Hi everyone, as stupid as it sounds, after many years of using android I just noticed that using equalizers ( and i've tried many of them ) causes the volume to drop. I have discovered that this is standard behaviour since android lowers everything by -6dB to avoid clipping when setting frequencies to +6dB.
Since my phone can't really drive my headphones much, is there a way to bypass this behaviour without using apps or rooting the phone?
Note that the maximum Volume is limited by the hardware. So the only way to have equalizing at maximum Volume is to lower the overall volume. You may be able to work around this by using an audio player that ships its own audio library or has an amplification function. Maybe BlackPlayer works. Note that this will only change the behavior of the music player and that you may experience clipping.
If you want to do changes for all apps there is no way around a custom kernel (or rooting at least) that I am aware of.
The thing is that the stock presets inclued for example in my JBL Headphones app work fine, but as soon as i try to modify one of them the volume drops. This is true for other equalizers too, for example the stock samsung one. It has something to do with how the personalization is handled i guess.
I am currently using a rooted phone with MyAndroidTools to check inside the databases to see if i can find something to tweak but no luck so far.
Related
Anyone else have issues using DSP Manager at high volumes? The issue happens when using the phone speaker or headphone jack (didn't test bluetooth) and setting volume to ~85% or higher. The resulting sound is a lot of high pitch squealing that I imagine would be similar to what you would hear with a decoder issue.
To replicate the issue:
1) Launch DSP Manager, choose Headset (if you choose headset, I wouldn't put your headphones on for this test...or if you're running a line out to a stereo receiver, turn your volume all the way down) or Phone Speaker and disable all effects or select Menu, Reset.
2) Play any mp3 or streaming audio (ie Slacker, Pandora), adjust the volume to be within 1-4 clicks of max.
3) Go back to DSP Manager, enable Equalizer, and then adjust the low frequency slider (leftmost slider) to be above 0.
4) At this point, the sound issue should be noticeable if you're experiencing the same issue I am.
If someone can please test this and confirm they have the same issue I would appreciate it. I didn't find any other reports of this issue, but if it's a known problem, can someone please point me in the right direction to resolve the issue? I've tried this on 4 different ROMs (I think they may all be Cyanogen based) and I have the same problem with all of them.
Thanks in advance for any input.
Sorry man I couldn't replicate it on Nonsensikal 8.8. Used Pandora, set volume to within 2 clicks of max, and set <100 hz to .2 .4 and .6. Didn't get any kind of squealing. This was on phone speaker. I have had weird DSP issues in the past though. Just didn't care enough to try it on all the froyo roms.
Sent from my nonsensikal froyo using XDA App
cryptiq said:
Anyone else have issues using DSP Manager at high volumes? The issue happens when using the phone speaker or headphone jack (didn't test bluetooth) and setting volume to ~85% or higher. The resulting sound is a lot of high pitch squealing that I imagine would be similar to what you would hear with a decoder issue.
To replicate the issue:
1) Launch DSP Manager, choose Headset (if you choose headset, I wouldn't put your headphones on for this test...or if you're running a line out to a stereo receiver, turn your volume all the way down) or Phone Speaker and disable all effects or select Menu, Reset.
2) Play any mp3 or streaming audio (ie Slacker, Pandora), adjust the volume to be within 1-4 clicks of max.
3) Go back to DSP Manager, enable Equalizer, and then adjust the low frequency slider (leftmost slider) to be above 0.
4) At this point, the sound issue should be noticeable if you're experiencing the same issue I am.
If someone can please test this and confirm they have the same issue I would appreciate it. I didn't find any other reports of this issue, but if it's a known problem, can someone please point me in the right direction to resolve the issue? I've tried this on 4 different ROMs (I think they may all be Cyanogen based) and I have the same problem with all of them.
Thanks in advance for any input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same exact problem. I cant even move anything without it going crazy. im running CELBFROYO 2.9
Thanks for your feedback guys, I'm going to try out Nonsensikal 8.8, will report back later.
Edit: I tried Nonsensikal 8.8 and still had the audio issues. Did a little research and I thought maybe I was experiencing "clipping". I don't consider myself an audiophile so I wasn't really sure if this was an accurate diagnosis of my issue. This lead me down the path to try out the Mixzing app since it has a built in EQ. Since the Mixzing EQ only functions on audio thru the Mixzing player, it's not an end-all solution since I find myself pulling up Slacker when I want a change of pace from the mp3s I have on my SD card, and the Mixzing EQ does not function for streaming music.
Anyway, I found the EQ in Mixzing to be quite helpful as it appears to actually detect when clipping is occurring and notifies you by change the EQ bands to red. The clipping I experienced thru Mixzing is not comparable to what I hear when using DSPManager. The Mixzing clipping results in the audio cutting out for a given frequency range - for example when clipping occurs when a bass drum is playing, you don't hear the full range of sound of the bass drum, the low frequency is cut off. What's also noteworthy here is that thru Mixzing, I was able to rectify the clipping issue by simply re-adjusting the sliders to their previous positions and the sound output was corrected. Whereas with DSPManager, resetting the sliders didn't fully resolve the audio issue, I was still able to discern a high pitch whine especially during quiet portions of a song until either the song ended, or I disabled the EQ. If this were related to a clipping issue, I presume the squealing I hear would go away when I reset the sliders to their previous positions, since the squealing persists, I think it's probably a decoder issue.
Something else I learned here, perhaps already evident to other users, is that for each frequency band you adjust in Mixzing, it requires additional processor resources. This might explain why the Eris (not sure if this plagues other phones) struggles here. And on that note, I was using my Eris to test the waters and help me determine if it's worth rooting and dropping a custom ROM on my Incredible. Since this sounds like it can potentially be a resource issue, and I haven't found other users on different phones experiencing this issue, I guess I'll take the plunge and try a custom ROM on my Incredible.
Hey Guys,
I have a GT-P7510 running CM9 with Pershoot's 2.6.36.4 cyanogenmod+root kernel
I use Spotify and PlayerPro to play my music.
I have noticed Voodoo Sound has been acting rather strange.
I've noticed on my Vibrant that Voodoo Sound once started after boot and set, will keep its volume until reboot without fail, provided the proper settings. but for some reason on the tablet it is unable to do that. Spotify suffers the most from this, after almost every song it decides to drop back down to -10db from +2db where I have it set for lineout in my car. If I open Voodoo Sound up after the volume drops, it will jump back up either immediately, or after I press on 'Headphone amplifier' when the bar comes up, it resets the volume back to +2db for the duration of that song. With my Vibrant, that behavior does not seem to exist. I've been trying to figure out what could be causing it.
My guesses are:
Spotify is messing with the settings between each song
CM9 Memory Management doesn't keep Voodoo Sound running as a service
Android Gremlins
Anybody else notice this behavior? If so, have any suggestions to resolve it, or to resolve my suspected reasons?
Thanks!
-Rob
I've been having the same issues aswell, I reported this issue already to curio but then again has unticking the box for safe level audio made a difference?
yeah, jack safety is off. I fiddled with it again last night. There is a good chance we will have to talk to notify about it. I have been noticing that their software is very buggy on this platform.
Rumor has it Samsung and CM are collaborating, which might give us the extra leverage needed to have them fix these bugs, of these are their bugs.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda premium
I had a bit of a breakthrough. I was researching spotify and volume related issues. I came across people complaining about how spotify handles sound, which is a bit like what Skype does to media during an incoming call, as well as some people's dislike for it. A little more digging came across this thread on xda. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=803432 a chap with windows mobile had that problem and follow the m.spotify.com link, download for android 1.6+ install it (3rd party install apks enabled) this one. Once done confirm the following voodoo sound settings.
Smart amplifier
Don't interrupt music
Restore at launch
Load up spotify
Drop the volume until analog volume drops
Raise it back up again.
It held it for at least 3 songs while spotify holds focus. If you leave focus it will drop at the end of the song.
Beats having to turn the gain on the car up dangerously high and having alternator noise bleed in. Also beats resetting the volume after each song.
Fortunately with smart amplifier running you can just drop the volume a couple of times and raise it again for it to hit +2db again rather than diving through menus. And I was wrong, it defaults to -4db after each song.
Oh well its a lazy but annoying work around for now.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda premium
Hey Guys,
I have a little bit of an update,
The new preview release of spotify doesn't seem to be as heavily effected as the current market release, so if you use spotify and this is driving you crazy. Google their latest beta preview, should be easy to find. Perks of the new version, faster, less retarded navigation, full ics support, 320kbps, and just straight up better [=
Only draw backs atm is it is portrait mode only and occasionally drops the voodoo sound volume.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda premium
Hi, I bought this device to replace a recently deceased Zune HD 64, but I'm finding the audio output really, really poor. It's so quiet.
At the moment I'm running the stock ROM 2.2.2, but I'm looking to improve this as using PowerAmp and it's Replay Gain setting just makes everything sound awful. The best solution I've found is to turn off EQ/Tone/Limit in Poweramp and disable Replay Gain
Is there some way to improve this? Installing a certain ROM for example? Is Direct Volume Control available on other ROMs and does it make any difference at all?
Not sure whether to install another ROM/Root the device as I'm looking for suitable performance & battery life.
Thanks for any replies/help received.
Hobo Sol said:
Hi, I bought this device to replace a recently deceased Zune HD 64, but I'm finding the audio output really, really poor. It's so quiet.
At the moment I'm running the stock ROM 2.2.2, but I'm looking to improve this as using PowerAmp and it's Replay Gain setting just makes everything sound awful. The best solution I've found is to turn off EQ/Tone/Limit in Poweramp and disable Replay Gain
Is there some way to improve this? Installing a certain ROM for example? Is Direct Volume Control available on other ROMs and does it make any difference at all?
Not sure whether to install another ROM/Root the device as I'm looking for suitable performance & battery life.
Thanks for any replies/help received.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Other than that, disable "Direct Volume Control" in Poweramp. As a result, the maximum volume will stay the same, but the output of the voulme bar will be remarkably more gradual before the maximum is reached. Also, turning the EQ off might help if you want to listen to your music on a "flat" setting, though my advice is to switch to "loud": if distorsion occurs, lower the preamp bar.
I own another Samsung device, but if you browse through the forum I'm sure you can find custom roms containing audio tweaks.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2221916
Hobo Sol said:
Hi, I bought this device to replace a recently deceased Zune HD 64, but I'm finding the audio output really, really poor. It's so quiet.
At the moment I'm running the stock ROM 2.2.2, but I'm looking to improve this as using PowerAmp and it's Replay Gain setting just makes everything sound awful. The best solution I've found is to turn off EQ/Tone/Limit in Poweramp and disable Replay Gain
Is there some way to improve this? Installing a certain ROM for example? Is Direct Volume Control available on other ROMs and does it make any difference at all?
Not sure whether to install another ROM/Root the device as I'm looking for suitable performance & battery life.
Thanks for any replies/help received.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? That's odd. When I was just using PowerAmp alone on my 4.0 it made everything sound great (I turned off limit), and yes DVC does make quite the difference. However, my solution is to use http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2191223 Viper4Android. You can easily increase the audio output without losing sound quality. However, you need to update your Android OS to at least version 2.3. If you have the Galaxy Player 4.0. You can root it, install a custom kernel and install Voodoo Sound https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.projectvoodoo.controlapp&hl=en which also can increase the audio output on the player.
Hello everyone!
So I've come across an annoying issue, which is why audio plays back differently on different ROMs. For example, I'm currently on miui 8, and the playback volume gets loud to where the bass is distorted (using viper4android). Now if I have the same setup on a different ROM, the audio seems to be suppressed(namely, the bass). So I've been searching to see why this is so, but no results. Clearly I know it has nothing to do with hardware, and this is a software thing. So my question is, how do I fix this? (Without installing an equalizer or volume Booster)
Thanks!
If I need to be more specific as to what I'm talking about, lemme know.
Anyone?
What type of roms you flash :Roms based on AOSP or other modified like funtoch, miui ?
For aosp like roms stick to a sound mod (divinebeats, aural maximizer etc.) It will provide same audio experience i hope..
Yeah I use a sound mod for aosp roms and miui. (I'm on MIUI) Issue I'm facing is that there seems to be a cap on the volume after I increase it past 75%. I've tried to look for a file called "audio_mixer.xml" but such file doesn't exist.
So I've tried volume boosters and other players, and the limit is still apparent. Also this is a software thing, because MIUI doesn't have the issue, but other roms do
== Warning: Pie 9.0 screws with the audio through the headphones and speakers on my H873! The equalization is different and output volume is quieter than 7/8!! If you bought the G6 for the sound profile, you'll lose it in Pie. Even equalizing manually doesn't bring it in line with 7/8. Other users of other makes have also noticed this Pie problem on Samsungs, etc. ==
You could start with something like this equalization in the music player to try and restore the original profile of the G6.
https://ibb.co/r3YWgbZ
Basically, don't touch Pie 9.0 unless you don't care about headphone and speaker sound volume and quality and lots of tweaking.
(This sound problem in Pie has also been reported by others using Samsungs, Sony, etc.)
custom or stock? I don't have problems wit custom, it's even much louder than stock oreo
Stock H873 pie firmware from lg-firmwares.com.
They basically messed it up and without root, no way to go in and edit the default volume settings.
Need to bump it up using the EQ settings in the music player.
They also messed up the use of the square icon in the bottom toolbar to quickly switch between the current and prior app. It doesn't consistently switch apps and often comes right back to the same app.
The audio sounds better to me, it could be that you need to bend the audio pins out because of a bad ground, you can Google lg G6 bad audio quality for how to fix it if that is the problem
Unfortunately, it's not a hardware problem since the speakers output is quieter than in 7/8.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-7-pro/help/android-10-headphone-volume-lower-pie-t3976603/amp/
This is a STUPID 9/10 problem that is plaguing not only the G6, but all sorts of Samsung Galaxies and other brands as well.
It's been widely reported across xda, reddit, and elsewhere. Unfortunately, the H873 doesn't have root, so no way to tweak the OS directly.