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[Q] Terrible voice quallity in 2.2 Roms

Hi there everybody, I have friend with a captivate and i would like to try to see if we can get his problem resovled. Whenever he flashed over to a 2.2 Rom the audio quality ( what the person on the OTHER line hears) is terrible! The first one we tried was
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=827153
AospMOd space man with the Setiron kernel. Then he called me and i noticed that the the audio i heard sounded literally sounded like a walky talky. It was really really bad.
So then we odin flashed back to stock and it sounded great just like before.
Now he's on AXURA with the default kernel (Setiron i believe anyway) and i dont think it sounds AS bad but it might just be my imagination. But i know it doesnt sound anywhere NEAR as good as the stock rom and kernel, stilll very poor in comparison.
Has anyone noticed this same issue? Anyone have any ideas on possible problems or fixes?
P.s. I am a EVO 4g owner and am active here on the EVO forums, so i know my way around android and adb and all that, so dont worry about scaring me with ideas lol
P.P.s I have no idea how it works on GSM, but i know on CDMA phones, we have a system menu through the dialer that lets us change whats called a vocoder. or basically, the audio codec/compression received from the tower and it specifically and directly is what effects our audio quality. im not sure if there is anything like that in GSM (more that likely not), but i figured id at least bring up the idea.
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/htc-evo-4g/124138-increase-call-quality.html

Yeah my friends and family complain about my voice quality also.. I think something is up with these roms?

It has nothing to do with ROMs and everything to do with modems.

nickbarbs said:
Yeah my friends and family complain about my voice quality also.. I think something is up with these roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the instructions tell you to flash the JK3 modem file.

It's also worth mentioning that the Captivate has a special Audience voice processing chip that none of the other Galaxy S variants have.
While I'm not 100% sure about it, I don't think any of the leaked 2.2 ROMs or radios are actually using it at the moment. Especially if you are running a i9000 reoriented kernel. That means that instead, voice processing is being done by the modem. So this could be what you're noticing.
Personally, I'm using a i9000 ROM w/ SetiroN's kernel and I have excellent voice quality on both ends. But of course, YMMV.

we need a sound fix

Other than the stock rom most of these other roms have very tinny audio when on calls. I have noticed that the sound through the headphone jack in my car sounds ok.
I am asking the devs on here to please take a close look at this for the community.
Running cm7 with oc kernel

Amen. Praisethe10chars

I am getting frustrated beyond belief with the Inspire. I am about ready to put everything back to stock and return it.
I am running CM7, it runs great, but I can not stand the tinny call quality. I have flashed different radios, and still nothing.
Very frustrated.

I'll guess I'll hold off for now. Using a phone for work with little to no sound doesn't sound like to much fun.

I am still running stock and the sound is fine... so basically the problems are all related to shoehorned kernels. Wait till source is released in a few weeks and I am sure the problems will be resolved.
Sent from my Inspire '4g'.

The source may not be released in just a few weeks...it could take quite longer, maybe up to 90 days. :/
Sent from my Inspire 4G.

Stock but rooted? I thought that left no sound

hololight said:
I am still running stock and the sound is fine... so basically the problems are all related to shoehorned kernels. Wait till source is released in a few weeks and I am sure the problems will be resolved.
Sent from my Inspire '4g'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
slapdaddy said:
The source may not be released in just a few weeks...it could take quite longer, maybe up to 90 days. :/
Sent from my Inspire 4G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The kernel source was released yesterday by HTC, that is why you are seeing different kernels and ROMs in this forum now. I'm sure the devs are looking at this long and hard for a solution.

Ok I need more explaination on the "tiny" sound issue. Is it a volume level issue or something else. I'm familiar with fixing kernel sound issues on the captivate i can take a look at source to see what I can find but I need a better description of the issue. I'm currently still running stock do to the fact that i'm enjoying sense and haven't had the time to do the root process yet(so no sound issue for me), but I can still rummage through source and see what I can come up with.

It's almost a hollow sound for me. And I get echo of what I say through the earpiece from time to time.

chrisryn said:
Ok I need more explaination on the "tiny" sound issue. Is it a volume level issue or something else. I'm familiar with fixing kernel sound issues on the captivate i can take a look at source to see what I can find but I need a better description of the issue. I'm currently still running stock do to the fact that i'm enjoying sense and haven't had the time to do the root process yet(so no sound issue for me), but I can still rummage through source and see what I can come up with.
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Click to collapse
Think of a combination of a low-frequency 1980's cordless phone combined with the calling experience through skype\google voice over 3G. It's a highly digitized sounding call experience, both on speakerphone and earpiece.

ok so its quality not volume. So that would probably mean radio kernel interfacing I'll look into it.

chrisryn said:
ok so its quality not volume. So that would probably mean radio kernel interfacing I'll look into it.
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Click to collapse
Correct, in fact, volume is GREAT, it's just the garbled\digitized sound. It'll crank plenty loud till it really distorts, so volume is good.
UPDATE: contrary to what a couple others have said, it's still distorted when using an external headphone.... not as noticable as using the phone's speaker or earpiece, but distorted more so than stock, for sure.

Thank you for looking into it for us.

Chrisryn is on the case folks. He's good. The Andromeda ROM he was on for the Captivate is what kept me from tossing it out the window.
Now we just need to get the rest of the team on Inspires. Andromeda for Inspire please?

chrisryn said:
ok so its quality not volume. So that would probably mean radio kernel interfacing I'll look into it.
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Click to collapse
Very cool. Thanks for looking into this. Let me know if I can be of any assistance. I am more than happy to be a guinea pig.

from what i gathered, it isn't a a kernel issue, so much as issues with the dolby information.
if 100% sound is important, use attn1s stock rooted rom. i keep a nandroid of it for when i need to use my phone as my mp3 player. otherwise, i'm running CM7.
also, jasonyump has a few audio fix tests for people to try.

mattbollenbach said:
from what i gathered, it isn't a a kernel issue, so much as issues with the dolby information.
if 100% sound is important, use attn1s stock rooted rom. i keep a nandroid of it for when i need to use my phone as my mp3 player. otherwise, i'm running CM7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm still looking for this answer: If I use this "stock ATT ROM" will I lose my HSUPA or has that been enabled on THIS stock rom?

This is my number one complaint with all the custome ROMS is the "tinny" sound. Thank you so much for looking into this

tpbklake said:
The kernel source was released yesterday by HTC, that is why you are seeing different kernels and ROMs in this forum now. I'm sure the devs are looking at this long and hard for a solution.
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Click to collapse
Wasn't that source the Desire HD kernel source, which is different from the Inspire kernel source as far as audio goes?
Sent from my Inspire 4G.

Muffed Voice Testing

I decided to put this in the developer forum because i really feel like this is a problem with the roms/tweaks and needs to be looked into.
If the moderators thing otherwise i am sorry then.
I have been getting complaints with friends over the fact that i come in muffed. When i plug in the headphones that came with the phone to talk they say there is a big increase in clarity. They say when i am muffled they really need to focus to understand what i am saying. I decided to try a few different roms and surprisingly the quality has been different. I have used the same radio in every rom test as follows:
Radio : 10.56.9035.00P_10.14.9035.01_M (This should be the newest TMO OTA radio)
Roms:
Android Revolution HD 3.0.1 (Initial Rom i had. Very Muffled. No dual core patch.)
Android Revolution HD 3.0.3 (Upgraded to this one wondering if it will be fixed. Same muffledness. Had dual core patch)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1098849
Stock TMOUS 2.3.3 - rooted/de-odexed(This had almost no muffleness, was the clearest of them)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1207410
Stock TMOUS 2.3.4 - rooted/de-odexed (This was almost as good Stock 2.3.3. Very hard to tell the dif)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1226686
Superlite *v1.3* by HTCCLAY (Very bad muffling again)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1229073
InsertCoin Sense Android 2.3.4 Stable 2.3.0 (Medium Amount of muffleness)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1198684
http://insertcoinrom.blogspot.com/search/label/pyramid
In all cases the headphones preformed the same amount. They were pretty clear and really helped the muffleness except in the case of insertcoin. The headphones also seemed to have a slight amount of muffleness to them, the difference between headphones and mic was slight.
I have seen other posts about this issue but no clear explaination or dirrection in trying to fix them. I hope this jump starts stuff.
It seems the more modified roms are the ones experiencing the issue... but obviously this isnt the most comprehensive testing.
I did these test over the course of 3 hours with my brother. He stayed in his room in the house and i stepped outside on the sidewalk in the same place every time. Wifi calling was NOT used.
***Edit***
Found these posts where people report similar issues:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=17093923
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1225452
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=16580966

i tried ARHD and IC2.3.0 - no muffled voice from my end. in fact, it was crystal clear. IMO if you've plugged in your earpiece and it sounds ok on the other end, then there's a high chance its the set's microphone thats faulty.
i suggest switching back to stock rom (S-on etc) and see how it goes. if its still muffled, its time to go for warranty

Have moved this to the General forum (for the time being at least).
You'll need to find out if other Sensation users have the same problem. I haven't had anyone tell me they have trouble hearing me with any custom ROMs.

awesam said:
i tried ARHD and IC2.3.0 - no muffled voice from my end. in fact, it was crystal clear. IMO if you've plugged in your earpiece and it sounds ok on the other end, then there's a high chance its the set's microphone thats faulty.
i suggest switching back to stock rom (S-on etc) and see how it goes. if its still muffled, its time to go for warranty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well i have tried the stock roms and its been reported to sound alot better.
It would be nice if we had that multiboot thing going on our phones lol
And i didnt try S-On again because i heard it runs the risk of bricking....

I have the same problem except if I was to call someone, my voice to them would sound like garbage. Obviously its noticeable as well cause they will tell me they can't hear me and it sounds like crap.
For me,
Roms that have this:
Android Revolution
Senseless
Roms that don't:
Virtuous(currently on)

i had those "garbage" sounds on almost every phone i owned accept for the Nokia 5210 and below Its telco problem not the phone.
phones with garbage sound (that i have owned) : BB9800, iPhone2/3/4, Desire, E72
@yajinni - have you tried switching phone with your brother ? let him use the "muffled" phone instead. it 'could' be the way you hold it

awesam said:
@yajinni - have you tried switching phone with your brother ? let him use the "muffled" phone instead. it 'could' be the way you hold it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its worth a try i guess but if it does do that its retarded. I use android because i hate apple but i get the same issues as them? lol
Will test with more roms and will try Virtuous when i get the chance. Are you using 1.3?

[Q] Terrible sound quality (CM10.1)

I just got my first android phone, the inspire 4G, and after some problems with temproot (which i finally found a fix to) got it perm rooted. Anyway i installed the unofficial CM 10.1 JB rom, and copyed my music to my 8GB msd card using adb push from PC (dont have a card reader yet...) anyway, using apollo, while the low end sounds about normal through my earphones, the louder mid ends and all high ends sound really tinny and harsh...and this is comping from compressed MP3s from itunes on an old iphone. I didnt even expect BETTER sound but i at least expected the same, but its impossible to listen to my music the way it sounds right now.
I found a beats audio installer for root in the play store, but IDK if it works for this rom yet and i dont really have the space to make a backuip of the rom right now. (getting my 16 GB card in a few days).
I was wondering if anyone else had this issue. what can be done to rectify this? its definitely not the music files that sound fine on my PC or my earphones that worked fine with my iPhone (which died spectacularly and i never want another again, especially seeing how open a rooted android is)-and they work fine with my PC too.
So what do you guys think? id post it in the CM thread but you need 10 posts apparently to post in development.
EDIT: just to make sure its clear, this is sound quality through my HEADPHONES, not complaints of the cheap built in speaker.

Non GB sense roms have this issue on the inspire. The best you can do is flash inspiremod 5 but even then it won't sound the best it could. If you are really into listening to music then just stick with sense gingerbread roms. Some may not agree but I can always tell the difference in sound quality.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium

Gizmoe said:
Non GB sense roms have this issue on the inspire. The best you can do is flash inspiremod 5 but even then it won't sound the best it could. If you are really into listening to music then just stick with sense gingerbread roms. Some may not agree but I can always tell the difference in sound quality.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Sounds like what im gonna do. no toys get between me and my music no matter how cool.
Would be nice to hear of some attempts to fix it, but right low looks like im back to gingerbread.

flashed android revolution 7.1, and sound quality is fantastically better. thanks!

I am using the mod and haven't noticed a huge degrade except when listening to really high quality mp3s. I think it is listenable. I have never used quality head phones, are you using regular ones or a nice pair?
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda app-developers app

[Q] Ongoing Bluetooth Headset outgoing voice quality issues - recommended ROM?

I am currently having outgoing voice quality issues while using a bluetooth headset (or in car/truck bluetooth) that I am trying to nail down with both HTC and Jawbone. I'm 90% sure at this point it's an HTC issue. I purchased an HTC One M8 on Verizon a week or so ago and immediately had issues with my Jawbone ERA. Voices sounded fine on my end but my voice on the other end sounded static-ey and overly loud - almost like the mic was too hot. I tried a ton of troubleshooting steps with both Jawbone and HTC and so far the issue remains. I also took the phone back and exchanged it for a new one and the new phone has the same issue. I've now tried 5 different bluetooth devices all with the same/similar result.
I found an old HTC One (M7 I think?) thread over on Android Central that seemed to be discussing the same issue:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/htc-one/309574-anyone-else-having-bluetooth-headset-sound-quality-issues-one.html
but no solution was found and it sounds like most people there just sort of gave up.
Sorry for the long explanation but one thing I wanted to try was using a ROM with a different bluetooth stack or system to see if that might point me to an HTC software issue vs a strict hardware issue. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm fairly comfortable with installing ROMs though on my old Droid, Safestrap certainly made it easier for me.
Thanks!

I had a ridiculous static with my jaybirds so I just ended up returning the headphones and ditching Bluetooth sadly. I don't think a ROM will change it
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

So there's no difference in bluetooth implementations between a Sense based ROM and say an AOSP or CM based ROM?

AustinML71 said:
So there's no difference in bluetooth implementations between a Sense based ROM and say an AOSP or CM based ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, out of curiosity I s-off'd the phone, perma-rooted, and flashed TWRP. I installed the GPE ROM, the Viper ROM, and the latest nightly of Cyanogenmod. Interestingly, the CM rom seemed to have MUCH improved outgoing bluetooth voice quality. The other ROMs all had the same issue.
Does CM somehow use a different bluetooth stack or something that would cause this? Honestly, I'd stay on the CM but I actually like some of the HTC features (like the duo-camera) and not sure I'd want to give those things up. Would it somehow be possible to use CM's bluetooth solution in something like the GPE ROM or even stock?

AustinML71 said:
I am currently having outgoing voice quality issues while using a bluetooth headset (or in car/truck bluetooth) that I am trying to nail down with both HTC and Jawbone. I'm 90% sure at this point it's an HTC issue. I purchased an HTC One M8 on Verizon a week or so ago and immediately had issues with my Jawbone ERA. Voices sounded fine on my end but my voice on the other end sounded static-ey and overly loud - almost like the mic was too hot. I tried a ton of troubleshooting steps with both Jawbone and HTC and so far the issue remains. I also took the phone back and exchanged it for a new one and the new phone has the same issue. I've now tried 5 different bluetooth devices all with the same/similar result.
I found an old HTC One (M7 I think?) thread over on Android Central that seemed to be discussing the same issue:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/htc-one/309574-anyone-else-having-bluetooth-headset-sound-quality-issues-one.html
but no solution was found and it sounds like most people there just sort of gave up.
Sorry for the long explanation but one thing I wanted to try was using a ROM with a different bluetooth stack or system to see if that might point me to an HTC software issue vs a strict hardware issue. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm fairly comfortable with installing ROMs though on my old Droid, Safestrap certainly made it easier for me.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on CleanRom and I'm also extremely sensitive to Bluetooth quality issues. I'm using both a Plantronics Legend and the Bose ear pieces and I hook the device up to a Pioneer DEH-80PRS in my car. I have to say I've never had a better Bluetooth experience. No complaints - superb quality - both ends

MARKREIF said:
I'm on CleanRom and I'm also extremely sensitive to Bluetooth quality issues. I'm using both a Plantronics Legend and the Bose ear pieces and I hook the device up to a Pioneer DEH-80PRS in my car. I have to say I've never had a better Bluetooth experience. No complaints - superb quality - both ends
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm now also on CleanRom and it is definitely better. My few tests so far weren't quite as clear as my CM tests but MUCH better than stock. This seems so strange to me. This is just a stripped down Sense ROM, like others yet a significant difference in quality. Both Viper and GPE had the same bad quality as stock. I wish I had the understanding/capability to truly root cause the issue as I'd love to have the freedom to use whichever ROM I choose. However, I do very much like CleanRom for now - the Verizon bloat on this phone was the worst I've ever had yet I do like a few of the Sense 6 features.