Static / buzzing from speakers at low volumes
- Thread starter The111
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+1 I have the same problem.
But additionally my top speaker is louder than my bottom speaker, anyone else?
But additionally my top speaker is louder than my bottom speaker, anyone else?
So the static is only audible when there is something playing back? And both speakers?
Because I just noticed that when the CPU or GPU or both are loaded, like when gaming (I was playing real racing) the top speaker or maybe the components there create significant buzzing/static noise, easily heard when muted. Based on ifixit tear down that's where most of the components are.
Because I just noticed that when the CPU or GPU or both are loaded, like when gaming (I was playing real racing) the top speaker or maybe the components there create significant buzzing/static noise, easily heard when muted. Based on ifixit tear down that's where most of the components are.
same here 
Was very sad to discover this flaw as well this evening when I wanted to play at low levels of sound... early on I thought the speakers sounded great. And at high levels whatever you're playing drowns out the static. But it's almost as if they shouldn't have even made a setting that goes that low at all. Unbearable in games and music to me at least.
Edit: it's audible to me up to five notches on the volume bar about 18 inches from my face. Of course depends on the type of music/sounds being played.
Was very sad to discover this flaw as well this evening when I wanted to play at low levels of sound... early on I thought the speakers sounded great. And at high levels whatever you're playing drowns out the static. But it's almost as if they shouldn't have even made a setting that goes that low at all. Unbearable in games and music to me at least.
Edit: it's audible to me up to five notches on the volume bar about 18 inches from my face. Of course depends on the type of music/sounds being played.
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Tested another 2 units at my store, same issue. Either this is normal for this tablet or Northern VA has a lot of defective tablets.
Disappointing. I can only hope the new iPad mini has a retina display now.
Disappointing. I can only hope the new iPad mini has a retina display now.
Yup I have it too. I'm having a hard time believing it's not something that can be fixed. We all have a plethora of cheap devices, none of which are this bad.
eysecr Father
I'm in No. VA too. I've tried display units at Best Buy in Reston, Sterling, Tysons and have gotten mine replaced. All 5-6 do the same thing with constant static regardless of volume (except can't really tell at the Tysons BB because they're running some demo mode).
I'm returning and also hoping the iPad mini has retina display which seems less and less likely according to rumors =/.
Tested another 2 units at my store, same issue. Either this is normal for this tablet or Northern VA has a lot of defective tablets.
Disappointing. I can only hope the new iPad mini has a retina display now.
I'm in No. VA too. I've tried display units at Best Buy in Reston, Sterling, Tysons and have gotten mine replaced. All 5-6 do the same thing with constant static regardless of volume (except can't really tell at the Tysons BB because they're running some demo mode).
I'm returning and also hoping the iPad mini has retina display which seems less and less likely according to rumors =/.
What bothers me more is the static/pop above 50%
Yup that is my issue, its like the clear plastic on the speaker membrane is vibrating. only certain tones make it happen.
Great info here but it's this happening on all of these and how come out didn't happen on the last gen models? They must also have that cheap volume. My old hp touchpad has the best sound of any tablet I've ever heard. It didn't make any sound like this.
Not questioning you but just trying to understand. Don't all of these budget devices have these components?
I mean crap... This really seems like more then a cheap design and components. It sounds like a real core problem on this device only. I'm bumming about this. The stereo speakers were a main draw for me. Now I almost don't even want the dammed device. I'm almost ready to return it and it isn't even here yet.
Sorry guys.. 5 am here and haven't slept since the day before yesterday. Loopy as hell.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Not questioning you but just trying to understand. Don't all of these budget devices have these components?
I mean crap... This really seems like more then a cheap design and components. It sounds like a real core problem on this device only. I'm bumming about this. The stereo speakers were a main draw for me. Now I almost don't even want the dammed device. I'm almost ready to return it and it isn't even here yet.
Sorry guys.. 5 am here and haven't slept since the day before yesterday. Loopy as hell.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Same issue here, buzzing at 2 lowest volumes (including mute)
Sent from my Nexus 7
---------- Post added at 04:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:22 PM ----------
Its cause the speakers are so loud that the membrane is not modulating the audio correctly
Sent from my Nexus 7
Sent from my Nexus 7
---------- Post added at 04:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:22 PM ----------
Its cause the speakers are so loud that the membrane is not modulating the audio correctly
Sent from my Nexus 7
What bothers me more is the static/pop above 50%
No, mine only happens at 10% & 20%. Very very low static volume at 30%. No static above 30% or below 10%.
I played Super Hexagon earlier this morning at the lowest volume to not disturb roommates and the static was incredibly apparent. Unfortunately, it was actually worse than I expected it to be when I read this thread around launch, I expected the same kind of flat static you hear in improperly grounded headphone jacks.
If this is a hardware problem, I'm probably going to return mine then wait a month or two to purchase one of these.
If this is a hardware problem, I'm probably going to return mine then wait a month or two to purchase one of these.
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41It's because the Nexus 7 uses a crappy digital volume control that simply reduces the volume of the digital waveform before it hits the DAC, instead of having a real analog volume control -an op-amp that adjusts the volume of the signal before it hits the headphone/speaker amplifier.
What you're hearing is quantization noise as at the lowest volume the audio uses only 2-4 bits of dynamic range instead of the full 16 (or 24, dunno what DAC is in this thing). It's the same as the bit-crushing effect you hear in some dubstep and other electronic music that degrades the audio into a robotic crunchy mess, only here it's not on purpose, it's just cheap design.
There is nothing you can do about it.18
I'm a professional audio engineer, I know exactly how these things work. Most cheap devices do volume controls that way, because adding a dedicated op-amp for analog volume control increases costs of the device, and the Nexus 7 is a budget device.
It does happen on mine, too, in every app that plays sound.11As the others have said, thanks for the explanation. Nice to hear from somebody who understands it, and if the problem is present in all units that actually makes me feel better since I don't have to worry about returning my otherwise perfect unit.
Question though, how come I don't hear the static when using headphones, even on the lowest volume settings where I hear the static from the built-in speakers? That makes me think it's related to the speakers and not the audio hardware... but you obviously know more than me on this.
My pleasure! There's tons of FUD on XDA about many things, so I try to contribute on stuff I know well to reduce that.
Without looking at the schematics of the thing I can only guess:
The speaker amplifier is probably just a simple design that outputs 100% power all the time, so you have to control the volume of the signal that enters it, whereas the headphone amp probably has an integrated analog volume control.
A volume control is much easier (read: cheaper) to do in an integrated chip with low power signals (headphone out) than higher power (speaker out), and again, cheaper was the way to go with the Nexus 7.
Hence, there are two separate outputs from the audio chip - one that feeds the speaker amplifier and uses the bit-crushing digital volume control, the other outputs full-scale audio to the headphone amplifier which controls the volume in analog.4I just started playing a few games on this Nexus 7, and I turned the volume down to the lowest setting because it is late at night and other people in my house are sleeping. I immediately noticed a soft but very audible static buzz coming from the speakers... about the same volume as the audio itself. I held my ear up to the hardware and confirmed it is both top and bottom speakers.
Anybody else experience this?4I personally fixed my low speaker static by using a kernel with Faux sound enabled and using that to set the speaker gain to about -5, this results in being able to use a higher volume level which doesn't have static present, but the device is still quiet enough to watch videos in bed.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
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