Background Noise in Headphones with Zero Volume - FAULT with HTC DESIRE?

[Guest jvx]

I just purchased a new pair of headphones (Sennheiser CX 300-II) for use with my HTC Desire. When I use them I've noticed that there's some background noise whenever I listen to music. The noise is basically a slight hissing along with a constant pulsing/popping sound. I even get this with the volume turned all the way down!

I've also tried another pair of headphones and can hear the noise with those too (although its fainter, but their not as good headphones).

I'd be grateful if someone else could check to see if they also have this issue.

Here's a really easy way to recreate:

1. Insert headphones.

2. Launch the music player.

3. Play a song.

4. Use the volume buttons to cut the volume to zero -> the song is still playing in the background, so in theory it should be silent, but I can still hear the noise.

EDIT: I noticed that the pulsing/popping sound disappears when the phone is set to airplane mode, however the hissing still remains.

Edited May 8, 2010 by jvx

[Guest abc27]

I can't hear any odd noise artifacts using the headphones and i've just connected my phone to my computer and had a look at it's spectrum. Crystal clear, completely free of any noise so the noise is probably being caused by your headphones.

[Guest jvx]

I can't hear any odd noise artifacts using the headphones and i've just connected my phone to my computer and had a look at it's spectrum. Crystal clear, completely free of any noise so the noise is probably being caused by your headphones.

Thanks for your quick response, I'm glad that you're not suffering from this issue, might just be a hardware fault on my Desire. I'd be interested in how your looking at the sound spectrum on your computer, I'd like to give that a try myself to see if the headphones are causing any interference.

I've just checked on a friend's Desire with multiple sets of headphones and can recreate the same issue.

Looks like some other people might also be having this issue: http://androidforums.com/htc-desire/61078-...es-plugged.html

EDIT: I've just tried using the stock headphones and can hear the background noise with those too using the steps in my first post.

Edited May 8, 2010 by jvx

[Guest NisseGurra]

Some standard TRS (standard 3-pole) connectors dont function properly on TRRS (4-pole) sockets.

Gives sound artefacts and strange behaviour.

[Guest MaTiCeK]

I think it's just a low quality audio chip. I've experienced the same behaviour on a lot of phones and iPods. It's only the past two years that things got considerably better. I still think the iPhone 3G and S (not the 2G though, audio chip on 2G sucks) have one of the best audio reproductions I've ever heard.

I'm not really happy with the audio quality of my Desire. First there is the static hissing noise issue when you use in ear earphones, second the equilizer setting is just not broad enough. But hey, it's a phone, I'll use it in noisy enviorments, so I guess I can live with it.

One thing I noticed though is setting any phone to Airplane/offline mode helps a lot, radiation distorts the sound (think of the situation a decade ago, when someone recieved a call nearby a HiFi).

[Guest NisseGurra]

I think it's just a low quality audio chip. I've experienced the same behaviour on a lot of phones and iPods. It's only the past two years that things got considerably better. I still think the iPhone 3G and S (not the 2G though, audio chip on 2G sucks) have one of the best audio reproductions I've ever heard.

I'm not really happy with the audio quality of my Desire. First there is the static hissing noise issue when you use in ear earphones, second the equilizer setting is just not broad enough. But hey, it's a phone, I'll use it in noisy enviorments, so I guess I can live with it.

One thing I noticed though is setting any phone to Airplane/offline mode helps a lot, radiation distorts the sound (think of the situation a decade ago, when someone recieved a call nearby a HiFi).

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_desire-review-468p8.php

"The HTC Desire pulls off the same remarkable audio quality as the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10, but is louder in terms of earphones volume.

In fact the two frequency response graphs are so similar that we suspect a similar (or maybe identical) hardware has been used inside the two Android flagships. We suspect that HTC have found a way to pump up the volume a bit higher, which has naturally led to the minimal differences you see in the table below.

At any rate the Desire readings are excellent all over, the HTC handset pulling one of the best all-round performances that we have ever seen. Check it out for yourselves"

[Guest Patric42]

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_desire-review-468p8.php

In fact the two frequency response graphs are so similar that we suspect a similar (or maybe identical) hardware has been used inside the two Android flagships. We suspect that HTC have found a way to pump up the volume a bit higher, which has naturally led to the minimal differences you see in the table below.

Hi,

first let me tell that I have had a Palm Treo 680 before, where this had never been an issue. I had a Hero (sold already), a Milestone and a Desire currently in use and they all suffer from this static noise when the volume is low. You can even hear when the mixer switches the output to the headphones, the noise starts until the mixer switches it off. And this is not depending on the headphones or such.

I don't know *what* these guys are testing, I guess they just look at the frequence response, but I can remember well the times in the 80's when a new Hifi device had to prove its qualities against signal *and* noise. Nowadays, testers don't seem to care about this anymore... *sigh*

Patric

[Guest lanxton]

Due to EU regulations, some of the provider based phones have had the max volume turned down noticeably. Some people say that this is not really an issue, but if you try to listen to the phone through your car stereo, you will notice that you have to turn the car stereo volume up way higher to reach the same volume level as your CD player. Maybe this cap in the volume level is also causing your feedback....

[Guest jvx]

I think it's just a low quality audio chip. I've experienced the same behaviour on a lot of phones and iPods. It's only the past two years that things got considerably better. I still think the iPhone 3G and S (not the 2G though, audio chip on 2G sucks) have one of the best audio reproductions I've ever heard.

I'm not really happy with the audio quality of my Desire. First there is the static hissing noise issue when you use in ear earphones, second the equilizer setting is just not broad enough. But hey, it's a phone, I'll use it in noisy enviorments, so I guess I can live with it.

One thing I noticed though is setting any phone to Airplane/offline mode helps a lot, radiation distorts the sound (think of the situation a decade ago, when someone recieved a call nearby a HiFi).

Yep, switching on airplane mode gets rid of the popping/pulsing sounds but the hiss noise still remains. I've now tried many sets of headphones and its noticable on all of them - although to differing extents. Having googled around I think using headphones that have in-built volume control helps (since the resistence can be used to help eliminate the hiss).

I'd be grateful if anyone using in-ear headphones could let me know of their experiences.

[Guest MaTiCeK]

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_desire-review-468p8.php

"The HTC Desire pulls off the same remarkable audio quality as the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10, but is louder in terms of earphones volume.

In fact the two frequency response graphs are so similar that we suspect a similar (or maybe identical) hardware has been used inside the two Android flagships. We suspect that HTC have found a way to pump up the volume a bit higher, which has naturally led to the minimal differences you see in the table below.

At any rate the Desire readings are excellent all over, the HTC handset pulling one of the best all-round performances that we have ever seen. Check it out for yourselves"

Well if it doesn't sound excellent to my ears, the graph doesn't matter. Thanks for the link though.

About headphones, I have a lot of headphones, but I mostly use the Sennheiser HD 435, Audio Technica ATH-ANC7B or Sennheiser PX100 and on all of those the hissing is barely noticable, because of the impendance of the headphones. I do however also own a pair of Shure SE210 in ear earphones, these work perfectly on my iPod Classic and iPhone 3Gs. On the Desire not so much, because the hissing is too much, for enjoying music in a quiet room. But still, it's a mobile phone and I only listen music with the in ear earphones while on the go. When I'm home, I can use real headphones and then the issue isn't all that noticable.

[Guest naguz]

Do anybody with this issua usa a branded ROM? I'm kind of hoping this is ROM related, and as the branded ROMS have lower volume, that they will work nicely.

It is more likely however, that there is a mitsmatch between the amp in the Desire and the Ohm/sensitivity in the in-ears we are using (tested myself with Sennheiser CX 300 and Cretive Aurvana In-Ears.). If so, this should be possible to fix by uisng a resistor of 80 Ohms or so. Difficult to find these thing though, I think they are called attenuators or something similar. Ultimate Ears have one on their site that is 100 Ohm.

This is all acording to some audiophile I don't really know, but I am currently looking to test this. As the sound quality have gotten such highg praice everywhere, and not all reviewers can be deaf, there must be something else (I hope!).

Sprry for the bump btw, but very nice to find someone else who actually notices this.

[Guest zerobob]

Ah ha!

I've solved the hissing!!...well at least with my Sennheiser CX-400 IIs (ear canal phones).

The background noise was driving me mad, mainly when using the MP3 player on my Desire in quiet places and left me thinking "Another HTC device. Yet another poor quality MP3 player with background hiss".

However, my Sennheisers have a volume control on the headphone wire so I decided to turn it down slightly and WOOPAH!....no more hiss. I then turned the media volume up to the max on my Desire, just to check if the hiss wasn't generally volume related, and it isn't. I get pin sharp audio now! It's actually a very good MP3 player, aside from the weird hissing issue which seems to occur with certain headphones.

I assume the Sennheiser CX-300s already mentioned have a headphone wire volume control too, so this will more than likely solve the problem.