Distorted Headphones at any volume

[Guest TylerDurdenK]

Thanks for your efforts.

Just tried Rock Player (I already tried Poweramp to no avail) I have found the Player Mode option to enable or disable Hardware Decoding, but neither setting gets rid of the distorted sound.

As far as being able to hear it if it's there, if you listen to this -

- it's Adele's Turning Tables. It's bad on my Vega, but on anything else sounds great. You will probably need to do this kind of A-B testing to be sure. Edited February 28, 2011 by TylerDurdenK

[Guest Sir Gash]

Although I stated previously I never had distortion, I fired up Spotify and tried 'Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down' by Alicia Keys and it sounds terrible! When I get home tonight I will try the same track with my Bluetooth headphones to see what the results are. It is strange, most of the music I listen to seems fine (breakbeat, house, trance etc.) but I did notice a bit of distortion with a few tracks on the Disappear Here album by Hybrid recently which is why I revisited this post.

I think a good test maybe to use one of the CyanogenMod ROMS (CM6 or CM7). There is a DSP manager in CM7 so this might be a good test, I tried to do it this morning but my nandroid backup of CM7 is corrupt and I don't really have time at the moment to do clean install.

If you still get the distortion in a CM ROM, I reckon the problem is just a dodgy amplification unit in the Vega :huh:

EDIT: Listening to some more Hybrid, I can definitely hear a flanging effect with piano parts.

Edited February 28, 2011 by Sir Gash

[Guest TylerDurdenK]

Yeah, it's pretty hard to hear on most types of music, sorry to hear you're suffering but also glad I'm not the only one.

Have a listen to that Adele You Tube video on two different devices to confirm it is a Vega issue.

I'll try the Cyanogen ROM and report back.

Thanks for the input.

[Guest TylerDurdenK]

Well, I installed CYanogen ROM and tried to access some of the DSPPlayer settings, but it kept FC'ing on me, so I am none the wiser.

[Guest Sir Gash]

Well, I installed CYanogen ROM and tried to access some of the DSPPlayer settings, but it kept FC'ing on me, so I am none the wiser.

Not sure why the DSP settings don't work, the port is a bit flaky to be honest, it is very much a beta release. I take it there was no improvement in CM7 without DSP settings? You may have noticed that the volume control works properly in CM7 which is one of the reasons I suggested it, unlike all other Vega ROMs I have tried which has the bug where increasing the volume above 50% has no effect.

I played that Alicia Keys track again using my bluetooth headphones and there was no distortion. However, the Vega has a nasty habit of not doing good A2DP streaming when Wi-Fi is on and in use so together with the distortion using standard headphones, I am begining to not like my Vega so much these days :huh:

The only other thing I can suggest is some additional tests to determine what the cause is. As the distortion sounds like a flanging or compression effect, you could try making a mono MP3 of a track that distorts and/or testing one channel at a time (left then right) using a tool like Audacity. Or maybe some other Audio Parameter settings from the XDA thread can help with compression?

Although it is unlikely to lead to a solution, you could report it to Advent/DSG and see what they have to say. Do you know if any of the Vega variants suffer from this problem too?

[Guest flat7]

Is this the second machine you have had. I thought you were getting yours replaced?

My tablet is back at the store. I am waiting for them to investigate the problem and get back to me. I have not got a replace unit as of yet.

[Guest flat7]

Update:

Just got confirmed from the shop where I bought my POV that the distortion problem is for real and I will have a replacement unit. Hope it comes without the distortion!

[Guest TylerDurdenK]

Update:

Just got confirmed from the shop where I bought my POV that the distortion problem is for real and I will have a replacement unit. Hope it comes without the distortion!

Thanks for that. please let us know how you get on. I might be forced to take mine back. I'm sure PC World will leave me bereft of my tablet for a while, trying in vain to sort the issue!

[Guest petgod]

Hi all, 1st time post and 1st time ive tried listening to music on my Vega through headphones tonight, i have all distorted sounds using some headphones from my wifes Samsung phone, looked at this forum for some help. Thought damn have i got a duff headphone port. Just tried the headphones from an ipod and they work really well, noticed that the jack plug goes all the way in on the headphones for the ipod but sticks out a tiny bit on the Samsung ones. Thought it was worth mentioning on here

[Guest premieral]

Hi all, 1st time post and 1st time ive tried listening to music on my Vega through headphones tonight, i have all distorted sounds using some headphones from my wifes Samsung phone, looked at this forum for some help. Thought damn have i got a duff headphone port. Just tried the headphones from an ipod and they work really well, noticed that the jack plug goes all the way in on the headphones for the ipod but sticks out a tiny bit on the Samsung ones. Thought it was worth mentioning on here

i can second that i have never had distortion and i only use my ipod phones so that could be why.

[Guest TylerDurdenK]

It's definitely not the headphones, I have tried several types and all have the problem.

iPod headphones are notoriously bad, so you may have the problem but just can't hear it.

[Guest Smiffy157]

I noticed an issue as well with headphones, found that if I pushed the jack all the way in to the socket, then pulled it out 1 notch (if that makes sense, you can feel the clicks as you push the jack in and out) the audio seemed to work fine, though this was only with the 1 pair of headphones I have tried and was on a couple of TV shows, not music. Either way may be worth a shot.

[Guest nicholson101]

I too get the same problem when watching video also, if thats any help to anyone looking further into this. As far as i can tell it doesn't seem to be an issue when using wireless (BT) headphones?!

[Guest flat7]

So today i went to the store to pickup my pov replacement unit. I had My headphones with me and opened the box right at the desk at the shop. Guess what, same issue with distorted sound so i got My money back. Its sad as i likes the unit otherwhise. I went straight to the Apple store and bought myself an iPad.

Edited March 4, 2011 by flat7

[Guest TylerDurdenK]

So today i went to the store to pickup my pov replacement unit. I had My headphones with me and opened the box right at the desk at the shop. Guess what, same issue with distorted sound so i got My money back. Its sad as i likes the unit otherwhise. I went straight to the Apple store and bought myself an iPad.

I'm going into PC World today to do the same thing. I will also be checking the new one in store to see if the same fault exists, if it does I'm going for a refund too.

[Guest TylerDurdenK]

Well, I am now tabletless. The store gave me a new Vega and it also had this issue.

I dare say that they all have the problem. If you don't hear it, you aren't listening closely enough.

[Guest doomlordis]

I tested today, what i have found is that the output of the Vega is VERY loud and with harder to drive headphones like my HD600 the Vega produced no distortion. With my in ears (Klipsch X10) it is hard to find a volume level that doesnt blow your ears off. I think efficient earbuds of 16/32 ohms may not be suited to the Vegas very high output.

[Guest Vansphone]

I tried some sennheiser mm50's and it distorted very badly. Old Apple earphones worked well. Also also tried sennheiser noise canceling headphones that also worked well

Then I tried a XMI X-mini II Mini Speaker and that was great. A tiny speaker but it kicks out a good sound (mono).

Edited March 6, 2011 by Vansphone

[Guest doomlordis]

Yep its fair to say that the Vega is a pretty poor source, mind you most 'computers' are, Ipad scores one here.

[Guest ChocolateRobot]

Well, I am now tabletless. The store gave me a new Vega and it also had this issue.

I dare say that they all have the problem. If you don't hear it, you aren't listening closely enough.

How long did you have the Vega before you took it back? Just wondering if this is returnable regardless of time as it is a hardware fault.

[Guest TylerDurdenK]

I bought it when they were first launched. I am pretty sure you will be able to return at any point in the first year.

[Guest doomlordis]

Done some more testing and the distortion is on the speaker output as well, this means it is probably the analogue output stage that is crap. Issues like this have been sorted out by MP3 manufacturers before but it depends on what is causing the issue, it is not the screen.

Edited March 8, 2011 by doomlordis

[Guest gswallow]

This is turning into a bit of a pain in the ears TBH. I've had my Vega for about a month or so and have noticed the sound issue (more on video content than music). Given this seems to be a common problem, with no solution, I'm wondering ways in which I can get around it.

Option 1 - Bluetooth receiver to add to current headphones. Anyone with experience of pairing bluetooth headphones w/Vega to comment on how efficient this is? I don't particularly want to be faffing around with BT pairing every time I sit down to watch something on the move.

Option 2 - The dock from PCWorld. Does the headphone out on the dock suffer the same problems? Second, does the dock operate when away from the power connector? Physically this would be pretty chunky, but could work.

Anyone any ideas?

[Guest Sir Gash]

This is turning into a bit of a pain in the ears TBH. I've had my Vega for about a month or so and have noticed the sound issue (more on video content than music). Given this seems to be a common problem, with no solution, I'm wondering ways in which I can get around it.

Option 1 - Bluetooth receiver to add to current headphones. Anyone with experience of pairing bluetooth headphones w/Vega to comment on how efficient this is? I don't particularly want to be faffing around with BT pairing every time I sit down to watch something on the move.

Option 2 - The dock from PCWorld. Does the headphone out on the dock suffer the same problems? Second, does the dock operate when away from the power connector? Physically this would be pretty chunky, but could work.

Anyone any ideas?

With regards to Option 1, there is no faffing at all. You only have to pair the Vega with the headphones/receiver once. Then, as long as Bluetooth is switched on on the Vega, switching on your headphones should auto-connect and you are ready to go. The only problem is that the Vega, like many other Android devices, is crap when streaming music via A2DP whilst Wi-Fi is switched on, you will get problems such as pauses and pitch-shifting during playback. If you can live with having Wi-Fi off, it will be fine. Otherwise, your screwed.

P.S. I am using a pair of Nokia BH-905's and I am very happy with them:

http://www.nokia.com/microsites/bh-905

Edited March 15, 2011 by Sir Gash

[Guest gswallow]

OK, so I've ordered a cheapo bluetooth receiver to plug my headphones into. Fingers crossed this will solve the problem. As a quick test I have a USB DAC at home. It is supposedly plug-n-play on Linux so I was vaguely hoping it might work with the Vega, by outputting sound via the USB jack, but no dice.

I've noticed some people have returned their Vega's because of this issue and have received refunds, which suggests it is a fault. Have Advent ever acknowledged this is an issue? Anyone any ideas on whether this might be a hardware or software probelm? Given the problems with the vol. control maxing out at 50% my hope is that there is some EQ setting within the kernel that need tweaking, something which is way beyond my expertise.