Audio buzz from earpiece during voice calls... - Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4

EDIT: I ended getting a replacement phone and the issue is gone. If anyone else stumbles onto this thread, the issue for me was a physical problem with the phone itself.
Since the very first call I made with the S4, I've noticed a buzz/feedback sound while others are speaking to me. It's pretty annoying. I set the volume at 50% and have tried higher and lower volumes but to no avail. It doesn't seem to affect the external speaker, just the earpiece. The interesting thing is that it doesn't happen when talking to everyone. I've checked with some of the folks and they have a mix of phones (iPhones, Android phones, etc) so it seems to be isolated to my phone.
Is anyone else experiencing this issue? Do you think it would be best to take the phone to Verizon and try to get a replacement?
Thanks

Anyone? I guess if I'm the only one, then I probably have a hardware issue and should return to Verizon.

Related

[Q] Microphone problem with eris. Hoping someone can help with a workaround.

Hardware related bug, hoping to bypass it completely.
Started happening about 2 months ago.
problem: When headphones/bluetooth are not connected, my microphone on the phone will not work. When either are connected, both the headphone/bluetooth microphone are working at the same time. I've been using bluetooth to place calls this entire time, Person on the other end gets a constant echo, if I cover up the phone microphone the echo stops(and they only hear what comes from the bluetooth headset).
I've flashed multiple roms, it seems to me like this is hardware related, but for the life of me I can't figure out how this seems to have got reversed in functionality (microphone on the phone should mute when headset is attached, not unmute)
Anyways, I'm perfectly fine using bluetooth, I never use my microphone on my phone for voice searches (I'm a southerner, it just doesn't work... yall.) i also never record videos. So, anyone know how I can keep the phone microphone muted full time?
That sucks
The same thing happened to my fiance's eris. I tried everything i could think of... its a hardware issue. She also had a problem with her track ball at the same time, it would not scroll down, only up left and right. She ended up getting a new phone, because nothing else worked. Sorry for your luck. Let me know if you find a fix.
tcsccer10 said:
The same thing happened to my fiance's eris. I tried everything i could think of... its a hardware issue. She also had a problem with her track ball at the same time, it would not scroll down, only up left and right. She ended up getting a new phone, because nothing else worked. Sorry for your luck. Let me know if you find a fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. I'm 100% sure its a hardware problem. If I cant figure out a way to permanently mute the onboard microphone im going to buy a dead eris and just replace the little board with the usbport/microphone. If that doesnt fix it, I will see if it will boot up with that board removed completely. (have a battery only charger already.)
But before I do either, I would love it if one of the genius' around here (no disrespect, some smart folks on these forums) responded with a way to permanently mute it.
10 day bump in hopes that someone knows something that didnt see it. Wont do it again. *crosses fingers*

No sound in calls unless on speakerphone.

I've recently noticed that I don't get sound when making a phone call unless I change to speakerphone. I don't make many calls so I don't know exactly how long it's been happening, but I first noticed it a couple weeks ago. I know that the other person can hear me fine when I'm on either setting. I've also switched ROMs, from Alien to the new CM7 beta, with no change.
Has this happened to anyone else? Is it most likely a hardware problem? I've never dropped my phone or anything, and it's only 3 months old. Does anyone know of an app that can test the normal phone speaker, because all other sounds have been working fine.
Thanks for any suggestions!
mvgc3 said:
I've recently noticed that I don't get sound when making a phone call unless I change to speakerphone. I don't make many calls so I don't know exactly how long it's been happening, but I first noticed it a couple weeks ago. I know that the other person can hear me fine when I'm on either setting. I've also switched ROMs, from Alien to the new CM7 beta, with no change.
Has this happened to anyone else? Is it most likely a hardware problem? I've never dropped my phone or anything, and it's only 3 months old. Does anyone know of an app that can test the normal phone speaker, because all other sounds have been working fine.
Thanks for any suggestions!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My guess is it's a hardware problem. I would have it checked out by your mobile phone company.
You can also look up "hardware test" in market and you will find apps there you can use to test your hardware. Sorry not to recommend one. There are many there if you look them up.
Sent from my Atrix XDA Premium App
Thanks for the response. I looked for an app already and didn't find anything useful. There were tests for just about everything else; touch screen, sensors, GPS, etc., and only two that I found that had an audio test at all. However, neither of them allowed me to specifically test the "phone" speaker.
I just think it's weird that all other sounds work fine. I'd really rather test it before I send it in to Motorola.
Thanks again!
This was a common issue on the Motorola Defy's. I had to send mine to Moto for repair. If you're within a year, AT&T will replace it.
I am having this exact same problem with homebase. but mine is intermittent it will work straight after a reboot
More sound issues
In my case I just updated from Froyo to Gingerbread, everything was working perfectly, when suddenly i stopped listening to the earpiece, the loudspeaker still works during calls,
On the other hand, if I try listening to music or any other sound, the loudspeakers dont work... any ideas of what could have caused the problem? It feels like some sort of driver issue, because while trying our the earpiece and loudspeaker during a call I was able to listen to one second of conversation through the earpiece...
i do have exactly the same issue...
putting pressure just beneath the fingerprint scanner, makes the earpiece work for an instant ...
its definitely a hardware issue...
m really fed up with dead spots on touchscreen n this earpiece issue....
Fahad_ahmad said:
i do have exactly the same issue...
putting pressure just beneath the fingerprint scanner, makes the earpiece work for an instant ...
its definitely a hardware issue...
m really fed up with dead spots on touchscreen n this earpiece issue....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same problem here?
Does any1 have any fix..Help needed!!!

[Q] Microphone Problems?

Is anybody having problems with their mic not being sensitive? If I hold my phone an inch or more away from my face it doesn't pick up any sound at all. I've done several tests with other phones and my DNA is the only phone that is suffering from this? It's a problem because the other person on the line can't hear me at all unless I talk really really loud?
I'm having the same issue. If I hold the phone even the smallest bit away from my face, it sounds like I'm on the other side of the room to the person on the other end. VZW technical support claimed it was the software and made me do a factory reset, even though anybody with the smallest bit of tech knowledge could tell you it's a hardware problem.
Mic Issues
chalkitychalke said:
I'm having the same issue. If I hold the phone even the smallest bit away from my face, it sounds like I'm on the other side of the room to the person on the other end. VZW technical support claimed it was the software and made me do a factory reset, even though anybody with the smallest bit of tech knowledge could tell you it's a hardware problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I believe its a software problem and although I never had the issue with my dna, my friend paul did. With his phone, I was thinking it maybe a hardware issue at first but I found out that if you put his phone on speaker and then take it back off speaker it was fine. Also not only that but if you use the system test on his by dialing *#*#3424#*#* and then do a mic test, it would work perfectly there as well so if it were an actual hardware issue, it would be screwing up all the time, not just in phone calls before switching between modes and back again.

Phone Mic sounds Muffled to Callers

I have replaced this phone with another one thinking I may have had a defective unit. Callers report Muffled sound or hard to understand on their end... when I switch to speak it's fine.. and of course Bluetooth is fine. Anyone else have similar reports?
scooby-snack said:
I have replaced this phone with another one thinking I may have had a defective unit. Callers report Muffled sound or hard to understand on their end... when I switch to speak it's fine.. and of course Bluetooth is fine. Anyone else have similar reports?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, gets annoying having to repeat myself....
This happened to me once in the month that I've owned my G3, though I use in car bluetooth for 80%-ish of calls. Could have been a phone issue or a network blip, I don't have a large enough data set to draw any conclusions.
Yes, we have issues with call quality when using the phone without bluetooth. Callers report that my voice fades in and out / sounds muffled. I've used it in areas with strong and weak signal strength. Therefore ruling out tower issues.
For one G3, I did a factory reset, unchecked Voice Enhancement and Call Privacy in Settings > Call. It seems to help, but did not "fix" the issue.
--
sunNsnow
I haven't had any issues yet. But I'm sure now that I've said that I'm going to be screaming in to my phone all day tomorrow.... =/
sunNsnow said:
Yes, we have issues with call quality when using the phone without bluetooth. Callers report that my voice fades in and out / sounds muffled. I've used it in areas with strong and weak signal strength. Therefore ruling out tower issues.
For one G3, I did a factory reset, unchecked Voice Enhancement and Call Privacy in Settings > Call. It seems to help, but did not "fix" the issue.
--
sunNsnow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you have a screen protector on? Say tempered glass? Trying to help a friend problem solve a similar complaint.
Mightycaptain said:
Did you have a screen protector on? Say tempered glass? Trying to help a friend problem solve a similar complaint.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We have an anti-glare screen protector (the sticky sheets, not tempered glass).
Verizon is replacing the phone with the most issues since the factory reset only temporarily fixed the call issue. Then the calls degraded the rest of the week. We did not receive the replacement yet, so I have no clue as if it is fixed.
As an aside, the other G3 seems to be doing better with calls. It does fade in and out a little but not to the extent as the one being replaced.
I would try a bluetooth headset. The only caveat is I've had issues with the Jawbone Era but not with my car (go figure). The Jawbone also gave me problems with the Galaxy S3, so it may be a bad combo.
If your right handed like me I find when holding the phone I tend to put my pinky finger under the phone, covering the mic. I now am more aware of my placement.
scooby-snack said:
I have replaced this phone with another one thinking I may have had a defective unit. Callers report Muffled sound or hard to understand on their end... when I switch to speak it's fine.. and of course Bluetooth is fine. Anyone else have similar reports?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had this same problem on my G2 and now my wife is reporting it is happening on my G3. I know the problem but I don't really know how to fix it.
There are 2 microphones on the phone. one on the top and one on the bottom. Whenever I angle the phone against my ear too far and the top mic gets covered slightly, that is when my wife reports that I am muffled.
This would also happen when I would hold the phone against my ear with my shoulder to have both hands free. The top mic got covered slightly and she couldn't hear me.
I don't understand why the top mic affects the sound quality so much, but try it out with someone on the phone and cover the top mic. see if it muffles.
If this keeps happening, just make sure that you aren't covering the top mic and you should be fine.
If anyone finds a software fix to better balance the mics I would love to know about it.
Both my wife and I have had our Verizon G3s for about 2 months and have been dealing with this issue.
At first, we thought it might be the fact that we're on a network extender, and that it was only affecting my wife. That's when I realized it was just that I was using bluetooth and that she was not.
Since then, the problem has happened in nearly every call I've made directly using the handset. I never know when it's going to strike, so I've gotten to the point where I almost do not want to use my phone for actual phone calls anymore.
I absolutely dread calling Verizon. They're going to run my through their idiot algorithm of bs and pretend like they've never heard of this problem before.
I've had at least two people tell me they couldn't understand me. If I talk much louder, they've said that they can hear me again.
LaTropa64 said:
I've had at least two people tell me they couldn't understand me. If I talk much louder, they've said that they can hear me again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah... it's completely unacceptable.
I want to understand the problem before I just blindly return the phone. That doesn't seem to have helped others much....
I'm having similar problems. See this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-lg-g3/help/complaints-call-quality-t2828905
It seems, at least from very early testing, for me it does not fail using BT.
Also, is this only a Verizon problem?
Anyone else on a different carrier having these problems?
Please see the thread listed above for additional information.
When I hold the phone to my ear with mic by mouth its fine but when I get lazy and pull the mic away from my mouth (30-45 degree angle or so) then they can't hear me too well.
IamPro said:
When I hold the phone to my ear with mic by mouth its fine but when I get lazy and pull the mic away from my mouth (30-45 degree angle or so) then they can't hear me too well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See this thread for an update:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/ver...ints-call-quality-t2828905/page3#post55747378
If you have the bluetooth on and it's unconnected, you will have issues with people hearing you. This is after wasting time with Verizon "technical support" for a month. My solution posted on another thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=55655465&postcount=13
If you want to leave the bluetooth on, then use the speakerphone on calls. It works, although not practical in public spaces.
This solution is for using the G3 as a phone, without a headset. I'm not a fan of headsets.
The last VZ rep pretty much admitted this is a software issue and had no idea when an update will be issued.
sunNsnow said:
If you have the bluetooth on and it's unconnected, you will have issues with people hearing you. This is after wasting time with Verizon "technical support" for a month. My solution posted on another thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=55655465&postcount=13
If you want to leave the bluetooth on, then use the speakerphone on calls. It works, although not practical in public spaces.
This solution is for using the G3 as a phone, without a headset. I'm not a fan of headsets.
The last VZ rep pretty much admitted this is a software issue and had no idea when an update will be issued.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think we're talking about the same issue. My wife and I both have VZW G3s. My bluetooth is on 100% of the time (out of laziness, as I only use it in the car), but hers is off 100% of the time. We both have the same issue with people saying we sound like we're underwater at times.
God... I wish it were that simple, though. I will try it, just for ****z and giggles.
sunNsnow said:
If you have the bluetooth on and it's unconnected, you will have issues with people hearing you. This is after wasting time with Verizon "technical support" for a month. My solution posted on another thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=55655465&postcount=13
If you want to leave the bluetooth on, then use the speakerphone on calls. It works, although not practical in public spaces.
This solution is for using the G3 as a phone, without a headset. I'm not a fan of headsets.
The last VZ rep pretty much admitted this is a software issue and had no idea when an update will be issued.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have actually had the problem using the speaker phone as well but NEVER with a BT headset.
As an update, I called Verizon today (BestBuy Phone) and they went through the usual BS which I played along with. Check settings, signal etc. So finally, they asked me to do a factory reset, which is something I had not done since I have a few corporate applications on the device that are highly secure and difficult to re-install.
I balked but VZ said LG won't even talk to me if I hadn't done that and that they have seen this problem where a hard reset fixed it.
So I'll be a monkey's uncle but so far, so good..... I seriously can't believe this will last...
Phone is 100 percent stock with no other applications added.
I made about 10 calls today and only one complained I sounded tinny. Might have been a bad connection though. Ever other call was crystal clear according to people on the other end.
I also had my wife call me from the phone and talk for 20 minutes while I listened using her iPhone.
Again crystal clear.
Is it fixed?
I don't think it will last but I'm giving it another day before installing my applications one at a time.
I doubt anything I'm using mucks with the phone but you never know.
I'll post back in a day or two.
Ok so I am on day 2 after VZ told me to factory reset and I made 26 calls today and only had one person tell me I sounded garbled. I might have gotten lazy and had the phone on say a 30 degree angle from my ear because re-positioning the phone did fix that one.
The factory reset definitely did fix something because prior to it I was getting complaints from like 2/3 or more of my callers. Now it seems much, much better.
I'm still not convinced it's fixed but I did start installing my applications.
Nothing fancy, waze, facebook, Lotus Travler (work). I want to see how it goes today (Thursday) with these applications installed and see if the problems return.
I'll update tomorrow.
I've had less people say they couldn't hear me but one thing I've started to notice on almost all calls now is I hear a little bit of static when people are talking. I'm not sure if this is a common problem or not. I didn't notice it for the first couple weeks I had the phone.
Since my phone is less than a month old, if I complain and call to get a replacement will they send me a refurb?

Random Speaker Crackle

Is anyone else getting a slight "crackle" when doing things with the device?
While my device isn't doing it all of the time, the speaker will occasionally randomly crackle/pop when playing a brief sound (such as the sound made while tapping app icons or adjusting the volume).
Doesn't seem to do it when there's an actual constant sound playing though, which is pretty odd =/
I heard a crackle/pop on a display model at bestbuy. I hope its not a problem on all of them.
Robert542 said:
I heard a crackle/pop on a display model at bestbuy. I hope its not a problem on all of them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one haha.
This sort of problem seems more indicative of a voltage issue than an actual speaker issue though at least, which means it could be fixed in an update if it is a widespread problem.
It reminds me of a problem I had with another device that was more or less fixed by either changing the governor or increasing minimum voltage.
Welp, my thread got moved here and this forum is pretty much a graveyard. If anybody else has this issue and happens to figure out how to fix it, please PM me, as I won't be bothering to check this thread.
As near as I can tell, it only ever happens while it's USB-attached to a PC (in my case, a Mac laptop).
Mine crackles for a few seconds every time I open the camera app. Didn't start out that way. Want to say it started about a couple weeks after I got the phone. Maybe after an update but not sure. Everything works so I've just ignored it.
Hi NeoRage. Am getting the same problem (crackling when opening the camera) - did the problem go away?
I have the issue too. S6 Edge I noticed it when editing my contacts, it cant be good that electricity is arcing someplace! but like someone else said, it keeps working so... I don't know if it coincided with Marshmallow but it was right in that same timeframe.

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