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Help Audio Quality

brettlewis

Android Expert
Nov 3, 2009
862
49
Arizona
When compared to the audio quality of my 5 year old ipod classic, I'm pretty disappointed.

I had the same issues with my OG droid and droid incredible where the audio coming out the AUX was just really quiet and doesn't have that extra punch that my ipod seems to have.

When using headphones it is fine, but when hooking it up to my car audio system it just sounds awful. I was hoping that the extra EQ settings in ICS would help out, and it does a bit, but overall it's still pretty disappointing.

Anyone have tips or insight on the problem?
 
Id like to post for you a post i made on another forum about the same problem:


OP, i would like to inform you that ive went through the past 3 days in and out of every local electronics store within a 15 mile radius of me to find out the weak audio that my gnex was pushing out.

I use my gnex in my car for audio. I am extremely picky about sound quality. So here are my findings :

1.) For some god damn reason, i have no idea why.. the gnex 3.5mm jack is SUPER picky.

I noticed when i plugged in my 3.5mm cable to my car to my gnex, the audio sounded so damn bad. Compared to my og-droid's sound it was night and day. There was no bass response, mids were drowned out, highs were over the top.

I was curious as to why, because i plugged in the stock headphones the gnex came with, and to me it sounded like they were doing their job. Not a great pair of headphones, decent. But the bass response was correct at least.

So therefore, i thought my cable was busted. I went to fry's, purchased a monster cable in-car 3.5mm audio since i wanted the best for my gnex. Went back to my car, switched out the cables, still sounded like ass. I repeated this process at least 3 more times. Going home, testing a different cable, concluding that it sounded off and.. just not normal to me. I repeated the process and finally i landed on this cable
Amazon.com: Belkin Mini-Stereo Cable for Apple iPhone: Cell Phones & Accessories

Out of probably 8-10 cables i tested, THIS was the only cable that produced correct sound to me and my car stereo.

Whats funny is, i bought belkins 3 foot version of this cable in black, and it sounded like ass still.

So i concluded, the gnex is just damn picky about what you plug into it.

Maybe you could try, plugging your cable into an female extender and plugging the belkin cable i linked into the gnex and see if that solves your problem.
 
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Always fun to see some old-timers show up on AF again :)

I'd give PowerAmp a try, it can boost via pre-gain. Also a number of people seem to like Volume+

It's good to be back. The time I had my droid incredible was fairly uneventful so I didn't come to the forums as often. I try to come back more now just to see if there is anything I can learn, or anything I can help with.

Volume+ did wonders for the speaker, "virtual room" settings specifically made it really loud. Not sure about line out for my car audio yet. The premium version of the app is actually free on his website too so you can try it out.
 
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I've been pleased with Pandora's output over Bluetooth to my BlackBerry Audio Gateway, which plugs in to my car's AUX. All further adjustment's via my car's stereo, which thankfully has volume and audio settings that stay independent from the radio and CD. That at least keeps the phone's amp, possibly the DAC, out of the equation.
 
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Id like to post for you a post i made on another forum about the same problem:


OP, i would like to inform you that ive went through the past 3 days in and out of every local electronics store within a 15 mile radius of me to find out the weak audio that my gnex was pushing out.

I use my gnex in my car for audio. I am extremely picky about sound quality. So here are my findings :

1.) For some god damn reason, i have no idea why.. the gnex 3.5mm jack is SUPER picky.

I noticed when i plugged in my 3.5mm cable to my car to my gnex, the audio sounded so damn bad. Compared to my og-droid's sound it was night and day. There was no bass response, mids were drowned out, highs were over the top.

I was curious as to why, because i plugged in the stock headphones the gnex came with, and to me it sounded like they were doing their job. Not a great pair of headphones, decent. But the bass response was correct at least.

So therefore, i thought my cable was busted. I went to fry's, purchased a monster cable in-car 3.5mm audio since i wanted the best for my gnex. Went back to my car, switched out the cables, still sounded like ass. I repeated this process at least 3 more times. Going home, testing a different cable, concluding that it sounded off and.. just not normal to me. I repeated the process and finally i landed on this cable
Amazon.com: Belkin Mini-Stereo Cable for Apple iPhone: Cell Phones & Accessories

Out of probably 8-10 cables i tested, THIS was the only cable that produced correct sound to me and my car stereo.

Whats funny is, i bought belkins 3 foot version of this cable in black, and it sounded like ass still.

So i concluded, the gnex is just damn picky about what you plug into it.

Maybe you could try, plugging your cable into an female extender and plugging the belkin cable i linked into the gnex and see if that solves your problem.

+1, the audio cable/headphones you're using makes a huge difference. The only objection I have to this post is the praise re: Monster cables. They are absolute garbage and a waste of money. And as a matter of fact your post verifies this.
 
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I haven't tried using the aux-in/headphone-out of the GNex, but I quickly concluded the music app is the worst yet and felt that much better about paying for PowerAMP Pro last year. I really can't lay enough praise on it. It's a great program.

I also use my phone as my primary playback source, but always via Bluetooth. I ditched my CD head unit last year. Replaced it with a Clarion FP501. GNex sounds fine going thru it.
 
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I was getting ok response, but in my car, the bass was a little lacking compared to my other phones with the same music.

I downloaded volume+ and used the EQ function on the drive home today and WOW that punch is back. I had previously used that app to help increase volume a little of the speaker, and that worked perfectly.
 
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I'm going to buy a headunit this week with USB capabilities and I was wondering if I would be able to plug in the GN via USB to listen to music? Also is there a difference in quality if I use a hard wire as opposed to using Bluetooth?

The GNex won't work with any USB head unit that depends on a USB MTP (media transfer protocol), which requires the phone be recognized as a drive when it's plugged in (the Galaxy Nexus won't do this).

If what is being discussed above is all correct, it sounds as though a Bluetooth connection may be the preferable connection. As I posted, my BT audio sounds great, but I'll have to unplug it and plug in directly to the 3.5mm audio jack to make a side-by-side comparison of the two connection methods.
 
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