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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] 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.
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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?
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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] Sensation XE earbuds

hi all,
I have my HTC Sensation XE.
After a while of using them(about a month),yesterday the sound on the left ear bud(iBeats) started to be vary low compared to the right one, not problem with me or my phone, because I checked on my friends phone and on my computer, about me, I swept the ear-buds between my ears and I heard a significant deterrence between the right(vary loud-as it should, and left-vary low).
Some one had this kind of problem? thanks in advance.
didnt find the sensation XE forum, so posted here.

Haven't had this problem myself. If you've only had your phone (and headphones) a month and they sound a bit odd I'd recommend you just return them.

can't return them...but problem fixed. lol
they dropped from my had on the desk just after I wrote this post. they work as loud as my old iPod touch speaker.
its vary sad too me, that the only really quality brand is apple, I have they earphones, vary loud, and surviving 1.5 year...
can lock this thread.

[Q] How is your speaker?

i noticed that my speaker is very quiet, even on my buddys sensation
my last two phones (nexus one & mytouch4g) both had LOUDDDDD speakers and the speaker on the sensation is a bit of a disappointment
anyone else notice a weak speaker?

Yeah its a known problem. Not much we can do about it.

Spkr sucks
This is the worst speaker I have had in a phone. I even tried dl'ing a volume booster app, it was ok i guess. but I jus went n bought a cube, (the lil external speaker) and that thing is really loud for its size. But mostly I gave up and just carry my iphone with me and listen to that instead. It makes me regret running over my sgs which put this speaker to shame.

Mines is just fine in call is very good and media such as music isn't that bad ...
Sent From My Sexy Sensation.

I've got a problem with in call volume, especially with sip calling with the native client. Sometimes it's fine (in terms of the normal Sensation quietness). Sometimes it's just about inaudible. It's not a problem with my provider since I don't have this problem with other phones/sip clients.
Seems to be fine if I use a bluetooth earpiece though.
Don't really make regular cell calls too often, so not sure if it's a global issue or isolated to sip calling

Mine is xLOUD and its fine

No way around it the speaker quality for this phone is the absolute worst I have experienced period. I thought it was just me, good to know others have the same issue (I suppose). Does xLoud work with Virtuous Inquisition? Or is there any other app that does work at boosting the sound. It's the one qualm I have with this phone...
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA

Want a loud speaker? Buy a Motorola rokr e1 or Motorola e398 ;-)
Sent from my HTC Sensation using Tapatalk

The first "iPhone" was such a dud, and yet it's call volume probably still obliterated this phone's. Is it too much to ask that the speaker isn't the equivalent of cups and string? I mean maybe it's a manufacturing defect or something (which I guess I'll live with until a significant upgrade comes along) but I contemplated returning this phone from day one. Fortunately, the pro's outweigh the cons but it'd still be nice to have a fix...

monkor said:
The first "iPhone" was such a dud, and yet it's call volume probably still obliterated this phone's. Is it too much to ask that the speaker isn't the equivalent of cups and string? I mean maybe it's a manufacturing defect or something (which I guess I'll live with until a significant upgrade comes along) but I contemplated returning this phone from day one. Fortunately, the pro's outweigh the cons but it'd still be nice to have a fix...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dont know man
i heard about the dust under the screen problem, the bad touchscreen digitizer problem, the deathgrip problems.. lol so far i only have a weak speaker but im still thinking of switching over to the amaze or just wait to get a one s
the community here is HUGE and thats making me want to keep the sensation

Spkr sucks
My in call spkr works fine (although I basically make everyone text as I hate talking on the phone). Its jus the external speaker for music that really annoys me. I thought about it and this phone has the lowest output volume of every single phone I have owned even from a while back, Nokia 5310,(i still like that simple a** phone for some reason) xpress, 5730, g1, g2, hd1, my-touch, my-touch fender, Sgs-1&2, iPhone3, iPhone 4 all seemed to play louder than this. But hey, If they made a phone that had the complete pkg i guess it would stop the need for future phone sales so they gotta screw us outta sumthin at least I guess.
I too was on the verge of jus moving over to iOS n usin my iPhone4 since I JB it, the iPad & all 3 touches I started liking the amount of stuff you can do, But I came across this site today & was reminded of why Im stickin to the lil green guy on my phone.

My speaker is so so, but with Volume+ app it rocks!

My speaker is loud enough using DSPManager, but the quality is absolutely terrible.

Galaxy S4 and HTC One concert video/audio quality

Found some interesting videos showing off the video and audio capturing performance of the S4 and HTC One.
Full review can be found here: http://blogs.computerworld.com/smartphones/22096/samsung-galaxy-s4-vs-htc-one-camera
HTC One
Galaxy S4
We already knew the HTC One had very good audio recording quality, that said, I'm very impressed with the S4's audio recording quality as well.

Yup. Although I do go to concerts, I never record the live performance. Still, it's good to see the GS4 can handle audio recording pretty decently even in that environment.

Is it just me or does S4 in this video have significantly better audio? Sounds more clear and less noisy?
Camera, HTC looks a bit more saturated than S4 to me.

When i listen to the two examples on my one the one's recording is clearly better, the sgs 4 sounds quite high pitched, the singers voice and cymbals aren't great.

Let's just hope HTC doesn't have to remove those microphones.

BoneXDA said:
Let's just hope HTC doesn't have to remove those microphones.
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It's cool it's cool
"-HTC will transition to improved microphone designs once its inventory of STM microphones is exhausted."
http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/24/htc-nokia-injunction/ (under Press Release)

The GS4 clearly sounds better there, a lot clearer.
I wanna know how well it does with loud music though because all Samsung handsets in the past have struggled so much you might as well not bother.

Terrorantula said:
The GS4 clearly sounds better there, a lot clearer.
I wanna know how well it does with loud music though because all Samsung handsets in the past have struggled so much you might as well not bother.
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I'll be taking a One/S4/808 to a Tool gig in a couple of weeks.

NZtechfreak said:
I'll be taking a One/S4/808 to a Tool gig in a couple of weeks.
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I listened to one of the other videos and the HTC One sounds better there where it had more bass..... so I'm afraid it'll suffer from the same issues.
I also don't get why the FoV is so narrow, it's nice in a way because it is more zoomed in, however that is the only situation really where you'd want that.

Both are very impressive quality, I still can't quite understand the rationale of recording gigs rather than just enjoying them, but at least doing it now means you get a decent recording and not an unintelligible mess.

randombirt said:
When i listen to the two examples on my one the one's recording is clearly better, the sgs 4 sounds quite high pitched, the singers voice and cymbals aren't great.
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When I listen to it on my PC, with a dedicated sound card, and through my speakers and sub. They sound so close in quality. I would give the edge to the S4 though.

-]Megacharge[- said:
When I listen to it on my PC, with a dedicated sound card, and through my speakers and sub. They sound so close in quality. I would give the edge to the S4 though.
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Lol,
Edit
When i listen to it on my htc one without a dedicated sound card, through the onboard speakers it doesn't sound so close, i would definitely give the one the edge!
So much tension...

randombirt said:
Lol,
Edit
When i listen to it on my htc one without a dedicated sound card, through the onboard speakers it doesn't sound so close, i would definitely give the one the edge!
So much tension...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i listened to both on my 2.1 speakers both are very good
GS4 feels more natural , ONE feel like there is DRC on the audio

-]Megacharge[- said:
When I listen to it on my PC, with a dedicated sound card, and through my speakers and sub. They sound so close in quality. I would give the edge to the S4 though.
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+1 probably subjective but I prefer the more clearer vocals without much background distortion. Both sound good obviously.

I wonder which one is more "accurate" though.
It's pretty common that a less accurate sound is more appealing to the ear (the reason why stuff like Beats is liked). I'd rather a more "accurate" sound be recorded; I can always apply the processing afterwards but I can't remove it if it's already there.

Ok I have to be honest while listening to it carefully on my Genius speakers the S4 sounded more sharp and more detail while the HTC One had bad noises lol

Haha post this in the HTC side the comments will lean more HTC LOL this threads funny every time I see this year after year whos better Sammy or HTC . Well I have the one and the I9500 octs on the way and the sprint s4 soon too . But last time around s3 was louder less clear than HTC also cam on HTC in tests with my friends s4 HTC has a slight edge on the cam quality but s4 has more features . I can say I'm not biased to either cause both are great the childish anger is silly though .
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda premium

Update on the S4 concert ability: not good
Skip to around 3:00 and "enjoy" the distortion... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR2ryc-LTpI
Glad I got the One

MasterThiefGarrett said:
Update on the S4 concert ability: not good
Skip to around 3:00 and "enjoy" the distortion... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR2ryc-LTpI
Glad I got the One
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Click to collapse
So they have a defective mic, these things happen.

Wow, on my AKG K240 Studio Headphones the One really sounds distorted while the S4 sounds absolute clear. I am actually thrilled how good the recording with the S4 sounds, even there is no "Voodoo Sound" (anybody remember this from the S1?). There is a heavy pumping on the One where the S4 seems to handle the dynamic much better.
Really good job Samsung! :good: