I've always heard that noise...but ignored it. Reason being: If I listen to a Google Voice voicemail on any phone, that sound is there at the beginning and the end of playback. I don't think it's a grounding or interference issue with the headphone jack. It's any audio from the phone. I think it's how they're rendering the sound out to the speakers from the controller.
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Test your headphone jack!!
- Thread starter PhontomF
- Start date
Crazed_Z06
Member
Got my phone on release day and I cant hear anything at all. Maybe everyone on the Internet has way more sensitive hearing than anyone else lol. Maybe only some devices have the issue. Who knows at this point? Just going to have to be patient and wait from word from Motorola and or Verizon... OR return the device is it's that much of a dealbreaker.
I can help you replicate it. Get a pair of GOOD headphones. Not earbuds. HEADPHONES. Plug them in and put them on. Crank your volume to at least halfway (Media volume). Now, play a song. Then stop it, and listen closely. You'll hear it at the end of the song for about 3 seconds. That's what everyone is referring to. Again, I've always heard that sound. I don't hear it throughout the songs and I don't hear it loudly, ever. I really don't think it's noise interference.
Crazed_Z06
Member
Heh, why would I go out and buy a "good" pair of earphones just so I can hear an unwanted sound? I tried three or four different sets. I have some plantronics gaming headphones, some Sony noise-cancelling headphones, and a couple of sets of ipod earbuds. I cant hear anything. Im not an audiophile, so the headphones/earbuds I have sound fine to me. I usually cant hear the extremely faint high pitch sounds on hearing tests, so maybe my hearing just sucks.
GatorDroid
Member
OMG...12 pages of threads...my head hurts. Let's get rid of some misinformation really quick. I've been in the audio industry for 26 yrs...doesn't make me an expert, just knowledgeable. This IS NOT a ground loop issue. That's a term thrown around generally by people as soon as they hear a wine in their car stereo's, yet they have no idea what it means. A true ground loop is created when there is a variance in ground potentials from the source and amplification device...ie: car audio grounded in front of car has one ground resistance back to battery and the amp in the trunk has another since it's ground is traveling a greater distance through the chassis. You have a better chance of hitting the lottery than having a ground loop inside an audio device. The band-aid solution is sometime accomplished by putting in an isolator transformer between the two devices...actually breaks the ground and passes it through the coil. Applying this to all in one device is impossible, so even if some Bionics had bad solder connections causing a variance in ground potentials, it wouldn't be fixable by ANY external modifications or with any firmware upgrades.
I have a $300 pair of ear buds Etymotic Headphones and a $15 pair of Phillips for running and the noise is equally present in both.
I also have a pair of Zagmate Earbuds that have an in line attenuator. A Bionic that is not rooted.
1. USING FERITE CORES OVER THE HEADPHONE WIRES, CONNECTORS, ECT, DOES NOT WORK.
2. THE NOISE IS ALWAYS PRESENT...PLAY PIANO MUSIC AND YOU CAN EASILY HEAR IT IN THE BACKGROUND
3. WITH AN ATTENUATOR: IF YOU CAN GET THE ADJUSTMENT PERFECTLY IN THE RIGHT POSITION, THE NOISE WILL DECREASE BY ABOUT 90%, AND THEN YOU CAN ADJUST THE VOLUME FROM THE BIONIC...THIS DOES HOWEVER, GREATLY DECREASE THE MAX VOLUME ALLOWABLE.
4. IF ONE IS USING A TALK/LISTEN SET OF EAR BUD/BUDS LIKE THE JABBA, UNLESS THEY HAVE AN INLINE ATTENUATOR LIKE THE ZAGGMATES, YOU PROBABLY WON'T BE ABLE TO FIND ONE FOR PURCHASE (THERE ARE 4 RINGS ON THE 1/8 JACK, RATHER THAN 3 ON A TYPICAL STEREO JACK), BUT i HAVEN'T RESEARCHED IT ENOUGH...TO BUSY READING 12 PAGES OF THREADS.
=HAVEN'T READ THE OTHER THREAD LINK BY MOTO YET, HEADING THERE NOW, BUT FIGURED I'D POST THIS BEFORE I READ MORE MISINFORMATION.
Oh, as to why some of Bionics do this and some don't, and why attenuating the volume externally eliminates the noise (not feedback, ground loop)...got no freakin idea...B**** cold broke. Hope they come out with a miracle fix. My verizon rep did say he would happily open at least two other Bionics to test and if one of the three didn't have the noise he would exchange.
I have a $300 pair of ear buds Etymotic Headphones and a $15 pair of Phillips for running and the noise is equally present in both.
I also have a pair of Zagmate Earbuds that have an in line attenuator. A Bionic that is not rooted.
1. USING FERITE CORES OVER THE HEADPHONE WIRES, CONNECTORS, ECT, DOES NOT WORK.
2. THE NOISE IS ALWAYS PRESENT...PLAY PIANO MUSIC AND YOU CAN EASILY HEAR IT IN THE BACKGROUND
3. WITH AN ATTENUATOR: IF YOU CAN GET THE ADJUSTMENT PERFECTLY IN THE RIGHT POSITION, THE NOISE WILL DECREASE BY ABOUT 90%, AND THEN YOU CAN ADJUST THE VOLUME FROM THE BIONIC...THIS DOES HOWEVER, GREATLY DECREASE THE MAX VOLUME ALLOWABLE.
4. IF ONE IS USING A TALK/LISTEN SET OF EAR BUD/BUDS LIKE THE JABBA, UNLESS THEY HAVE AN INLINE ATTENUATOR LIKE THE ZAGGMATES, YOU PROBABLY WON'T BE ABLE TO FIND ONE FOR PURCHASE (THERE ARE 4 RINGS ON THE 1/8 JACK, RATHER THAN 3 ON A TYPICAL STEREO JACK), BUT i HAVEN'T RESEARCHED IT ENOUGH...TO BUSY READING 12 PAGES OF THREADS.
=HAVEN'T READ THE OTHER THREAD LINK BY MOTO YET, HEADING THERE NOW, BUT FIGURED I'D POST THIS BEFORE I READ MORE MISINFORMATION.
Oh, as to why some of Bionics do this and some don't, and why attenuating the volume externally eliminates the noise (not feedback, ground loop)...got no freakin idea...B**** cold broke. Hope they come out with a miracle fix. My verizon rep did say he would happily open at least two other Bionics to test and if one of the three didn't have the noise he would exchange.
Happens even when volume is set up or down.
My experience
I hear the hiss activate as soon as any sound is pushed out of the phone. Once the sound from the phone has stopped, it takes anywhere from .5-1.5 seconds for the hiss to end, and mine is punctuated with a small 'click' or 'snap', akin to an electronic gate closing. It is not just affecting the headphone jack. Although a bit muted, I can still hear it on A2DP. I can even hear it on the speaker. Although the hiss is pretty much inaudible through the speaker, if I hold the speaker up to my ear and click the volume up, the 'snap' is present within the time frame stated above.
This is also happening at the same strength when tested within the following environments:
3G 4G both on - connected to 4G
3G 4G both on - connected to 3G
3G only connected
Airplane Mode
All tested positive for the noise on 3.5mm, A2DP, and external speaker.
I am guessing that this is some sort of amplifier switching issue, and that it is more pronounced on some handsets than on others, and it seems that using the headset jack gives the best chance to hear the issue (and therefore seems like the culprit). Either way, it should not be pegged as simply a headphone jack issue. This is further up the chain than at the output of the jack or in the BT unit or at the speaker. All three share the common problem, so the issue obviously lies further upstream.
Hopefully this is something that can be cured with a signal ground, and will not require replacement of an electronic component.
Anyone in the know, is sound processed in the Elpida (OMAP) chip? Is there a separate DAC chip? (digital to analog converter). Possible the DAC is poorly grounded, and we are hearing the overrun of the DAC as it listens for more signal to be sent from the processor. When it doesn't detect signal from the processor after a set period (.5-1.5s, maybe?), it turns itself off.
I might go test a few in-store to see if it is truly hit and miss.
My experience
I hear the hiss activate as soon as any sound is pushed out of the phone. Once the sound from the phone has stopped, it takes anywhere from .5-1.5 seconds for the hiss to end, and mine is punctuated with a small 'click' or 'snap', akin to an electronic gate closing. It is not just affecting the headphone jack. Although a bit muted, I can still hear it on A2DP. I can even hear it on the speaker. Although the hiss is pretty much inaudible through the speaker, if I hold the speaker up to my ear and click the volume up, the 'snap' is present within the time frame stated above.
This is also happening at the same strength when tested within the following environments:
3G 4G both on - connected to 4G
3G 4G both on - connected to 3G
3G only connected
Airplane Mode
All tested positive for the noise on 3.5mm, A2DP, and external speaker.
I am guessing that this is some sort of amplifier switching issue, and that it is more pronounced on some handsets than on others, and it seems that using the headset jack gives the best chance to hear the issue (and therefore seems like the culprit). Either way, it should not be pegged as simply a headphone jack issue. This is further up the chain than at the output of the jack or in the BT unit or at the speaker. All three share the common problem, so the issue obviously lies further upstream.
Hopefully this is something that can be cured with a signal ground, and will not require replacement of an electronic component.
Anyone in the know, is sound processed in the Elpida (OMAP) chip? Is there a separate DAC chip? (digital to analog converter). Possible the DAC is poorly grounded, and we are hearing the overrun of the DAC as it listens for more signal to be sent from the processor. When it doesn't detect signal from the processor after a set period (.5-1.5s, maybe?), it turns itself off.
I might go test a few in-store to see if it is truly hit and miss.
brianlayman
Member
Don't bother. Read the last two pages here https://supportforums.motorola.com/message/469499#469499
Motorola is standing by their equipment and stating that "from the manufacturer of the phone we assure you you will get a 100% working phone". Kudos to them.. So give moto a call at that number and go get your new Bionic shipped to you dancedroid
Motorola is standing by their equipment and stating that "from the manufacturer of the phone we assure you you will get a 100% working phone". Kudos to them.. So give moto a call at that number and go get your new Bionic shipped to you dancedroid
Sounds like Moto is trying to help. I would call but I'm already going to get my Bionic replaced by Costco because of the touch screen issues when it's charging. Oh well.
escthehack
New Member
I returned my Bionic yesturday because I had the last straw happen the night before. I was trying to watch Netflix from my Bionic through my projector by mirroring the HDMI out, the image was great, but the sound was horrible, there was a constant clicking, cracking, and poping in the audio. It also had a hum that came and went depending on where I placed my hand on the phone. I assume that it was very sensitive to other electronic interferences. I could place it somewhere away from my other electronics and the hum would die byt not the poping and cracking. Not being able to watch Netflix just pushed me over the edge. I returned my phone to Costco with no problems and went back to my OG (what a pain) but at least the audio sounds great! I guess I will wait for the next round of phones and hopefully motorola gets it all right on the next one. I was really looking forward to using the media HD dock and the webtop OS, does anyone know the next phone motorola has planed that will include webtop?
Well, bad news. An astute Bionic owner has confirmed it's a hardware issue: https://supportforums.motorola.com/message/469889#469889