Help Mic volume in Whatsapp low?

[Nestea80]

Whenever I send an audio note (by holding down the microphone icon), in Whatsapp ... the audio seems to come out in a low volume. When I play my own recording back on my phone, I have to pump up the media volume to the max to hear myself at a decent level. The other party on the other end seems to find the audio low in volume as well.

I was just wondering if other Note 3 users are experiencing the same thing? And BTW, the same thing happens with Viber's audio note feature.

The strange thing is, if I create an audio file with the built in Sound Recorder, and then share that to Whatsapp, it's loud and clear. It's not like my microphone is broken. Audio records fine in all other circumstances.

 

[anacostabrazil]

Whenever I send an audio note (by holding down the microphone icon), in Whatsapp ... the audio seems to come out in a low volume. When I play my own recording back on my phone, I have to pump up the media volume to the max to hear myself at a decent level. The other party on the other end seems to find the audio low in volume as well.

I was just wondering if other Note 3 users are experiencing the same thing? And BTW, the same thing happens with Viber's audio note feature.

The strange thing is, if I create an audio file with the built in Sound Recorder, and then share that to Whatsapp, it's loud and clear. It's not like my microphone is broken. Audio records fine in all other circumstances.

I'm so glad I found your post. At least now I know I'm not the only one going through this problem. I have my Note 3 for only 3 days and was horrified when I heard how low and muffled my audios come out on WhatsApp! I also own a Galaxy S2 and my WhatsApp audios sent from the S2 are very loud and clear. I am worried that my Note 3 has some microphone issue and I need to sort this out ASP because I only have 7 days to get it exchanged at the store! Any insights on this friends?

 

[Nestea80]

I'm so glad I found your post. At least now I know I'm not the only one going through this problem. I have my Note 3 for only 3 days and was horrified when I heard how low and muffled my audios come out on WhatsApp! I also own a Galaxy S2 and my WhatsApp audios sent from the S2 are very loud and clear. I am worried that my Note 3 has some microphone issue and I need to sort this out ASP because I only have 7 days to get it exchanged at the store! Any insights on this friends?

I'm also glad that you replied because I've been wondering if this was only happening to me! I couldn't find anything else on the internet that related to my problem, so I decided to sign up here and post.

I also just got my Note 3 not too long ago. I have a friend who has an S2, and another friend who has an S3, and I had an iPhone 4 before ... and all those devices recorded audio clearly. On the Note 3, it sounds like the audio is compressed. But I'm sure it's not a hardware problem because the microphone works fine in phone calls, or in the Voice Recorder. My guess is that this happens to all Note 3s.

But this issue is annoying because I use this feature VERY often.

If you test out Viber, it's even worse than Whatsapp. Pretty much inaudible.

 

[XiphoneUzer]

I'm also glad that you replied because I've been wondering if this was only happening to me! I couldn't find anything else on the internet that related to my problem, so I decided to sign up here and post.

I also just got my Note 3 not too long ago. I have a friend who has an S2, and another friend who has an S3, and I had an iPhone 4 before ... and all those devices recorded audio clearly. On the Note 3, it sounds like the audio is compressed. But I'm sure it's not a hardware problem because the microphone works fine in phone calls, or in the Voice Recorder. My guess is that this happens to all Note 3s.

But this issue is annoying because I use this feature VERY often.

If you test out Viber, it's even worse than Whatsapp. Pretty much inaudible.

Well, that's not the first app that has unacceptable volume level!
My biggest complaint on the N3 is it's crappy volume!
What a disappointment, in today's noisy world, I took a giant step back from my 4s in the volume department.

Disgusted would be a better adjective!

 

[Note3owner]

Download a good amplifier from the play store. Power amp is a good one. These will boost volume by a lot.

 

[evohicks]

Just tried this by sending an audio file to my wife and it works fine, tried 2 or 3 times and the volume seems the same as her Note 2.
Is Whatsapp fully updated on your device?

 

[evohicks]

Oops double post!

 

[androidexpat]

I think the same problem also exists on the application line when using this Samsung Note 3. Not an issue on the iPhone 5s

 

[Note3]

Same exact problem I'm having with new Note 3. Tried it on iPhone & Win8 Lumia 925, both loud & crystal clear. I thought my Note 3 mic was broken but I guess all of them are having same problem. It's almost unusable & ruins WhatsApp!! Can't believe there's not a fix & I yelled into the mic & still came out at same volume level. Wish I had known bf I bought bc Audio Message is main reason I use WA!

 

[TomAGibb]

Has anyone tried alternative input solutions, say either earbud's with microphone or a BT headset.

Has anyone thought to try the 2nd microphone on the device to see if there is some kind of switch setting that would cause the device to select the 'Speaker' phone input microphone?

Just thoughts on what to check for.

 

[Nestea80]

I've tried using the earbuds, and still the same result. Not only is the volume low on the recording, it's also more compressed than other people's audio messages. So it comes out a little muffled and not as crisp. I'm thinking that it's some codec thing?

I remember looking through the whatsapp audio files, and the extensions on my outgoing audio messages were different from the incoming ones. I don't know if that's what is supposed to happen or not.

So whenever I send audio messages ... I pretty much put the mic right up to my mouth to record, and even then the volume is not that great. While other people just hold their phone at a comfortable distance and speak, and that would be loud and crisp.

 

[Nestea80]

FINALLY FIXED

Whatsapp's newest update (2.11.186) fixes the issue.

In their changelog it says:
"fix voice note recording volume on Samsung Note 3 and Sony phones"

I'm a happy camper.

 

[cacoportela]

Hi gentlemen!

Fisrt, I hope to find all pretty well!

I'm very excited our friend Nestea80 has fixed your device but I guess the other guys are not yet. My problem is happening with my MotoX (2nd generation, 2014) and I'm having the following issues:

1. The audio recording volumes are working pretty well with its volume AWESOME with the following apps: Native Camera.app from Lollipop 5.1, Snapchat, Instagram, Google.app (voice activation by "Ok, Google"), Shazam, Mixbit (from Google).

2. And the next apps, the audio captured has worked PRETTY BAD almost inaudible: Meerkat, Periscope, Vine, Whatsapp, Skype, Viber, Messenger (from Facebook), Telegram

So, after spent a lot of hours on the web searching for any kind of solution, I rest my case. I've talked with the Motorola's Technical Assistance and my device will be send to a technical analysis by an authorized by the company.

I don't know if this issue can be fixed and I guess the only way to get these apps working again is to replace the device by a brand new one. Unfortunatelly. In my case, my phone was purchased 5 months ago and still under warranty (of 12 months in my country).

Thanks and good lucky, guys!


CacoPortela
Ui/Ux Designer