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[Q] Speakers/Headphones Very Quiet

I'm wondering if anyone else is finding the audio output (be it by speaker or headphone), is very quiet? Whenever myself, or any of my friends go to watch a video or something on the Transformer, the first thing we do is try and turn up the volume even though its already at maximum. Even with a decent set of headphones (and I've tried multiple headphones), the audio is as loud as one would think.
I've done some searching through the forums, and tried to use this "Voodoo Sound Control", but it doesn't seem to give me many options. And when I tried the paid version, it said my device wasn't supported.
Anyways, I'm running Prime v1.9 with Netformer 1.6 kernel which i'm told has the Voodoo module in it.
Is there anything else I can try?

Yeah my headphone are pretty low but obly on certain videos same with the speakers. Try different videos and music see if there is a difderence.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App

diamantericos said:
Yeah my headphone are pretty low but obly on certain videos same with the speakers. Try different videos and music see if there is a difderence.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah, it seems pretty universally quiet no matter what I play. Music from my google music account, local podcasts I download to it, youtube videos, ustream videos, etc.
Whether it be through the speakers or through headphones, its just really quiet. I have tried several different headphones I have, and its all pretty much the same volume. It has to be almost completely quiet in whatever room I'm in so I can hear it.
I was hoping this Voodoo stuff may help, but doesn't appear to be compatible (the thread says it supports TF 3.0 or 3.1 and not 3.2).
I'm out of ideas.

Voodoo works fine on 3.1 and 3.2

Yeah, sound on the TF is mediocre at best and horrible on headphones. I use an app called EQ and it really helps for the built-in speakers but headphones still suck. Not enough amp power to push decent sound.

Oyeve said:
Yeah, sound on the TF is mediocre at best and horrible on headphones. I use an app called EQ and it really helps for the built-in speakers but headphones still suck. Not enough amp power to push decent sound.
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I use THIS while using my earbuds. Greatly improves the performance of low-sensitivity headphones. Works like a charm and I have to turn the inline volume down to 1/4 on my earbuds. For some reason DVD movies are played back with low volume and this FiiO has done wonders with improving the volume and clarity even.

AcIdC0R3 said:
I use THIS while using my earbuds. Greatly improves the performance of low-sensitivity headphones. Works like a charm and I have to turn the inline volume down to 1/4 on my earbuds. For some reason DVD movies are played back with low volume and this FiiO has done wonders with improving the volume and clarity even.
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Click to collapse
Looks like an ipod nano. Make have to check this out. Thanks for the heads-up.

Oyeve said:
Looks like an ipod nano. Make have to check this out. Thanks for the heads-up.
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Click to collapse
Voodoo control plus from the market is much better value for money, helps the devs in this forum and has truly amazing sound.
Using an external headphone amp like this is an ugly solution.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

wildestpixel said:
Voodoo control plus from the market is much better value for money, helps the devs in this forum and has truly amazing sound.
Using an external headphone amp like this is an ugly solution.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Unfortunately, that's not a feasable option for everybody. I own a B70 model TF as well as many others and I'm unable to gain ROOT so the FiiO is a better alternative than Voodoo control. Who's going to pay money for an app they can't even use unless your rooted.

AcIdC0R3 said:
Unfortunately, that's not a feasable option for everybody. I own a B70 model TF as well as many others and I'm unable to gain ROOT so the FiiO is a better alternative than Voodoo control. Who's going to pay money for an app they can't even use unless your rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just as well the OP is rooted.

Audio Quality

Appears awful when compared to my s5. Any Base makes vocal go almost to a pint you can't hear it and too much vocal results in tinny Base.
I've rooted and put v4a on the phone,but it's still awful with that too. Hoping a kernel with audio enhancements such as boeffla may make things better though?

you rooted S7E already?? WOW

I don't care about the audio quality of the noise coming out of that little noisemaker they call "speaker" but when I plug it in my car with the AUX cable, it seems to me so far that I have to fiddle with EQ much more than on my Note 5. The audio quality of LG Flex 2 was better than S5, Note 5 better than Flex 2, S7E... ? I don't know yet. Probably better than Flex 2 but it can't touch Note 5. IMHO
Note 5 has Wolfson chip AFAIK.What's in the S7E I don't know.

riso123 said:
Appears awful when compared to my s5. Any Base makes vocal go almost to a pint you can't hear it and too much vocal results in tinny Base.
I've rooted and put v4a on the phone,but it's still awful with that too. Hoping a kernel with audio enhancements such as boeffla may make things better though?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
V4A? May i ask how did you managed to install it on a enforcing kernel?
Could you please provide steps...

Player04 said:
you rooted S7E already?? WOW
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How?

Guys, check the kernel and ROM forum. Root has been available since Saturday.
V4a works by flagging a zip file that makes changes to v4a to allow it to work with kernel selinux enforced set, then put v4a in compatible mode. It sounds awful though for some reason.
Would highly recommend using neutron from the play store as I found this produces far superior sound quality.

Oh I should mention root is only available for exynos version and not snapdragon.

I find the audio fine using the music player neutron and have setup soundalive and UHQ upscaler and tube amp pro.
I use Sennheiser MOMENTUM In-Ear
http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/momentum-headphones-in-ear
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Aux Cord Noise~?
I'd love to know if I am the only one experiencing problems with using an auxiliary jack cord?
It's littered with noise no matter what. Headphones sound great though...
I returned my first device thinking there was a physical problem with the port only to find the same problem in this one.
5 different auxiliary cables purchased and tested all poor quality only on this device.

bey0nd said:
I'd love to know if I am the only one experiencing problems with using an auxiliary jack cord?
It's littered with noise no matter what. Headphones sound great though...
I returned my first device thinking there was a physical problem with the port only to find the same problem in this one.
5 different auxiliary cables purchased and tested all poor quality only on this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, same here. Switching on UHQ upscaler in sound setting fixes it. Sometimes, however, I have to toggle it off and on to get rid of the hissing noise.

GermanGuy said:
Yes, same here. Switching on UHQ upscaler in sound setting fixes it. Sometimes, however, I have to toggle it off and on to get rid of the hissing noise.
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I appreciate that, I'll have to try and let everyone know if that works.. I saw threads on other websites with no answers so really, thank you.
Seems rather odd even samsung support has no idea about this either.

But Samsung uhq upscaler work only with Samsung headphones (like level on wireless pro), so possibility of using this feature is limited

GermanGuy said:
Yes, same here. Switching on UHQ upscaler in sound setting fixes it. Sometimes, however, I have to toggle it off and on to get rid of the hissing noise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Identical issue for me as well. Thought I was going insane...tried three different aux cords and tried cleaning inputs in the car and on the phone. Headphones work fine. Toggling UHQ upscaler fixes the issue for me too. Very annoying....but glad I'm not the only one.

I am extremely disappointed with the S7 Edge's audio quality. First of all, the bundled earphones are bad and be it any file - FLAC UHQ 24 bit or an MP3, the sound pis very muddy. They fail to do justice to the lows and highs. Speaking for the device, my dad's Galaxy S5 sounds wonderful with heavy bass without compromising on the highs and the same goes with the Note 3. Samsung should have used a decent DAC and software to make the sound good for such a premium device. Even the low end Samsung devices have a good DAC.

abhijeetlokras said:
I am extremely disappointed with the S7 Edge's audio quality. First of all, the bundled earphones are bad and be it any file - FLAC UHQ 24 bit or an MP3, the sound pis very muddy. They fail to do justice to the lows and highs. Speaking for the device, my dad's Galaxy S5 sounds wonderful with heavy bass without compromising on the highs and the same goes with the Note 3. Samsung should have used a decent DAC and software to make the sound good for such a premium device. Even the low end Samsung devices have a good DAC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want a phone for Audio get a ZTE Axon 7, HTC 10, LG V20. Only devices that are aiming for great audio quality :good:

abhijeetlokras said:
I am extremely disappointed with the S7 Edge's audio quality. First of all, the bundled earphones are bad and be it any file - FLAC UHQ 24 bit or an MP3, the sound pis very muddy. They fail to do justice to the lows and highs. Speaking for the device, my dad's Galaxy S5 sounds wonderful with heavy bass without compromising on the highs and the same goes with the Note 3. Samsung should have used a decent DAC and software to make the sound good for such a premium device. Even the low end Samsung devices have a good DAC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
liam_davenport said:
If you want a phone for Audio get a ZTE Axon 7, HTC 10, LG V20. Only devices that are aiming for great audio quality :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is nothing wrong with the DAC. It has a low noise floor and the frequency graph is almost completely flat. The headphone amp however is nothing to write home about. On the Exynos version you can at least edit the mixer.xml file to reduce the gimping Samsung did to the volume level to get a much louder sound without distortion. My RHA MA 750i have plenty of bass without the need to EQ etc.
Oh and the stock buds SUCK ASS

Galactus said:
There is nothing wrong with the DAC. It has a low noise floor and the frequency graph is almost completely flat. The headphone amp however is nothing to write home about. On the Exynos version you can at least edit the mixer.xml file to reduce the gimping Samsung did to the volume level to get a much louder sound without distortion. My RHA MA 750i have plenty of bass without the need to EQ etc.
Oh and the stock buds SUCK ASS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't feel like rooting the phone! I regularly use S Health and Knox.. I hope Samsung fixes audio in the next update (if that's possible).

abhijeetlokras said:
Don't feel like rooting the phone! I regularly use S Health and Knox.. I hope Samsung fixes audio in the next update (if that's possible).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely not a need to root BUT if you do, you can still use S Health and Knox with Helios ROM (Stock with optional mods).
They won't. They've gone with the "good enough" approach with the audio rather than wanting to be the best.

Galactus said:
There is nothing wrong with the DAC. It has a low noise floor and the frequency graph is almost completely flat. The headphone amp however is nothing to write home about. On the Exynos version you can at least edit the mixer.xml file to reduce the gimping Samsung did to the volume level to get a much louder sound without distortion. My RHA MA 750i have plenty of bass without the need to EQ etc.
Oh and the stock buds SUCK ASS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What changes can be made to improve this?

riso123 said:
What changes can be made to improve this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just flash Zubi's sound mod.

Audio in jack

The quality of the sound with the Jack is not poor but even worse !
I got so disappointed by the sound in headphones through jack, compared with other even simple devices is awful.
The response is flat and the 3D sound is terrific, this should be a phone dedicated ALSO for gaming but quiet disappointing.
Moreover the phone is certified Hi-Res audio ... and it looks like a bad joke !
I bought it recently, I made several tests trying to find out if I had to make a fine tunning or something else, I tried several different headphones, even the Hi-Res Xiaomi Mi in-ear Pro but nothing good comes out.
Thinking to change it asap, unfortunately because over all I like all other specs and I feel enough satisfied.

Magnitudine said:
/snip
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What headphones did you use? And btw. this is audio out, not in.

grt67DFqyu said:
What headphones did you use? And btw. this is audio out, not in.
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Yes it's audio through jack, right.
About which headphones I used you can read , it's written.
I'm still trying to find out a tuning but mostly in 3D the perception is so flat.
I can say that before this phone I used : S10+, Rog Phone 2, X2 Pro, P20 Pro (just to have a compare with my latest competitors)

I'm using the audio jack with a FIO FH7 inear headphone with Poweramp, in this player you can activate the Hi-Res Output and the Sound is better than all i've ever heard on a smartphone. I've you use Spotify or something else that sounds boring with the same track like on Poweramp.
I think most players don't activate the Hi-Res output and thats the problem.
Good luck.
Jodes

Hi
The problem is with the region you have set if it's in the EU including the UK then change it to something like USA or St Helens as it's due to the recommended limit of 85db set by the EU. If found helpful please press the thanks button.
Hrishabh

I agree that the sound is quite flat, especially with the hi-fi audio option activated.
One thing I think is that it might be related to headphone impedance. I run Etymotic ER-4P's using an aftermarket cable without the normal 100 ohm resistor. When I add an adaptor with a 50 ohm resistor in series, the sound becomes more dynamic and the soundstage is bigger.
In a way it's logical, because many hi-fi headphones (especially large ones) have a higher impedance.
Running audio mods such as narsil and viper4android allows me to correct the sound a little bit.

Hrishabh2005 said:
Hi
The problem is with the region you have set if it's in the EU including the UK then change it to something like USA or St Helens as it's due to the recommended limit of 85db set by the EU. If found helpful please press the thanks button.
Hrishabh
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. Change region to Belarus and audio output will go to another level.

PITERQ said:
Exactly. Change region to Belarus and audio output will go to another level.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where is the setting to change region?

I do not activate the high resolution because it is marketing (like other Smartphone) and in presets of "sound effects" I put it in Voice because in intelligent it is quite weak both in speakers and with speakers. I tested them with SoungMAGIC E10C and Sony MDR-1Am2 and the sound is quite acceptable as long as you know how to equalize according to the songs that one listens as well as the player (local vs streaming), the headphones that you used I also used for a while And they are bad, sincerely Xiaomi does not know how to make audio and the only thing it does to make them believe that it knows how to handle it is to buy the aforementioned "Hi-Res audio" certification

@popoyaya settings > additional settings > region

Bluetooth Audio Codecs

What Bluetooth audio codecs does the Note 20 Ultra support (Snapdragon version)? Thanks.

It supports AptX, AAC, LDAC, Samsung Scalable, SBC, etc

Ricey said:
It supports AptX, AAC, LDAC, Samsung Scalable, SBC, etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! So, does it not have aptX HD? I’m looking at getting the Sony WH-1000XM3 or Shure Aonic 50, and I like the LDAC support, but I like to think aptX HD would be an option.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

abarax said:
Thanks! So, does it not have aptX HD? I’m looking at getting the Sony WH-1000XM3 or Shure Aonic 50, and I like the LDAC support, but I like to think aptX HD would be an option.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My S7E support aptX HD, I think Note 20 should have it.

abarax said:
Thanks! So, does it not have aptX HD? I’m looking at getting the Sony WH-1000XM3 or Shure Aonic 50, and I like the LDAC support, but I like to think aptX HD would be an option.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No aptX HD.

I would just stick with LDAC to be honest. AptX was kind of a mess with different versions of it including HD, LL (Low Latency), and TWS+. Qualcomm has said they were phasing out HD and LL and implementing it into another version of AptX called AptX Adaptive, which would automatically be able to switch between HD and LL. Until that becomes more widespread you probably shouldn't worry about the other versions. AptHD isn't as good as LDAC anyway. Now whether or not Samsung will add AptX Adaptive is another story.

Kiran-Kumar said:
No aptX HD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Has anyone figured out why setting the BT audio option to "all codecs" does not save and reverts back to sbc?

(To be deleted, i think I read something wrong)

Bump...
I am not sure that the Note 20 Ultra properly supports LDAC in that it only seems to do the 'Best Effort' quality setting.
The audio quality setting looks like it is available but when you choose it the audio does not pause like it does on other phones when you switch, either way it certainly does not stick. No idea what bitrate the Note uses for best effort and no idea how to see this.

BlinkThinks said:
Has anyone figured out why setting the BT audio option to "all codecs" does not save and reverts back to sbc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sets according to source/connection.
Connect bt Buds it will go to SSC; if you connect to a bt device the only supports SBC it reverts back. Presumably it acts the same way with a LDAC device... no LDAC headphones here yet.
I'm on a 10+ running Pie.
Samsung still is using the same APTX-HD deficienct codec pack though and no 3.5 Mike-Mike. No future proof audio here on your "flagship" phone.
Chintzy Samsung.

I just figured out that there is a way to trick the NOte into chaging the LDAC quality settings, change another BT setting, then change the quality and then change the other setting back.
The bad news is that 990kbps does not work, it plays but the sound is choppy breaking up every few seconds. 660kbps works ok but it does not stick so you need to use the workaround each time. No idea what bitrate best effort uses.
Don't get me wrong it still sounds very good but on Tidal Hifi you are downscaling the quality still. It sucks that a £1000+ flagship will not do 990kbps. Pixel 5 plays 990kbps just fine..

arsenal74 said:
I just figured out that there is a way to trick the NOte into chaging the LDAC quality settings, change another BT setting, then change the quality and then change the other setting back.
The bad news is that 990kbps does not work, it plays but the sound is choppy breaking up every few seconds. 660kbps works ok but it does not stick so you need to use the workaround each time. No idea what bitrate best effort uses.
Don't get me wrong it still sounds very good but on Tidal Hifi you are downscaling the quality still. It sucks that a £1000+ flagship will not do 990kbps. Pixel 5 plays 990kbps just fine..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try playing with the Audio Sample Rate and Bits per Sample settings before changing to 990.
This behaves glitchy, play with it... a lot.
Try different combos will the bt device coupled then close, come back and see what it did.
It should allow 990kps with a bt LDAC device.
I don't have a LDAC headset yet so never tested it.
If what you observed is true it's very bad news...
You may need to enable UHQ upscaling but I believe this is only for hard digital connections; check it to see if it's grey out or not when connected to the bt device.
Poweramp might work better and it's digital thru put flow chart is a useful diagnostic tool. It shows the digital audio path for Poweramp and the device.

Not saying I have tried every combo but quite a few including 16 bit/44hz which should be 1:1 for the Tidal flacs.
Have you got 990 working on your note 20 ultra? Wondering if this could be another exynos thing?

arsenal74 said:
Not saying I have tried every combo but quite a few including 16 bit/44hz which should be 1:1 for the Tidal flacs.
Have you got 990 working on your note 20 ultra? Wondering if this could be another exynos thing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try setting to "Best Effort, adaptive bit rate" and see if that improves it.
It's peak rate is 660 though with SSC... it may behave differently with a LDAC device.
Lol, audio is just as goofy with Snapdragon.
I'd sure hate to spend big bucks for a bt LDAC headset only to be dumb down to a 660 peak thru put rate. Thank you for the warning.
Is anybody getting 990 thru put on their LDAC bt?

That's the whole point, it is on Best Effort, it defaults to Best Effort.
If anybody has 990kbps working on the Note it would be good to know.

arsenal74 said:
That's the whole point, it is on Best Effort, it defaults to Best Effort.
If anybody has 990kbps working on the Note it would be good to know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SSC is maxed out at 660.
The Buds always set to Best Effort, in this case it's irrelevant.
Not of you have a LDAC headset though... it's real bad news.
Is anyone that's using a LDAC device able to set up for 990?

The plot thickens with this one, it seems that 990kbps works on the Note 20 ultra if you have the screen off, played for several minutes just fine with the screen off but as soon as you wake the screen it starts to stutter every few seconds again.
Odd!

blackhawk said:
Is anyone that's using a LDAC device able to set up for 990?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's working without any problem. Tested more than 40minutes listening music at 1.5m of distance from the Note.
LDAC, 990, 32bit, 96Khz, Stereo when paired to Sony MDR1000X.
AAC, 16bit, 44KHz, Stereo when connected to my car.

emandt said:
It's working without any problem. Tested more than 40minutes listening music at 1.5m of distance from the Note.
LDAC, 990, 32bit, 96Khz, Stereo when paired to Sony MDR1000X.
AAC, 16bit, 44KHz, Stereo when connected to my car.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WTF? What happened with the car?
Try a direct toshlink connection instead.
With an open air listening area you want the best resolution possible and no 20 khz cutoff.

blackhawk said:
WTF? What happened with the car?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
17years old car using a $80 aftermarket car-audio bought 7 years ago. The sound is very good using mid-level sound system (tweeter, mid and an active 300W RMS subwoofer). Don't interested in more audio fidelity on an old car

A great DAC and not being able to use it ...

The Pixel 4a has this DAC, which as you can see is a great DAC, its specs are even better than many HIFI portable audio players. Well, for the uninitiated, android acts as a bottleneck in this case, as it always limits the audio output to 16bit 48khz (using a low quality resampler for the benefit of performance)
Is there any way I can use it decently? Because Google apparently has no intention of doing anything, it hasn't even shared any information on how to use the DAC, and I don't like the idea of having to use an external dac even though the 4a has a headphone jack.

I'd like to know too. Doesn't Viper4Android help get more out of it? I'm getting pretty great sound with that + PowerAmp.

Makishima said:
I'd like to know too. Doesn't Viper4Android help get more out of it? I'm getting pretty great sound with that + PowerAmp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mmm I need to know how you set the audio settings, the output audio is resampled to 48khz? have you set the output in HD?

You mean my settings in PowerAmp or Viper?

Yeah.. It seems that Hi-res potential is not implemented in the stock ROM. Everything is mixed into 48 kHz...

.: SID :. said:
Yeah.. It seems that Hi-res potential is not implemented in the stock ROM. Everything is mixed into 48 kHz...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. Is there any custom Rom that implements it?

Also, have you tried Ainur Narsil? Perhaps it does what you want. I'm just unsure whether it will work on Android 11, it seems development is paused.

Makishima said:
Also, have you tried Ainur Narsil? Perhaps it does what you want. I'm just unsure whether it will work on Android 11, it seems development is paused.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not aware of any custom ROM which supports hi-res. If you know, please tell.
I've tried ainur but without success. And smth was even corrupted because sound became worse.
Mary be community should raise an issue for Google.

.: SID :. said:
I'm not aware of any custom ROM which supports hi-res. If you know, please tell.
I've tried ainur but without success. And smth was even corrupted because sound became worse.
Mary be community should raise an issue for Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've no idea actually. I'm interested in this stuff, but not so much as to notice worse quality with the 48khz Android output. And yeah, that's why I haven't tried Narsil, it doesn't seem to be too well tested in A11 and we don't even have a proper TWRP in case something goes wrong. Still, I am noticing a difference with my modded Sony NW-A45, but it's not like it sounds better, it sounds different perhaps.

Poweramp is terrible. You need an app that bypasses androids software. Usb audio player pro is the best available. It plays bitperfect audio. Neutron is second, it can also play bitperfect audio. Both apps can output 32bit/364kz at whatever rate the Track allows. Uapp plays MQA as well