yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
I have some that are neither "in ear" nor "on ear" ... but "completely outside ear", i.e. the resistor load testing I did :silly:

---------- Post added at 09:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:51 AM ----------

Interesting that variation in headphone output level. Someone reported an unusually high audio output level for an S3 in this thread

The difference in consecutive steps of volume (on the 15 point slider) on my SGH-I337 is ~ 3 - 3.5 dB is shown below, so that is a good sized step:

The output level is perfectly adequate and VERY loud at 15/15 with my over-ears Senn HD-598, and is absolutely dead silent at 15/15 with a "silent track" playing. BTW there is a "silent track" included in the test-wav archive here. I think that is what a good headphone output design would target: tons of volume, superb audio performance at max output into 8 ohm say, and dead silent (no perceivable noise) at max volume. The i9505 seems to get everything, EXCEPT that 8 ohm requirement. The i9500 seems to have the audio correct but from what i've read has other issues (overheating ?etc..)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
HD598 have impedance of 50 Ohm.

I used to think, that high impedance headphones should sound too quiet on mobile DAP. Am I correct?

If so, is it possible that i9505 was designed to work with higher impedance headphones?

And yes, thank you for your endless effort.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
Well with those nom 50ohm Senns, I'd typically listen at 12/15 with very load being 15/15.

My wife described the output level (listening to Beatles "Come Together") as 10/15 comfortable, 13/15 very loud and 15/15 painfully loud. But of course that is really subjective.

My take on headphone impedance is this: because you always get lower distortion with a higher-impedance load, I'd target something at ~ 30ish ohms or higher with good sensitivity.

---------- Post added at 10:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 AM ----------

For those who like the numbers game, I wrote a script calculator (you can run it using your web browser on your S4 :) which tells you what your sound level is (dBSPL) given either your headphones sensitivity rating (dBSPL at 1 kHz per 1Vrms) OR your headphones efficiency (dBSPL at 1 kHz per mW). The circuit includes different series resistor values (based on original usage with a DVD player) to make is useful.

dBSPL Script Calculator

To use this calculator (at bottom of page) for the S4 headphone output, here is what you do:

Set the Rphones to nominal impedance of your phones.

Set Vs to the maximum RMS output voltage: 0.57Vrms (since the measured peak headphone output with no load on my SGH-I337 is 0.8Vpeak).

Set the Rs value to 2.5 ohm.

Set R2 to some high number (e.g. 10000) since we don't use a shunt resistance.

Set R1 to some "adapter" series resistance to see the effect of extra series resistance.

For example with my Sens HD598, I have the Sensitivity as112 dBSPL (per 1Vrms). Rphones=50ohm.

So without an adapter (R1 = 0.01), click "Get Efficiency" to see the corresponding efficiency (99 dBSPL/mw) and to display the other results.

I get:

dBSPL ~ 107 dBSPL at maximum playback level, which is very loud
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] okiru880:
Jensigner, the output voltage of the i9505 is quite impressive!

Even comparing it to the Sansa Clip+ which has a healthy maximum output of 489mV, which corresponds to about 15 mW into 16 ohms (or 7.5 mW into 32 ohms). Many players can only manage about 5mW.

In theory an additional headphone amp shouldn't be required. I have used a Fiio E6 with the S4 and the bass sounds a little muddy.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] tazztone:
well my i9505 is not nearly as loud as the sansa clip +
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] imlgl:
Been playing around in power amp equaliser settings today. Why I found is with my shure se215 is that it's all bass dependent. Songs with a deeper bass the distortion comes into play. If I turn the bass down enough it then goes but then the music sounds flat and I like a bit of bass with my music
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
Yes I agree with you ... shouldn't need any extra output amplifier which is the way it SHOULD be. At 15 ohm loaded headphone impedance, my SGH-I337 (aka i9595) can deliver ~ 23 mW RMS into that load at 15/15 with no crackle (pure resistance load). Also I measured my partners S3 to have identical output level to my S4 but of course the S3 can do that WITHOUT ANY CRACKLE DOWN TO AT LEAST 12 OHM headphone LOAD. So hang onto your S3 ... its a great phone (superb audio ... not quite as good as the S4 at higher impedance but still stellar).

Btw an added advantage of a higher-impedance headset, apart from better distortion characteristics, is that it drains less battery juice! (I'll quantify that at some point with tests of battery drain running 35 ohm resistive loads versus 12 ohm resistive loads at music level 15/15 over long times).
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RCJ89:
Can you guys give me a list of good earphones (in ears not overheads) that will work with my I9505 without crackling as I am not to sure I am getting this whole sensitivity and ohm stuff. It is sounding to me like headphones above 16ohm are better? so like 20, 32, 35

I have been hearing about sennheiser and shure alot on here but don't know which models work and also does anyone know if bose or jvc earphones work without crackling.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Cannot stop to thank you! Unfortunately, I can express my real appreciation in my native language only, which is Russian.

Thank you soooo much!!!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
sorry about all that techno-mumbo-jumbo talk. Some earlier comments suggested that someone here should make a list of headsets that have been verified to work without any "crackling" with the i9505 (and presumably the SGH-I337 in USA). Some of that info is scattered in this thread so maybe come kind soul here can collate the info and summarize it? I'm sure its exhausting for anyone trying to comb through this long tedius thread. I think that this summary would be better presented in a separate thread with JUST that info, with a brief intro explaining why it is relevant, instead of burying the info in this long thread.

In a nutshell, if the headset impedance doesn't drop below say 20 ohm at any frequency (particularly frequencies below 1 kHz), you can be pretty sure that is won't "crackle". You can check that impedance versus frequency values for many good headphones over at goldenears. But imo, 30 ohm impedance is a safer margin. If you can though, it is always best to bring your S4 and test out the phones in the store to be sure.

---------- Post added at 05:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:29 PM ----------

hehe thank you .. very kind. However I must say that the martinis I mix don't use Vodka (unlike James Bond's) but rather i prefer Bombay Sapphire Gin :cool: ... and I can tell you that if we can get Samsung to really DO something meaningful about this issue, my martinis will really flow!

---------- Post added at 06:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:35 PM ----------

speaking of benefits of higher impedance phones, my 50ohm Senn HD-598 and 35 ohm Samsung stock buds in parallel provide a net ~ 21 ohm load with no crackling or distortion up to 15/15 and tons of volume with both connected. Oh yeah, I know most think the Samsung stock buds are really crappy but I have found that if I use the correct plastic tips (and only 1 particular set does the trick), I get a very good sound instead of the tinny sound I associate with cheap earbuds ... obviously not as great as the Senns but still very usable imo. Since I use a (cheap) flip-case, I had to ream the headphone hole a bit to allow clearance for the twin-headphone adapter plug:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
I found very interesting thread on head-fi regarding this:

www.head-fi.org/t/482942/low-impedance-high-impedance-iem-which-one-is-harder-to-drive
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] KinetiClutch:
Tried with my beats studios. Worked fine full volume decent amount of bass. No crackling
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Google Forms - Samsung Galaxy S4 Compatible Headphones

I have created Google Drive Form to gather info, which headphones crackle and which do not:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18IfHDAtHnMhf9_kiynlfQNdzAeCjdq8vK9YbyRil3vw/viewform

Please feel free to submit your requests. Also, any suggestions and ideas regarding the form and questions are very very much appreciated.

Thank you,

Yuriy
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RCJ89:
Thank you so much for this, very very useful post.

I have no problem with the stock samsung headsets obviously they are not the best out there but as I was saying earlier about the loudness of the demo units vs retail units. On the demo units I can work with these headsets no problem as they are loud and full of bass, however on my phone where the volume is three notches lower than the demo units there is a problem, as I can hear everything around me when I am outside. Indoors or in quiet environments no so bad.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rbrucemtl:
FYI

Hi People...

I just wanted to let you know about my research... I'm a GS3 owner (Qualcomm DAC)... this problem is largely related to the Qualcomm DACs more then the phone...

The reports that the GS3 (Qualcomm DAC) are unaffected are true but only because the GS3 ships with the 3.0 kernels not 3.4... when I rooted my GS3 and installed a ROM with the newer 3.4 kernel I have major crackling/distortion using my sony XBA-4 at 60% volume or more. Going back to the 3.0 kernel... 100% crystal clear sound.

There were major changes to the codecs and drivers in the kernel... I'm tying to make a 3.4 kernel but backport the 3.0 drivers for the GS3 so I can run android 4.2+

Someone with a GS4(Qualcomm DAC) and some kernel knowledge should try and do the same... I have proof that it's the kernel that made this problem much worse then the 3.0 kernels.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
Very interesting article and always a subject of some debate and misinfo. I have extracted the "headphone calculator" out of the longer page mentioned earlier and simplified it so it is more useable on a mobile device. Also, the default values are now those for an S4 SGH-I337. This calculator can also be used for other things like speaker output, audio line-out calculations etc.:

Headphone Sensitivity & Efficiency Calculator

or the "barebones" version with no text:

Bare Bones Version

---------- Post added at 10:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:42 AM ----------

Thanks for this very important evidence. I have a GS3 (Qualcomm DAC) and as you mention there is no audio problem (with low impedance buds) with the stock kernel/driver. The interesting thing is that I have measured the audio output levels of the GS3 and GS4 and they are IDENTICAL under 12 ohm load but the GS4 crackles. If I could measure the GS3 that you rooted and moved to 3.4 and found the SAME oscillatory signature I measure for the S4 meaning that the crackle problem has the same origin, then that would be very good news (it would strongly suggest that this is NOT a hardware issue as I had thought). It means that there would be a chance Samsung could fix this in a future kernel update.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
WOW!!! Nice troubleshooting.

Much, much appreciated. Hopefully, you'll succeed.

But the questions is why do other Snapdragon 600 phones like LG Optimus G Pro or HTC One are are "unaffected"? Is this because they have quieter output?

Dear Jensigner, do you have any chance to check HTC One output?

Thank you!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
First off if I had an extra S4, I do the root/kernel thing, but I don't want to do this to my own personal S4 :D

I'd measure before and after the change and make sure all was identical (output level, frequency response, noise, distortion etc..) except for that crackle. Nope, i haven't tested an HTC One yet.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] StuartTheFish:
Maybe Samsung's kernel differs to what's used in other phones with the same hardware?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
The "crackle" on the S4 happens at quite a low level so I doubt that the HTC One output level could be THAT low. Of course maybe HTC One owners just don't listen for the "crackle" or aren't audiophile types :rolleyes:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Maybe. Also, from the reviews we know that:

1) HTC One has dedicated headphone amp

2) LG Optimus G Pro has quiet output: http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_optimus_g_pro-review-904p7.php

Correct me if I am wrong.

So, there might be possibilty that both lg and htc would have had the same issues if they won't have different levels of output.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rbrucemtl:
Could it be possible that the LG Optimus G and HTC One had 3.0.x kernels and later updated to 3.4 it would be important to know what version of the kernel is being used on the "unaffected" devices.

I'll put my kernel code up on github if I succeed.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jeremy_inc:
So if I were to do a backup of my GS3 and update to the test build of 4.2, you're saying that it will have the same issue as my S4?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] NZtechfreak:
I have both and it was during a volume matched and blinded comparison that I discovered the S4 crackling issue for myself before reading reports about it elsewhere. The HTC One has quite a bit more volume output than the S4 due to the headphone amp FWIW, had to turn it down about three clicks from maximum volume to match the S4s loudest volume. There is no crackling on the One.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
But how signal is delivered from DAC to Amp? I believe, it's low level signal (maybe even lower than 6/15 volume setting on SGS4), which is amplified then. Moreover, most likely that DAC -> Amp processing is Digital to Digital transmission and digital to analog output is affected on SGS4.

If you connect Amp to USB output of SGS4 you won't notice crackle

Even if I am wrong and DAC -> Amp is is Digital to Analog, I believe Amp has higher impedance (more than 30 Ohm). And if you connect Amp to Headphone output on SGS4, you also won't get crackle.

Anyway, currently we have 2 theories:

1) This is a major Hardware Issue. If so it might be resolved on the later Hardware Revisions (current is 0.2)

2) This Software issue:

2a) In Samsung drivers

2b) In Android Kernel 3.4

Software might be resolved by the upcoming updates.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] NZtechfreak:
I have no particular knowledge of how HTC have set up DAC/amp on the One, only responding to speculation it isn't as loud as the S4 or that the only reason nobody has noted crackling with the One is because no audiophiles have tried it.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rick_1995:
That is pretty rudimentary of you to say such a thing.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] NZtechfreak:
Sorry, not sure I understand what you mean?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
I don't know details but if the One has a separate audio output stage, it is probably already after D/A and the the output of the D/A may be fairly large. I suspect that output "amplifier" is just a buffer (to provide as you say a higher impedance to the first analog output of the D/A) with maybe a gain of a few dB along with a low output impedance (probably < 0.5 ohm?) to help driving very low headphone Z .... just a guess.

---------- Post added at 08:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:25 PM ----------

sounds like a bit of a put-down on One users ... I know you didn't intend it to sound like that :laugh:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] NZtechfreak:
The put-down to One users wasn't intended by me, in fact it was kind of implied by others on the preceding page, so I just wanted to clarify that it wasn't a matter of inexperienced ears or low quality IEMs responsible for crackling not being reported by One users. I am actually doing the opposite of putting down One users!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
yeah actually I think I made a remark about that ... tongue in cheek. I came very close to getting an HTC One myself instead of S4 and I'm sure it would have been an excellent alternative, but then I wouldn't be having all this fun exploring the audio of the S4.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] NZtechfreak:
I have all the phones (right now an S4 Octa, HTC One, Padfone Infinity, Optimus G Pro, Xperia Z and HTC Butterfly) and having a hard time deciding between them to be honest (apart from the Z and Butterfly, the Z is rubbish and easily discarded from consideration, the Butterfly inferior to the One). Would be the Padfone Infinity except it doesn't do USB audio...
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] olaf63:
Strange theories these about the software (kernel) and audiophile (ONE) related problem.

About the kernel, as I said before I have two S4 I9505 all rev. .02, ITV no brand MDM firmware and one hexibit the crackling and the other doesn't.

As I have also the ONE it's funny that I become Dr Jeckill audiophile when I listen the same tracks from the S4 and Mr. Hyde average joe when I listen from the ONE (or the other good S4) with the same Sennheiser IEM. ;)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ausboy 2011:
Audio quality is shyte on the i9505 my s3 smashes it
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Hi there,

I have got very interesting results in questionnaire here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18IfHDAtHnMhf9_kiynlfQNdzAeCjdq8vK9YbyRil3vw/viewform

Someone posted this:

=======================

Model: i9505

Hardware version: 2.4 (!!!)

Firmware: I9505XXUAMDM

Headphones: Sennheiser CX300-II

Result: NO crackle

=======================

Proof: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ahm7127Y1p78dHJtYjZpaHV4TlJ5ZFdVc05iRXFycmc&usp=sharing

Just curious, who was that lucky person?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RCJ89:
It is funny you should say that as the demo versions of the S4 are louder than the production units by 3 notches also and when I tested out the demo s4 vs the demo htc one in store there was barely any difference in loudness but on retail units the one is much much much louder.

I went to the samsung store in stratford yesterday to let them know of these issues regarding the volume and headset crackling and they say they will let management know as alot of customers have complained about the crackling but not many about the volume vs demo phones.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] JustSueMe:
I had sound issues. Not with headphones but with main speaker.

I managed to get this solved eventually.

I have no clue if this will work for everyone but steps I did that I assume helped.

I rooted my device

Installed dsp sound.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hbstudios.dspmanagerfree

Then moved equalizer to minimum.

Reboot phone

I went on youtube and searched for extreme bass test (the one with just bass to test subwoofers)

As it played I moved the equalizer to max and then slowly back to minimum.

Did same YouTube search and got a song but with music on top and did same thing with equalizer except I moved the sliders back to 0 (middle)

Then I rebooted and all sound is perfect.

Please like this post if it works for you.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] olaf63:
Things are more complicate as I have two 9505 identical FW mdm HW. 02 and one crackle and the second doesnt crackle With my CX300 and CX300-II.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
The thing is that unaffected device has been reported to have HW 2.4.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] creed:
No crackle with new in ear phones: Cresyn 510E

So after reading about the problem being related to the impedance at lower frequencies I looked around for a cheap but decent pair of IEM's and came across the Cresyn 510E's for £25. Never heard of them before but after looking at the impedance graph realised that they were 32 ohm even at 20hz.

Well I'm really happy, no distortion at all at maximum volume, great bass and they are several orders of magnitude better than my Skullcandy Titans that I had before for the same money. I'd recommend them for anyone wanting a cheap pair of high impedance IEM for their 9505.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Thanks for sharing!

Please vote on the poll (Link is in my signature)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] M@ssy:
Hello, I'm new to the android and galaxy world, but I have the audio problem with my shure se 215 and in my car too, connected to the stereo system <.< I would like to compile the compatibility form, but I don't know what is and where I can find the "Phone Hardware Revision", can you give me an example of hardware revision and tell me where I can find mine? Tnx :)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
where is the Hardware Version (and firmware version) listed? On my SGH-I337 under Settings / About Device l can see things like Build number and Kernel version but no Hardware version etc.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] trenzterra:
Cx300 doesn't crackle on my phone but the UE600 does. I suggest using the ue600 as a baseline instead.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Hmm. According to http://www.android-hilfe.de/root-cu...4/427636-hardware-version-info-zu-geraet.html it seems that it should be under Settings > About Device.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] imlgl:
It's not there, gotta enter this code in the dialer *#12580*369#
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
Invalid MMI code
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] imlgl:
Worked fine for me
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] M@ssy:
Tnx, I have submitted the form, btw my hardware revision is MP 0.900, it's possible? I have the Vodafone italian version of the S4...
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DevilzGtr:
I got MP 0.900 (UK Vodafone) too and my Dre Beats Mixr's crackles with default player. I will try my CX-400 tonight.

Some people states that their CX-300 crackle and some do not. There is possibly a chance that some of them are fake since there is so much of this around. My CX-400 should be genuine since I got them directly from Amazon.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
ok got the HW Revision as REV0.3 (SGH-I337)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
I guess you were the one with HD598 who voted. I will update your info.

---------- Post added at 06:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:04 PM ----------

By the way, what code have you used?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
yup and FW (Build Number): JDQ39.I337MVLUAMDJ
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Thanks! How did you get that?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rbrucemtl:
Lastest 4.2.2 build with a 3.4 kernel like Cyanogen ROM 10.1
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] creed:
No problem. Any chance you could show a graph which shows impedance vs. crackle yes/no?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jensigner:
Under Settings / About device / Build number

---------- Post added at 10:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:33 AM ----------

Yes I was thinking exactly the same thing. It would highlight the root cause of the problem.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yuriy.Samorodov:
Here you are:

---------- Post added at 08:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:10 PM ----------

Do somebody know if xda forums allow javascript embeded into posts?