yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
First off, lemme say thanks for the replies. 'Preciate it. :P

Possibly, it's been awhile since I got it though and I dunno where I put my receipt so I sort of doubt the shop will care. And defect or not, I feel it's more a software/firmware issue as I truly was able to fix it at some point.

Hmm, didn't know that. Still doesn't explain why my headphones worked amazingly with my old iPhone but terrible with this. :c Not that I bought these headphones for taking out and about, rather bulky. Might hafta buy some others..

Yeah, I gathered as when I used a similar app called Volume+ I found it quite capable of better sound. That's why I'd like some help with changing the Samsung audio settings. I know my way around them, but there's so many opions and changeable things I'm not sure what to do. I'll give Poweramp a look.

So cannot be arsed getting OGG versions ofall my music. xD And having to re-tag it all. If OGGs can even be tagged and have art. But yeah, way too much effort but I don't doubt you.

Perhaps. But they're loud songs nonetheless, particularly the live ones. I can certainly hear the difference. Way too quiet on the SGS2. :c

Using more than one app is even more than my not wanting to use one in the first place. :P Certainly wouldn't help battery life, as this all only matters when I'm travelling long distance and need music.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Electroz:
There are 2 microphones on the sgs2. One is on the bottom edge and one is on the top edge. The bottom one is for regular calls and is broken on your phone. The top one is for speakerphone, which is obviously working.

I suggest returning your phone under warranty as the volume issue is not normal either.

Sent from my GT-I9100M
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
They're not broken as such because as stated I was able to fiddle with some settings and get normal calls working fine, it just lost those settings after a reset. Some sort of firmware fault, I've heard of cases where people had the same issue back on the original SGS.

I could never get the warranty going. Samsung's website wouldn't recognise it at all. Never got around to trying to start the warranty manually. Probably too late now.

Also, to those who recommended Poweramp; I'm impressed. that's not a bad work around actually. Shame it doesn't have playlist support though.

EDIT: Oh, it does! perfect little app, thanks guys. Now I just need to find settings to fix my in-call volume issue then I'm all set. :P
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rab1412000:
volume+ has no perceptible hit on battery life fyi

edit:

why dont you give it a try first. you could always kill it or uninstall it if it doesnt work out for you. it has a v small memory footprint btw.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
Ah alright, I might've imagined it. I'll use it if need-be, at least Poweramp seems to do the job as-is but thanks for the recommendation.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rab1412000:
thats what you call impedance mismatch.

for example, my woodees in-ear sound excellent on an iphone/ipod. in fact, it is a match to a bose QC15 any day. however it sounds muffled on my laptop and sgs2.

its the complete opposite with my koss portapros which sound amazing on my laptops and sgs2 and sound just ok on the ipod.

there is most probably nothing wrong with both your headphones and phone, but just keep this in mind. it is one reason why certain audiophiles have more than one iem.

edit:

forgot about your in-call issues, yes that could be a hardware problem.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
What a pain in the arse. :c Had no idea audio could be so damn complicated.

At least Poweramp seems to make things loud enough. Might have to invest in some more portable headphones in the future though.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rab1412000:
personally, id try to get your in-call volume issues sorted out first.

that just isnt right and could indeed point to a h/w defect.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
That basically is all I need sorting now. The underlying problem of the music volume may not be fixed, but the apps suggested here get around it fine.

I still don't think it was a hardware defect as I really did have it fixed at one point. Stupid reset. I think it's some semi-unique firm/software issue I have.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Aymara:
That's the downside of the MP3 age ... most people don't know nothing about audio quality and what's worse, they don't know what they missed so far.

There are several lessons to learn:

1. MP3 sucks even at highest bitrate, because frequencies above 15 KHz are cut off and basses are always distorted if the music is a bit louder. If you have good audio hardware, MP3 sounds much worse than a good Audio CD.

2. Ogg Vorbis is a good compromise for mobile use compared to Flac with it's extremly large files. If you rip a CD with quality setting Q=7 (224 kbit) you won't hear a difference to the CD except when using a DDD recording on a high end HiFi home sytem and having yourself very trained ears ;) And what's also nice is, the file size is similar to MP3.

And yes, you can use album art with Ogg ... embed it with Media Monkey on PC or if you rip a complete album to a folder, just place a JPG in that folder which has the same file name as the album title. Both Media Monkey and the SGS2 will show it (no matter if stock player or Poweramp). No need to mention, that all MP3 tags also can be embedded in Ogg.

3. Good audio hardware is needed ... and though the stock volume is a bit low on the SGS2, it's Yamaha audio engine is quite good. But the stock audio player is crap. It's impossible to get good equalization without distortion in the bass bands. But Poweramp solves this problem, if you set it up correctly.

So all that is missing now is a good headphone. The best mobile headphone with correct impedance you can get below 100$ nowadays is the AKG K319 ... though it ships with a hardcase and has fantastic sound, it's not very popular or let's say not well known, so you can get it really cheap ... got it for only 25 Euros :D:D:D

But if you are a bass junkie, the Koss Porta Pro might be the better choice. It has a little bit more bass response as the AKG, but is more bulky and can't compete with the AKG's sound "crispness" in middle and high frequency bands.

Conclusion: After already switching to Poweramp, Ogg and a good mobile headphone will give give you a second WOW effect ;)
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
Very interesting. I knew some of that, but not quite to that extent. Regardless though, the sheer time it'd take me to replace my songs..ugh, I shudder at the thought. :P Also I prefer mp3 and m4a for cross-system compatibility and iTunes use. Still my fave way of organising and listening to music I'm almost ashamed to say.

That being said, I installed Winamp just for transferring my music and playlists onto my SGS2 properly.

I'll keep the headphones in mind, but Poweramp itself solves the bulk of that problem. x3 Now if only I could fix my major problem.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Aymara:
MP3 will die over time, not only because it sounds horrible. The main reason are the licence fees, devs and manufacturers have to pay ... Ogg on the other hand is free ... did you notice, that nearly all newer devices suport Ogg? ;)

It can understand, that switching a large archive to Ogg can be a lot of work, but it's zero hassle to use Ogg for new material.

I highly recommend to compare the sound quality.

You mentioned, that you found a fix, but a reboot resets it. Do you use the latest firmware or a custom ROM?
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
Yeah, I don't doubt it. Gotta love that open source. I might investigate more into ogg files when I have more spare time.

As for the firmware, I believe I updated to a latest one. At least I don't think it was custom, looked the same as the stock, stupid TouchWiz and all. Only updated to root it basically. 'Cause I think my stock rom was an Optus mutated version basically, so couldn't root it. Something like that.

Lets check the settings..hmm...Android Version: 2.3.3, Baseband Version: I9100XXKDJ, Kernel Version: 2.6.35.7-I9100XWEK2-CL187606 root@DELL101 #2, Build Number: GINGERBREAD.XWKE2.

That's all I know.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Aymara:
One last word about Ogg ... it's only superior to MP3 at 224 KBit and above!

You think? Where did you get it from? I only updated by OTA ... staying stock so far.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] tuvi123:
maybe 2.3.5 will fix that
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
I tend to only have MP3s above 192kbps, mostly higher, so I guess I'll know to keep the trend for oggs. :P

And yes, I believe so. The OTA updating thing didn't work. Again, I believe, because it was an Optus-edited firmware.

Perhaps. If I update again does it keep my root or will I have to do that again?

EDIT: Okay, Poweramp works fine, and I also see types of headphones are to blame. Like the earphones that came with the phone are fine. They have 3 notches on the plug as opposed to 2. I'd say that's a fair indication. Anyway, can consider this problem solved.

Also I've been told my warranty was indeed automatic, so if I truly cannot fix the mic problem again, apparently I can send it away to get fixed. Although I guess I'll have to reset and all, hide root and all that. Don't even know how, nor do I want to be phone-less, so help will still be very appreciated.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rab1412000:
I agree with most everything you said except your comments on the koss portapros.

Unlike most iem's, the koss us not bass heavy and in fact shines in separation, natural sound reproduction and over all warness and crispness. It is definitely not a headphone for bass heads.

I like listening to modern music with a lot of strings and I get a lot of separation in the high frequencies.

Like i said I've compared it to a Boss quiet comfort 15 and senn 555's.

Your akg is very good too, but at a third of the price less, i personally feel the koss is a better buy.

And that's why it's design has been the same for the past 25 years
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Aymara:
What I wrote might be misunderstood ... Ogg needs to be 224 Kbit to get CD quality ... with MP3 you won't get it even at 320.

... the question is, if it might have something to do with the firmware, that your workaround gets lost with every reboot. Maybe it's worth a try to test the latest stock firmware without root to make shure it isn't a hardware issue? If you need to RMA it, you need to go that route anyway.

Yes, it's not a Beyerdynamic DT-770 ;)

But is has larger drivers as the typical mobile headphone and so a little more bass. But it doesn't have the cripsness and clarity of the K319, when the later got it's "burn in" ... they need around 50 hours to develop their full sound spectrum.

If you prefer the sound of the Koss, ok then it's a better buy. But regarding price ... the Koss costs between 25 and 50 Euros and the AKG around 25-40 depending, where you buy. And the AKG comes with a nice hardcase. So price isn't an argument in my opinion.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] B3311:
And there's the caveat -

good

audio hardware. I've not been able to ABX between a properly encoded vbr MP3 file at -v3 or above, a -q5 OGG and its lossless equivalent (FLAC, ALAC) on any mobile phone or PMP at all with decent IEMs (I use Sennheiser IE8). I doubt that you can either, unless your 15 years old or a bat:). My PMP is a Cowon S9, which in my opinion has way better SQ than any phone I've heard (obviously subjective, but that's why it's my opinion...)

I can ABX the above on my home setup, and so I should for the price I paid....

But **** in=**** out is all-important - some downloaded torrent originally ripped from a CD using WMP and transcoded god knows how many times will always sound pants.

All my portable music is LAME mp3 or aoToV OGG, ripped from my own CDs with EAC (secure, accuraterip on) to FLAC (used for backup only) and then FLAC>mp3/ogg with dbPoweramp. No torrents, no DRM.

After many years of testing, the only advantage for me with OGG over mp3 is file size, which isn't personally a concern. I've stayed with mp3 mainly out of habit - OGG device compatibility is better these days, but was a real problem until recently.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Aymara:
The SGS2 combined with Poweramp and a good headphone like the K319 is good enough hardware to hear the difference, when the source material isn't compressed to death like done e.g. on Metallica or Black Eyed Peas CDs.

Use a good DDD recording and you'll hear the difference as long as Ogg is used with -q7 ... -q5 isn't good enough. It has to be a minimum of 224 Kbit to get CD quality.

BTW ... I always rip to WAV and convert with OggDrop ... I'm not shure, if that might play a role too.

I clearly hear a difference even between Ogg in 224 and MP3 in 320. You can also make it visible with Audacity's spectrum analyzer ;)
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] B3311:
Also using Poweramp, and my IEMs are more than good enough (never use anything other than IEMs for portable use). I'm pretty picky about my CDs too - these days "30th Anniverary Super Special Remastered Edition" really means "Look How Much I Can Compress This - Now With Extra Clipping Edition"..

Yes Steve Hoffman I mean you (and whoever the Devil's Spawn is who ruined "Californication")...

Still hear no difference. My tastes aren't modern - (whom are these Black Eye Peas of which you speak? ;) ) - mostly 70s/80s funk and soul, some punk, some jazz and classical - so not too much difference in mastering. I'll take your word that you can hear a difference between your stated files - is that totally blind a la ABX by the way? Can you hear the difference between cbr 320 and vbr -V0 mp3s?

I'll guess your ears are much younger than my 48 year old pair that have received constant gig abuse since 1977:eek:

Anyways, I stick with my S9 for "serious" listening, and use SGS2+Poweramp for "casual"/passing the time/travelling - more than good enough. Still miss voodoo on the SGS though..

Never use Audacity because I can trust my source material, as stated in previous post. Anyway, I can't hear a spectrum analysis;)
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Aymara:
Well, typical modern charts music ... I hate it.

Hehe ... my ears are one year older ;) ... and listen to everything being non-commercial from Gothic over Metal to Jazz.

But the time being a drummer myself lies 20 years back and I maybe go to concerts 2-3 times a year nowadays.

To make it short ... the ears play a role too ... some people don't even hear a difference between bass and guitar, lol ... no offence intended.

Btw, new scientific tests revealed, that even old ears can hear very high frequencies, if it are not sinus tones but played in music. If that wouldn't be the case, an old Karajan wouldn't have heard a difference between Stradivari and a cheap violin :D
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] B3311:
49?? God, you're ancient!!

I know Black Eyed Peas really - that young Fergie lady can make sweet tunes in my boudoir any time she likes...

Ears make a difference, too right. I could hear 17 kHz only 3 years ago, then sank to 15. Had a sinus operation not long ago and I "think" my hearing improved since - having a checkup with a friend next week, will be interesting (an ENT consultant is a good friend to have!) to get some objective data.

As a muso, you've no doubt got better "trained" ears than myself - I can spot most pre-echo and smearing artefacts, but not much else.

How some of the guys on sites like hydrogenaudio and stereophile find the time to actually enjoy their music instead of analysing it is beyond me...
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rab1412000:
i would really disagree with regards to seperation and clarity between the koss vs the akg319, but i guess we all have our preferences.

one thing is for sure though, in amazon.com the koss is 30usd while the akg is 70usd. it might be much different in your part of the world but i was more alluding to the u.s. and asian markets.

ok back OT :)
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Aymara:
Ok, AKG is pricier in the US, but I found a hint in a US audio forum, that someone got it for 40$ ... from Amazon ;)
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rab1412000:
but truth be told, akg is a veritable legend in audio circles.

if i were to get another iem i would choose between an akg 340 and klipsch s4i

i dont know if this has been posted here but i got some useful tips from this thread:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1122361
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
Possibly. I'll look into that sometime in the next few days.

Also, way to turn my topic into a debate about sound, ears and various headphones guys. ;3
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Aymara:
I'm curious, what you'll find out.

Yeah, the thread title could be "How to get the best sound out of my SGS2" ... answer: Get yourself new ears! :D:D:D

Back to topic

Good luck with your mic problem!
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
Hehe, yeah. :P At least my problem with solved without expensive surgery or spending on new headphones. I probably will get some in the future though. (New headphones, not ears.)

Thanks. I'll try a newer firmware tomorrow, see if that automatically fixes it. If not, I'll then try the original fix -if I can find it- and if that still doesn't work...dunno. Send it back I suppose. Worst case scenario. Will post results here later.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rab1412000:
OP

one more thing about headphones: apple gadgets are better suited with 16ohm iems/'phones but i think the sgs2 is better paired with a higher impendance device.

from what ive observed and the threads ive read here 24-80 ohms would be a good range for the sgs2

good luck
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Aymara:
If that would be the case, his high impedance Sennheiser would be louder on the SGS2 than on the iPhone, but he reported the opposite.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] TheMegastar:
Audio issues? What audio issues! People on the other end can hear my voice just fine. If you have to put your phone on a speaker to do a normal conversation then your piece is faulty.

You can't hear good sound output in your headphone while listening to music? Then either your phone is faulty or the headphone is. I agree that the maximum volume is a bit low when you are playing it on the phone's speakers, but there are apps which solve this to a great extent. And there is no problem while using a headset at all. I use a Dell bluetooth headset, and the volume is pretty high even when I keep it a low level. If I was to put the volume on maximum while using my headset, it would most definitely blow my head off! The quality is so good!

Get this straight, my friend, you have done absolutely the right thing in upgrading from your iphone to SGS II. The SGS II is miles ahead of the iphone 4.

Cheers!
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
Once I fix my mic problem I'm sure I'll agree.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rab1412000:
Did he actually mention his headphone type and impedance in this thread?
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
Sennheiser HD 202s.

"Nominal impedance	32 Ω"
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Aymara:
Then it's nicely suited for mobile devices ... except the 3m cable length ;)

BTW ... the iPhone 4 also has a 32 Ohm impedance ... checked it in the specs on their website.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] JJEgan:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1211944

Might be worth a look for those with sound problems .

jje
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
It comes with a handy thing to roll the excess cord in. x3 It really is great, but still not greatly portable 'cause they don't quite open enough to sit around my neck comfortably, nor fold up enough to fit in a pocket. But the sound is great, so oh well. :P

That was pretty much the solution I'd already been given in this topic. Need help with my mic now.

EDIT: I've re-applied my settings from this topic here: http://xdaforums.com/archive/index.php/t-1069168.html And they seem to work again. My mum says she can hear herself as well, but at least she can hear me more clearly. So it's a step up. Definitely more tinkering could be done with the settings, but I'm afraid I have little idea what does what. At least my phone is more usable for now.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Aymara:
It's hard to believe, that lowering mic volume is the right solution.

But there's something else to check out ... I remember, someone reported he had mic problems only in noisy environments, especially in his car. And guess what, the SGS2 has a noise cancelling feature, that causes some people problems ... there's a thread abour it HERE.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
Part of what I edited earlier did drop the mic sensitivity.

But it's interesting you inked me to that article. I test called my friend and when then turned off Noise Reduction it worked properly. Odd. Is there a way to permenantly turn that off? Seems the major culprit. :P

EDIT: Test-called mum too. Sure enough, I can be heard fine since I edited those things, but the person on the other end hears themselves too. If I turn off NR, they ONLY hear ME. So yes. Need a way to disable Noise Reduction entirely now. xD Then I'll truly have the phone I paid for.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Aymara:
So far, I didn't find a hint.

Maybe it just helps to place a finger on the upper mic, while speaking? Might be worth a test.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
Maybe. I'm bound to find that more annoying though, I'll just turn it off each time. No more hassle than when I was turning on speakerphone every time but this works better. x3
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Aymara:
What I find strange is, that not everybody has this problem. Maybe the sensitivity of the upper mic is set too high only on a few devices? Or it's a firmware version problem? Might be worth dropping Samsung support a mail about it.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
Possibly.

Samsung support is pretty crap though. Got a generic reply to my last e-mail.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Aymara:
Support is very different depending on the country ... maybe contact german support ... they will be able to understand English ;)

Important is, that Samsung knows about it and fixes it in a later firmware.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
Hehe, I suppose. :P

Not even sure what to say. Can't really be a firmware thing as it's a problem I've experienced on at least two different firmware versions. But I dunno. It's all so confusing.

Say what you like about Apple and iPhones, but they're straightforward at least. xD
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Aymara:
I would tell them, that people complain about your voice being barely understandable until you switch off noise cancellation.

Maybe also point them to the noise cancellation thread to show proof, that you're not the only one with this problem.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rizaria:
So anyway, I found out my problem isn't just my own after reading the topic here: http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-s2/357910-voice-echo-anyone-else-getting.html

Other people came to the same conclusion, turn off noise reduction, all is well. Unfortunately, there's no permenant way to turn it off. And to turn it off you have to call someone, wait for it to connect, press two buttons to do so before talking. Means you sound like a creeper on the phone for a few seconds..not ideal.

So my question is this, is there a custom mod or whatever that would enable me to turn off Noise Reduction and keep it that way? It'd sure be helpful.