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Improve your Call Quality

After a few weeks of suffering through very poor muffled underwater sounding conversations over my Inc I found a solution that really works!

Do the following:

1. Go to phone and Dial ##778
2. Choose Edit Mode
3. Password is 000000
4. Go to CDMA Settings
5. Scroll to bottom
6. Change all three of these "Home Page" "Home Orig" "Roam Orig" from EVRC to EVRC-B
7. Hit Menu and Commit Changes

Phone will reboot and your done!


EVRC-B is a superior voice codec which yields substantially better voice quality. More info - Enhanced Variable Rate Codec B - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



ENJOY!

:cool:
 
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After a few weeks of suffering through very poor muffled underwater sounding conversations over my Inc I found a solution that really works!

Do the following:

1. Go to phone and Dial ##778
2. Choose Edit Mode
3. Password is 000000
4. Go to CDMA Settings
5. Scroll to bottom
6. Change all three of these "Home Page" "Home Orig" "Roam Orig" from EVRC to EVRC-B
7. Hit Menu and Commit Changes

Phone will reboot and your done!


EVRC-B is a superior voice codec which yields substantially better voice quality. More info - Enhanced Variable Rate Codec B - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



ENJOY!

:cool:
Interesting, there must be some reason they choose EVRC by default. Anybody else try this? I don't want to do this unless others verify there's no downside.
 
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Interesting, there must be some reason they choose EVRC by default. Anybody else try this? I don't want to do this unless others verify there's no downside.

EVRC is more widely available than the newer EVRC-B and so it was shipped in EVRC mode to avoid any issues with the few who might not have EVRC-B coverage in there area. If you should find that you do not have EVRC-B in your area; after you make the switch you will get a recorded message when you attempt to place a call. If that turns out to be the case for you all you have to do is go back into the menu and change it back to EVRC. The odds of you not having EVRC-B are extremely slim I would think though...
 
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So in other words in low signal areas it may not as sound as bad since it can drop to 2kbit/s instead of all the way down to 0.8kbit/s.


Right, that is how I understand it, but to say that 0.8 is "substantially" better is a bit of a stretch, especially given that it only occurs at certain scenarios. 8kbit/s is stretching it as it is.
 
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Interesting, there must be some reason they choose EVRC by default. Anybody else try this? I don't want to do this unless others verify there's no downside.


I'm not A pro or anything but I do have a good memory. The reason it's not defaulted is because it swills the battery. I read it a few times. they say it drinks the battery pretty bad. Maybe their exaggerating but thats the scoop. Verizon picks it to save on juice.
Maybe it's not as bad of a ratio as they say (better quality for not that much battery sacrafice???)
 
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I agree with colnago. There isn't a logical reason for this helping unless you're in a marginal area.

If you want higher quality voice, wouldn't the proper thing to do be to try disabling EVRC and going to 13k only?

"I think" it would help with battery "if in a marginal area" as it could settle down on the 2kbit rate "if possible", instead of fighting between the 1/8th and 1/2 rates. I'm basing this purely on my personal experience with the Droid, and the VZ dead zone which is my mom's house. My fully charged battery almost completely drained within 4hrs, in a spot where it struggled to keep 1 bar...phone was also very warm, but normally good for 24hrs under my normal useage.

Agreed that 13k would "sound better", but apparently 13k comes with less robust QoS features...and apperently is not available on the Inc.? Hoping someone with more knowledge can shed some more light on the issue. My antenna mod for my Droid provided substantial gains to dBm values...wondering how audio quality is rated for people with low dBm levels. I'd guessing it would vary since people's perceptions will vary widely. Especially when (2) different people with say -95dBm could have different experiences:

CDMA vs TDMA (section on "In building coverage")
 
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I have no idea. I have not tried this myself, but here's the link to that forum.
Improve your Call Quality - HUGE DIFFERENCE!


Roger that.

This change has been around for a while, but results have never really been consistent...at least not from what I gathered from the Moto Droid forum. As always, is probably greatly dependant on where you dwell, and the quality of your connection.
 
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Question about all this and I'm curious.

When I first got my phone, if you go to Menu>Settings>About Phone>Network. My phone used to say just CDMA. For the past few weeks (it may have been since Verizon fixed my Voice Mail problem). It states CDMA-EvDo rev. A.

Is this normal? Should my phone be this way? I've not changed any settings at all.

Thanks.
 
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Ive tried this and it hasnt helped. If there was a difference, its unnoticeable.

I know plenty of you have said you have no issues with call quality, but there are those that do.

My call quality isnt consistently bad, but during a conversation with someone, the sound I hear will go to a muffled sound periodically, though usually not constant.
I dont understand this. Ive got another Verizon phone, a basic one I use for work, and I dont have these issues at all. Ive come over to Verizon from ATT, didnt have that issue with them either. I dont think its Verizon's problem, but its the phone's problem.

I absolutely love this phone. But two big issues so far do erk me a bit. Battery, and the inconsistent call quality. I really do hope its something that can be addressed with a simple software update. I want to keep this phone.
 
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...I absolutely love this phone. But two big issues so far do erk me a bit. Battery, and the inconsistent call quality. I really do hope its something that can be addressed with a simple software update. I want to keep this phone.

Problem is, you may still suffer from a "crowded tower" at any given time. I also came from AT&T, using various Motorola phones, and my first call on VZ was to voice mail, with the Moto Droid, with a marginal signal. Audio quality was pretty bad, worse than the voice mail server I manage, prior to switching it from G.729 to G.711. Subsequent calls did sound better however, but my issue was that there were several spots in my town, where I would completely lose signal.

FWIW, there are 4-5 Verizon outlets within 5miles in any direction in my town (DC/Balt corridor...VZ 3G map is solid red?). Initial reports here seemed to confirm that the Incredible had lower dBm levels than the Droid, when in the same location. I saw this in both stores down the street from my house.

Personally, based on what people are reporting here, I just think the phone may not be the greatest when dealing with a weak signal, or at least a weak signal that doesn't have a clear line of sight.
 
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This did not do the trick for me. Bottom line is that HTC needs to continue working on a fix and release ASAP. I sure hope its not something thats going to take months. I love this phone. Coming over from Windows Mobile/ATT, I am glad I switched. However, this is starting to put a damper on my enjoyment of the phone. It is just getting annoying trying to talk to someone when it goes in and out or gets muffled. The main purpose of a cell phone is to talk...for "some" people, and when there is quality issues there, well that should be unacceptable.
 
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This did not do the trick for me. Bottom line is that HTC needs to continue working on a fix and release ASAP. I sure hope its not something thats going to take months. I love this phone. Coming over from Windows Mobile/ATT, I am glad I switched. However, this is starting to put a damper on my enjoyment of the phone. It is just getting annoying trying to talk to someone when it goes in and out or gets muffled. The main purpose of a cell phone is to talk...for "some" people, and when there is quality issues there, well that should be unacceptable.

Does this problem seem to be with everyone you talk to or just some? Does it always sound muffled no matter the location you call from?
 
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