headphone jack

[drewshaver]

I had a first gen video ipod that did the exact same thing (although i'm not sure if it was only left speaker).

Seems like this sort of error is fundamental to this component; since it seems absurd to me for so many QA team to miss this on so many devices.

[shanmanmv]

Same problem here. On low volume the left speaker starts to crackle. On high volume i don't notice any problem. Heavy bass music seems to really make the problem stand out. Tried a hard restart, it didn't help. wonder what's gunna happen? are they gunna do a recall maybe a patch?

[drewshaver]

That is wierd, all reports I've read (as well as my own experience) the crackle happens at high volume. 1 click short and it was barely noticeable, 2 short and not at all.

I'm not sure I would expect a patch, this is very likely the hardware not living up to its specs, then again a patch would be pretty simple.

[shanmanmv]

Just an update but it seems that my Droid has a left speaker/ headphone buzzing and crackling issue at any volume, while playing any heavy bass song. In particular, if i play Jay-Z's or Kanye West' new albums, Blueprint 3 or 808s and Heartbreak the crackling and buzzing during bass sounds is for lack of a stronger word... irritating! I only listen to my music in high-quality audio but the Droid cant play .flac so i had to convert to 320kbps, is this the problem? The phone seems to even be picking up some layers of the song that were previously inaudible and making them crackle and buzz. It is difficult for me to enjoy the newest work from 2 of my favorite artists. This is unacceptable in a phone that costs $600 and is trying to compete with the 3GS. I spent 20 minutes on the Motorola site trying to send an email to the support team but that was like going through Pan's Labyrinth, ill have to try again, when I have time. I tried going to a Verizon store to exchange it but the guy told me that it probably wouldn't make a difference. It seems like my Droid is doing worse than the others so I'm definitely going to try and exchange my Droid again.

[skidemn]

first, the sound shouldn't be cutting out from one channel. period. if it is doing that, it is broken. second, MOST devices do not push enough power to headphones/speakers to keep them from distorting at volume. just about everything distorts at max, especially if you are using quality headphones/speakers and no amp. this is not my "portable rig", but i do carry an amp sometimes.




i HIGHLY recommend getting one if you are interested in better sound quality. you can spend anywhere from $5 to well over $1,000 for an amp, and even the cheap ones make a HUGE difference. your bass will not fade and your highs will hurt you (if you aren't careful)! PM me for questions about sound quality or whatever, and if there is enough interest i'll start a thread.

*edit* holy crap those pics are terrible..

Sam is totally correct. I have yet to find a portable music player that does not clip the audio signal (distort) when the internal amplifier is overdriven. EVERY iPod or other player I have ever used will distort the headphone output when the volume it turned up too loud- especially if the source material is recorded at a higher level or if an equalizer setting is used (which adds gain to chosen frequencies, especially low frequencies which are less efficient and require more amplifier power to recreate). The advantage of an iPod is that you do not have to use the crappy built-in headphone amplifier to listen to music. You can use the dock connector with a cord which will bypass the internal amp and provide an unclipped and fixed level output signal which is great for connecting to your car or home stereo.

That said I have noticed that the internal headphone amp of the droid seems to have a lower max output but higher sound quality in that the signal does not sound as distorted at max as an iPod at max. I have not looked at the Droid output on a scope to see where it clips, nor have I bothered to make mp3 (or other format) rips of test material for comparison so take these comments as you will. I also do not know what the output voltage spec is for the Droid versus an iPod, but I'd guess the Droid is making close to its full rated power output before reaching the maximum volume setting.

In any case, it IS NORMAL to hear some kind of distortion at max volume on any portable media device. If you want higher volume with better sound, use an amplifier or find more efficient headphones/speakers so they reach a higher output with the same power!

[GohanBurner]

When I use the Droid in my car there is crackling in the front left speakers. I guess the only fix so far is to turn the volume down on the media 1 bar. I hope they fix this because right now I am thinking about just sticking with the BBS2.

[shanmanmv]

I understand, and appreciate your help in resolving this matter. I also understand that your saying that the Droid and most hand-held devices cannot properly amplify the sound of certain MP3s. Unfortunately, when I dropped $300 (before MIR which i have yet to receive my money back on) and sold my soul to Verizon for the next 2 years, I didn't expect that i would have to turn around and MacGyver a pocket amplifier for it to. Walking around NYC with a pile of wires and tin can is not my idea of the ideal smart-phone. However, I ordered a set of blue-tooth headphones in the hopes of eliminating this problem. If this doesn't work I will certainly be returning the droid, canceling the contract and expecting a refund.

[iDroided]

Mine only seems to be doing this at max volume with high bass, in both speakers. I've had several iPods and always experienced the same issue. I've never had a portable device that didn't have some clipping at high volume. These are ear buds, mind you, not Dolby 5.1 surround speakers & a sub strapped to my head. I tweaked the iPods in the past with the included EQ to solve it, albeit with much less bass.

[wil318466]

This issue has been driving me 100% nuts for the last 2 days. Here's what I found :

I have a y-adapter audio output adapter. This is to plug into the audio jack into my phone, then be able to input the tape deck audio output to my car, and to my microphone headphones for hands free while driving. After attaching all this crap, I noticed that something was seriously wrong with the sound output in my vehicle. At first, I thought I blew my speakers. Then I started unplugging things.. and noticed as soon as I unplugged the headphone/microphone combo, the music DRAMATICALLY sounded better. As other people have noted, the distortion/crackling came from teh LEFT side of the car.

I've also noticed that people can NOT hear me when I use my handsfree device (headphones/microphone). This issue, I think, is bigger than you guys think. I started getting very concerned when I realized people couldn't hear my. I always have the volume all the way up (thinking this would help with people being able to hear me) when on the phone, and now I have to test it with a lower setting. So, back to testing...

So, I'm in a situation now where I was about to return the phone on Friday morning, and now have decided that won't help me (which I actually thought would be the case as soon as I realized what was going on).

Agreed with the person above.. this should NOT HAPPEN. We aren't talking about distortion at high levels here. I know what distortion is. This is absolutely horrific. I thought I blew 2 speakers.

So, in essence there are 2 options..

1) I'll try testing everything with volume at 75%. I'm NOT happy with this option. If I wanted distorted 100% sound, so be it. Why would I have to lower it? Every single device I've ever owned can do this, but this 600 dollar phone can't. Ugh.

2) Its a software issue and can be fixed. I'm PRAYING it can be. If its a hardware issue... well, this thing might go back if I can't find an acceptable work around. lowering the output to 75% on media output and in-call output better do the trick.

-Wil

[wil318466]

Oh, one last note. I dont' understand why I'm NOT getting distortion when I have the headphones unplugged into the y adapter, but I do when I plug them in. In other words, the car output is AWESOME until I plug in the SECOND device.

Just weird.

-Wil