Voice Quality Abysmal on Epic 4G

[Deleted User]

I went to a Sprint corporate store and tried 2 of the epic 4g's. Both had just absolutely awful voice quality. The calls sounded muffled and the 2 people I called said my voice sounded muffled. Is it that just people accept bad sound quality these days, many reviews said the sound is good. Don't believe it!

 

[bdforte69]

I don't believe it, I mean I don't believe you! I've had my EPIC since launch day and my calls sound great. The speakerphone works perfect too. No one I have talked to on the phone has mentioned anything about my voice sounding muffled, hollow, tinny, etc. I'm sorry that you had a bad experience, but I simply have not seen, or heard any of that.

 

[Deleted User]

I don't believe it, I mean I don't believe you! I've had my EPIC since launch day and my calls sound great. The speakerphone works perfect too. No one I have talked to on the phone has mentioned anything about my voice sounding muffled, hollow, tinny, etc. I'm sorry that you had a bad experience, but I simply have not seen, or heard any of that.

Another person with me verified exactly the same thing, believe it or not. I would gladly buy this phone if this was not the case.

 

[Pitbull329]

Must have been abused dummies. Mine is perfectly fine!

 

[Shane112358]

I tend to agree with OP. The speakerphone quality is halfway decent but the standard earpiece speaker sounds buzzy and just crappy. It makes me so cussing angry that the voice quality on every smartphone I've had in the last several years (Palm Pre, Epic, even going back to the SE P800 and the HTC PPC6700) suck in comparison to my old Nokia from 1998. It's depressing and just cussing ridiculous.

 

[KoukiFC3S]

I tend to agree with OP. The speakerphone quality is halfway decent but the standard earpiece speaker sounds buzzy and just crappy. It makes me so cussing angry that the voice quality on every smartphone I've had in the last several years (Palm Pre, Epic, even going back to the SE P800 and the HTC PPC6700) suck in comparison to my old Nokia from 1998. It's depressing and just cussing ridiculous.

Get that phone replaced. My first one had the buzzy earpiece, but the new one is much better.

 

[jsanta11]

I've been having the same problem with the earpiece , waiting for Radio Shack to get stock so I can replace it .. It's a known issue from what I was told at the store ...

 

[drbunda]

I've been having similar issues. I went to the Sprint store today and they did a soft reset which seems to have helped. My friends say the call quality is better. On my end, it still sounds a bit digital (especially when they start to talk louder) and I'm wondering if I just have to get used to it, if that's normal for an Android phone.

My old phone did not sound like this at all.

I need to use some of my friend's phones to do some test comparisons.

 

[bdforte69]

Maybe it's just the fact that ALL wireless phone calls are compressed to hell and have a dynamic range that makes a cassette tape sound high fidelity!

Why do you think that radio talk show hosts love callers that use land lines and hate people that use cell phones? Land lines sound a million times better. It's not that the technology of wireless transmission can't handle high quality, it's the fact that the wireless providers choose not to open up the pipes because it would use more data on their networks, costing them more money.

 

[Shane112358]

Maybe it's just the fact that ALL wireless phone calls are compressed to hell and have a dynamic range that makes a cassette tape sound high fidelity!

Why do you think that radio talk show hosts love callers that use land lines and hate people that use cell phones? Land lines sound a million times better. It's not that the technology of wireless transmission can't handle high quality, it's the fact that the wireless providers choose not to open up the pipes because it would use more data on their networks, costing them more money.

I understand that, it's no different than how over-the-air HDTV used to be completely uncompressed and now it's almost as bad as Comcast et al. But considering these are (arguably) phones first and multimedia/internet connectivity devices second, they need to place a higher priority on call audio quality.

 

[simcha]

I've had my Epic 4g since 9/2/2010 and I've been thrilled with the sound quality during phone calls, listening to music, watching videos, playing games, etc. Honestly the call sound quality is the best I've experienced on any phone, mobile or land line. Sorry some of you are experiencing bad sound quality. I would suggest that people having these issues should return those phones. They must be defective.

 

[Araliss]

I agree with the OP, next to my iPhone 3g and my husband's Evo, the sound is not as rich on the Epic in the ear piece. I don't get a buzzing sound but its definitely a tiny sound compared to the phones I already have here.

 

[Aero1]

we have three. two had well below average sound quality and repalcemends did better. So it could be a quality control issue with some Epics or prodcution runs being bette or wrse. Over all the best Epic sound quality we are getting is average for smartphones. not clear or crisp as Evo, but good.

 

[jim2point0]

Sounds like an other issue that's hit or miss. I've had the EVO for 2 months and my Epic sounds a LOT better. I had a lot of issues with muffled sound on my EVO. I was constantly asking people to repeat themselves. I'd constantly get "didn't you just buy a new phone?"

No complaints with my Epic. It's pretty much the best I've had call quality wise.

 

[Kelmar]

Mine sounds great unless the volume is up all the way. Turning it down one or two notches seems just as loud and clearer than full volume IMO.

 

[5Strong]

^+1

 

[robl45]

i don't seem to have the issues. voices sound great, i feel like i'm talking on a landline. i had att before this and it always felt like a cell phone. calls dropping everywhere, staticy, etc. with this and cdma, i don't drop calls, i can have a normal conversation, its fantastic.

 

[jfenton]

I find the earpiece sound quality to be the best of any cellphone I've had (lots on BB devices and an EVO) but I think the rear speaker quality is really poor....very tinny sounding and sharp.

Interestingly, when running Sprint Nav and the direction gal is telling me where to go. her voice is clear as a bell, full of nice bass and will go way louder than if I'm on a call.

 

[MissJennell]

Mine is great! No complaints on my end or on other peoples.

 

[Android XTC]

I went to a Sprint corporate store and tried 2 of the epic 4g's. Both had just absolutely awful voice quality. The calls sounded muffled and the 2 people I called said my voice sounded muffled. Is it that just people accept bad sound quality these days, many reviews said the sound is good. Don't believe it!

I have great voice quality. No problems or complaints here.

 

[adelmundo]

No problems with my Epic. I have used earpiece, speakerphone, included headphones, and bluetooth and they all sound fine. People on the other end say I sound fine. Also have not dropped a call yet.

 

[Flaspeneer]

I'm a studio musician who listens to reference headphones most of the time at work. To me, the Epic sounds fine. The headphone out's a bit gray and the level controls aren't subtle (the softest setting's too loud), but the signature's listenable. I like it overall!

An A-series Sony player from '09 or an X- or S-series from 2010 is going to sound better, but if that matters to you, then you really ought to own one anyway. No point in wearing down your Epic's not-so-epic battery when a dedicated PMP will last four times longer, sound exactly as you want it to and take up almost no space.

Sprint's voice network quality is another matter entirely. Don't blame Samsung for that.

A project for the future: In-ear monitors with a Y-cable and a button on the cord to switch sources: One for my music player of choice, the other for my gorgeous Epic.

 

[MissBarbc]

I went to a Sprint corporate store and tried 2 of the epic 4g's. Both had just absolutely awful voice quality. The calls sounded muffled and the 2 people I called said my voice sounded muffled. Is it that just people accept bad sound quality these days, many reviews said the sound is good. Don't believe it!

I am having the same problem with my speakerphone on Epic having poor quality and people not understanding me. I hear them fine but they say I am breaking up, sound tinny, fade in and out, sound like I am under water, etc. Got a replacement from Sprint but am having the same problem on the new one.

 

[sethman88]

I have had my epic for a while and mine has perfectly fine sound and no one has told me that my voice sounds funny or muffled in any manner, the ones you had been using must have been damaged in some way by another person

 

[badankles]

don't accept the bad sound quality. it's not normal for this phone. similar as others on here, i've had mine since launch, and have not had any issue other than when reception was bad. Could bad reception be a contributing factor for you?