Call Voice quality issues

[HeyCori]

For everybody who having problem with microphone.. I just spoke to HTC Hardware Department. They even not aware of this problem. Please call them and let them know. So at lease they will add this to the known issue list. Their phone # is: (866) 449-8358

Thanks for the number!

 

[slitching]

I freaking love this phone, but the microphone thing is going to kill me. My girlfriend says it sounds like I am underwater. I now start out conversations with the phrase "can you hear me" like a damn verizon commercial. It seems to be the way the phone is being held or positioned against my head. I'm wondering if a swap for another titan might fix the problem. (since others say they aren't having trouble)

 

[Dolemike]

From, my viewpoint so far, this has been an intermittent issue. Speaking with my father earlier (he and my mother both have a Titan), we've seen the following:

1. When talking to each other on the Titans, he says I sound muffled, yet he sounds perfectly fine to me.
2. When he talked to my mother on their Titans, she said HE sounded muffled.
3. He originally called me on my way to work this morning, where I saw my signal strength fluctuate between 3 and 5 bars.
4. He said it almost seems as if the call gets BETTER the longer we talk???

Just a few points that might help us figure this out.

-Dolemike

 

[slitching]

I usually reposition the phone and change my grip, which fixes the problem. Until it happens again, then I repeat step 1. This could explain why your dad's phone was clear only sometimes.

A lot of people don't seem to be complaining about the problem. I got my phone immediately after thanksgiving. aka an early batch. I'm wondering if I swap out the phone for another Titan if it might fix the problem.

 

[artzznyzz]

Sound quality on both receiving as the caller from the Titan, and especially as the called party on a landline, VIOP, etc, was impossibly bad, totally unacceptable. When I went back to the AT&T corporate store three days ago to return the unit and go back to my Tilt-2 they 'found' a replacement unit which has GREAT sound. Looks like it's a keeper. Now I just need to figure out some software features / inconsistencies / bugs . . .

 

[kevm14]

I did some more testing by leaving myself a voicemail. In addition to my other findings (in the "microphone" thread), it seems as if there is a very aggressive noise reduction threshold set for voice calls. This in particular is not a microphone problem, but a firmware problem.

Some of the strange noises people hear on the other end is possibly your voice being filtered at the threshold for that aggressive noise reduction.

But, as I mentioned in my other thread, the cover itself also appears to cause distortion or at least a clarity issue, when I tested with 720p stereo video.

One thing does bother me and that is not knowing if my phone is behaving the same as everyone else's.

 

[klocker2]

Yea after hearing of a few people saying they are getting replacement units sounding good I'm very tempted to.try it.out. My.local stores are short of titans but hopefully soon

 

[kevm14]

I just don't feel like going through all that hassle for an unknown result. In other words, it is not clear to me at all that my particular phone has an actual manufacturing defect.

I know that when I left myself that test voicemail, it seemed like the phone wasn't far from my mouth at all before the noise reduction basically just totally cut it off. They need to fix this. I was talking in a quiet room, not the subway.

 

[klocker2]

I just don't feel like going through all that hassle for an unknown result. In other words, it is not clear to me at all that my particular phone has an actual manufacturing defect.

I know that when I left myself that test voicemail, it seemed like the phone wasn't far from my mouth at all before the noise reduction basically just totally cut it off. They need to fix this. I was talking in a quiet room, not the subway.

that's true. That was my other issue as much as muddy sound was the cutting off my voice. People saying that they could not hear words or phrases at all during course of conversations. I tried everything, speaker handset, close , far away, medium distance. No joy

 

[HeyCori]

Did a video test. I left the video settings at default and kept the case on. Gotta say, the mic sounds pretty good when recording video.

EDIT:

Decided to do two other videos and combine them into one. Everything is normal in the first video. The second video I cover up the noise canceling mic. The third video I cover up both mics. I noticed a significant drop in quality once both mics were covered. Even still, the audio is a lot better in video versus phone calls. Perhaps a firmware update is all that's needed?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBjifTTE3eQ

 

[HeyCori]

Also got a chance to test out the call quality while I was at the AT&T store earlier. I called one of the reps on his work phone. He again confirmed that call quality was suspect. Though, truth be told, his Galaxy SII sounded kind of hollow too.

We tried the demo Titan there and there wasn't much of a change. The rep said it sounded slightly better after trying out a different sim card. For that test I called my own Titan using their store phone and it seemed better. I left with the new sim but afterwards called my girl. She said she didn't have trouble understanding me but I did sound kind of low.

 

[kevm14]

Did a video test. I left the video settings at default and kept the case on. Gotta say, the mic sounds pretty good when recording video.

EDIT:

Decided to do two other videos and combine them into one. Everything is normal in the first video. The second video I cover up the noise canceling mic. The third video I cover up both mics. I noticed a significant drop in quality once both mics were covered. Even still, the audio is a lot better in video versus phone calls. Perhaps a firmware update is all that's needed?

HTC Titan Mic Test - YouTube

I believe the top mic is used during stereo recording for the left channel and the regular mouth piece mic is the right channel. The entire back of the phone seems to act like a mic though. But if you take the cover off, the two end mics basically significantly sharpen in their response. There's no "back cover effect" and you can cover them much more effectively. You can also hear the right and left channels WAY better than when the cover is on.

But I agree, audio quality in video is quite good, which is why I think the mics themselves should be ok.

 

[Dolemike]

I posted this in another thread as well:

After having the issue yesterday morning, on my way home from work, I called both my father and my fiance'. They both said I sounded as if I was on a COMPLETELY different phone and that I sounded "crystal clear".

I'm starting to think the issue could be two-fold: 1) The cell tower you're connected to (NOT THE SIGNAL STRENGTH) and 2) The environment you're in (maybe an issue with the noise cancellation technology?).

I had the issue at work which is rather noisy at times, and was in a semi-quiet (only slight road noise) vehicle when the quality was at its best.

Just my 2 cents.

-Dolemike

 

[slitching]

Sounds like everyone did more testing last night.

I combined some of the suspected causes....
After playing around with a free voice recorder, I now understand what everyone means by the whole back of the phone is a microphone. It sounds as though someone is tapping on a microphone to test it whenever I move the phone around. Seconds after I move the phone or knock on the back, the noise cancellation kicks in and and drops the volume of the call in an attempt to cover up the suspected noise. This muffles all audio for a short time and then it returns to normal.

Call quality with the back removed is significantly better. I still plan on exchanging the phone... once I find out which ATT actually has other titans to test that idea.

As for the SIM card idea... I did use my old SIM rather than taking the new one included in my order. I just don't see how this could affect call quality...

 

[Blacklac]

I'm not surprised HTC hasn't heard about this yet. Its hard to track down unless the person your talking to actually says something. I have only had 1 comment about sounding muffled, but people have asked me to repeat myself a couple times.

 

[slitching]

At the level of my problem, almost everyone says something within 10 minutes.

 

[a4dp]

I'm actually having this problem with my Focus S. It doesn't do it all the time though. It seems like it only happens when I'm laying down on my back, very strange.

 

[Rocket_Girl]

I just tested phone with 1) normal voice call; 2) speakerphone call; 3) call using corded headset.

#1 and #2 sounded awful...like am radio inside a tackle box. However,#3, with headset mix, was fine. I was convinced by the careful tests you all have done already... This one supports the growing consensus that this is most likely a physical mic problem w/ the device itself.

Hard Hard to know what that might mean for a fix...and how to decide within 30 days (more like 14 days left for me...)

 

[Rocket_Girl]

I just tested phone with 1) normal voice call; 2) speakerphone call; 3) call using corded headset.

#1 and #2 sounded awful...like am radio inside a tackle box. However,#3, with headset mix, was fine. I was convinced by the careful tests you all have done already... This one supports the growing consensus that this is most likely a physical mic problem w/ the device itself.

Hard Hard to know what that might mean for a fix...and how to decide within 30 days (more like 14 days left for me...)

FWIW, I have the same HTC headset (corded, not Bluetooth) that shipped with Titans in Europe. Came with my non-functional US Trophy..

 

[PammyLZ]

My brother and I also have Titans, and we have the same voice call quality issues. I have made voice notes with the back on and off and when the shell is off my voice is very sharp and strong. With the shell on, my voice is muffled again. So, I pulled the shell off of the titan and pushed a pushpin tack up through the mic hole on the outer shell casing to make it larger, and when I did my test again my voice still sounded muffled it sounded a bit better. So I went big, I got the smallest drill bit I had (I think a 1/16 or smaller), and drilled a larger hole very carefully, and now I sound really good.

I can't help but think that there is a design flaw in the shell design. Like the mic and the mic hole do not line up right, thereby making the microphone muffled.
Anyways, this is something that worked for me...
Attached pic is how the bottom of my Titan looks after drilling a larger hole.

If you do this, please remember to REMOVE the TITAN from the shell FIRST! You only want to drill the outer plastic shell, not the phone itself...lol.