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[BUG] Crackling sound on calls and music, can anyone help?

Hello,
I am a proud owner of a couple Android Phones since the HTC G1, the HTC Magic and so goes on.
Now I was very excited to get the Nexus S, but on the first day of use, after making all the updates to 2.3.2 and installing all my usual apps, I noticed a crackling sound when hearing music from the speakers.
I can not find the reason of this but would like to know if someone had a problem similar to mine, and if yes, if it was possible to solve it.
There are some facts about this crackling noise that I point as follow:
- The crackling sound is not present all the times. The phone works well when playing shorts sounds like ringtones and notifications. I can hear everything crystal clear;
- When I start to hear a song (tried many different players, all the same problem), or when I am playing a game that uses constant music or sound effects, the crackling sound starts after some minutes of perfect sound (usually between 01:00 and 01:30 of good playing);
- It seems like a irregular white noise, like playing a corrupted MP3 file, that gets in the middle of the media;
- It beguns with a low volume compared to the media and gets louder as time passes, until it gets more frequent and as louder as the music playing;
- At first I thought of a broken speaker, and checked the headphones, but the crackling sound appears when listening music on both headphones and external speakers;
- Then I noticed the crackling sound appears on long voice calls too.
Well... I thought it could be something related to the software, so tried the OEM recovery process (Settings > Privacy > Factory data reset), but it was not sucessfull.
[Q] Does anyone had a problem like mine?
[Q] Could someone point what could be the cause of it or a possible solutions?
Thanks in advance.
Jon

I noticed the same thing while listening to Pandora. Not sure what's going on. I'm on Modaco and don't know if its something in there or not.
I hear the noise after about 30 minutes of pandora.

I'm having the same issue running Modaco while listening to music via Spotify.
Just got back to the stock ROM, I'll see if it's any better and keep you guys posted.

I can now confirm that stock ROM is not affected by this issue.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

Stereo Audio Recording?

Can any of the early adopters here confirm whether the Pixel (not XL) is capable of recording stereo audio when capturing videos? All of the example videos I've seen on YouTube seem to be recorded with monaural audio.
This could be the only deal breaker for me. I take my HTC M8 to concerts frequently, and it captures phenomenal stereo audio that doesn't distort or clip in loud venues. As much as I like the Pixel, I would probably have to buy the HTC 10 instead if the audio recording capabilities were overlooked by Google.

bjamerican said:
Can any of the early adopters here confirm whether the Pixel (not XL) is capable of recording stereo audio when capturing videos? All of the example videos I've seen on YouTube seem to be recorded with monaural audio.
This could be the only deal breaker for me. I take my HTC M8 to concerts frequently, and it captures phenomenal stereo audio that doesn't distort or clip in loud venues. As much as I like the Pixel, I would probably have to buy the HTC 10 instead if the audio recording capabilities were overlooked by Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just did some testing for you. The built in video recorder records in mono. However, the Pixel obviously has the ability to record in stereo because I just tried the "Sony Audio recorder" on Google Play and it records stereo audio. If you just need audio and not video this has the ability to record very high quality stereo recordings.

gadgetgaz said:
I just did some testing for you. The built in video recorder records in mono. However, the Pixel obviously has the ability to record in stereo because I just tried the "Sony Audio recorder" on Google Play and it records stereo audio. If you just need audio and not video this has the ability to record very high quality stereo recordings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow thanks for looking into this!
I'm really disappointed to learn that the "best phone camera ever" doesn't record videos in stereo! Google really needs to address this in an app update quickly.
Good to know that the hardware is capable, at least. The Pixel also seems to do well in very high sound pressure levels too, based on concert clips I've seen posted on Youtube (this is something HTC has always excelled at).

bjamerican said:
Wow thanks for looking into this!
I'm really disappointed to learn that the "best phone camera ever" doesn't record videos in stereo! Google really needs to address this in an app update quickly.
Good to know that the hardware is capable, at least. The Pixel also seems to do well in very high sound pressure levels too, based on concert clips I've seen posted on Youtube (this is something HTC has always excelled at).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay.... It is not very meaningful as "stereo" it is not an XY or A-B studio recording physical pattern.
It is more useful for most people as a mono recording, less noise that is heavy left or right from handling phone to record a "home video" (of a meowing cat or cute baby etc)
That said I am an audio engineer and musician, and I can see a usefulness in having two sources, in case one is better. Mixing them might be better with some of each side panned to the other.
I just consider it two channel recording. Stereo is about perceiving a binaural field L+R, not just two paired signals. The analogy isn't moot. A single mic close to a sound source in a studio and one mic in a distant point that provides "room noise" or "reverb" is 2 channels, not a stereo.
So I think it better to know that there are many options and considerations to make when you do use an app to record with both mics as to how to mix the sources knowing they aren't intrinsically just stereo. That's why I prefer the built in camera app to just stick to mono which is overall better sound for most people. 2 channels only sound good if you do some "audio mixing" in a DAW....
Sent from my sailfish using XDA Labs

nednednerb said:
Okay.... It is not very meaningful as "stereo" it is not an XY or A-B studio recording physical pattern.
It is more useful for most people as a mono recording, less noise that is heavy left or right from handling phone to record a "home video" (of a meowing cat or cute baby etc)
That said I am an audio engineer and musician, and I can see a usefulness in having two sources, in case one is better. Mixing them might be better with some of each side panned to the other.
I just consider it two channel recording. Stereo is about perceiving a binaural field L+R, not just two paired signals. The analogy isn't moot. A single mic close to a sound source in a studio and one mic in a distant point that provides "room noise" or "reverb" is 2 channels, not a stereo.
So I think it better to know that there are many options and considerations to make when you do use an app to record with both mics as to how to mix the sources knowing they aren't intrinsically just stereo. That's why I prefer the built in camera app to just stick to mono which is overall better sound for most people. 2 channels only sound good if you do some "audio mixing" in a DAW....
Sent from my sailfish using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great information and very useful

gadgetgaz said:
I just did some testing for you. The built in video recorder records in mono. However, the Pixel obviously has the ability to record in stereo because I just tried the "Sony Audio recorder" on Google Play and it records stereo audio. If you just need audio and not video this has the ability to record very high quality stereo recordings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In your tests, did you compare the waveform of both channels to see if differences exist? How do you know the Sony app didn't just take the mono input and record it to both left and right channels?

Hi I didn't compare the waveforms I just listened to the audio. If you record a single sound source and rotate the phone while recording you can hear the sound going from one ear to the other on playback. If it was a mono recording you wouldn't be able to tell that the phone was being rotated at the time the recording was made.

So which mic is left, and which one is right?

Solutions Etcetera said:
In your tests, did you compare the waveform of both channels to see if differences exist? How do you know the Sony app didn't just take the mono input and record it to both left and right channels?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can easily tell immediately if a video was recorded with 1 or 2 channels of audio, especially when wearing headphones. Here is a clip I recorded with my HTC M8... Notice how the sound pans when I turn the camera away from the stage!
https://youtu.be/-yqL9uD2oxY
2 channels is simply more lifelike... We have two ears, so the Pixel should be using two mics for the most realistic audio.

Device: Pixel (sailfish) running Android 7.1 Nougat
One of our users (we are developers of an audio recorder app on Google Play) is reporting that the top microphone on the Pixel has a slight hiss (when he records stereo audio).
Is this an exception (maybe just a bad device) ? Or are other Pixel users seeing this as a general behavior on Pixels ?
This is confirmed when he records mono audio as well, by using the top microphone (aka "Camcorder" microphone). In our app, the user can choose the "Audio Source for Mono" and set it to Camcorder for the top microphone. For stereo, the user can modify the "Audio Source for Stereo" to find a setting that works best. Even the best setting there had a hiss when recording audio. Hiss was less obvious in certain environments.
Hiss in the top microphone on Android phones can be due to interference from the antenna. One can test if this is the cause, by turning on the Airplane Mode (which shuts off the antenna). Usually the hiss will disappear.
However, in his case the top microphone persisted in having that slight hiss (even with Airplane Mode set to On).
Thanks.
EDIT:
To test this with our app, you can search "mp3 recorder" on Google Play - our app is the "Amazing MP3 Recorder Pro" app there.
EDIT 2:
I have heard back from one person who is suggesting the problem is NOT universal to Pixel - and may just be a problem with that user's device (thus warranting a RMA - Return Merchandise authorization i.e. a return candidate).

Low Audio in Recorded Videos

Dear All Pixel 2 Users,
I bought my pixel 2 yesterday and I have observed that recorded video has very low audio volume I feel that this is because of the fact that Mike is not able to properly capture the audio while recording.
I tried to check the forums but did not get any help in this regard . Therefore I'm making a new thread and and hope that if you have come across this issue where the recorded video has low audio.
Same issue has been seen while recording videos in Instagram, Snapchat & other XYZ applications .
Pl can help me out so as to how to fix this issue or if this issue has already been addressed by Google you can let me know I'll be more than glad for your help in this regard looking forward for some constructive information.
I'm attaching a recorded file from the camera application of pixel 2 & after the recording I played the file & found that the audio level was low despite keeping my media volume at the top.
Hope it helps.
Also I'm uploading two videos recorded simultaneously on Instagram:
1. Pixel 2 (little warmer video)
2. One Plus 5 (more of highlighted)
Thanks in advance.

catch_doon said:
Dear All Pixel 2 Users,
I bought my pixel 2 yesterday and I have observed that recorded video has very low audio volume I feel that this is because of the fact that Mike is not able to properly capture the audio while recording.
I tried to check the forums but did not get any help in this regard . Therefore I'm making a new thread and and hope that if you have come across this issue where the recorded video has low audio.
Same issue has been seen while recording videos in Instagram, Snapchat & other XYZ applications .
Pl can help me out so as to how to fix this issue or if this issue has already been addressed by Google you can let me know I'll be more than glad for your help in this regard looking forward for some constructive information.
I'm attaching a recorded file from the camera application of pixel 2 & after the recording I played the file & found that the audio level was low despite keeping my media volume at the top.
Hope it helps.
Also I'm uploading two videos recorded simultaneously on Instagram:
1. Pixel 2 (little warmer video)
2. One Plus 5 (more of highlighted)
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just realized that I'm unable to upload the files so I'll provide the link to the same.
Pixel 2: https://photos.app.goo.gl/4EaQ1p1Z5JJXJDhQ2
OnePlus 5: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Co688TlgmIkFc0YB2

Both links report "Album is empty". Try uploading the files to some other sharing site (and make sure they're set so that anyone can download them - no passwords).

I'd like to add to this because this is the exact issue I've noticed on 4 separate devices at this point. It would be great to have some more people confirm whether or not it is an issue for them. Especially when I still have a week to exchange mine. I've posted this in a few places without much of a response from anyone:
I picked up a regular Pixel 2 phone a couple of days ago to finally retire my old Nexus 4. Incredible phone so far except for one glaring issue. It appears that anything recorded with the top microphone (using the Camera app, Snapchat, etc) is very quiet. If I hold my phone 1ft away from my face, I can barely hear myself at half volume. With headphones, if I use the recommended headphone volume (around a quarter volume) I can barely hear anything from a camera app recording done at a regular speaking volume. Regular calls are fine. Speakers/Headphones play everything else at expected levels. When I turn my volume to max volume, there's no distortion or clipping. Some of my friends have confirmed that recordings/snaps from me are very quiet on their phones. I would say it's roughly 2x-3x quieter than other phones I've used. It seems like there's an issue with microphone gain? No case blocking the mic. Sometimes, it seems like my mic improves but only for a few minute or two and I can't reproduce this on demand. I thought changing orientation in the camera seemed to trigger it once but subsequently it didn't work.
If I use the app Easy Voice Recorder with Main (bottom) microphone selected, everything seems to be a much better volume (still not as loud as some other phones). As soon as I select Rear (which appears to be the top mic used in other apps) it's significantly quieter, just like in the camera app.
I had a friend send me a recording from his Pixel 2 with the same issue. Both phones are up to date with 8.1 (February 5th patch). I have also tried a factory reset and safe reboot. I'm hesitant to bring my new phone into my carrier for an exchange based on this, it sounds like it might be a software bug rather than hardware. I've also met with co-workers who seem to have the same issue.. I'm aware from google searches that people have had recording volume issues with Pixel 2 XL but nobody has said anything about the regular Pixel 2.
Today I flashed back to 8.0. It also has this issue. I'm hoping to hear from some people with regular Pixel 2 phones on whether or not they have noticed a low recording volume in the camera app. I'm still in the window to exchange my phone, so I'll probably do that if I get some responses that lead me to believe it's a faulty hardware issue, but I'm not convinced at this point just because of the several phones I've witnessed with the same issue.
Even if you don't have this problem with your regular Pixel 2 phone I would love to get a response from you. Be sure to post what android version / patch you're using. Thanks!

No issues here since day one. I've had the October, November, and December updates. Recordings all sound loud and clear.

Gets fixed in November or December update

PunishedSnake said:
Gets fixed in November or December update
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which November do you mean? 2018?
I'm on February patch and the audio is clearly way too low. I took measurement comparisons with a Moto X Play and the Pixel performed 9dB below the the Motorola device. This is the difference for a single channel only because for whatever reason Google did not enable stereo recording although the device is equipped with 2 microphones. I don't know what you expect from a 800€ device but I find that anachronistic.
If you take the 2 channels on the Moto you will end up at 12dB lower audio.

2017, sorry you still have the issue. Try blowing out the mics or get it replaced.

Was there ever a fix for this issue? I just noticed this while doing some recording with an external mic. I don't notice it without the mic, and I don't have a problem with this external mic attached to other cameras.

Is there a fix for this yet?
My Pixel 2 still has this issue, very frustrating. The sound volume on the videos I record with it is very very low.
Cheers

catch_doon said:
Dear All Pixel 2 Users,
I bought my pixel 2 yesterday and I have observed that recorded video has very low audio volume I feel that this is because of the fact that Mike is not able to properly capture the audio while recording.
I tried to check the forums but did not get any help in this regard . Therefore I'm making a new thread and and hope that if you have come across this issue where the recorded video has low audio.
Same issue has been seen while recording videos in Instagram, Snapchat & other XYZ applications .
Pl can help me out so as to how to fix this issue or if this issue has already been addressed by Google you can let me know I'll be more than glad for your help in this regard looking forward for some constructive information.
I'm attaching a recorded file from the camera application of pixel 2 & after the recording I played the file & found that the audio level was low despite keeping my media volume at the top.
Hope it helps.
Also I'm uploading two videos recorded simultaneously on Instagram:
1. Pixel 2 (little warmer video)
2. One Plus 5 (more of highlighted)
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have a rooted phone there is some mods you can do directly, if not you can boost mic sensitivity using a third-party app in the play store.
But mic is loud on all my videos so it might be hardware or software related. If you post a video talking I can try to post one from mine for comparison

Microphone records only in mono?

Ok so I just got the Pixel 2 XL and realized that all audio recording on it is in mono. Even when I hooked up my blue yeti (set to stereo mode) the audio still got mixed down to mono. The reason why this is such a big deal to me is that recording just sounds awful compared to my Galaxy S5 that recorded in stereo.
Is this a hardware limitation on the Pixel 2 XLs side, or is it a software limitation? If it is software do I have hope that a custom rom in the future would be able to enable stereo recording?

There's one mic (unless you want different levels and quality on each channel) and one pin for mic input in the phone, so I'm guessing (it would be the way I'd have done it) they've only implemented one audio channel for the mic (hardware costs money). So even if you use a stereo mic, both channels are being fed to the same pin (or you're losing one channel, depending on the mic manufacturer and whether you have the mic set to stereo or mono), so the phone records in mono.
I haven't torn my phone apart - this is just a "how would I implement this if I were given the assignment" first approximation. (On second approximation, I'd probably split the mic input so a mono mic plug would hit both channels, but a stereo plug would maintain them separately, then run 2 channels in the phone, at least for video recording ... then present it to be shot down as being too expensive.) But I don't work for Google, so I have no idea what their design philosophy is.

There is definitely at least two mics, one bottom side that you speak into and one top side that is used for ambient noise reduction while you are on a call. This is the same setup that the original Pixel had except the ambient mic was on the rear, it too only recorded video with mono audio, but later on an audio system mod was made to enable stereo playback and capture; https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-xl/themes/mod-enabling-dual-speaker-audio-playback-t3492257 . Unfortunately an equivalent mod doesn't exist for our Pixel 2 yet, but hopefully someday it will.

Zenfone 6 audio sounds different from everything else?

I'm posting this based on my testing on various sources that the ZF6 sounds with my 3.5mm earphones sound different than my laptop, desktop, and galaxy S7. Desktop, laptop and my S7 sound identical.
Any rock song seem to be overly muffled on the ZF6 on my 3.5mm earphones and I can't seem to fix it. I have tried testing with various settings in AudioWizard and also tried disablling it to no avail.
Not sure if it was like this in Android 9 and also in Android 10.
Anyone else notice this?

I don't have any problem with audio. Have you tried another media player? I use Poweramp.

aleksander002 said:
I don't have any problem with audio. Have you tried another media player? I use Poweramp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried different media player, youtube, twitch. Everything sounds off on the ZF6 compared to my mentioned examples.

Can you elaborate more about what exactly makes it sound off? Weird frequency response, some kind of sound effect, distortions/cracks? I will try to compare my phone once more.

aleksander002 said:
Can you elaborate more about what exactly makes it sound off? Weird frequency response, some kind of sound effect, distortions/cracks? I will try to compare my phone once more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, English is not my first language.
As far as as describing the problem, there's no inherent "problem" with the sound per se, but most songs I listen to on a daily basis sounds very different and off in a really bad way. I've disabled AudioWizard, and also tweaked with the equalizer, bass, treble in AudioWizard and nothing.
I've kept my best in keeping everything same for testing. Like, listening to the same song, using the same earphones, and pretty much tried my best in keeping things in stock settings and same across my laptop, desktop, s7 and zf6 as best as I could.
I think there's some funky equalizer setting that is muffling certain "tones" in music and I can't access it or something. I have no idea.
Not rooted/locked bootloader if that makes any difference. No funky app or add-on that could possibly affect this.
Edit: try listening to this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3x8geNo31yg
the first 30 seconds sounds so obviously different to me. If this is not the case for you then something is wrong with my zf6 whether by some setting or defective

I can't hear any significant difference between my Zenfone 6 and a Acer Laptop without EQs. The music is quite old and not a high quality one but other than that everything plays fine.

Hi,
I do not own a Zenfone 6 but did own a Zenfone 5 last year and listened to a lot of music. I was coming from an HTC 10(the brand I went back to).
I did experience issues with the sound quality on the Zenfone 5 both on the external speaker and through headphones. The problem being an eq setting (which I had no power over) that lowers automatically the volume when low frequencies (any kind of percussions or beats) played fom either a music player or streaming app. The result was a "wavy" sound where volume fluctuated in a noticeable way, plunging down when low frequencies kicked in (I guess it's a way to stay under a certain maximum dB level?). The rest of the frequencies sounded muffled and blended together. Basically there wasn't a good sound separation even through the headphone jack.
No setting on AudioWizard could solve the issue and it was widely reported on the ZenTalk forums.
I remember a software update which claimed to solve the problem but simply ended rising the max volume through the jack, mantaining the sound distortion as it was. I found no solution whatsoever and switched brand.
I don't know if this problem changed on the 6 but what you describe sounds to me almost exactly what I experienced on the Zenfone 5.

It sounds like there was an output limiter of some kind which was altering the sound to avoid speaker distortion. I didn't notice this on my Zenfone 6. I've never had an Asus before though.

I had several problems with the audio from the 3.5 jack after updating to andoid 10, especially with the fm radio. I had to downgrade to android 9 to fix it.