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[Q] HDMI output, audio poor quality? SOLVED, see #32

Hi
I just got a UK Wi-Fi Xoom, and started out by installing 3.1 and tiamat 1.4 OC kernel on it.
Now i hooked it up to my amp/tv (Onkyo amp, Panasonic TV) but no matter what i played, the audio quality was really poor (no bass, sounded like 8khz mono). Actually the audio coming from the built in speakers sound better! The cable should be fine, as i briefly tried it with an Optimus 2X, and as far as i remember audio was fine...
Any ideas?
Edit: Solved! See #32

This might not be the best test but I hooked up my Xoom directly to the TV which outputs to a pair of Bose bookshelf speakers and Angry Birds sounded great.
What I found off was the color quality of the home screen and through Quick Pic and stock Gallery. Angry Birds looked and played fantastic. My 3 and 5 year olds were glued to the screen. To fix the color I probably need to play with the color settings on the TV...no biggie. Haven't tried a movie yet.

Hi
After i wrote this i tried connecting it directly to the TV. Same result... (crappy audio). I only tried movies/music, and not games, which really dosent matter that much

same problem for me, European 3G Xoom running 3.0.1
Image quality is good, audio very poor.

I have also noticed that the audio quality leaves alot to be desired when using the HDMI out. Granted I am playing them through my TV speakers, but it does seem to be of lesser quality then other sources like OTA TV. Colors also seem a bit off, or over saturated or something. Maybe playing with the TV color settings would help that.
But its still pretty cool that xoom has HDMI mirroring, I use it alot.

I have the same problem... Connecting the audio via the 3.5mm jack sounds great, but connecting via HDMI seems to only send 2 channel audio, with no bass, maybe even at a lower bit rate (not sure, but it sure sounds crappy).

Same issue here. The audio is also heavily clipped. I tried to adjust the volume on the XOOM to at least alleviate the clipping, but I found that the volume controls have no effect on the HDMI out volume (at least on Android 3.1 + Tiamat 1.5 GHz with GPU OC).

willverduzco said:
Same issue here. The audio is also heavily clipped. I tried to adjust the volume on the XOOM to at least alleviate the clipping, but I found that the volume controls have no effect on the HDMI out volume (at least on Android 3.1 + Tiamat 1.5 GHz with GPU OC).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm that the volume controls also has no effect on the HDMI output volume on stock, non-rooted Xoom 3.1.

ok so it is not just mine... Now the big question is if it is every xoom that has this issue or if it is just a selection?

Iv been asking about his for weeks. The sound output is terrible. Hooked up to my Sony system, same as OP says, no bass whatsoever. Same exact sound at same volume played through audio jack is giving my neighbor a heart massage.
Im really disappointed because I was hoping to output some nice tunes and even films but audio quality is unbearable.
Stock UK 3G on 3.0.1.
I demand answers :-D
Macbots drool as I XOOM through the Galaxy to my hearts Desire.

alias_neo said:
Iv been asking about his for weeks. The sound output is terrible. Hooked up to my Sony system, same as OP says, no bass whatsoever. Same exact sound at same volume played through audio jack is giving my neighbor a heart massage.
Im really disappointed because I was hoping to output some nice tunes and even films but audio quality is unbearable.
Stock UK 3G on 3.0.1.
I demand answers :-D
Macbots drool as I XOOM through the Galaxy to my hearts Desire.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad to see this thread too. I've asked about this in other threads and on other forums and the only type of response I get is something like "I hooked it up to my tiny TV and opened the radio Disney app and it sounded just fine!" So it's good to hear people with ears noticing what I've been noticing.
That being said, from what I've been able to research it's either a problem with honeycomb's media player app or honeycomb itself. I've looked at the kernel code and while I did discover that the sample rate is hard coded to 44100 for the audio (with a TODO note in there to make it configurable eventually) I didn't see any errors that would cause it, unless it has to do with the fact that the kernel driver is forcing it to 2 channels but it's possible that honeycomb separates the sub woofer channel which is then discarded by the lower level drivers. Another theory is that they apply some equalization to the sound to make it sound decent on the internal speakers and that sound equalization gets applied to HDMI out as well (but not headphone out). What do you guys think?

Would be interesting to see how other HC devices perform in this area, sound quality, and video quality over HDMI. That might help to pin point weather this is a HC issue or a Xoom hardware issue.
The other HC devices that could be tested:
Acer Iconia Tab -- NO HDMI out
Galaxy Tab 10.1 -- NO HDMI out (proprietary dock connector for video out?)
Tmobile Gslate -- NO HDMI out
Asus Transformer -- Yes (Mini HDMI (Type C))
FWIW the Asus Transformer has the HDMI port is on the device and not on the keyboard accessory.
Xooms HDMI is listed as: "HDMI Type D (HDMI 1.4) connector"
I wonder what the quality of the Asus Transformer has on HDMI out, I wonder if it even does full mirror mode.
Wait, serioulsy only one other HC device has an HDMI out? Strange.
I wonder how GingerBread or Froyo quality is with HDMI mirror, are there any android phones with out of the box HDMI out with mirror?
My EVO has HDMI out but it doesn't mirror out of box, I think there is way with custom roms/kernels to get EVO HDMI mirror working.
Droid X has HDMI but no mirror unless you root, and install a special APK.
Are there any android phones with HDMI out mirror?

pearl62 said:
I have the same problem... Connecting the audio via the 3.5mm jack sounds great, but connecting via HDMI seems to only send 2 channel audio, with no bass, maybe even at a lower bit rate (not sure, but it sure sounds crappy).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Greetings. Same problem with HDMI....workable, tolerable with EQ on amp. However....steaming music through Tune In radio or any other service is where I have a problem with the 3.5mm. Music Beta starts automatically. No matter what I do I can't get it to stop.
Suggestions...workarounds? Do I need to root the thing and remove Music Beta and go third party?

The Acer Iconia A500 does have micro HDMI out

Hi all,
Sorry to go against the majority here but connecting the Xoom to my Dell 21.5" HD Monitor with a Motorola Micro HDMI to HDMI cable is bringing me great results the picture quality is stunning. For sound i use the Audio out on the monitor to take the sound to my JBL powered sub woofer and 4 speakers and this also sounds great and i can also use the volume controls on the Xoom to change the volume through the speaker system. Are you all using the Motorola cable or another make?
Marc

I have the same issue. Horrible audio unless I use a 3.5mm Jack. I want good HDMI out... :'(
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App

what9000 said:
I have the same issue. Horrible audio unless I use a 3.5mm Jack. I want good HDMI out... :'(
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. As soon as I started playing a movie through HDMI out I knew something was wrong. Came on here for an explanation or a solution, guess its down to a software limitation?

someone should bring this up in the Motorola owners forum. The forum mod there, Mmat, is really good about addressing issues the community brings to light and telling the software team

Epedemic said:
Hi
I just got a UK Wi-Fi Xoom, and started out by installing 3.1 and tiamat 1.4 OC kernel on it.
Now i hooked it up to my amp/tv (Onkyo amp, Panasonic TV) but no matter what i played, the audio quality was really poor (no bass, sounded like 8khz mono). Actually the audio coming from the built in speakers sound better! The cable should be fine, as i briefly tried it with an Optimus 2X, and as far as i remember audio was fine...
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can take another HDMI machine to test your tv. the HDMI line is also very important. my xoom is run well in my sharp tv.

I have the same problem with the sound quality that I get when connecting my WiFi only Xoom to my HT system. I tried connecting to a Bose lifestyle V30 and I get sound but it is just flat. No bass what so ever and only get sound from my center speaker. I tried a different HDMI input in the Bose system with the same result. If I connect the Xoom via headphone jack to RCA imput it woks just fine and get good quality sound.
I tried connecting to a Denon AVR-2308CI and I get the same result that I get with the Bose system. I have used 3 different HDMI cables, including a Motorola brand. No difference. Picture quality is great in all cases but the sound is just flat.
Now the question is: Is this a hardware or a software limitation?

[Q] How do I record from an external audio source (Microphone/Line-In)

Hi, I hope you can help me out.
I'm trying to record some audio through the 2-in-1-combo-audio jack.
Everytime I connect an external music player to the transformer via audio jack, the transformer does not recognize that somethign is plugged in, but it thinks I want to use headphones (jack as output).
How can I swith to mic mode (jack as input)? Do I have to use a special asus app or is there a good app in the market that can do this?
Thx in Advance!

I doubt that you be able to do that

Why?
The specifications are very clear:
1 x 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Headphone/Mic-in)
Or do I understand this wrong?

I would guess that it will only recognize the microphone when it is connected via a 2 ring connector like a headset/mic combo. A mic by itself would not have a connection that the hardware could recognize.
I am only theorizing based on my experience with with an iPhone.

Hope you like mono recordings...
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

Maybe it can be achieved after 3.1 and with USB?

FletchGeek said:
I would guess that it will only recognize the microphone when it is connected via a 2 ring connector like a headset/mic combo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I think you are right, a member of another forum told me the same, that he plugged in an Apple Iphone Headset and the external mic on the headset worked. I also have such combo headsets with the same plug but they dont work. The internal mic still was still active. Could anyone please try to connect your headset and post if
1) the external mic will work
2) the internal mic gets deactivated.
3) and what headset is beeing used?
THX!
Hope you like mono recordings...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will only use it to record voice, so thats ok.
Maybe it can be achieved after 3.1 and with USB?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe then with additional Accessories, I hope to do this with the standard audio jack, which should be able to do that... at least according to the specs.

Quite possibly it would just need software to work. Since it is in the specs, a headphone/mic combination should work. I noticed tigerdirect was selling a combination headphone/mic as a bundle with the transformer.

You're going to want a 4 pin headset (mic/left/right/ground), which is how modern devices do dual input/output audio. Standard mics are 3 pins (L/R/Ground) just like normal headphones, therefore the hardware cant differentiate. Now the issue may come up on the arrangement of the headset pins. Prior to the iPhone, the standard 4 pin headset was configured in such a way that they would not work as normal headphones in devices that weren't meant to support headsets but Apple (or someone around that time) came along and switched up the order so that a 4 pin headset would be backwards compatible with a 3 pin jack -- a superior setup I say hesitantly, with the only con being that old headsets and new jacks are incompatible and new headphones with old (4 pin) jacks. If Asus is using the old standard, then an iPhone headset would not work and if Asus is using the new standard, then an old headset would not work.

Finally, it works!
I wanted to use an external audio source. You have to connect the cable first to the transformer, and AFTERWARDS connect the other side to the audio source. Only in this order the internal mic becomes deactivated.
If there is any signal on the cable while plugging it in into the Transformer, the internal mic is still active. I've attached my "cable construction".
The side with 4 pins goes into the transformer the 3 pins into a mono audio source (normal Headset Output). This works fine for me since I'm only recording voice (mono channel).
Problem solved!

HDMI Audio problem

I got the HDMI adapter, and it works really well. You do have to attach the power cord from your Note to get it to work, but on the plus side it does charge your note while watching HDMI output.
One problem though. Under "Settings/Accessory/HDMI Audio Output" you can select "Stereo" or "Surround". When using "Stereo" (The default setting), the sound is great. Select "Surround" though, and the sound quality becomes so choppy as to be unusable. Both modes result in a 5.1 PCM signal being sent to the receiver, but with "Stereo" checked sound is only actually supplied to the Left and Right front speakers. I am running the OTA update. Is anyone else experiencing this situation?
Thanks!

Nakel said:
I got the HDMI adapter, and it works really well. You do have to attach the power cord from your Note to get it to work, but on the plus side it does charge your note while watching HDMI output.
One problem though. Under "Settings/Accessory/HDMI Audio Output" you can select "Stereo" or "Surround". When using "Stereo" (The default setting), the sound is great. Select "Surround" though, and the sound quality becomes so choppy as to be unusable. Both modes result in a 5.1 PCM signal being sent to the receiver, but with "Stereo" checked sound is only actually supplied to the Left and Right front speakers. I am running the OTA update. Is anyone else experiencing this situation?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was looking for hdmi audio issues. My problem is i get no sound when i use my hdmi adapter from the tab to the tv. The box pops up and i select stereo but no sound. Is there a setting anywhere i need to fix to get sound when the hdmi is hooked up?

When I have the HDMI cable plugged into the TV the HDMI audio in settings is grayed out. I cannot get any sound at all when I try and use the HDMI adapter. I have the latest rooted firmware and the mybrainhurts kernel. I used the tab before I rooted and was on the original firmware and HDMI worked fine. Any help would be appreciated. Also if I use my Bluetooth speaker I get sound that way but it seems Bluetooth gives a slight delay in sound.

I can't think of any reason why sound shouldn't be working. Try a different HDMI cable. If that doesn't work my guess is your HDMI adapter is bad.
The HDMI audio options are grayed out once you have plugged in a HDMI cable. You have to select your option before you plug in the adapter.

Nakel said:
I can't think of any reason why sound shouldn't be working. Try a different HDMI cable. If that doesn't work my guess is your HDMI adapter is bad.
The HDMI audio options are grayed out once you have plugged in a HDMI cable. You have to select your option before you plug in the adapter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can try a different cable when I get home but this same cable is working fine from my laptop to this same TV. I am in a hotel room right now. I had a Galaxy Tab 10.1 I used before I got my Note. I am assuming the adapter will work on both but maybe not. I had it playing at home but when I was using it I had the sound turned down. (was watching a baseball game on MLB)

USB Type C to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter

My issue
Hi everyone, I have a Nexus 6P and want to route my audio through a USB type C converter to 3.5mm headphone Jack. I have purchased one online, but it doesn't seem to be working. I have seen that the Moto Z has this adapter and I assumed one I found online would be compatible with my 6P. The reason I want to do this is because I prefer for the AUX jack to come out the bottom of my phone.
What I have tired
Changed 'Select USB Configuration' to all the different options and tried playing music.
Tried 'audio routing' apps from the app store
What I would like to know
Is this because I need to change a setting in my phone to route music out of the USB C?
Do I need to get some kind of DAC to allow support for this?
Has anyone else tried this with their phone?
Thanks
broj0nes

Subscribed. Interested in the solution.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

If you don't mind my asking, why bother?

eregev said:
If you don't mind my asking, why bother?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One reason is that to me it makes more sense to put your phone upside down into you pocket. I've always done this at least. So when listening to music I have to put it the other way round. I have also heard the USB C port offers better sound quality.

brotherj0nes said:
One reason is that to me it makes more sense to put your phone upside down into you pocket. I've always done this at least. So when listening to music I have to put it the other way round. I have also heard the USB C port offers better sound quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Re:sound quality, you'd possibly see a quality increase if you use an external Digital to Analogue Converter or fully usb-c headphones. BUT, if you're using a little dongle (if it's possible), then the phone is still managing the analogue conversion and, thus, a very similar quality of audio output. Now I don't know of the 6p's ability to pipe it straight out iPhone 7 style through a dongle, but short of buying a DAC and going whole-hog on an audio upgrade, I'd just flip your phone the other way in your pocket and go the standard route.
Just my $.02

I have been looking for a solution to this too and I seem to have found one. I poked around on Amazon and I think I finally found adapters that work, here's the link https://goo.gl/QT2ith This the only one with positive reviews so when it comes in on the 30th I'll let all of you know.

sgandy2989 said:
I have been looking for a solution to this too and I seem to have found one. I poked around on Amazon and I think I finally found adapters that work, here's the link https://goo.gl/QT2ith This the only one with positive reviews so when it comes in on the 30th I'll let all of you know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks quite similar to the one that I got. Hopefully it works for you! Let me know how it goes

I read recently that the current implementation of audio over USB-C isn't very efficient or battery friendly. There's a new spec being ratified to provide audio like the iphone can. Hopefully that's a firmware change and not a hardware one.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/17/12519936/intel-usb-type-c-headphone-jack-replacement-idf-2016

I don't think it's possible on the 6P, not without using a USB DAC anyway.
As far as I'm aware, the adapter you have is for a USB 3/3.1 interface. While the 6P has USB-C it is USB 2.

I'm able to get audio out of my USB C port, but it's with a USB headset. Haven't tried it with a 3.5mm headphone adapter, but havd no reason to try it either.

This is weird. Because i have a pair of Sennheiser Urbanites (Wireless edition), and i can use bluetooth, aux, and usb (like for a computer) audio. I once tried to turn off the headsets (bluetooth off, aux and usb still works if connected), and turned off bluetooth on my phone. Then i used my USB type C to USB type A Female adapter (from the google store), and connected the usb-cable from the headsets into the type c adapter. it did output audio through the usb-cable.

Mgrev said:
This is weird. Because i have a pair of Sennheiser Urbanites (Wireless edition), and i can use bluetooth, aux, and usb (like for a computer) audio. I once tried to turn off the headsets (bluetooth off, aux and usb still works if connected), and turned off bluetooth on my phone. Then i used my USB type C to USB type A Female adapter (from the google store), and connected the usb-cable from the headsets into the type c adapter. it did output audio through the usb-cable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bluetooth headphones usually have their own DAC, so the audio for all but the Aux is still being sent through the DAC first, which is supported by older USB standards.
The new USB 3.1 Audio standard can pass through analogue audio from the internal DAC, which is what I believe phones such as the Moto Z utilise. Otherwise the adapter would require it's own DAC, which would make it far larger and more expensive.

Not sure if you will find a good solution at the moment since they just created a standard for audio over usb c http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160927006252/en/USB-IF-Announces-USB-Audio-Device-Class-3.0

Did the amazon converter end up working for you?

My experience so far.
Hi, I ordered some usb c to 3.5mm & out of the box so far they aren't working. I tried Neutron and tried to force the audio to usb but unsuccessfully with phone not recognizing the USB connection.
On the other hand the type C to usb-a adapter worked beautifully using mixplorer. If I get working, will update. Thanks.

Very bad sound quality via earphones

Hi, I using Mix 2s and the quality of sound on earphones is quite a disaster.
Sound is very grainy and there is a lot of static noise in some songs. I am using Spotify Premium with very high-quality settings and the sound on wireless and wired earphones is the same - means very bad. So, it’s not just bad piece of set.
I was blaming the audio codec on Bluetooth as my BT earphones should be able to use ACC codec, but there is just SBC available in developer option. I heard the BT codec issue in last Global MIUI I am using global 10.2.2) not allowing to use any codec outside SBC, but the sound is the same on wired earphones.
Does anyone experience the same issue with sound quality?

Kubis01 said:
Hi, I using Mix 2s and the quality of sound on earphones is quite a disaster.
Sound is very grainy and there is a lot of static noise in some songs. I am using Spotify Premium with very high-quality settings and the sound on wireless and wired earphones is the same - means very bad. So, it’s not just bad piece of set.
I was blaming the audio codec on Bluetooth as my BT earphones should be able to use ACC codec, but there is just SBC available in developer option. I heard the BT codec issue in last Global MIUI I am using global 10.2.2) not allowing to use any codec outside SBC, but the sound is the same on wired earphones.
Does anyone experience the same issue with sound quality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no issues on LineageOS (wired and BT LDAC).

I am using 10.2.2 stable too and i do not have any troubles with sound quality. Using spotify, sound is fine with Bluetooth and wired phones.

koalalump said:
I am using 10.2.2 stable too and i do not have any troubles with sound quality. Using spotify, sound is fine with Bluetooth and wired phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, and are you able to connect to BT headseat with any other codec then SBC? I am able to change that in developer option but it always go back to default after leaving menu.

Kubis01 said:
Thank you, and are you able to connect to BT headseat with any other codec then SBC? I am able to change that in developer option but it always go back to default after leaving menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have tried Mix2s with 3 different phones at home on BT and headset. Samsung A8, Honor 8 Pro and iPhone 6s and most ****ty sound by class is from Xiaomi, which makes me very sad as this is my daily driver... will try MIUI EU if this makes any difference or sell my Xiaomi device.

I come from a redmi note 4X and dont notice any problems with it. I have a brainwavz BLU200, which supports aptx.
Maybe the phone is recognizing the headphones as a headset (for calls which utterly kills the sound quality).

xumixu said:
I come from a redmi note 4X and dont notice any problems with it. I have a brainwavz BLU200, which supports aptx.
Maybe the phone is recognizing the headphones as a headset (for calls which utterly kills the sound quality).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, but this is not the case. The sound is bad also on wired headphones. Sound is flat, lot of static noise, missing any stage. By class worst sound from 4 phones I can find at home. I will try different USB C to 3.5 mm adapter if helps.

Ouch, I have not tried the usb adapter with my wired headphones. I'm scared to try now (ignorance is bliss?).

Kubis01 said:
Thank you, and are you able to connect to BT headseat with any other codec then SBC? I am able to change that in developer option but it always go back to default after leaving menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My LDAC headphones work well. I am afraid there's something wrong with your device and I'd recommend to have it repaired.

Just tested the wired audio with my Brainwavz HM5 and i found it awesome. Also i have searched a bit on the net and seems that the mi mix 2s outputs analog over the USB-C adapter. The sounds come from the DAC on the SoC (SD845) which seems to be a quite nice DAC (https://semiaccurate.com/2017/12/19/qualcomm-ups-audio-ante-snapdragon-845/) to be a cellphone.
Try wiping and flashing a stock rom. If that dont fix it, I suspect that your case is a hardware problem.
And last but not less important, i'm not an audiophile so maybe what i hear good is subpar to you, but if the sound would be as bad, way more people would have complained by now.

Thank you. I have tried different USB-C to 3,5mm adapter then standard Xiaomi one and grain is about 50% less so positive news here, but sound is still flat and dont have any sound stage. May be I am to picky and got luck with my previous phones. I have ordered external DAC adapter to solve this problem as on the other hand this is only problem I have with the phone.

I one of my friends found the core of the problem. He sad to have iPhone 7 that sounds ****ty as well. He had found out after about year of searching and two sets of headphones that somewhere in some different settings was set MONO sound only. My problem was same and very stupid! For my IQ deffence I don't know why this settings is not located in sound section. So problem solved and thank everybody for help! For anyone having this issue you can deactivate Mono sound in Settings -> Additional Settings -> Accessibility -> Turn off "Mono Audio"