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Mytouch 4G Back Speaker Sounds Terrible

I think I can deal with the screen problem I posted about, but I just don't know if I can get over the back speaker. Playing music through it sounds absolutely horrible.
I use my phone as an alarm clock in the morning which will play music. The terrible sound quality of the music coming from the phone is enough to wake me up and wanna just smash the phone. And no that, just because it wakes me up does not mean its a good thing. I really don't know what there is to do about this problem.
The actual problem is it sounds like there is no bass at all. I know that commonly phone speakers have yet to really add any kind of subwoofer into phones, but I don't think I have come across any speaker that sounds quite like this. It isn't enjoyable to listen to at all. It sounds like screeching. Its like the speaker just has the treble levels all the way up and the bass all the way down. So all I hear are high pitched shreeks instead of singing.
For the most part I load high quality music (320kbps) onto my phone, so I know that's not the problem. I have enjoyed listening to the exact same music files on my old Mytouch3G and also a Nokia 5310 and both sound much better. I don't know what it is that is making the music and speaker setting while in a phone call sound so bad.
I don't think HTC would put a terrible speaker back there. Is anyone else having this issue or should I take back my phone and see if the next one sounds better?

plugged_in_now said:
I think I can deal with the screen problem I posted about, but I just don't know if I can get over the back speaker. Playing music through it sounds absolutely horrible.
I use my phone as an alarm clock in the morning which will play music. The terrible sound quality of the music coming from the phone is enough to wake me up and wanna just smash the phone. And no that, just because it wakes me up does not mean its a good thing. I really don't know what there is to do about this problem.
The actual problem is it sounds like there is no bass at all. I know that commonly phone speakers have yet to really add any kind of subwoofer into phones, but I don't think I have come across any speaker that sounds quite like this. It isn't enjoyable to listen to at all. It sounds like screeching. Its like the speaker just has the treble levels all the way up and the bass all the way down. So all I hear are high pitched shreeks instead of singing.
For the most part I load high quality music (320kbps) onto my phone, so I know that's not the problem. I have enjoyed listening to the exact same music files on my old Mytouch3G and also a Nokia 5310 and both sound much better. I don't know what it is that is making the music and speaker setting while in a phone call sound so bad.
I don't think HTC would put a terrible speaker back there. Is anyone else having this issue or should I take back my phone and see if the next one sounds better?
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I think it is not the best speaker but still better than the N1 loudspeaker. I think it's an HTC problem not with your phone. But feel free to go to a t-mobile store and compare yours to another MT4G.

I agree it's a problem with the MT4G line and not individual phones, but HTC has made quality speakers on their phones. The Evo 4G is a perfect example of this.
CM6 comes with an equalizer you can use for sound so that might make things better. Personally I think sound drivers might be the issue more than hardware b/c if you listen to music on the MT4G thru headphones it sounds like listening to a recording of a recording.

itmustbejj said:
I agree it's a problem with the MT4G line and not individual phones, but HTC has made quality speakers on their phones. The Evo 4G is a perfect example of this.
CM6 comes with an equalizer you can use for sound so that might make things better. Personally I think sound drivers might be the issue more than hardware b/c if you listen to music on the MT4G thru headphones it sounds like listening to a recording of a recording.
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But I thought that the equalizer mod only worked for music through headphones and not through the actual speaker.

Wrong
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

ESKIMOn00b said:
Wrong
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
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What do you mean? Or are you just being a douche and trolling....

The speaker is kinda crappy I agree. But a little better than the G2. If you lower the volume it is a little better but then hard to here. This is one issue I wish was better.

Have to agree....speaker sucked on the G 2 also
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Don't know if it is just me but my speaker seems to have gotten better with use. Maybe broken in, who knows maybe it is just me settling for not perfect but i think it has gotten better with use. Maybe it is just wishful thinking.

speaker stinks on this phone and the G2. period. i have yet to use it for music thru headphones yet. but i dont use my phone as a media player unless its on the airplane or something like that.

I agree the speaker isn't great but it isn't that bad. Though I have to admit, the Vibrant had a great speaker. VERY loud and very clear.

Have you tried playing it thru external speakers? like ihome thru the 3.5mm jack? the sounds good enough, but every now and then it sends the phone haywire skipping track after track every two seconds and randomly dialing??

with the stock ROM its very ehh
once i fully rooted & installed Evil Desire HD port my speaker was really loud & clear!

It's good to have bluetooth speakers handy especially for both phone calls and audio.
(Creative T12w is the best bet for home use, but it doesn't have HSP/HFP)

jayizzbakk said:
with the stock ROM its very ehh
once i fully rooted & installed Evil Desire HD port my speaker was really loud & clear!
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Can anyone confirm that this fixes the speaker? And if so, can we isolate the setting that fixes it to apply separately?

mingkee said:
It's good to have bluetooth speakers handy especially for both phone calls and audio.
(Creative T12w is the best bet for home use, but it doesn't have HSP/HFP)
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I have the Jawbone JAMBOX and love it. I use it in places where I used to listen to the speaker.
As for using the speaker, I guess I haven't used a phone where I was like "that's awesome!" The best it's sounded is having all my music adjusted to 95dB using MP3Gain, and the volume about 1 or 2 steps away from max.

That the only thing i hate about the Mytouch 4G... its not that big of a deal, but switching from the Touch Pro 2 (dual speaker) to the Mytouch 4g (one speaker) was a downgrade for me but hey you have to admit the phone freaking awesome!

tackleberry said:
speaker stinks on this phone and the G2. period. i have yet to use it for music thru headphones yet. but i dont use my phone as a media player unless its on the airplane or something like that.
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The G2 sounds way worse than the MT4G. Side by side, there is a HUGE difference.

alphakronik said:
The G2 sounds way worse than the MT4G. Side by side, there is a HUGE difference.
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I totally agree. I tried both side by side. Was still stuck on wanting a g2 but I had the choice to pay 200 for a g2 or 70 for mt4g. I'm glad I got this phone. I'm very satisfied with it.
Sent from my rooted iced glacier rom mt4g via XDA app

Its ok not that HORRIBLE, coming from a mytouch slide
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk

[Q] Speaker phone sound quality

Mine sounds "crackly" when turned-up all the way. Also, not very loud and tinny compared to other phones I've owned. What's your experience? Do I have a defective unit? Thanks.

Mine is better than my inspire (even after fix) and on par with my captivate. No crackle on the high end, maybe a defect.

Mine sounds pretty loud and clear. Not as loud as the Atrix but still loud and better than the Captivate.

Thanks for your replies, gonna swap mine out.

Let us know if that fixed it

I've been very impressed with my phones front and back speakers...
Sent from my Samsung Infuse 4G

My speakerphone experience on the Infuse has been noticeably better than on the Captivate. It's much louder and clearer.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App

How is the voice quality and sound on this phone??

I keep reading reviews knocking the sound quality and voice quality of this phone, and it's scaring me away from it. They say the speakerphone and earpiece speaker is very low and tin can sounding. Can you all share if this is true or not?

Some days it sounds like a tin can but others it's fine. My DX was a lot better sounding. People can hear me without any issues though. It's only on my end.

the speaker for the bolt is pretty quite wish it was a bit louder, as for call quality on stock and das BAMF for me its one of the better sounding phones i have owned

I found that the phone sounds crappy a lot of the time. The volume control range is too narrow, so the volume is either too loud at the lowest setting or too quiet on the highest. When you crank the volume all the way up you get a lot of distortion and noise. I was definitely surprised by the low quality of the phone on t-bolt. My clamshell from ages ago worked better.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

in call sound quality on mine is not that great,I get a crackeling noise at max volume which i never had before(also didnt notice till i dropped it a few days ago so may be the cause for me) but i almost always use bluetooth so its not really an issue for me the BT sound quality has been great for me.

well i have had 3 of them and so far all have been better than any blackberry or my htc imagio,the speaker is behind the kick stand that makes it quit but thru the headset and tethered to the car stereo its just fine. I drive a truck and its loud in here but all works well.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App

Unfortunately the TB is the worst sounding phone that I've ever owned... people on the other side say that I sound awful as well.

Yes it sounds bad and they know it!
I talked to HTC about the sound quality. They told me it was a software problem and would be fixed (Sure it will). They said to close the kickstand to make the external speaker sound better. Well if you can't hear it I suppose it sounds better. They said to turn the volume down so the ear piece sounds better. The phone also has a bad headphone amplifier. It distorts bad if you add a little base. This is my first HTC phone and it will probably be my last.

Wow, coming from my Droid X I have the exact opposite of what most of you are having.
No one has noticed that I have changed phones and I'm having an easier time understanding people on the other end.
I have a friend with a heavy Swedish accent that is much easier to understand now than he was on my X.

One X a little quiet?

I praise the audio amplifier in the one x. It's accurate, and pushes out some serious acoustic detail.
However, it's a bit on the quiet side. Music is just not loud enough through the headphone jack.
My transformer with voodoo sound is loud, accurate, and downright amazing. I hate to see the great amp in this phone being limited to what it is.
Does anyone else think so?
Does anyone have details on what kind of amplifier the phone uses? If it's a wolfson by any chance, we may have a shot at voodoo once we're rooted and unlocked.
This thing needs to be louder!
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

Sound is okay for me through the headphones, but really the speakerphone is not loud enough. For a high end device I kind of expected it to at least be loud, my cousin's Incredible is EXTREMELY loud

Yeah I am somewhat disappointed with the speaker. I don't hear notifications unless the phone is on a hard surface, and speakerphone sounds pretty ****ty.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

I'm listening to tunein right now. it's really pretty loud on the speaker. Maybe it's program specific.

Agreed. I plugged into my car today and the level was much lower than even the vehicles FM radio. The audio out definitely needs a boost.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

roltzje said:
Sound is okay for me through the headphones, but really the speakerphone is not loud enough. For a high end device I kind of expected it to at least be loud, my cousin's Incredible is EXTREMELY loud
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nactownplaya said:
Yeah I am somewhat disappointed with the speaker. I don't hear notifications unless the phone is on a hard surface, and speakerphone sounds pretty ****ty.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
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vinuneuro said:
I'm listening to tunein right now. it's really pretty loud on the speaker. Maybe it's program specific.
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I think the OP is referring specifically to the audio signal coming from the headphone jack.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

Using tunein again, with my Shure E4's I can't raise the volume past 60% before it becomes unbearably loud. You guys have been to too many concerts.
More resolution in the volume adjustment would've been nice.

vinuneuro said:
Using tunein again, with my Shure E4's I can't raise the volume past 60% before it becomes unbearably loud. You guys have been to too many concerts.
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But there was a very noticeable difference in the level when I plugged in...nothing to do with playing loud music.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

ScooterG said:
But there was a very noticeable difference in the level when I plugged in...nothing to do with playing loud music.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
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OP says it's not loud enough. What are you talking about?

vinuneuro said:
OP says it's not loud enough. What are you talking about?
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The signal level.
Your post was in reference to your opinion on volume levels. I'm referring to the actual signal that the phone puts out is seemingly weak.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

I've noticed the same thing. The speaker isn't as loud as my Epic was... and that was almost a 2 year old phone. What gives?

Headphone out on mine is plenty loud. Over 60% is too loud with my UE Triple-Fi 10 Pros.

Agree with the OP. With my Audio Technica ATH-M50, music is pretty darn low.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

My testing:
Beats Studio (Sure, not the best, but I love listening to these, so much fun)
Klipsch S4
V-Moda Vibe
Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5EB
Cassette adapter for the car (Acura TL, ELS system)
Klipsch ProMedia 2.1
Klipsch Quintet III w/ Sub-12 subwoofer and a Yamaha 5.1 channel amp
Results:
Beats: Nice, detailed sound. I had to change the EQ settings, the headset type set to "other" did not seem to suit these as well as the solo/urbeats(?) settings. Max volume wasn't enough.
S4's: At the gym. Decent isolation as usual, a bit of a hissing sound, max volume was sufficient, but I could have raised it a little more. (Dubstep time)
Vibe: Same as the S4's essentially, a bit muddier on the lower end and a somewhat flat middle, but that's expected from this headset.
Super.fi 5EB: Great bass, crisp highs, mellow mids, just seriously not loud enough.
Cassette adapter: Probably the best test here. Usually with another source, I'd have to halve the output volume to avoid hissing and distortion. I was able to MAX the volume on the one-x and still maintain crisp, accurate sound. Even putting the system at 30/40 wasn't enough, you can almost hear the "missing potential" after having listened to the system for years.
ProMedia 2.1: Computer speakers, ran through line-in with a Creative XMod. Good sound, very accurate, Similar to the cassette adapter, I had to up the output volume to match my settings to produce that "kick".
Quintets + Sub-12: Awesome, sounds amazing. But then again, this system is pumping out much more power than the others, and amplifying the input signal wasn't a problem. No issues here.
I'm using the AT&T version by the way, not the international.
It just isn't pushing out what it should. Every phone or mp3 player I've had was louder than this when it came to audio output. If we're rooted, perhaps Volume+ will do the trick.
Does anyone know what kind of DAC this phone has?
Side note: The speaker is fine in my opinion. It's nowhere near as loud as my Atrix, but it's adequate. I'll hear everything it pumps out.

In addition to the question about what DAC the phone has, does anyone happen to know the impedance it's designed for?
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

I agree with the OP here. I came from a voodoo based rom where I could adjust the decibal out put. The beats out put is weak, I wish I could push it up to -1DB.

ScooterG said:
I think the OP is referring specifically to the audio signal coming from the headphone jack.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
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It could be the amplifier in general which is not outputting very high volumes to both

Most phones while plugged into my cars aux jack sound loud at 10 or so on the cars dial. My HTC has to be near 20 for the same volume. It seems ok with wireless Bluetooth headphones though.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

Audio through headphone jack is plenty loud for me.
I'm having issues with how quite my Bluetooth headset is(through my cars speakers). I have to crank the volume up so high that I start to hear the speakers backfeed.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

I have a set of Sony MDR-EX51LP (in-ear) and the volume is comparable with that of my iPhone 4.
I did notice the headphones that came with my iPhone are very loud compared to the Sony ones above. I get the same results with my iPhone, the apple ones are just so much louder. Once my One X charges back up again, I'll run some tests to compare it to my iPhone but I don't think I've noticed much of a difference so far.

Call audio quality

I'm not terribly impressed with the audio quality of calls in this phone. Sounds hollow and tinny. Volume equalization seems to be non-existant as well. Some calls are loud and some are just adequate for a quiet room even with the volume turned up.

This phone makes calls? Holy crap, I didn't even know.
No complaints here. Coming from a GSII and didn't really notice much of a diff.

Stay Frosty said:
This phone makes calls? Holy crap, I didn't even know.
No complaints here. Coming from a GSII and didn't really notice much of a diff.
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This aspect of phones is hardly talked about these days.

Mine sounds good.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

Sounds good to me as well.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

I had a little hissing when I got the phone but updating it to 1.85 seemed to have fixed it.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

if you want to increase call volume - and you're on 1.85 - go to Settings->Call and enable the Hearing aids feature; that will amplify in call volume for sure... overall, call volume and quality is pretty good for me. could be that i haven't used anything that's better.

Im amazed by the call volume and quality. But then again, this could be because I was coming from the Atrix 4g and although I liked that phone, I always thought the call quality was one of the worst Ive ever experienced.

Coming from an iPhone 4S, I am very happy with the call quality. On the iPhone I could barely understand what the hell anyone was saying, especially if I was outside or in a place with a lot of ambient noise. With the HOX, everything is loud and crystal clear. It's a night and day difference. Couldn't be happier.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium