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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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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.
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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?
Hi all
Ordered my 32gb, white N5, which should be delivered early next week.
But while anxiously waiting and reading first feedbacks, I had a question that seemed to have not been answered yet.
What about audio jack quality? I don't expect a smartphone to drive a high spec earbud like a professional DAC, but the N4 was a bit disappointing. Muddy bass, irritating highs, it was definitely not enough for my Fidelio S2.
So what to expect from the N5? Does it come with a Wolfson DAC (I don't think so) or with the same DAC the G2 is equipped with? How does it sound?
i would imagine it uses a Qualcomm dac like the N4 before it only perhaps an updated one. i found the N4 to sound alright on my Sure SE535's but bass not as clear / punchy as any wolfson ive had previously.
if you goto the snapdragon S800 page if i recall it does talk about the DAC
Also the S800 now has a Dedicated DSP processor and 4.4 uses direct audio tunneling to the DSP so it will be interesting to see how this will effect the audio quality to.
EDIT: from what i understand tho the Qualcomm DAC's are more analytical in sound they tend to give detail and lack warmth in the sound.
How is the volume? I'm hearing impaired and I was always listening my music on full volume.
I read somewhere that the N5 would be louder. Can someone confirm this for me?
audio is a big one for me as well.
if it isnt a big improvement over the n4 it will be getting sold. Ive been spoiled with my htc one after having the n4.
aimetti said:
audio is a big one for me as well.
if it isnt a big improvement over the n4 it will be getting sold. Ive been spoiled with my htc one after having the n4.
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yeah, I used to listen my music on my ipod touch 64GB but it broke down. Just recently I started using my N4 as my daily music-"machine" D) and google music all access is great. However, the N4 was just not loud enough for some albums (usually older and quieter stuff) and 16GB weren't much enough.
I hope my new N5 white 32GB will be better as music player... I will find out at the latest on monday..
Just pasting my comment from a discussion on G+, some may find it useful:
From a quick test I believe it sounds better than my good ol' Nexus 4. The sound is a bit more bass-y, though I'm not sure if it's just "coloured", or the fact that Nexus 4's sound is a bit on the "tinny" side (note: I'm not using audiophile-grade gear, just slightly(?)-above-the-average Klipsch S4 in-ears). I'd say the sound is more balanced now. Also, output appears to be higher than on the Nexus 4.
Take the above with a grain of salt, this is a matter of personal preference after all. For proper analysis you should wait for Supercurio or someone with the proper tools + time to do it.
Edit: Before anyone asks about external DACs, just tried to connect my ODAC hoping for some sound to play from my speakers. No luck. Not even with a Y-Cable so I guess we're going to have to rely on custom kernels again.
phunkycow said:
Just pasting my comment from a discussion on G+, some may find it useful:
From a quick test I believe it sounds better than my good ol' Nexus 4. The sound is a bit more bass-y, though I'm not sure if it's just "coloured", or the fact that Nexus 4's sound is a bit on the "tinny" side (note: I'm not using audiophile-grade gear, just slightly(?)-above-the-average Klipsch S4 in-ears). I'd say the sound is more balanced now. Also, output appears to be higher than on the Nexus 4.
Take the above with a grain of salt, this is a matter of personal preference after all. For proper analysis you should wait for Supercurio or someone with the proper tools + time to do it.
Edit: Before anyone asks about external DACs, just tried to connect my ODAC hoping for some sound to play from my speakers. No luck. Not even with a Y-Cable so I guess we're going to have to rely on custom kernels again.
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Thanks!
With higher output, do you mean more volume, louder?
I also have Klipsch S4 (II) and I found it already quite (too?) bassy on my N4
Blocoholi said:
Thanks!
With higher output, do you mean more volume, louder?
I also have Klipsch S4 (II) and I found it already quite (too?) bassy on my N4
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Click to collapse
Got the S4 (I), not sure if there's a difference!
Yep, that's what I meant about the output, sorry for the confusion.
Indeed. I hope the audio is better than the n4. Heck, my i9100 has better audio quality than the n4.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 4
I'm coming from a GNexus and when I plug my phone into the aux jack in my car it sounds absolutely terrible. It's just horribly muffled and muddy compared to virtually anything else I've plugged in.
Anyone know what kind of improvements I can expect? Was the N4 any better than the GNexus? It's pretty embarrassing to want to share a song with friends and after someone unplugs their iphone my phone sounds like garbage.
feedtheducks said:
Indeed. I hope the audio is better than the n4. Heck, my i9100 has better audio quality than the n4.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 4
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Click to collapse
Nope nooope no no no no no nopity nope no no no. I'm sorry but having owned both Galaxy S2 and Nexus 4, the Nexus 4 definitely has better music-playing quality through headphones. 100%.
Will receive my Nexus 5 hopefully Monday!
Hopefully the audio quality can compete with a Samsung Galaxy S3 + Boeffla Sound Engine. I´ll really miss this one
I know there are quite a few complaints about the speaker/sound quality on the N5, but I'm wondering if I'm actually experiencing a situation different than the typical complaints. When I have my volume at max, the sound is distorted and "vibraty" (it gives off that vibrational distorted sound, if that makes any sense). Is that what most people are experiencing? I want to make sure that I don't have a defective device, and that this horrid sound quality is the phone "working as intended."
Thanks in advance.
Lyxdeslic said:
I know there are quite a few complaints about the speaker/sound quality on the N5, but I'm wondering if I'm actually experiencing a situation different than the typical complaints. When I have my volume at max, the sound is distorted and "vibraty" (it gives off that vibrational distorted sound, if that makes any sense). Is that what most people are experiencing? I want to make sure that I don't have a defective device, and that this horrid sound quality is the phone "working as intended."
Thanks in advance.
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There are allready custom kernels that improve sound and loudness in the original dev. thread, you might look there to improve sound if you`re not happy bro.
gee2012 said:
There are allready custom kernels that improve sound and loudness in the original dev. thread, you might look there to improve sound if you`re not happy bro.
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I appreciate the response. I heard that Google is sending out an update for both the sound and camera issues. I'd like to see what they take care of before I flash anything. I'm enjoying stock.
But I was wondering if the sound I'm experience is also what everyone else is experiencing. It sounds good at middle volumes, but slightly distorted at max volume. Is that normal?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Lyxdeslic said:
,,, enjoying stock ... wondering if the sound I'm experience is also what everyone else is experiencing. It sounds good at middle volumes, but slightly distorted at max volume. Is that normal?
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Click to collapse
Is it normal, I can't say - IMO, it's to be expected and that's me. Take a look at the size of that mono speaker and it is by Bose, right - ain't no way it's going to compete with my 8-speakers/subwoofer Bose system setup @ home that cost a bit, urrrhhh. And, it's not going to deliver stage live quality for listening in any challenging environment - but, tune your expectations & you will be happy. I put on a decent pair of noise-cancelling audio headset & tweaked the equalizer settings, wow - I'm satisfied.
This is XDA and as others noted, there are patches & workaround but there is only so much we can do to overcome hardware limitations with design specifications. Look at the true HD screen itself - actually, it sounded pretty good paired with a Big Blue bluetooth travel speaker.
Just sit back, I would be surprised if the speaker isn't stressed out at max output with boosting & continued to work - I can live with a bit of distortion if that's the tradeoff. You can always RMA and wait for a new one to see if it's better (newer production batch #) - can you send it back & willing to wait, I won't as I will not let this beauty out of sight - too busy exploring KitKat and it's functions.
Letitride said:
Is it normal, I can't say - IMO, it's to be expected and that's me. Take a look at the size of that mono speaker and it is by Bose, right - ain't no way it's going to compete with my 8-speakers/subwoofer Bose system setup @ home that cost a bit, urrrhhh. And, it's not going to deliver stage live quality for listening in any challenging environment - but, tune your expectations & you will be happy. I put on a decent pair of noise-cancelling audio headset & tweaked the equalizer settings, wow - I'm satisfied.
This is XDA and as others noted, there are patches & workaround but there is only so much we can do to overcome hardware limitations with design specifications. Look at the true HD screen itself - actually, it sounded pretty good paired with a Big Blue bluetooth travel speaker.
Just sit back, I would be surprised if the speaker isn't stressed out at max output with boosting & continued to work - I can live with a bit of distortion if that's the tradeoff. You can always RMA and wait for a new one to see if it's better (newer production batch #) - can you send it back & willing to wait, I won't as I will not let this beauty out of sight - too busy exploring KitKat and it's functions.
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Great response. Thank you. I think I'll simply look past it. I always have headphones on anyway, and I'm pleased with the output in that department. Cheers.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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.
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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.
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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...
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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.
I bought a Nexus 5 on day 1 and quickly returned it once i got it. The screen was so badly washed out it made my Nexus 4 look like a 4K TV, sound quality was just horrible and the defect was insane distortion and crackling coming from the speaker on many songs, I even posted about that here and i wasn't alone.
I returned it and decided to stick with my N4 for another year, since then the bluetooth, camera, and phone are all failing on my nexus 4, i can't focus the camera, bluetooth cuts out constantly and the phone hangs up for no reason with perfect service. So i badly need a new phone now. I hate to even consider another nexus from LG considering what's happening to my N4 but it's more expensive to get a new N4 or Moto X than it is a N5.
So i'm hoping that someone can tell me if through a rom, kernel, app that the washed out screen and terrible sound quality are fixable.
Simple as that. I'd be willing to give the N5 another shot if i can install something that will get the screen to look normal and sound to not sound so ungodly terrible. I had to do that on the Galaxy Nexus for over a year and if i have to do it again so be it. Better that than having a broken phone like i do right now.
Hi,
For the colors it's on the kernel side so you can try ElementalX, Faux123 or Franco kernels. They also have sound improvements, tunables via apps, like the colour control. Just take a look in the OP of the kernel threads.
There is also this mod for the sound: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2532788, I use it and it works great for me.
viking37 said:
Hi,
For the colors it's on the kernel side so you can try ElementalX, Faux123 or Franco kernels. They also have sound improvements, tunables via apps, like the colour control. Just take a look in the OP of the kernel threads.
There is also this mod for the sound: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2532788, I use it and it works great for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the fast reply. So for the colors guess it's probably the same as the GNex where someone comes up with the perfect setting and we all use it?
And the sound mod sounds interesting. I do remember the volume being quite low yet still having terrible quality. Does that improve upon the quality at all? It was just shocking how my N4, hell my 3DS had better sound quality than the N5.
Cant comment on that mod but viper4android definitely improves quality
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
neok44 said:
Thanks for the fast reply. So for the colors guess it's probably the same as the GNex where someone comes up with the perfect setting and we all use it?
And the sound mod sounds interesting. I do remember the volume being quite low yet still having terrible quality. Does that improve upon the quality at all? It was just shocking how my N4, hell my 3DS had better sound quality than the N5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, for example in Franco thread or in the Franco kernel FAQ thread you have a ton of profiles, it depends on your tastes but the "washed" screen is easily fixed.
For the sound mod it's mainly about louder sound, but for me it seems "clearer" (?), but I'm not a melomane then... maybe I have not the right ears
Like rootSU said if you really want a total control over the quality, try Viper4Android...
neok44 said:
I bought a Nexus 5 on day 1 and quickly returned it once i got it. The screen was so badly washed out it made my Nexus 4 look like a 4K TV, sound quality was just horrible and the defect was insane distortion and crackling coming from the speaker on many songs, I even posted about that here and i wasn't alone.
I returned it and decided to stick with my N4 for another year, since then the bluetooth, camera, and phone are all failing on my nexus 4, i can't focus the camera, bluetooth cuts out constantly and the phone hangs up for no reason with perfect service. So i badly need a new phone now. I hate to even consider another nexus from LG considering what's happening to my N4 but it's more expensive to get a new N4 or Moto X than it is a N5.
So i'm hoping that someone can tell me if through a rom, kernel, app that the washed out screen and terrible sound quality are fixable.
Simple as that. I'd be willing to give the N5 another shot if i can install something that will get the screen to look normal and sound to not sound so ungodly terrible. I had to do that on the Galaxy Nexus for over a year and if i have to do it again so be it. Better that than having a broken phone like i do right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its been 2 years and key components are failing? that's no good for LG
Well finally got my N5 and franco kernel worked perfectly for the screen quality. Few presets i'm switching between as i try to find the right spot. So much better than it was on the GNex though.
Sound wise not too happy so far. the rom i'm using has DSP manager and i played around with that but couldn't really get anything to sound that much better, same with viper. The louder mod did work but actually almost made it too loud and the phone as is is actually pretty loud, not as loud as my N4 but it's good enough so far.
one thing i noticed with DSP manager and Viper is that they didn't seem to affect ringtones or anything other than the music app. Is there anyway to get them to do that, or any other form of system wide audio improvement that will affect 100% of all sounds through the speaker?
neok44 said:
Thanks for the fast reply. So for the colors guess it's probably the same as the GNex where someone comes up with the perfect setting and we all use it?
And the sound mod sounds interesting. I do remember the volume being quite low yet still having terrible quality. Does that improve upon the quality at all? It was just shocking how my N4, hell my 3DS had better sound quality than the N5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the displays inside the nexus 5 are all different. just like some chips can handle more undervolting than others. some will find one color preset better than another. franco has a couple dozen color presets from the community in his app that make testing very easy
RMA
My N5 works fine. Yours must have been defective. Also, there are lots of mods out there that allows you to change the screen color temperature out there so might as well give it a try if you still think it is problematic after RMA.