yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] chromatech:
I am using the M100s bumped to the max with the S4 with no issues at all. However I get the crackling with my Ortofon IEM's.......
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Maybe that's possible to turn this issue into something like "probation period with no end"?

I mean, you buy i9505 in a week o r so you come back to store stating "The phone is faulty". You get another i9505 and after another week you get a third replacement phone...

... and finally you get shot or hang up by the shop consultants :laugh:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rbrucemtl:
Interesting...

Hi Everyone... I think this problem can be resolved in the kernel...

I'm a GS3 at&t variant user but... I can tell you that with the 3.0.x kernels this problem was manageable... I would have major clipping with my Sony XBA-4 earbuds 8ohms... with 3.0.x kernels I could just toggle the speaker phone and then magically the audio quality from the headphones was pristine up to max volume untel I reboot the phone... the toggle worked every time. With 3.4 kernels that trick no longer works and I only get clipping all the time in less at about half volume.

I have to run android 4.1.2 with a 3.0 kernel to hear my music the way it was meant to be... the 3.4 kernels give major clipping.

Comparing the codecs in the kernel there are majors changed to the DAC drivers and codecs...

Cheap headphones work fine.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
That would be cool, but the problem with the i9505 isn't really a "clipping" problem (which usually means a current-limit issue). It is an oscillitory instability. I'm not saying that it couldn't possibly be something fixable in the kernel driver, but it seems very unlikely.

---------- Post added at 10:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:53 AM ----------

I am putting in another call to Samsung mobile today (4th call I think). They have my info and case on record (even though ironically I am very pleased with my SGH-I337 and higher-impedance phones ... but I really like a good challenge). I'll force the issue today with threats, no affirmations to take the issue to USA late-night TV talk shows and perhaps record a youtube music video on this :) using my excellent S4 of course.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rbrucemtl:
Try it..

Just out of curiosity... does the S4 have the 3.4 kernel or 3.0? My problem is exactly as described by many people in this thread so maybe "clipping" was not a good description... distortion loud cracking is what I get. untel the audio goes out of the phone speaker... try it.

Try this... plug in your headphones that have the issues... start your music playing... then... unplug and replug the headphone gently but quickly until the music outputs from the phones internel speaker and then finally leave the headphones plugged in and tell me if the distortion stops.

It sounds strange i'm sure but with the 3.0 kernel this work every time for me... but not with 3.4
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Raul_79:
I have this issue with original Head phones.

Inviato dal mio GT-I9505 con Tapatalk 2
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
:crying:

That's no good. Are you able to contact your local Samsung Support?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
On SGH-I337 its kernel 3.4. I tried the procedure above but when I unplug the headphones, the output to the speaker is paused and isn't at the same level. I tried several things like this but the instability is always there. There is absolutely no noticeable "crackle" at any volume level when played through the S4 internal speaker. It would be interesting to know how the driver for the headphones vs. internal speaker splits out and what the internal speaker impedance is.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rbrucemtl:
Thanks

Well I never could get this to work with 3.4 kernel... only 3.0... I use PowerAmp player and the option not to pause music when the headphones are unplugged exists. When I unplug and replug the headphones the music will "skip" to the internal speaker then back to the headphones and magically the headphone sound perfect... I think there is a detection in the codec that is getting messed up...but then in 3.4 kernels they did something that made it worse.

Anyway as long at I use 3.0 kernel my Sony XBA-4's sound great with my S3 and the distortion can be remedied
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Raul_79:
I will try

Inviato dal mio GT-I9505 con Tapatalk 2
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] owgees:
What we need is Someone to crack one of these Bastards open and test the hardware if they know how. 50 donations of £10 would do the job!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
Called Samsung Mobile support again today. After a few minutes of frustration and the guy asking me for more details, I force-walked him to the web page with my measurements and the description. I really don't think that he "got it". I summarized with him that this problem needs to be escalated NOW and that we (distraut owners of i9505 with low impedance buds) all expect a meaningful and useful response from Samsung about this problem. I also mentioned that owners who had called Samsung support mostly received responses that Samsung wasn't aware of any such problem. He promised that he would escalate the problem and that I would get a response by email or phone. It really just felt like more of the same old nonsense. I advised him that I'd test the next Samsung phone with this architecture and if the problem was still there, then I would make every effort to advertise to every smartphone forum or related interest group to disuade potential S4+ buyers. Oh yes, I also added that the HTC One (I haven't actually verified that) and the S3 (I have verified this) don't have this problem.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Thank you for your time and effort! Have you got a case number or something?

Also, I work in Support and must admit, that a phrase "I would like to speak to a manager" sometimes work like a miracle.

Cheers!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ipmanwck:
I am going to contact the Metro paper here in the UK. I hope to get them to post an article. Worth a try eh.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] toadsurfer:
Bit the bullet and bought some new ear phones. High impedence black box c20s. Work great with no crackling but feel like I should send an invoice to Samsung
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] KinetiClutch:
Hopefully, if enough people like Jens keep phoning something will be done. I'll try my phones on the shop display 4s if it cradles I'll have to go for the one :/
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
I didn't get assigned any case# for my phone calls to Samsung Mobile support. Requesting to "speak to your manager" hasn't worked either. Perhaps they've been warned :)

I'd be pleased, as a start, to just have Samsung simply acknowledge that there IS indeed a problem. But they can always just say that they only support the S4 i9505 with their own supplied earphones, as some have reported here, so they have a pretty easy way out (if not super-lame). Heck, if I were a marketting person from HTC or Apple or some other competitor , I'd see this as a HUGE opportunity to use the info. for competitive advantage :rolleyes: .. something like "our amazing superphone works with ALL premium quality audiophile headsets".

Will I buy Samsung again? almost certainly .. I love the way their tech. integrates together (via DLNA etc..). So I have a vested interest in Samsung fixing this problem for the current i9505 and future phones/tablets with similar platforms.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] trenzterra:
I was wondering if there are other avenues we could explore, e.g. file a class-action lawsuit? Obviously that would be a last resort but if some of us living in the same area are willing to band together I don't see why not.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jaistah:
Had an S4 i9505 with the same issue, i fixed that by upgrading to the latest Stock Firmware available in SAMMOBILE. But I had to replace the crappy Earphones that came with the box, its LIBRARY Compliant, i used iPhone earpods and its better than that crappy low audio earphones.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
I thought it would be interesting to use a pure audio tone with an amplitude that ramps up from zero (silence) to full digital amplitude. Sort of a single self-contained audio experiment.

So for those interested, here is the 1 minute 16bit/44.1 kHz test file I synthesized at a frequency of 250 Hz for download along with a short description of it:

WavRamp_250: A 16bit/44.1kHz ramped wav file.

Here is how I used it:

Using the default Samsung Music player with all EQ and other sound-mod settings turned off, set the volume level to 15/15.

Then play the 1 minute wavramp_250.wav file. The intensity will slowly increase from silence to full digital amplitude by the 1 minute mark.

If you don't have a problem with your headphones, the 250 Hz tone will simply increase in intensity with no "buzz" added to the pure tone at any level.

My results: no tone change or buzz using the internal speaker; no tone change using the stock 35 ohm Samsung buds; no tone change with my Senn HD598 50ohm headphones.

With 12 ohm resistive loads on each channel (as I reported earlier), the buzz develops and extends over the time range of 12 - 14 sec during playback.

To check that this is not a digital setting issue on the volume control itself, I lowered the Music player level to 10/13 and played the file again, and in this case the buzz occurs over the time range of 27-33 sec. during playback (at exactly the same analog output level as monitored on the scope) again strongly suggesting that this is indeed simply an analog output driving effect, not fixable in firmware or software.

So if you use the test file with your low-impedance buds, use the Samsung Music player with the 15/15 setting. Record the time range during playback when you hear the "buzz" ... and report it here. I'd like to see how much variation there is.

"What's the buzz ... tell me what's a happenin ... " (as in J.C. Superstar)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] trenzterra:
What firmware did you download? ME3?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ipmanwck:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrGRBsdAH6E&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Made me giggle. How much did they pay this guy.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] creed:
Maybe that's the way to go to get Samsung to do something, contact Apple, Tech journalists e.t.c. and they'll embarrass Samsung into doing something.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
maybe, but it needs someone of high profile who's well known and with tons of industry credibility
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Let me assure you that all Support departments have "ticketing" system. Why? Simply because management need something to measure their Support techs' productivity and effectiveness.

The majority of Support techs never tell you case number, but if you ask them, they have to provide it! If support rep refuse to give you such number, ask for the manager

Me too!

I bet they will!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] otacon888:
Finally got my Sony XB90EX yesterday.

Works perfectly with the I9500 at max volume (my XBA4 would crackle at volume 14/15).

On the I9505, there is still crackle but at volumes above 13 (My XBA would crackle at volume 6/7 already).

I was also at Samsung and tested both earphones on various I9500's and I9505's (even new from the box) and all sets behaved like what I described above. The exception being, the I9505s on display working perfectly with no crackle at max volume with both the XBA4 and XB90.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
Good news but not too surprising .. according to goldenears, the impedance is somewhat higher than the nominal spec of 16 ohm and never dips lower. Still great to get another good set of phones with low-ish impedance that is close to the impedance critical point of ~ 15 ohm.

---------- Post added at 03:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:39 PM ----------

As you said they probably have a ticket / case # but I find it easier to just provide my email address or phone number every time I call. That way I'm sure they have it right. Of course that assumes I every only have ONE case number :silly:

I'm call them every 2 weeks until I get some response.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Sorry to say, but it's more likely than not that you have already got multiple case numbers. Why? Supporters on the phone know exactly, how their performance is measured and therefore they create as many tickets as they can.;)

But that's good actually 'cause multiple tickets on the same topic get much much more attention from Management. However, I think, they might be already notified by their R&D and higher managers how they should handle this issue.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] tazztone:
played your 250hz file... buzzing occurs at:

vol 15/15: 10 sec & 20-26sec.

vol 14/15: 16 sec & 30-42sec.

vol 13/15: 25 sec & 50-60sec.

default player. cx300-ii headphones
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
thanks for the results. Those phones are nominally 16 ohm. Quickly checked but didn't see them on goldenears. The buzz at the lower results (e.g. 16 sec for the 14/15 setting) looks roughly like what I see for ~ 12 ohm resistive load. Interesting that you also hear it at higher levels. I assume your results (like that at 15/15) means that there is NO buzz for times later than 26 sec? This clearly demonstrates that this is not a high signal-level problem (like overdriving the headphones or clipping output).
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jaistah:
well I'm from the philippines and the current firmware upgrade available was I9505XXUAMDM, which worked for me.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] raydc2r:
i9505 with rev0.2

I can confirm I get the crackling/static/distortion using my ATH-CKM500 and also my cheap JVC Gumy Plus HA-FX5 IEM's...

The OEM Samsung S2 and S4 earphones do not get any crackling.

My ATH-M50 also does not get the crackling.

So are some of you confirming that the Etymotic 4p to 4s adapter from ebay actually rectifies this problem? I was tossing up whether to get the adapter, get an amp like the Fiio E6, or try my luck and claim warranty on my phone...
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] trenzterra:
The adapter rectifies the problem, I can confirm. Get a 15 or 22 ohm one. It's a little large though, the adapter. I think going with the amp may be a better choice since it'll probably improve the SQ (marginally) as well.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] tango280581:
There selling the fiio e6 for £20 on amazon. Think im gonna go that route.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Tim182:
Is anyone else having some issues on the I9500? I have some really awful crackling when combining it with a headphone amplifier, mostly between tracks and also when no sound is playing. I am using a FIIO E11 (which I have tested to be ok). Seems fine when playing music
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
This thread is dedicated to i9505 (Snapdragon version).

---------- Post added at 01:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:23 PM ----------

As far as I see,

1) All people that are having issues listen to "headphones only" types of earbuds

2) "Stock" or OEM Samsung headset doesn't have crackling issues

So, here goes the question:

Have anyone tested some headphones with mic and got crackling. I am not any sort of sound/electric engineer. However, as far as I understand microphone generates additional impedance. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thank you!

---------- Post added at 01:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:30 PM ----------

Rev. 0.2??? Not even a major release number? Does this mean that hardware is still "beta" Are they kidding?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] raydc2r:
So if it works with the adapter, in what way will it affect the sound of my earphones?

And I've only seen a 50ohm one as the lowest on ebay... Where can I get a 15-22ohm?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] olaf63:
I update my experience. I had two 9505, one showed crackling the other has no crackling with my 3 Sennheiser Earbuds rated at 16ohm. Only because I showed this at assistance they told me to send in the faulty one with my earbuds. Result the phone came back with the same behaviour and crackles badly. Now it's sold to a friend that won't use other earbuds than the stock ones at a very low price. I didn't bother to investigate what assistance did to the phone.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Would you mind to let us know which hardware revision does faulty phone have, and which has the phone with no issues?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
I'm no expert on this, but here is my take:

- my SGH-I337 (similar to i9505) has an internal "output impedance" of ~ 2.5 ohm (measured)

- high-quality headphones, particularly balanced armatures ones, from what I've seen have quite a variable impedance as a function of frequency which shapes the sound by the headphone designer

- the best scenario is that the output impedance driving these headphones is very LOW so that the internal audio sound of the S4 is exactly what the headphones are getting. This will happen if the output impedance is very low (typically < 1/10) compared to the minimum headphone impedance

- if you ADD series resistance using a resistive adapter, you modify the frequency-dependent output signal (an unintended EQ effect) across these types of headphones and therefore color the sound. This is not so much a problem with dynamic headphones where the impedance vs frequency tends to be much flatter so added series resistance just drops the level at all frequencies uniformly without significant tonal coloration

This is why it is always better to add an external headphone amp ... they "buffer" (don't load down) the phone's headphone output, and they are designed to typically have an output impedance of < 1 ohm (and the lower the better). Designing this type of amp, with very low output impedance capable of driving headphone (say ~ 8 ohm) with very low distortion is difficult and requires very good audio design experience.

Since the S4 output inpedance is ~ 2.5 ohm, that is a VERY good match for stock earbuds at ~ 35 ohm or an extremely good match for my Senn HD598 (at nominal 50 ohm). For headphone impedances that vary with frequency and with Z(nominal) < 20 ohm, there will be tone shaping, and even more with the added series resistance of an impedance adapter.

If you get a resistive adapter, the amount of tone coloration you get will depend on what your headphone impedance looks like vs frequency. You should therefore pick the MINIMUM possible resistance value that eliminates the buzz. However the subtle "tone coloration" of a resistive adapter will probably be completely acceptable to most listeners compared to that garbage oscillation problem.

---------- Post added at 09:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:34 AM ----------

Just a reminder: here is the link to several S4 articles I've written, include one on the audio problem:

Samsung Galaxy S4

I will be adding an article shortly on the different audio test .wav files I've mentioned here.

Since most of the articles are reasonably complementary to Samsung's S4 features, I can't imagine that Samsung would consider me to be a proverbial sh!t disturber :D
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] imaspaceguy90:
I can confirm the same findings with my S4 using Skull Candy Earbuds With Mic.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
For those who are interested I came across a very good thread @ head-fi.org forums

http://www.head-fi.org/t/601669/impedance-adapters-cables-explained-listed

This is discussion of available impedance adapters.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] olaf63:
.02 for both, they where bought in different stores at a week of distance one from each other.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ipmanwck:
My k451 are on ears and no crackle.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
The microphone "line" is separate from the audio output L/R channels, although they share a common ground connection (the 3rd pole of the plug). It doesn't generate extra impedance as "seen" by audio output driver. Also, I have done testing with a 4 pole plug connected to the headphone output (like the stock earbuds have) and the "buzz" instability is completely independent of the loading on that microphone line (although it *might* generate extra background noise which is a different matter).
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
That's actually interesting!

According to the official specs they are 32Ohm headphones

BTW, it seems to me there are no "on ear" or "over the ear" headphones that get cruckle. Aren't they?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ipmanwck:
Hmmm. So the problem is in ear only
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Well... At least nobody reported any issues with on-ear headphones.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] one0one:
Thats probably only because on/over-ear have usually a bigger impedence... I dont think the form matters...

Cheers
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
I don't think so as well.

Interestingly enough, have anyone tried ow impedance on-ears with i9505?

Examples of the on-ears with Z ~ 20 Ohm are:

Sennheiser Amperior

Sennheiser HD219

Sennheiser HD229

Sony MDR-NC6

Sony MDR-NC8

Sony PFR-V1

Audio-Technica ATH-WM55

Audio-Technica ATH-EQ301

Cheers!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] imlgl:
My Shure Se215 also suffer from this issue/
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RCJ89:
The main problem I have with the s4 audio isn't the crackling, it is the fact that the demo I9505X with build number ending in LLK are much louder and have more bass than the retail I9505 units with build number ending UDM. Which is rather irritating to say the least and I think quite misleading too, as your not getting thing as what your expecting.

As I have been to many phone shops where they have demo units and they are all much louder than my phone, initially I thought it must be my phone with issues so I have had 3 of them all the same thing and my friends ones are all the same aswell. Volume 15 on the retail units is volume 12 on the demo units, volume 15 on the demo units is much louder.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] spencer_uk:
Someone earlier mentioned using a fiio e06. Can anyone confirm if this is a working option? Thanks
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] creed:
That's right. What I've noticed is that the IEM that seem to have larger impedances often seem to be the ones that have the largest drive units which would correspond with on ear units having larger impedances due to larger drivers. The other thing is that you have to look at the impedance response because they are not always flat across the frequency response and often are quoted at 1Khz but can in some cases be considerably lower in the lower frequencies where the crackling issue is seen.

For instance my skull candy titans have a listed impedance of 16 ohms at 1khz, they buzz and crackle as expected at around 70% volume, my sennheisers HD202 do not at full volume which are listed at 32 ohms at 1khz. Looking at impedance graphs for both sets they are pretty flat. However I tested a pair of Shure 425's which also crackled and they are listed at 37ohms at 1khz which wouldn't seem to make sense until when you look at the impedance curve they are only 20 ohms between 10 and 100 hz. And it's because these are balanced armature drivers. I've just bought a pair of 34 ohm @20hz Cresyn 510E's so we'll see if that fixes the issue for me.

That is annoying but for me the 9505 would be plenty loud enough if I could use more than 80% volume!