Video calls: incoming audio blocked when I speak

[Android Central Question]

hi there everyone,

I got quite a big problem with my Xiaomi 9 SE. Whenever i call over internet with video - either Zoom or Whatsapp video calling - incoming sound is blocked for as long as i make sound myself, and is still for a second or two after i stop making sound. So whenever i finish a sentence for example, and the other person responds to me right away, i can't hear the first 1 or 2 seconds of whatever he or she is saying. As you can imagine this is super annoying when you're trying to have a fluent and pleasant conversation ...

Anyone got a clue what's going on here?

Thanks in advance,

LangePier

 

[VidJunky]

Welcome to Android Central.

You specifically mention that this happens when making these calls over WiFi, does this also happen while making calls using a carrier data connection?

If you were on a call over WiFi when this is happening and turned off WiFi to continue on over a carrier data connection does the issue immediately stop? I'm not sure if switching might cause you to disconnect, if it does and you call right back over the data connection what is the result?

I'm assuming then that they are unable to interrupt you while you are talking. So if they were to try and interject, does the sound come in at all, like on a time delay, or is anything they are saying just lost? Do you notice any time delay at all during these conversations, like they are out of sync with what you're hearing?

If you interrupt them does their audio immediately cut out? Do they complain of similar issues when talking to you? What do they say happens if you begin speaking before they have finished, are they able to hear you?

Does this only happen on your home WiFi or does it happen over any WiFi?


If this isn't happening over a data connection and you're not noticing a time delay other than them having to wait a moment before speaking its not likely to be a setting, plus it is happening to you in multiple apps. It almost sounds like some kind of noise reduction issue. Are you using headphones during these calls? If you are have you tried without them or if not, have you tried with them? I could almost imagine an over active noise cancelation device having this effect. NC might also account for the delay after you've finished talking as it would be active while making sound and might take a moment to realize that the sound has stopped.

Let us know what you find and we'll see if there is more that we can help you with. To reply to this thread and receive notifications when others reply, please create an account. This link will help you do that... https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community-new-post.html

 

[mustang7757]

Try rebooting the device ,if still a issue dies it happen over Wi-Fi and mobile data? Also can try clearing data then force stop each those apps

 

[LangePier]

Thanks for the answers! It seems the problem exists only with a single person in a different country. Calling to some people within my own country as a test doesnt seem to give this problem at all, no matter whether i use wifi or mobile date. Someone told me maybe it's because of the bandwith that restricts the date being transferred. But I've called to plenty of far away countries with bad internet in the past, and never have i experienced this problem. Usually when it's a matter of bad internet, the connection and/or image just becomes blurry or the actual connection lags – but nothing so structurally persisting as this problem.

And yeah, you're right, whenever i talk their sound does not come through on my end of the line. It's not a delay or anything, the sound is just completely blocked out whenever im speaking. There's no time delays or any other reason to believe the connection is bad. And yeah, if i interrupt the other person their sound immediately gets cancelled for ME – the person on the other side doesn't actually notice anything unusual at all, so the problem really is only perceivable for me.

Indeed it seems like some sort of noise cancellation, but then again; why only with this one person? Could it be triggered by a setting on that other person's phone somehow, seems unlikely right?

 

[VidJunky]

Indeed it seems like some sort of noise cancellation, but then again; why only with this one person? Could it be triggered by a setting on that other person's phone somehow, seems unlikely right?

Yeah I struggled to come up the couple of ideas that I had as to what may be causing this and it seems a bit far fetched to think it could be a setting on their end. Having said that, if it only happens with this one person, none of the other conditions you thought might affecting it have been ruled out, poor connection presents in a different way, really the only thing left would be something on their end. What that could be I truly cannot imagine but when you've ruled everything out all that is left is the impossible. It might be worth it to ask them to try default settings in the app or at least look at their settings to see if they can spot anything that may be triggering this.

 

[LangePier]

thanks! i did some internet speedtests with the person yesterday while calling. Her uploadspeed was 1.7 Mb which seems very low and might be adding to the problem. Still this 'blocking' function seems like it's deliberate. She also said she has the same problem when calling with her sister. She has an iphone 11 and i have an android. We're gonna try to see what happens if she uses another phone (over that same wifi connection). That way we know if is connected to the phone or the connection, i have a feeling it's the phone ... I'll keep you updated. Thanks again for thinking along!

 

[LangePier]

the iphone was indeed the problem, no idea why, but using any other device solves the problem. Conclusion: iphone sucks