Database Info

Replacement headphones

HTC apparently is no longer replacing headphones. I've had a ticket in with them for a solid week now with absolutely no updates from HTC.
Does anyone know where to get headphones with next/play/prev buttons and a mic?
I can find plenty with JUST play/pause, but pretty much NONE with prev/play/next and microphone!
It seems the Desire uses the same headphones, so I thought maybe I could find those, but they pretty much do not exist online. Going nuts here! I use these things every day, it's such a bummer. I'm using my old ipod headphones now but the sound quality is utter garbage and theres no play controls.

Have you tried calling them? I just called them this afternoon and told them my battery was going bad and that i "misplaced" my earphones. After a few minutes of chat chtting, they're sending me a replacement battery and earphones.

I've talked to them three times now, they just keep saying it should be happening and they don't know why it's not. They never give me a tracking number or anything. It's like stuck in limbo.
It doesn't even matter. I don't care if they are free or even if they are HTC... it's the functionality I'm after!!

whats wrong with them?
Mine actually doesn't work, the buttons don't respond, and the mic doesn't work either..
is this an issue that was going around?

My buttons don't work and the left ear piece quit as well. Only a couple months use!

I lost mine last week, I called them and they sent me a replacement, they arrived in 72 hours.

W.T.F. sigh. Why is it I always have to spend at least 10 hours to get anything done over a phone support line.

Bose Mobile In-Ear Headset. Best sound quality and comes with microphone, play/pause, and I think a double click goes to next song.
Expensive but worth it. Google it or search Bose online.

bradsh1 said:
HTC apparently is no longer replacing headphones. I've had a ticket in with them for a solid week now with absolutely no updates from HTC.
Does anyone know where to get headphones with next/play/prev buttons and a mic?
I can find plenty with JUST play/pause, but pretty much NONE with prev/play/next and microphone!
It seems the Desire uses the same headphones, so I thought maybe I could find those, but they pretty much do not exist online. Going nuts here! I use these things every day, it's such a bummer. I'm using my old ipod headphones now but the sound quality is utter garbage and theres no play controls.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you looking to buy a expensive pair, then these are the best Etymotic HF2 High Fidelity Headphones.

The problem is I want high quality but I also want earbud because I need to be able to pause and talk to people without taking them out of my ears. I know earbud and quality don't go together, but the HTC earbuds that came with the phone are honestly some of the best earbuds I've ever heard. Far and away better than the garbage buds that comes with Apple's electronics, and better than most aftermarket ear buds too.

Buy this one, and put normal headphones in this one.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.33718
or this
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.35002
.....and free shipping.

I personally think the stock headphones with the Android characters look a little silly, which is why I never opened my headphones when I got my N1. But that's just a personal preference. If it were me, I'd get and use something else other than the stock headphones.

finally found them. http://www.expansys-usa.com/d.aspx?i=192376 these should be the same ones that shipped, but without the android logo on the side. instead they say "HTC Innovation".

Nevermind, they aren't the same. They are precisely alike except the next/prev buttons do not work. Thanks for making all of your identical **** work together, HTC.

cvenk said:
Buy this one, and put normal headphones in this one.
dealextreme/details.dx/sku.33718
or this
dealextreme/details.dx/sku.35002
.....and free shipping.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The sku.33718 do not work on my Nexus One. Just got one. The cable is somewhat on the thick side and the control panel is also big. Either they don't work or my phone is defective.
My stock headphones are not able to pause/play or answer calls. This happen about a month ago.
I think I'm going to try and get HTC to send me new stock headphones. If the replacements don't work, then the problem is with my phone...either software or hardware related.
Also the MW600 is pretty much out of stock in the USA. I'm thinking of importing as it is very important to me to be able to stop/start/play/answer my phone without taking it out of my pocket.

I've been having the same problems. None of my buttons work, the left earbud's quit on me, and they keep shocking me. HTC won't respond to a support request (I got this replacement back in February.), and I've tried calling them about it.
Cant' find OEM's online either, anyone had luck since?

I don't know if you ever got this resolved, but I actually had lost my headset that i had with my N1 and when I called they had no problem helping me and sent me a new pair within four days at no cost to me. I'm very happy with them. This took place around the 25th of April and I received them about the 29th or 30th.

htc replaced mine.
I called today to replace mine. They actually and I quote said.. " I'm surprised they lasted u this long".. they replace no charge for shipping or anything..

nexusdrummer said:
Bose Mobile In-Ear Headset. Best sound quality and comes with microphone, play/pause, and I think a double click goes to next song.
Expensive but worth it. Google it or search Bose online.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
129 dollars?????

ChillRays said:
129 dollars?????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally worth it if you want something that doesn't sound like total **** (read: the stock headphones).

[Q] Volume Balance

Hi all,
Sorry to start a thread for this, but I couldn't find a single thread anywhere on the net covering this issue for this phone.
When using headphones, my One X is slightly louder in the left ear than the right. I have fairly sensitive hearing, so perhaps not everyone would notice/care, but it's really bugging me.
I've tried turning the headphones around, and sure enough the problem reverses, so I know it's not my ears. I've also tried 2 different pairs of headphones, and they both did the same thing. And I've tried the same headphones on a different device, and they're fine. So it has to be the phone.
I tested using music on the stock player, and podcasts on BeyondPod Pro.
Has anybody had this problem or heard of it?
Thanks!
Simon

SimonM123 said:
Hi all,
Sorry to start a thread for this, but I couldn't find a single thread anywhere on the net covering this issue for this phone.
When using headphones, my One X is slightly louder in the left ear than the right. I have fairly sensitive hearing, so perhaps not everyone would notice/care, but it's really bugging me.
I've tried turning the headphones around, and sure enough the problem reverses, so I know it's not my ears. I've also tried 2 different pairs of headphones, and they both did the same thing. And I've tried the same headphones on a different device, and they're fine. So it has to be the phone.
I tested using music on the stock player, and podcasts on BeyondPod Pro.
Has anybody had this problem or heard of it?
Thanks!
Simon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd have said it was the headphones had you not already tried that. Very strange. If it's still under the 30 day I'd return it.
Have you tried cleaning the headphone port? Sometimes lint can get in there. It's messed with my balance before.

Hi,
try with a BT headset.
regards

There is an app called "jetAudio" which is an awesome music player with tons of features, one of the things you can do is change the balance between the left and right headphones. It only works for music played through that app though.

Possible design fault
Well I got a replacement... actually, I'm now on my fifth One X, and once again, the volume is slightly higher on the left.
Once again, I've tested this in every way I can to rule out deficiencies in my ears and headphones. The phone itself sends higher volume to the left ear.
Surely 5 devices can't all have the same fault. The same file on the same headphones is perfectly balanced on PC, and left-biased on the One X. This is a design fault of some sort. If you can't hear the same problem, you're lucky to have insensitive ears, but compare in the same way I did and you'll notice. It's deeply frustrating.
I think I'm going to have to swap for a Galaxy S3 and plump for the extra line rental in order to get it. Sad to say it but, after so many faults in various ways, the One X definitely takes the crown for the worst smartphone I've ever had. Gutted as it has all the right ingredients, but they have seriously, SERIOUSLY skimped on production standards. The screen edge issue and rattling problem have also been present on all 5 One X's I've been sent, and most of them have the camera not properly centered within the back of the phone. Details, but on a £500 device, they ought to be sorted.

what if your right ear is slightly deaf?

But I've tried the same headphones and the same audio files on the phone and PC, and on the PC it's fine. And when I turn the headphones around, the problem reverses, right channel is louder. Tried multiple headphones and multiple audio files to verify, most noticable with audio files.
I went to Carphone Warehouse (didn't buy it there) to see if they had any phones I could compare it with, but they didn't have any live demo units. But they did suggest it could be the O2 custom firmware build causing it somehow - I don't see why O2 would mess with the audio processing though, seems suspicious.

SimonM123 said:
Well I got a replacement... actually, I'm now on my fifth One X, and once again, the volume is slightly higher on the left.
Once again, I've tested this in every way I can to rule out deficiencies in my ears and headphones. The phone itself sends higher volume to the left ear.
Surely 5 devices can't all have the same fault. The same file on the same headphones is perfectly balanced on PC, and left-biased on the One X. This is a design fault of some sort. If you can't hear the same problem, you're lucky to have insensitive ears, but compare in the same way I did and you'll notice. It's deeply frustrating.
I think I'm going to have to swap for a Galaxy S3 and plump for the extra line rental in order to get it. Sad to say it but, after so many faults in various ways, the One X definitely takes the crown for the worst smartphone I've ever had. Gutted as it has all the right ingredients, but they have seriously, SERIOUSLY skimped on production standards. The screen edge issue and rattling problem have also been present on all 5 One X's I've been sent, and most of them have the camera not properly centered within the back of the phone. Details, but on a £500 device, they ought to be sorted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have none of those issues, but mine also doesn't say att on the top. id guess the att branded device was a special batch.
Sent from my HTC One XL using xda premium

Well I sent the phone to HTC, they claimed to 'repair' it, but as far as I can tell all they did was a factory reset - it's still O2 branded and the volume is still biased.
Here's how I just tested it:
- Loaded up a podcast on the PC
- Loaded the same episode on the phone
- Used the same headphones and compared
And as ever, it's clearly left-biased. Not a strong bias, but enough that you're distinctly aware that the voice is on one side of your head.
Again, I have had 5 One X's with this problem. It is clearly a design fault, and it amazes me that no one else is picking up on this. Compare like I did.
To reiterate, using a balance knob on apps like PowerAmp does not answer this, as I'd need this on my podcasting, internet radio and video apps too.

Interesting... I tested this on an unbranded handset at Carphone Warehouse, and it was fine, perfectly balanced. So I thought it must be the O2 custom firmware causing the imbalance. But then I got a friend to test their unbranded One X, and he found very notable left-ear bias.
Additionally, I've had a few people around me test my phone to make sure I'm not imagining things. The bias is definitely there, on a large number of One X's. So at this point, I'm just trying to work out if it's harware or software related.
If any One X owners would be so kind, please try the following test. Load up an audio only file - this tends to exaggerate the effect as it's normally mono), and listen carefully to where the sound is centred in your head. My friend described it as 'sort of stuck above your left eye'. It's really irritating once you're aware of it and if we could work out whether this is hardware of software related, perhaps a fix can be thought about. If you swap the headphones around left to right and the bias follows, you can rule out deficiency in hearing.
I used an episode of the podcast Red Bar Radio, as I know the sound is dead-centre and it's quite bassy, compressed audio. Perfect on a PC - but it's almost unlistenably biased through a One X.
If anyone is willing to carefully test this for me, I'd really appreciate it. O2 are willing to swap for a refurbed SGS3 so the whole thing is up in the air, but I don't like an unsolved mystery, or this odd feeling of being one of a tiny number of people noticing this.

Aluminum foil.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

If you mean use aluminium foil to fix a potential wiring problem, then I understand - but that would require opening up the phone, which is not easy on this model, invalidating my warranty, and we don't even know for sure whether it's a hardware or software fault.
If it's an identifiable hardware fault, I can report it to HTC and possibly fixed. Honestly though, this just fits into the other myriad problems people have had with this phone that all stem from a lack of quality control at the factories. The design is superb, but the manufacturing process is evidently not so perfect, and it's possible that this is another example of it.
Or, it's a software bug, and I'm OK with flashing a generic ROM and losing warranty *if* I know for sure that'll fix it.

Or he's suggesting the material for a new head garment.
You should post up a reference audio file if you want to get more standardized results.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA Premium HD. In between FCs.

Vendetta-NY said:
You should post up a reference audio file if you want to get more standardized results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, good idea! This is one file where it's very evident (don't mean to promote any particular podcast, this is just definitely a centred source):
REMOVED

SimonM123 said:
Thanks, good idea! This is one file where it's very evident (don't mean to promote any particular podcast, this is just definitely a centred source):
http://redbarradio.net/content/shows/RBR-06-22-12.mp3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm I just tested it out on my at&t one x with a pair of Kensington headphones and didn't notice a thing.... maybe my ears are bad
Then again I'm running aokp on my phone so if its OS specific then I wouldn't be able to reproduce ur results...
I say flash a rom and be done with it. If it doesn't work out just flash stock rom back on and return it I'm sure they won't notice in time to stop u from returning it
Sent from my One X using xda app-developers app

Thanks for testing it, much appreciated. Hopefully a few more people will be as kind and then I'll make an informed decision. Just wish there was a way to know for sure if it was hardware of software, but I can't think of a test for that.

Will test in a bit, but I know the S4 variants of the HOX have WAY better audio quality than the Tegra 3 version. If you have audio problems on a Tegra 3 variant, dont be surprised.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

SimonM123 said:
Thanks, good idea! This is one file where it's very evident (don't mean to promote any particular podcast, this is just definitely a centred source):
http://redbarradio.net/content/shows/RBR-06-22-12.mp3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude. First off, put a parental advisory on that crap you're listening to before you post it up here. Way foul.
Second, go get your ears examined. That audio is dead centered. I listened through my reference Shure headphones. I'm a musician vocalist with pretty darned good hearing. But then just for haha's I patched the audio out to a mixing board and sampled for peaks at random places. Nothing out of sorts at all.
If you've swapped out FIVE UNITS for this perceived issue, I think it's time to look for causes other than the hardware. Just sayin.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA Premium HD. In between FCs. from my HTC One X using XDA Premium HD. In between FCs.

First off, sorry, you're right about the audio clip, should have added warning or picked another source.
Anyhow, as for my hearing, as I've said earlier in this thread, I've tried numerous tests to check this, including:
- Switching the headphones around left to right: the bias moves with it.
- Trying the same audio file with the same headphones on a PC and the phone in immediate succession: the file is centered on the PC, left-biased on the phone
- Having friends with the same phone try the file on my phone with mine and their headphones: left biased in all situations
- Wide variety of source files: all left biased
- Wide variety of applications for audio and video: all left biased
Additionally, you're clearly from the USA, and as somebody mentioned above the bug seems to be with the Tegra version, and I assume you're using the dual core 4G version.
Despite my faux-pas with that test file, I'm not actually an idiot, and I've used every method I can think of to screen out hearing deficiency as a cause.

Oh, here's a link to one of the sources that I got on that the Tegra 3 version isn't as good audiowise (and a few other ways IMO ) as the S4 variant.
As to vendetta-NY, don't gotta be so rude man.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/06/26/beats-me-why-htcs-amazing-sound-on-the-international-one-x-isnt-amazing-at-all-even-by-the-numbers/

Terrible speaker quality and distortion. Normal? or just defective?

So my Nexus 5's speaker is absolute garbage compared to my Nexus 5. the range is just non-existent and it has incredibly bad distortion during phone calls, and most music and videos.
Right now i'm ready to return the phone and spend another year with my nexus 4 over it, but before i do, i'm curious to know if mine might just be defective.
So to all the other owners, do you have distortion, pops and the like when making phone calls or having any audio through and how does it compare to your previous phones, especially any other Nexus 4 owners.
Right now my N4 sounds like my $150 desktop speakers compared to the N5.

neok44 said:
So my Nexus 5's speaker is absolute garbage compared to my Nexus 5. the range is just non-existent and it has incredibly bad distortion during phone calls, and most music and videos.
Right now i'm ready to return the phone and spend another year with my nexus 4 over it, but before i do, i'm curious to know if mine might just be defective.
So to all the other owners, do you have distortion, pops and the like when making phone calls or having any audio through and how does it compare to your previous phones, especially any other Nexus 4 owners.
Right now my N4 sounds like my $150 desktop speakers compared to the N5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats horrible, lets hope they are defective because i get my nexus 11/06 that would be a huge deal breaker if the speakers sounded like crap. coming from an htc one

HRodMusic said:
thats horrible, lets hope they are defective because i get my nexus 11/06 that would be a huge deal breaker if the speakers sounded like crap. coming from an htc one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's why i'm posting because i find it incredibly hard to believe that the Nexus 5, in 20 god damn 13 had worse speakers than my G1 from 2008. And just to test, i broke out my G1, MyTouch 3G and Nexus One, and played the same ringtones on each. No distortion on any device but the N5.
The Verge even said in their review that they had distortion on the speaker which almost leads me to think this is normal, and unacceptable.

HRodMusic said:
thats horrible, lets hope they are defective because i get my nexus 11/06 that would be a huge deal breaker if the speakers sounded like crap. coming from an htc one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all reviews are saying the speaker is terrible. same with the camera. but they're comparing it to 600+ dollar phones, you get what you pay for, the bulk on the 350 dollars is going toward the processor and screen

Enddo said:
all reviews are saying the speaker is terrible. same with the camera. but they're comparing it to 600+ dollar phones, you get what you pay for, the bulk on the 350 dollars is going toward the processor and screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is true, but my $300 Nexus 4 from a year ago sounds 100 times better than my $400 (32gb) nexus 5 from this year.
And also the whole $700/$350 thing is kinda bull****. Though that phone does cost $700 to buy, it costs the same as what a nexus costs, usually around $150-$200 to produce. Google just cuts out all the middle men and carrier BS to get the price to be that low. Yes they do make sacrifices but my damn G1 sounds better than my Nexus 5, so that has nothing to do with cost.

neok44 said:
So my Nexus 5's speaker is absolute garbage compared to my Nexus 5. the range is just non-existent and it has incredibly bad distortion during phone calls, and most music and videos.
Right now i'm ready to return the phone and spend another year with my nexus 4 over it, but before i do, i'm curious to know if mine might just be defective.
So to all the other owners, do you have distortion, pops and the like when making phone calls or having any audio through and how does it compare to your previous phones, especially any other Nexus 4 owners.
Right now my N4 sounds like my $150 desktop speakers compared to the N5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's not just you, I thought it was me!
I came from an HTC One X and the call quality is terrible; a bit like what I imagine being a little bit deaf is like and when I'm playing a video or have a call on speaker, the thing buzzes and vibrates. Not good compared to my previous phone.

ugh. this isn't looking good. i really was hoping i was the only one. Hope we get a lot more replies here tonight.

Only one speaker?
On mine I noticed only one side is playing the music? anyone else?
I'm hoping it's something like a mic and speaker... and not a deffective

Aydthird said:
On mine I noticed only one side is playing the music? anyone else?
I'm hoping it's something like a mic and speaker... and not a deffective
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats correct. one side is the speaker and one is the mic. evidently this is normal practice on the iphone and many other devices. I just found out today.
Hows your quality though?
Two things i hear the crackle/pop on guaranteed is the ringing of a phone call and for some reason Lindsey Stirlings Crystalize, the first 30-40 seconds. lots of other examples but those two are the easiest and most noticeable i found.

neok44 said:
So my Nexus 5's speaker is absolute garbage compared to my Nexus 5. the range is just non-existent and it has incredibly bad distortion during phone calls, and most music and videos.
Right now i'm ready to return the phone and spend another year with my nexus 4 over it, but before i do, i'm curious to know if mine might just be defective.
So to all the other owners, do you have distortion, pops and the like when making phone calls or having any audio through and how does it compare to your previous phones, especially any other Nexus 4 owners.
Right now my N4 sounds like my $150 desktop speakers compared to the N5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aydthird said:
On mine I noticed only one side is playing the music? anyone else?
I'm hoping it's something like a mic and speaker... and not a deffective
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just got my white 32gb N5 today and indeed mine is suffering from similar issues. At first I was thinking my right speaker was DOA but I later learned it's not a speaker at all and is a mic - the N5 is a mono device. So, I played some music, an audio book and tried out some ringtones. A pop was audible on some ringtones and the audiobook. The sound gets pretty distorted when at the top two levels. I wonder if the pop is down to the audio coding because now I've downloaded higher quality files, the pop has gone away and distortion not quite as bad at high levels. Yet to try out a phone call over the speaker.

I've tested some music at 320 bit rate and hd video on youtube and the play store and same issues. and then no issues at all on the nexus 4.

Great I was so excited to purchase my first nexus phone. Ugh
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

You know, I was at Pete's Coffee last night with my girlfriend and 2 people were talking next to us about this exact same issue. A man in his early 30s was talking to a buddy of his about the Nexus 5, and naturally, I zoned out from what my girlfriend had to say overheard their conversation.
They were talking about the Nexus 5 and how one of them who had the phone loved it, except he said the speaker was very poor quality.
Hopefully mine does not have this issue when it arrives this Thursday.

The Nexus 5's speaker is actually pretty darn good. Not quite HTC One level but damn close. It uses the same chip technology the HTC One has but only has a mono speaker on the bottom edge instead. It should be MUCH better than the Nexus 4, the Galaxy S4, or similar.
If it is sounding distorted, it is quite possibly a damaged speaker or chip, and should be RMA'ed. Reviews (unlike what some whacko said) have actually been pretty positive about the speaker.

Vincent Law said:
The Nexus 5's speaker is actually pretty darn good. Not quite HTC One level but damn close. It uses the same chip technology the HTC One has but only has a mono speaker on the bottom edge instead. It should be MUCH better than the Nexus 4, the Galaxy S4, or similar.
If it is sounding distorted, it is quite possibly a damaged speaker or chip, and should be RMA'ed. Reviews (unlike what some whacko said) have actually been pretty positive about the speaker.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your now the second person i've seen to say that it's good. How much have you tested it though? phone calls? loud movies? music?
I want to keep this phone, or at least get a replacement, but i got about 5 people with me saying they have similar issues so it's getting harder to imagine that it's a defect.

My sound is pretty faint. I'll be lucky if I hear a text or call
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

I have played music from a couple different sources at full volume and I haven't heard any distortion.

I actually just watched a full review of the phone here in the General section, and he says the speaker is absolutely great! although he does not ever test in the video.

Been using mine all day. A bit of music and a fair few YouTube video and I've not noticed any problems at all. Nowhere near as loud as the Note 2 I'm coming from, but few phones are as loud as it. So far I'm happy with speaker quality
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Well since some of you do not seem to have this issue I'm going to hope those of us with it just have defective units and i'm going to exchange mine.
If the one i get has the same issues though, i'll be sticking with my Nexus 4 for another year.

low speaker volume HW or SW issue?

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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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...
Click to expand...
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.

S6 Sound??

We all know the HTC One M9's sound is some of the best, if not the best around. And HTC made a pretty big deal about it with the unveiling.
I was waiting for Samsung to mention the sound of the S6, but they never said a word. Sound is very important to me in a phone and a dealbreaker if it's really poor.
Does anyone know what the specs are for the onboard sound?

Not much detail has come out other than the fact that the speaker is at the bottom and I think AndroidCentral said Samsung claimed its 50% better sound than S5, then added "and we agree that it doesn't sound as terrible" (I believe source is their review preview of S6) I personally use Bluetooth LG Tone+ so I almost never have to sorry bout the onboard speaker.

it will be louder, but as all samsung phones, it will still sound like a tin can. maybe one day samsung will finnally start taking notes from HTC (and the Sony Z3) when it comes to making a phone with proper sounding speaker(s) on a $500 device+

tft said:
it will be louder, but as all samsung phones, it will still sound like a tin can. maybe one day samsung will finnally start taking notes from HTC (and the Sony Z3) when it comes to making a phone with proper sounding speaker(s) on a $500 device+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly I doubt it, I don't think people use phone speakers enough to care. Most people just use Bluetooth speakers or head phones as opposed to the device's built in speaker, probably not worth the investment for Sammy. I like the idea don't get me wrong, just don't see it happening, at least not anytime in the next couple years.

Master Ramy said:
Honestly I doubt it, I don't think people use phone speakers enough to care. Most people just use Bluetooth speakers or head phones as opposed to the device's built in speaker, probably not worth the investment for Sammy. I like the idea don't get me wrong, just don't see it happening, at least not anytime in the next couple years.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
earbuds for music, yes, but a phone is a multimedia devices (videos, movies,etc) where dual front speakers really shine..

tft said:
... snip
on a $500 device+
... snip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me know where you can get an S6 for $500 please !!!

I reckon Samsung didn't mention it because they know it's something they won't beat HTC on with their current design structure.
Until you see two large speaker grilles on Samsung's devices like HTC's, there won't be any competition on that front. Software tricks only go so far.
Now what they could (and should) potentially look into is making a spectacle of the devices' abilities when it comes to headphone usage. That's something that they can make their mark with without the necessity of altering their more "form meets function" design style as opposed to HTC's more "function over form" style.

HTC boomsound speakers blew on my m7, several times. The m8 sounded good, but it doesn't justify such a terribly long phone with a 5" screen. That bezel is worse than iPhone bezels.
It's ugly. If the trade off for better speakers equals that design, then no way.

Missed the OP's question and just took it as a chance to complain about Samsung.. (tft)
Seriously. What are these HTC fan/Samsung hater people even doing here???
TO the OP.
I haven't seen the specs anywhere yet.
Note 4 Exynos had the Wolfson DAC. We can hope the premium S6 will get the same attention.
Most don't have a good enough system hooked up to the device to even notice the on board differences so I'm not sure it really matters.
Those that do have a good system probably aren't using a phone, as is through the headphone jack are they?

borimol said:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
Massive difference in speaker from S5 to S6...

It has a WolfsonMicro WM1840 sound chip.

borimol said:
It has a WolfsonMicro WM1840 sound chip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that good?

meboy said:
Missed the OP's question and just took it as a chance to complain about Samsung.. (tft)
Seriously. What are these HTC fan/Samsung hater people even doing here???
TO the OP.
I haven't seen the specs anywhere yet.
Note 4 Exynos had the Wolfson DAC. We can hope the premium S6 will get the same attention.
Most don't have a good enough system hooked up to the device to even notice the on board differences so I'm not sure it really matters.
Those that do have a good system probably aren't using a phone, as is through the headphone jack are they?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's called opinions, and everyone is entitled to have one. i have owned 3 galaxies since the s2, so i am aware of how crappy sounding samsung speakers have always been. it's fact that sony, htc, and hell, even apple have better sounding phones. it has sh*t to do with being a htc or Sony fanboy..
the s6 finally has improvement in sound, but nothing to brag about when comparing to other phones on the market.

@home said:
Is that good?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah but i think thats for the headphone jack only, the wolfson DAC is the best out of all the devices out there