Database Info

Buzzing/Humming Sound

Hey All -
I ran a quick search and didn't find this problem. I wanted to document it for posterity.
My phone makes a buzzing sound. I've seen it in every ROM I've tried so far (seems to be a hardware problem).
The sound is faint, is unaffected by media volume, and goes away when wifi is turned off. The phone appears to shut off the sound hardware when sound hasn't been played for a while in order to save battery. This makes the buzzing stop. But if a notification comes in, or there is a quiet part of a song, you can totally hear it.
It exists regardless of the ROM I have installed.
The sound is like what you'd hear in an older computer with something called crosstalk. Back in the day, (and to an extent still), various components in the hardware would generate EMI and would affect the sound quality in sound cards. For example, I had an Adlib card that would buzz a little every time the hard drive would read/write to disk.
This sounds just like that.
Anyway... just vote in the poll/comment if you're having this problem. Please post to the thread if you have a solution. I'm not expecting much though. I'm pretty sure I'd basically need a new phone for this to go away.

I get a very slight buzzing in my phones, completely unaffected by wifi. Only happens with my CX300 in-ears, any open earphones i havn't heard any noticable buzzing (though have no tried any type of headphones yet). Using Voodoo sound, lowering the amplifier dB gain and putting the media volume up reduces it a touch.
I grabbed a pair of iphone earphones and the nexus s earphones to test it with some more types, no noticeable buzzing. Also, both their sound quality is appalling in comparison to cheap sennheisers.

Yeah, that's different than me. It sounds like your CX300s might be dying.
I've got some Klipsch S4i ear buds and Bose QC3s that both have the same problem. Its loud and clear enough though that I'm sure I could hear it with cheaper headphones.
I can turn the volume all the way to zero and still hear it. When I turn it up, it doesn't make it louder though, which is "nice".
I've been all over the voodoo sound settings and nothing helps.

That's a shame, your phone probably suffers a noticeable case of leakage between the components. Could this possibly be classified as a defect and be fixed/replaced under warranty?
Also, my CX300s have no hiss on a higher quality dac and it was noticeably louder on my old nokia. I guess they're just more sensitive, they are only 16 ohm after all. No drama for me

It might qualify as a defect. I'd have to bug Samsung I guess. I could see Samsung just telling me to deal with it. It doesn't make a lot of business sense to replace a $500 phone because the headphones hiss when wifi is enabled.
It would sure make me a lot happier about buying Samsung stuff in the future though.
That's really weird about your headphones. Unless the audio quality on the CX300s is far superior over the iphone/nexus s ones, I would expect them all to behave the same way. Even then, it would be very subtle. Maybe the Nexus S doesn't ground the headphone jack very well for your headphones?

You could give them a call/email and see how it works out, but you'll probably be left without a phone for a few weeks if you send it so probably not worth it for you either.
Definitely far superior in comparison, but not nearly superior earphones Possibly a grounding issue, could even be just an unlucky set of Sennheisers that i got and have always been like this. They are out and about anyway, take a good beating and have been rock solid. Hopefully soon i'll be getting a decent pair of headphones for home use, funds allowing.

My laptop does the same thing, I'm thinking it is just interference with the headphones and your phone. might also be a lose wire or something in the phone or headphones :/

I know that this is old tread, but I had the same problem and solution might help someone.
In my case, the source of the buzz was charger (poor power supply filtering in cheap switching sources). I bought some cheap car charger/dock, and whenever I plugged my phone into it I would get lots of buzzing noise. Of course, I used it every time when in car, so I did not notice correlation for a while.
Using better charger solved my problem.
If by any chance you are charging your phone while you listening to music and getting lots of buzz, try disconnecting power cable to phone and see if there is noticeable difference. If there is, you found your problem.

Thanks for letting us know grejigl. Although not the source of my particular (non) issue, i can see it helping out someone else down the road.

I'm running on battery power when it happens to me. I'm pretty sure its caused by something related to WiFi because as soon as I shut WiFi off, the buzzing is gone.

Bluetooth and Auxiliary Audio questions

o a new device ..new issues.
I have the Verizon S3, but I am not sure if this is Verizon specific or not. I drive a 2011 Kia Optima (LX, forgive me..family man) and I have the stock head unit. It has been great with EVERY phone I have had (Razr, Nexus, Bionic, Rezound, X, Thunderbolt) for streaming sound via bluetooth. I got mine Friday and just got to mess with it because my wife went into labor simultaneously
Anyway, it pops and cracks every 3 seconds to the point I thought it was going to bust my tweeters. It doesn't seem to do it during a call, only media. It doesn't matter the file type or anything. Also if I use the AUX cable it has terrible terrible feedback. I can hear it in headphones too. It's the sound like a wire is grounding out somewhere...if you've ever dealt with audio cabling before.
Is anyone else having this very issue, or did I get a dud? Also, does anyone have a suggestion on how to fix it? I tried equalizers and adjusting the volume. I also tried a JayBird stereo bluetooth headset. I tried the ol restart -- no factory reset yet though. If you have any clue, please let me know. I just don't want to waste time getting replacements if we are all experiencing it. Thanks!
(also this happens in the browser, youtube, media player, etc.)
PLEASE post who your carrier is and what you have tried to connect to. Maybe it's an isolated problem...who knows!

[Q] Headset not fucntioning in call mode at all!!

Hi all,
I have successfully rooted and flashed Paranoid Android 2.54 onto my ATT HOX and it is a wonderful ROM for sure. I love the options that it provides and the silky smooth, almost stock interface. The only real issue that I have come across is when I try to use a headset for calls. I am defining a headset as a 3.5mm plug in set of earbuds with mic (Klipsch S4i to be exact). When I listen to music, be it on Pandora, Google Music or Apollo all is well. As soon as I try to use the phone, no sound comes through the earbuds and the mic does not function. In fact you can see a noticable slow down in the dialer app when the headset it even plugged in. If I make a call, then plug in the headset, everything goes silent and the other side can't hear me until I unplug the headset from the phone.
Here is the real kicker though! I have my car stereo modded with an aux 3.5mm plug for listening to music and if I plug the phone into that it works just fine in phone mode! Now, I do realize that the Klipsch is setup as a TRRS and the car aux is just TRS (so when using the car stereo I am effectively bypassing the mic portion of the 3.5mm plug and using the phone's mic), but I cannot for the life of me understand why the headset will not work.
I am hoping that someone can enlighten me or least tell me that they to are experiencing this same issue. I will gladly provide any more info that someone might need to help diagnose the issue, and thanks in advance!

Update so far...
So, up to this point here is what I've found. If I plug in a normal set of earphone (read buds only no mic inline) then I will get sound through them no matter what I am doing (youtube, music or phone). Also, in this configuration anyone I am talking to on the phone can hear me just fine as I am using the phone's mic. However, when I plug in an earbud/mic combo the phone will not function. I get silence and the other side cannot hear me speaking either. It's as if the software has somehow told the headphone jack to act differently than it used to with earbud/mic combos. I am stumped as to why the OS would not allow this type of use when it is so standard. Anyone have any thoughts?

I actually have the same headset and I started having problems with it on the stock rom before I even rooted and flashed a custom one. I honestly just thought it was because they're really made for apple phones. Sometimes I'll just unlplug and plug them back in for them to register. Other than that I haven't seen a fix for them.
P.S. Klipsch control from the play store seemed to make things worse for me

sourshin said:
I actually have the same headset and I started having problems with it on the stock rom before I even rooted and flashed a custom one. I honestly just thought it was because they're really made for apple phones. Sometimes I'll just unlplug and plug them back in for them to register. Other than that I haven't seen a fix for them.
P.S. Klipsch control from the play store seemed to make things worse for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response! Yeah, I think I am going to try another ROM just to see if it will help, but I have the distinct feeling it might be a hardware issue. I just can't understand why this would all the sudden malfunction right after rooting for me. Maybe just a coincidence. I will definitely respond here though if flashing to a new ROM helps...

guitarman710 said:
Thanks for the response! Yeah, I think I am going to try another ROM just to see if it will help, but I have the distinct feeling it might be a hardware issue. I just can't understand why this would all the sudden malfunction right after rooting for me. Maybe just a coincidence. I will definitely respond here though if flashing to a new ROM helps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never tried paranoid but King kang(which has paranoid elements) works fine for the most part. nocturnal'd dirty rom, miui, and cm10 have all worked for me tho. I'm currently on the unofficial cm10.1 4.2 and that's working for me as well, except when I have the headset plugged in while booting.

Final Update....And SUCCESS
So, it appears that it was some sort of ROM specific issue. I flashed CleanROM 5.1 to my phone and "wah-lah"! The headset works perfectly in all modes. I am not sure what it was about Paranoid Android 2.54 that would not allow the headset/mic combo to work with the phone, but I am free of it now I guess. I will miss the interface of PA, but boy does CleanROM run FAST!!! I am in awe of the speed and responsivness. I hope the battery life holds up like PA did for me and I also think that the quick settings on CleanROM basically RULE.

Annoying buzz or static noise when using headphones in Nexus 5

For your information.
-Unrooted, it only has the Aviate launcher but this thing has been going on weeks before it.
-No cellular service(I am using it only at WiFi. It is like as if it were an iPod touch.)
-Happens in videos, YouTube daily motion etc.
-Only when using earphones.
Hey forum! I once again bring up another problem with my Nexus 5. I had it for 60ish days, and this thing has only been occurring for a few weeks. It is this annoying sound which occurs when I plug my headphones and watch some YouTube videos. Initially I thought it was my headphones, but I used two and found that the problem was the same. I believe it is definitely my Nexus 5, but I do not know why and how. It is a pest to me which I want to exterminate, and I gladly could use some help. Is this worthy enough to send back and get a new device? If so, what do I need to be aware of (additional charges, if I can ask for a new color etc).
I found this video which has strong resemblance to my problem only his occurs on speaker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XZSef6fuKU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Thank you for your help,
EL
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I'm having the same issue on my N5 (stock, rooted). I've been searching online, but have yet to find an explanation or solution. I'll report back here if that changes.
Hopefully somebody else on this forum can chime in with some useful information.

I'm getting an annoying buzzing through my headphone jack as well. Noticed it more when playing through my car stereo. I'm inclined to say it's software related, not hardware. Hopefully in 4.4.3 there will be something that will take care of it. I can't see the hardware degrading that quickly, i've only had my phone for less than 4 months and this issue is just starting.

So I think I solved this problem on my phone. Before, I was having glitchy hiccups at least once per song. This hasn't happened once in the past two days since I went into the xposed module gravitybox and disabled "More music volume steps." Hopefully this helps someone else or perhaps inspires them to their own solution.

ancient light said:
So I think I solved this problem on my phone. Before, I was having glitchy hiccups at least once per song. This hasn't happened once in the past two days since I went into the xposed module gravitybox and disabled "More music volume steps." Hopefully this helps someone else or perhaps inspires them to their own solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do have more music steps in the ROM settings I changed, but not on Gravity Box. I'll have to see if those are possibly a cause.

I have the same issue but also when playing music using the internal speakers of the phone. It happens when playing music with Spotify and YouTube but I do not think it ever happened to ingame music of any game.
I will also try the XPosed module and report back if it worked..
Edit: Using this tweak of GravityBox did not work for me. The buzzing continues

everyone with this problem
does it only happen when you have the phone plugged into a car or home charger?
i have always gotten this on all my android phones when charging and listening to music in my car or with headphones.. its just one of those things that happens because all the components inside our phones arent shielded as well as they should be

It does not has anything to do with the charger because it happens without it plugged in

Does anyone have updates on the issue? It still occurs on my phone, even on Android L. So I guess it cannot be a software issue

Mine does this all the time when I'm watching videos on YouTube on speaker or headphone... On every ROM from stock to slimkat (using now) and sometimes through the music player. I'm guessing it's some sort of WiFi interference?

My newly acquired Nexus 5 also suffers from this issue
It's exactly the same as in the video. And I don't know why, it's more apparent when watching youtube videos, and much less common when listening to music (both locally with Poweramp and while streaming with Spotify).
I also can confirm this has nothing to do with the device being in charge or not.
Help??

I'm going to buy Nexus 5 soon and that issue sounds really bad to me. Any more information about it? I listen to music on my phone every day and I'd be really disappointed if the noise happened to me.

For me that issue stills persists after over half a year of owning the Nexus 5. I tried several ROMs, some Audio Mods. Nothing helped. I guess it must be a hardware issue.
I wrote a ticket about it to LG, but never got an answer. Since there is not much discussion about it in the internet it appears like it is only an issue with a small amount of devices. So if you are going to buy one the chances are low to get this bug.

You are probably right but when I consider my luck, I still get worried. Keeping my fingers crossed though Thanks for an update.

i think all nexus 5 devices have it, but not everybody notices it.
from my experience with various brands, as much as i dislike them as a company, but samsung has the best headphone jack sound output.

rayiskon said:
i think all nexus 5 devices have it, but not everybody notices it.
from my experience with various brands, as much as i dislike them as a company, but samsung has the best headphone jack sound output.
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Click to collapse
I see. I'm not a big fan of Samsung either, I had some phones from them and I didn't really like those Also for comparision, HTC Desire Z's sound that was coming from the minijack output was perfect for me on my Soundmagic PL11 buds (I'm not an audiophile).
I need to get a new phone anyway and Nexus 5 seems to be something I was looking for - cheap, powerful and comes with Full HD screen. Even if headphone jack isn't going to work well...

TheReduxPL said:
I see. I'm not a big fan of Samsung either, I had some phones from them and I didn't really like those Also for comparision, HTC Desire Z's sound that was coming from the minijack output was perfect for me on my Soundmagic PL11 buds (I'm not an audiophile).
I need to get a new phone anyway and Nexus 5 seems to be something I was looking for - cheap, powerful and comes with Full HD screen. Even if headphone jack isn't going to work well...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The headphone jack on the N5 works well, i listen to music through my phone almost on a daily basis, so you don't have to worry about that, but i've come across the glitch linked in OP several times, and it can be reproduced. it doesn't just appear out of nowhere.

i had have this issue from when i bought my device
Annoying buzz and static noise but ya live with it ,regard's joe.

since upgrading to lollipop i can notice this sound glitch (while listening to music over headphones) more often, it occurs once in every 10min for sure... it's really annoying

I hope it's not placebo, but for me, since the lollipop upgrade, I haven't noticed this noise. I've even been listening to more music than before, as this quite got on my nerves, but now it seems to be gone.

Buzzing and crackling noise from speaker

So I just got CM13 up and running, everything was fine until I opened Youtube and started playing a video. When the volume is low I hear a constant buzz (something like a static sound) and some crackling noises here and there (the sound gets a little distorted too). When I max the volume I can't really tell if it's still there or not. The material that's playing overpowers the buzzes. Also it's not happening only on youtube. I hear the same noises on every app that produces sound. I tried fiddling with the included EQ in CM but no luck. Is my speaker by any chance starting to break or what is happening? This and the glorious 1.5 SOT I get from a full charge make this phone better and better >_>... Yay!

Does it happen on stock?

Hmm... I don't really know. I only noticed it today so I can't give an answer.

If the problem occurs with a stock ROM, it could be a hardware issue.

So I flashed stock and the problem is still the same. Should I replace my speaker module? I found one here, but in the title it says it is for the D820 model (I have D821). In spite of this, judging from the part number (EAB62971502) and what it showed on Encompass it should be for D821. I don't know what to say. Are the modules compatible between D820 and D821?

I have the same problem, on every rom, no matter what media is playing. Replaced speaker, didin't change anything

@aciupapa So you say it could be something else besides the speaker? That doesn't sound very good at all...

ac.buftea said:
@aciupapa So you say it could be something else besides the speaker? That doesn't sound very good at all...
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I think that it could be that some contact points on the USB flex cable (which is the part for connecting LCD, usb cable . mic and speaker) may be vroken or something :/

Won't be able to isolate the exact problem without spare parts.
Simplest solution may be to replace speaker and see what happens.

And about the part numbers and the compatibility thing I wrote previously what do you think?

I believe the parts are the same, the only difference between the 820 and 821 being the radio frequencies.