[Google Pixel 2 XL Questions & Answers] showlyshah:
Oh... Here i am.. i was feeling lonely.. glad to see that i got company... My 4 days old pixel 2 xl have same issue.. so i was investigating what it is.. i found these

1) both the front speakers.. top and bottom ones have it.

2) though there is two speakers.. google didn't put it on stereo.. weired right? Ya.. google have coppied the xda hack.. which we did long time before.. ya.. its the same trick to enable both loudspeaker and ear piece for media playback and other sounds.. its the same xml hack we used on samsung, sony, etc.

3) the distortion doesn't happens because of loudness ( or high volume) .. its because of some frequencies..

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gamestar.perfectpiano

Check with this app.. its there in the first octaves ( dont know if it is called so, but i mean the strating keys which are more bassy ) of instruments like organ .. but doesn't happens with higher octaves ( or the more treble sounds, and less in vocal frequencies ( mid section keys)

Btw.. it happens with all phone, i checked in moto g5, oneplus 3t, note 5, etc.. but they are less noticable because they all have single speakers and less volume)

So its a frequency based distortion.

So i was going to return the phone because of this.. and then i thought.. its not a problem to worry about, as it will be there in all phones.. and no matter how many units u replace.. it will be there..

My conclusion is..

1) its basically something to do with the software.. i mean android os itself.. its there in 7, 7.1,8,8.1.. the issue is undectatable on other phones because of their low volumes and single speakers.

2) if some phones like htc, sony etc ( I didn't have a phone to check) doesn't have it, it is because of the proprietary audio libraries they use ( like sony xlouds, htc boom , lenovo dolby etc) they make more tweaks with their audio libraries or eq apps or xmls so that the Audio outupt is more clean, but for stock Android phone like oneplus, moto, pixel etc.. they use almost clean android libraries.. they all have it

3) the speakers are unable to reproduce sounds below 80-60 hz which means they have less bass oriented design.. which is a normal thing for phone speakers.. but when some music is played.. the music may contain these frequencies which may put a stress on speakers.. and possibly produce rattling..

4) i seriously doubt that, stock android libraries dont put out high quality audio to phone speakers.. like they are less bitrate audio.. may be under 80kbps , which may cause rattling. May be this is implimented so as to reduce the overall processing power and hence keep battery life better.

5) solutions may be.. push better audio output libraries ( not only with those ".so" files, but also through kernel modules and configuration) which have better latency and bitrates. And use better eq apps ( lol using viper4android on pixel xl 2 too didn't solve it)

6) i am 90% sure that this is all caused by software and not hardware.. but we have to wait for audio mods to come.. i am looking into one now..

7) its not worth to send back the phone and try to get replacement.. every unit will be having the same issues .. or atlest most of them will have it.