Pandora app crackles badly in my car

[DWilliams]

I can't figure it out. At first I thought I had a blown speaker (specifically the front left speaker) because it makes popping/cracking noises VERY bad when playing music. After some experimentation, however, I found that it's only when using Pandora. If I play music from my phone off last.fm or internal memory, or non-phone sources like my other MP3 player or FM radio, there is no crackling no matter how loud I go (and for reference it happens more noticeably at low volumes, I can crank it up and drown out the popping mostly).

What gives? If I listen to pandora with headphones there is almost no problem, although on some songs I can kinda-sorta hear the popping.

I'm using the motorola droid if it's relevant (although I don't think that has anything to do with the problem).

 

[dakoop]

Mine does that too. I swapped the rca cables and it moved to the rf so I thought it was a bad cable.

 

[bodhi61]

Mine also does it but I unplugged my charger and it stopped. Was your chargers engaged?

 

[dakoop]

No charger on mine.

 

[bodhi61]

Now I have to double check. It's my front left speaker I hear it in also. I could have sworn I heard it increase with RPM like old car radios used to without a ground loop.

 

[jahsh]

I'll add to the opinion that Pandora sounding pretty bad in my car.

I just assumed that the quality of internet radio was like this for streaming applications over a phone.

However, if you're not getting the same issue with last.fm, that's good to know.

 

[n8_cmt]

Thank goodness. I have been hearing crackling in my headphones when listening to Pandora too. I have a droid and I use Bose headphones. I say thank goodness because I thought that my headphones were broken and that would have really stunk.

 

[bodhi61]

Double checked today on crackle. It did not do it today but if I pause it and use charger I can definitely hear the whir of engine that increases with RPM's

 

[DWilliams]

Just for clarification, the noise I hear is not interferance with the charger. In fact, I got my car charger just yesterday

 

[xvenom89]

Pandora sounds great using my Motorola Droid in my 1994 Chevrolet Z24 Cavalier. It only pops when the volume bar exceeds like 60%, which is to be expected.

 

[mmykle]

I'm on my new droid right now, listening to pandora. I just googled "are my headphones broken crackle" and the first link was this forum, the first forum I joined to do research on android phones. Kinda cool how it spit me back here. I have the same problem as you. I can here crackling and pops from my nice headphones, primarily the left earphone. I have yet to test other sources of audio besides pandora, so it still could be my headphones but I sure hope not! Glad to know I'm not the only one witth problems though. I love my phone btw!

 

[Fadelight]

Pandora sounds great using my Motorola Droid in my 1994 Chevrolet Z24 Cavalier. It only pops when the volume bar exceeds like 60%, which is to be expected.

We have a winner!!


You guys have to remember that the output was designed for headphones, which are +4db, and you are using them on an RCA input, which is -10db. That is +14db of overvoltage right there. It will distort like crazy. Keep your volume sliders near 50% and just turn your stereo up, and you will be all set.

 

[DWilliams]

We have a winner!!


You guys have to remember that the output was designed for headphones, which are +4db, and you are using them on an RCA input, which is -10db. That is +14db of overvoltage right there. It will distort like crazy. Keep your volume sliders near 50% and just turn your stereo up, and you will be all set.

That may be true but that still doesn't explain why only Pandora crackles. If it were as you said, wouldn't everything pop and crackle?

I've tried turning down my phone volume and turning up my car, but it doesn't get loud enough. My "optimal volume" is having both my phone and my car volume set as loud as they go.

 

[juanstah]

The Pandora App is garbage and a total waste. I don't understand why Pandora, Facebook and others have been releasing whacked buggy Android Apps with limited feature sets compared to the iPhone/Blackberry versions. It almost seems like it was a afterthought like, "yeah let's just put it out there and let the users be the beta testers". LOL!

In any case, I went ahead and purchased StreamFurious from the Google Android Market. Pulls in everything from the WinAmp/Shoutcast Network plus all the Podcasts from PBS and other joints. The app has been rock solid and incredibly useful. A big selling point for one interested in buying a Android Phone.

 

[nateo200]

I was gonna say it might be the GSM Buzz but I think the issue is resolved.

 

[SynePDX]

We have a winner!!


You guys have to remember that the output was designed for headphones, which are +4db, and you are using them on an RCA input, which is -10db. That is +14db of overvoltage right there. It will distort like crazy. Keep your volume sliders near 50% and just turn your stereo up, and you will be all set.

I hear what you are saying but this isn't clipping. It's sounds more like a short, which is why I think a lot of people think they have a bad speaker or bad headphones.

I get this on my brand new Eris with newer Bose headphones that are fine on any other device.

I also get this when I am listening at half volume on the phone. My headphones aren't amplified either.

I did notice on the pandora android page that there is a list of supported phones. The Motorola Droid and the Eris aren't on it. May just be some minor discrepancy in hardware that is causing the problem on some untested/uncorrected platforms.

 

[DGalt]

I'll add my name to the list of people that hear crackling when listening to pandora over headphones. If I'm playing through the phone's speaker, it's fine. If I play other music (e.g. music files through TuneWiki) through headphones, no crackling. But if I plug headphones into my Droid and listen to Pandora, crackle crackle

rather frustrating

 

[thecrazing]

I'm listening to Pandora on my Bluetooth headphones right now on my Droid, no problem. Unfortunately I don't have any good wired headphones to check, they all have a little blowout. But I did recently plug my Droid into someone's stereo setup the other day through the headphone jack, and I was certainly pumping Pandora, and I don't remember any crackle. And it's usually something I'm quick to recognize.

....is it really possible that there's something about the programming of Pandora, not last.fm, that causes some sort of interference with the casing/headphone jack/crazy Nth dimensional pocket of magic for some phones? Can you guys plug these same headphones into your computer and see what Pandora on your PC sounds like, just so we can isolate this and rule out something about the actual stream itself?

 

[oodasbobooo]

Now I have to double check. It's my front left speaker I hear it in also. I could have sworn I heard it increase with RPM like old car radios used to without a ground loop.

I have this exact same problem... granted i'm using a cassette converter (i know i know, i suck lol)... the converter works fine with a walkman but works AWFULLY with the droid.

Makes the car sound like I have a blown left speaker, and I definitley get the motor whine out of all of them when using the droid + adapter.