Music playback issues: quality/noise, stutter

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Hi all,

I got my Hero on Monday and I'm blown away by this phone so far!

The only not-so-great aspect I have found is the music playback:

1) There is a small amount of background noise when playing music, which is noticeable
in a quiet environment during low-volume parts of tracks. I don't always listen to Metal on the subway, so this is kind of a problem.

2) Sometimes, when listening to consecutive tracks of an album, there is a stutter when a new track starts. Haven't found a way to reproduce this reliably yet.

I was expecting to be able to ditch my iPod for the Hero, but I'm a little hesitant now. Does anyone else experience these issues?

I have the same issue with the jumping at the beginning of a new track, haven't noticed the background noise though probably because I do listen to metal.
Maybe it has something to do with standard sd card or how the mp3 was created? I hope someone knows the answer.

Also:
Does anyone know if there is a graphic equaliser somewhere? Music seams to be too trebley (using Seinnhauser earphones), but I haven't been able to find anyway to adjust it

Forgot to mention: I used 192 kbit/s MP3s encoded by iTunes and portable AKG headphones. I'm going to try out the included earbuds when I get home, to see if they "equalize" anthing.

I'm listening to Rufus Wainwright's Hallejuah on my Hero now over a set of Sony MDR-NC22 Noise Cancelling Earphones (in-ear type) with the noise cancelling switched off. No background hiss. Could it be from your MP3?

Originally Posted by ghoonk

I'm listening to Rufus Wainwright's Hallejuah on my Hero now over a set of Sony MDR-NC22 Noise Cancelling Earphones (in-ear type) with the noise cancelling switched off. No background hiss. Could it be from your MP3?

That's possible of course, but I never noticed noise like this on my iPod. One other thing I'll try at home is listening to a WAV file and check for noise.

Send me the MP3 file and I'll load it up on my device now and let you know if I'm having any problems

my email address is my username @gmail.com

Ok, I tried the included earbuds, and the noise is much less pronounced than with my AKG headphones, but still audible. It starts as soon as the playback begins and stops about 2 seconds after I pause the music player. (I guess this is when the audio hardware shuts down.)

MP3 and WAV exhibit the same noise, so it's not encoding artefacts.

Originally Posted by wossName

Ok, I tried the included earbuds, and the noise is much less pronounced than with my AKG headphones, but still audible. It starts as soon as the playback begins and stops about 2 seconds after I pause the music player. (I guess this is when the audio hardware shuts down.)

MP3 and WAV exhibit the same noise, so it's not encoding artefacts.

Is it a buzzing noise?

I'd describe it more like a hissing sound.

Edit: I have attached a sample MP3 (hissingat5.mp3) in a ZIP file. I can clearly hear a hissing sound around 0:05 when the music gets quiet and I'm not using the included earphones. Anyone else? (I've checked the original CD with the same headphones, there's definitely no noise on the recording.)