Droid DNA - BAD Bluetooth Car Phone Call Audio? And intermittent garbled non-BT calls?

[Stevini18]

Got a Droid DNA on Black Friday (no deal besides $50 NE2 credit, just happoened to be Black Friday when I bought it). I upgraded from my 2-year-old Motorola Droid X, which had fallen in a stream 4 months ago and was misbehaving something fierce.

I love this phone. Everything about it - the snappiness, the 4G, the screen, the camera - everything. Except the Bluetooth phone call audio.

I have a Pioneer 8000BT head unit in my car, and it produced flawless call quality with the Droid X. There's no firmware upgrade I can find for the Pioneer, so I just deleted the old phone and paired the DNA. The bluetooth audio plays though the car speakers, and there's a mic on my driver's side pillar.

The call quality is HORRIBLE with the DNA. On my end, it's very hard to understand the other party because the audio is very garbled. Almost as though it's over-modulated. I turned down the Bluetooth audio volume on the phone all the way , and boosted through the car stereo - no difference. Also, the people I'm talking to have said my quality has diminished since the new phone - they can instantly tell I'm "in the car" (whereas it wasn't as apparent with the X). They say there's a lot of background noise and that I'm garbled too. It doesn't matter if I'm calling a landline or another cell phone - same problem.

As far as regular calls - I saw a thread here say almost the same thing - some people I've talked to say I'm garbled, or that my voice is fading in and out. Holding the phone directly to my face seems to work a little better - but if you can't just raise your shoulder to hold the phone hands-free and still be heard, what's the point?

By the way - Bluetooth audio - Pandora streaming and GPS voice - seem to be fine - it's just the phone calls that sound like garbage.

Has anyone else had any issues with this - either in the car (or maybe a headset), or with regular calls?

Any advice? Should I try to get a new one from Verizon?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and if you have any questions about the phone, don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks, Steve

 

[cdd543]

Hmmm I had the one x+ on att and it had major bluetooth issues. I hope the DNA doesn't have the same issue--I haven't had a call through my pioneer avic 940bt on my DNA yet, but will test later.

 

[jamdmyers]

There's another thread here talking on the same topic, so I spent about 3 hours and did some experiments today on the DNA with Bluetooth activity.
I have four 'headphones' 2 ear pieces (jawbone/platonics) style and two bluetooth stereo ones (jaybird/rocketfish) and a Bose Soundlink Link. The two ear pieces and the jaybird stereo all worked ok, sound quality and receive quality was very good, the rocketfish was not so good both in my voice and their reception. I also paired two DNAs (Gf has one too) to our car (Ford Fusion with Sync) This worked well and sound quality out and in were fine, transitions were ok as well. The Sound link was fine.

The test consisted of streaming Google Music to the headset then - receiving calls (switching from music to call and back), sending texts, emails, taking photos.
I used wifi and LTE in all cases, so it was about 30 mins / device. The music was set to stream at high quality as well, there was a annoying click on some of the song transitions, not all but occasionally, not sure if this is a google play thing or phone.
I did find on most with bluetooth and media turned up it isn't killer loud, but loud enough for all devices (the Bose and Car I could increase ). Sound with wired Bose headset was more than my ears can take as well as connection to a Bose companion 3 speaker setup I tried as well. I find the lower bluetooth volumes interesting since bluetooth leverages Beats but it's what it is.

One note from the other thread, I did notice google music was not updating my album art properly, but that said I'm fairly sure in my case my mp3 tags are not right, I've collected this stuff from all over.. alot of the album art was right some not, I could check the tags but I really have better things to do.
So to finalize I have good success with my devices but the Rocketfish was inferior so I blame the device, as always your mileage may vary depending on your choice of devices and preferences.

I was updaing another thead and wanted to add I also did some switch back and forth from bluetooth to speaker phone and back while on calls, this worked also

 

[n8mack33]

I'll test in my car over the weekend since I'm getting my DNA tomorrow. I have an Evo right now and it hasn't been great (garbled, everyone said I sounded like I was in a wind tunnel) so I stopped using it through my car's bluetooth. But that could be an issue with the setup with the car. I was hoping the DNA would be much better and play nicer with the car BT.

 

[atakin77]

Mine sounds fine in the car, but I've noticed an issue voice dialing in the car (i.e., using the car's phone book to "call home" for instance). The call will connect, go for a minute or two, and then go silent - I cannot hear the other party nor can they hear me, and then I have to end the call. Once this happens, I have to disable BT on the phone and re-enable it. I've taken to dialing through the phone instead of the car, and I don't have a problem. Did not have this problem with my GNex or Dinc 4G. I don't have any sound problems - just maintaining a good call when dialed using voice commands.

 

[anon62607]

The issues I noted on the other thread were specific to the DNA:
* Album art wouldn't show up on the car display, and it always did when playing the same data from an SGS3
* Track position was always reported at 00:00 even though the track was playing. No problem playing the same data from an SGS3. (exactly the same, synced from google play music)
* Device ID shows up ok in the Bluetooth list of devices in one place but as "-65535" in another. Also no problem from an SGS3.
* When playing music with google play or podcasts with beyondpod, every now and then the audio would skip and "jitter" for a couple of seconds. It's pretty infrequent that it happens - perhaps once every 40 minutes of audio - but it is annoying. Also never happened with the SGS3.

Sometimes when I would start the car music wouldn't play even though the device connected (as if it were muted). Switching to radio and back to bluetooth as an input source fixed that. This also didn't happen with an SGS3 but in this case I sort of suspect it's a problem on the car side, because it did happen once with an iPhone 4S. The car is a 2011 BMW 335, fwiw.

 

[jamdmyers]

One note on the diff of the S3 vs DNA, The S3 uses Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP EDR while the DNA is Bluetooth 4.0 aptX,. The aptX is a newer protocol with higher bit rates and compression.. While there should NOT be any problems due to compatibilities (design for backward compatibility, we use N-2) there's bound to be devices that are not going to play nice, now the question is where does the fix come in.. if it's a newer device with compatibility issues it resides on that device (the slave to it maybe older on no longer supported, though not in the case of a '11 bmw i suspect) and the DNA may need some tweaking for A2DP protocol, the good news it's cheap (Software if the case) the bad is how long before it's isolated, resolved and released !

 

[techgeek32#WN]

My DNA works flawlessly with my 2011 Nissan Maxima. Crystal clear calls on Bluetooth and handset only. I have a Bose Bluetooth headset when not in the car and that is clear too. I also have it paired with three other portable Bluetooth speakers and they all work like they should. One thing I have learned is that every phone works differently with Bluetooth car kits. I have a GNex, SGIII and Droid Razr Maxx HD. The SGIII and GNex sound terrible through my car and the Razr is crystal clear. It is all about drivers and codecs. There really is not much that can be done to fix it. That is why I always have to choose the phone that works the best with my car even if it Is not the one I like the best. Good Luck!

 

[rhollinslewis]

Steve, I thought it was just me! My DNA is AWFUL on the Bluetooth. I, too, just upgraded from the original Droid X and was loving the phone until I connected to the Bluetooth - you're right - it is horrible. I can't hear a thing but a garbled mess And the other party can't hear me. Almost as bad on a regular call - quality is just not there. I may have to go back for the Razr Maxx HD. I went with the DNA because of the screen resolution (beautiful), the camera, and the fact that when I zoom on a page when browsing it reconfigures the text so I can read it all. I may have to sacrifice all of that for a more mediocre camera on the Razr HD. :-( I guess the great battery life and voice quality may be worth the payoff. I think I will try and see. Good Luck!

 

[jamdmyers]

This isn't my post I grabbed it from another thread, but try this before returning your phones:
I have a 2011 BMW 535xi. I think I may have solved the problem. The phone has an advanced BT menue which has a setting for "Message Access." My car presumable supports the transfer of emails to the nav screen and can then read them out. Anyway I unchecked this box on the phone and it seemed to hook up alright this morning. I'll let you know if this has been resolved after a couple of more trips in the car. The phone seems to link up alright with my home phone's BT feature.

 

[mpiscitello]

I definitely noticed a big drop in BT quality in calls with my Lexus - coming from an Incredible 2 it is like night and day. I have a very hard time understanding the caller as they sound muffled or garbled. I hope HTC somehow can fix this!

 

[atakin77]

I wiped my phone and the car and re-set everything from scratch. It is worse now than before. Only way I can make a call is to dial from my phone with BT off and then transfer to BT once the call is active.

 

[steadyjake]

There is definitely a problem with bluetooth and DNA (Jelly Bean). My Droid X worked perfectly with BlueAnt, now audio is way overmodulated and blown out both listening to someone else and how they hear me. The "gain" is set too high so that everything I am doing that makes noise in the background is amplified much too high. This needs to be fixed. Are HTC engineers on this?

 

[techgeek32#WN]

Different phones work differently with all Bluetooth devices. The DNA works flawlessly with my Nissan Maxima 2011, big Jambox, HTC stereo clip and my Bose Bluetooth headset. Oh, almost forgot my Sony and Nokia Bluetooth headphones which connect perfectly and deliver some of the best sounding audio from a smartphone I have ever experienced. I have other phones that don't work as well with these devices. You might have bad phones or just incompatible codecs causing the problems.

 

[europeankar]

I got rid of my HTC Butterfly. 99% identical to a Droid DNA. I had horrible bluetooth voice call on my 11 BMW. While my iPhone 4S works great with my iDrive. ( BMW )
Is this fixable? Will an update fix this? My phonebook was messed up too. While my Note 2's bluetooth is pretty bad with my car as well. Music transition, lag, etc.

 

[blashandroid]

Also coming from Droid X to DNA and have experienced a huge decrease in Bluetooth call quality using both my car connectivity (Acura TL) and headsets. Callers are telling me I sound like I'm in a tunnel on a regular basis. The DNA is no longer a suitable device for handsfree business phone calls for me. Extremely dissapointing. Need to find resolution to this so if anyone has any ideas, would very much appreciate the Intel.

 

[disneyf1]

I finally called tech support after trying three headsets, all making callers say I'm in a tunnel or staticky. Tech support said they could hear it and even asked me to call from a land line it was so bad. They instructed me to replace the phone. As I've replaced the phone twice already for other issues, I'd really like to get a headset working.

What headsets have worked for you?
What tweaks have you made to get your headset to work?

Thanks,
OZ

My headsets that don't work:
Blue Ant T1
Samsung 1700
Moto HK250

 

[stinger22]

Was on the phone with tech support today for the same bad quality phone calls issue. My original Motorola headset which worked great with my DroidX, a new Plantronics Legend, and my in car Roadster. People ask me to get off my Bluetooth it is so bad and I recorded a VM on my home phone and it cut in and out on it. They want me to call back in the morning from a land line so they can run some test on the phone and check settings and if not resolved replace the phone. disneyf1 did you get your issues resolved?

 

[disneyf1]

Hey,

I talked to HTC who was very nice, and didn't play the ignorant card at all! The rep (who answered the call after only one ring) said they knew about an issue with some of the DNAs making BT difficult to hear. She said a fix is on the way but could not say when.

 

[stinger22]

Well I called Verizon this morning, the person looked up the records where the agent yesterday said all the notes would be and then they would do something to check the phone or it's settings. The agent just said, yes we are going to send you a replacement. Should be here Monday, now have to go through the set up again. I asked her about the screen protector I bought from Verizon at the store when I purchased the phone and she said that was not under the warranty. I said well you mean I am out the money for that even though it is a phone problem and I bought both from you and she just kept repeating that is not covered. So guess I am out of pocket for that now.