LG G3 sound quality problem

[AC Question]

I received my new LG G3 yesterday and was disappointed to find the sound quality compromised with intermittent hissing and digital noise being audible in the left channel in particular. It's a problem that affects not only the standard music player but also the FM radio and YouTube. I tried downloading Poweramp, but it too has the same issues.

I've looked online to see if anyone else has observed this problem with the LG G3, but didn't find any similar reports. However, I did discover that owners of the G2 reported similar issues after updating to Android 4.4.2 earlier in the year. Users noted that the loudness of the interference seemed to depend on the impedance of the earphones being used, and in my case the problem is much more noticeable with my Sony XBA2 earphones (12 ohm) than it is with the supplied LG QuadBeat earphones (24 ohm), but it's still an issue even with my Sennheiser HD595 headphones (50 ohm). The nature of my problem with my G3 seems to me too similar to the reported problem with the G2 (left channel bias, impedance dependent) to be a coincidence.

Given that the problem wasn't picked up in any of the reviews, my first thought was to assume I have a faulty unit, but the issues with the G2 make me wonder whether it's a more widespread problem. Is anyone else suffering from the same issues? Music reproduction is very important to me, so I don't want to get another G3 only to find it's a generic issue.

I'm currently inclined to return my G3 and get an HTC M8 instead, but would be grateful for people's thoughts before I do.

 

[Jonas Pieniniemi]

Im having the exact same problem. And I owned a G2 before updating to a G3. The same annoying cracking sound in the left channel.. Not as bad as on my G2 inwhich they replaced the 3.5mm jacket. Obviously without any improvement. The problem is not there when using bluetooth headsets.

 

[Astexisco]

Same problem here. From Spain, Europe. New G3 and very surprised to find the same problem (which was solved) I found at my G2......OMG

What can we do? Wait for update? Send back the phone? Have you heard about Sony Z2 quality? To me music is the most important.

 

[Bleet]

I picked up the 32/3GB model of the G3 from Verizon yesterday (VS985). I just tried the LG G3 with a Razer Blackshark (mic + headphone 3.5mm), and a couple of regular headphones, and I didn't notice anything out of place audio wise...

...What I do notice is static over Bluetooth to a Jawbone Icon, even just a couple of feet away with line of sight to the G3. Switched the BT headset back to a Motorola Droid 2, and it worked flawlessly. The static dramatically increased with higher volumes on the G3. I don't know if it's related in this situation, but worth noting just in case.

I plan to check with a VZW store to see if there's something weird regarding the Icon and the G3, or if the G3 has a weird audio/BT chip.

 

[ScrapMaker]

Actually, a lot of phones have this problem. The issue is that the phone's overall 'grounding' status changes depending on whether or not the audio chip is enabled. To save energy, the chip actually disables when not playing audio. This causes your headphones to create a ground-loop when the phone is plugged into the charger. Does this problem happen for you when you are purely on battery power? My LG G3 only has this when plugged in. I'd prefer that they leave the audio chip on any time the headphones are connected -- this is pretty annoying. I've seen this on many other devices, including the HTC M7.

Sometimes different USB cables or chargers will help. I'm not sure if any sort of ground-loop isolator will work, because the loop is internal to the device itself...

 

[alcor34]

On a second G3 and the issue is still there though not as bad as with the first. It's quiet annoying as I listen to a lot of music. It's especially bad in music with heavy base. It almost sounds like the headphones can't carry the output like a desktop speaker would waffle. I wonder if this can be fixed in an update? I don't get the hiss and crackle when music is not playing, but compared to my G2, the G3 makes a whiny nose when plugging the headphones in.

 

[reeree279]

I am now on my 3rd LG G3 is anyone else having issues with the Aux. It doent want to connect and if it does it makes a loun pop sound in between songs.

 

[pcumming]

Re: LG G3 sound quality problem-anyone have a unit that works perfectly??

Has anyone had an LG3 phone that did not have this issue with skipping and headset and skipping,etc???

Potential future purchaser.
Verizon

Anyone recommend another phone that has 32gb of RAM and similar screen size and few problem?? Only one I see is Note 4 but I would not use the Note features. Samsung S5 on Verizon only has 16gb

Thanks
Peter

 

[Heinz Pasulke]

Re: LG G3 sound quality problem-anyone have a unit that works perfectly??

I've had a custom rom installed for a while, cm12, and i hadn't have any problems, neither crackling noises nor bass problems. I think it's just a software problem, which ,,could'' be fixed by LG..

 

[MythiasKing]

I turned off the 4g and all hissing, crackling and ticks and pops stopped. I have Us Cellular. I turn the 4glte/cdma off and turn it to only cdma. No audio problems. Now this is through headphones.

 

[Mike Baldwin1]

Anyone solved this problem? Mine only plays out one speaker, it's on stereo, tried the war buds on another phone they're good, gotta be a software problem

 

[Brennan Tipton]

So a fix for this will be Ina update but go to google settings and turn off OK google on all screens

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