is kind of annoying lol
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The sw mod really simple and easy, and yes you can restore the factory settings easy.
Check this topic:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2532788
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

caslca said:
Being one of the people who did the HW mod, I'd say both. The HW is definitely not properly made, most notably the speaker hosing is sealed which doesn't allow the speaker to move air efficiently and so makes for a very lousy sound. There also have been some success in SW which makes me think that with 5min spent to do the HW mod and decent SW update the phone can finally become borderline usable as far as speaker goes.
Vibration is another issue...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is a reason speakers have a sealed back. it's to keep the sound on th erear of the speaker from cancelling the sound on the front. dipole speakers don't have a sealed back and they drop a very regular decibel every octave below the wavelength of the baffle. there isn't much room for a large baffle in a phone so the back is sealed instead to try to preserve what little bass a small speaker can create. but the bass the speaker can create is soo little you may not notice the loss and instead notice some gain from increasing speaker excursion and effectively having double the cone area.
there are also ported/bass reflex boxes that phase shift the rear sound wave through a resonant chamber and a port to extend bass by putting the rear wave in phase with the front for a small frequency window.
there are other designs. but not much that will fit in a phone. i wouldn't say the design of the phone is faulty, just ineffective on such a small scale. maybe a trasmission line design where there was a channel that snaked around all the free space in the phone would be better. a rear loaded horn would be louder but takes up a lot of space.
as far as software, well there is only so much voltage that the internal amp can drive the speaker with. they have to find a gain ratio where there is enough headroom at full volume for most content to play without clipping. music is very dynamic and the louder something is the more extra energy you need to create an equivalent apparent change in loudness. you can raise the gain on almost any well designed system and not experience clipping on 90% + of a song but there may be a section of a particular song where you lose headroom and drive it into clipping. they probably went on the safe side with the hardware gain to preserve the quality of the music. but by all means if you prefer more loudness use a software mod.
there are some things that you could do, like software compression where the gain drops on the parts that exceed the max loudness. but it can make the music sound less lively. or you can just let it clip and maybe eventually damage the amp and/or speaker but that's probably not even a problem on such a small scale.

[Review] Mixcder Bluetooth headphones

Mixcder MS301 and HD601 Wireless Headset Review
Mixcder sent me two sets of bluetooth headphones to review, the MS301 and HD601. I’ve been using them both for the past two weeks and I came away very impressed with both. I used an LG V20 to drive these, with a mix of flac, mp3, and streamed audio.
Build: The MS301s are clearly the more premium build. Basically, the entire frame and cans are metal, and the earmuffs are a high quality artificial leather. These look really nice and give the impression that they could take a good amount of abuse. I’ve been taking them to and from work in my bag without particular care, and they’ve held up wonderfully. Additionally, they fold up right above the earmuffs. They aren’t as compact as other over the ear headphones (I also have a set of Marshal Monitors that fold up to an extremely small footprint), but it does make them somewhat more portable. As a consequence of the premium build, they are somewhat heavy. They moved a bit when wearing them, as well, which was somewhat annoying.
The HD601s are primarily plastic. They have red highlights around the earmuffs, and are otherwise a matte black plastic. The dimensions between both are roughly the same, which provides a comfortable fit on the head. I have large ears, and they were able to fit without any issues. The artificial leather here is of a lower quality, but is still acceptable. Without comparing the two headphones directly, I don’t think I would notice the difference. The key benefit for this set is that the lower weight leads to a very comfortable fit. It truly felt like they weren’t there, basically no matter how long I wore them. Both sets charge with micro-USB, have a power button and two volume/track buttons, two microphones, and an LED. For whatever reason, on the MS301, the buttons are labeled with the forward/back symbols while the HD601 have vol up/down. The functionality was the same: a quick press adjusted the volume, while a long press skipped songs. The microphones did a very good job picking up my voice in a variety of environments.
The MS301 claim a 20 hour battery life, while the HD601 claim a 40 hour life. In two weeks of pretty intensive testing (lots of streaming audio and the entirety of Stranger Things), both are still going strong on the original charge.
Sound: I evaluated both sets of headphones against 10 tracks that tested the range and response. (from https://www.whathifi.com/features/10-best-tracks-to-test-your-headphones). Both headsets performed admirably, both using Bluetooth and the wired connection. These provide very good detail over the entire range, with a pretty flat response. The separation was very good, as was the space. The audio performance on both headphones was basically identical, which is a huge plus. They blew the Monitors away basically in every regard. These also go incredibly loud. I could literally max the volume with them on the counter and use them as speakers. I never experienced any distortion at the max volume, either. The HD601 advertise an “extra base mode” but the effect was fairly minimal. Base performance was quite good regardless, so this wasn’t a big deal. Both use AptX LL as the Bluetooth protocol, which my V20 was able to take advantage of. Additionally, when plugged in, they triggered the “HiFi” mode as expected, as they list a 29Ω impedance. One of the few negatives was the included 3.5mm cable. It was fairly low quality and provided notably worse sound quality than the Monitor cable. Seeing that Mixcder also provides a nicer looking cable for $4 on Amazon, I question the decision to provide something that detracts from the overall package. However, most people probably will never use these, so again it’s not a huge deal.
Bluetooth: The range for these really varied depending on the use conditions. At work, these passed the “printer run” test by getting ~70 feet (10 m) away before noticing any degradation. At home, they really struggled to maintain connection between floors. In both cases, it was obvious when you were approaching the range. There was no cut out or dropped sounds until it basically disconnected. Generally speaking, moving back into range allowed for a quick reconnection, often without pausing the music.
Initial pairing was pretty painless on both. The MS301 had the usual setup by powering the headphones on and going into bluetooth settings to complete the pair. The HD601 used NFC to pair, and it was seamless. Anyone familiar with using Apple or Android Pay would be able to pair these in seconds. While this is a one time thing, seeing them pair was a great first impression and one of those “technology is magic” moments.
Conclusions: Both headphones are awesome and well worth the asking price. The MS301 are priced higher as the more “premium” option ($85 at the time of this review) while the HD601 come in at $60. I really liked the look of the 301’s, but the much lighter build and extra features tipped the balance to the 601s even before the price is considered unless appearance is a deciding factor (my wife said she’d prefer the 601s even if the prices were reversed). Given that the audio performance was excellent on both, I don’t think you can make a wrong choice here.
Mixcder gave me promo codes for both, valid through October
HD601:
20% off promo price: $47.99
Promo code: 6UWB2NT9
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B074...=8-10&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=mixcder
MS301:
34%OFF promo price: $59.39
Promo code: DWMYZ7O8
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B071...cder+ms301&dpPl=1&dpID=41xrGlMNnHL&ref=plSrch