S4 Audio Problems: What Should Samsung Do??

Many users with I9505 and SGH-I337 versions of the S4 report horrible audio problems USING HEADPHONES WITH IMPEDANCE BELOW ~ 15 ohm. This is discussed at length in the following forum and in other discussion groups:
Sound crackling/distortion with certain headphones?

What do you think Samsung SHOULD do about this problem to satisfy these S4 users? Many of these owners, including myself, have contacted Samsung support at different levels with no really useful response. I am very happy with the headphone audio of my S4, but I use higher impedance phones.

Are folks experiencing these problems with bluetooth headphones? Or just with physical connections?

I had crackling with my Yamaha EPH-100 and Soungmagic E10 earphones. Today I got new firmware (I9505XXUBMF5) from Samsung and problem is solved.

Click "jensigners" link above and read.

Since I got my S4 like 3 4 days ago I haven't experience any crackling/distort sound and i'm using Bose iE2's In ears

I am not having any real sound problems but the controls on the head phones do not work on the phone. The only way I can control the volume is on the phone and that is with a Bose set, The Beats set and even the factory set that came with the phone.

Still crackling on my Klipsch a4 ear buds. no firmware upgrades, etc corrects this

Posted via Android Central App

Had this problem too with earphones that I had used for years... Until I started using the OEM ones that came with my s4. That fixed the problem entirely.

On another note, try disabling any equalizers you may have running. I've noticed that this could worsen the problem.

I thought the issue was for devices less than 16 ohms? The Klipsch buds are 18 ohms.

Is this a mistake, or do people still have new device pixie dust blocking their objectivity? I would have thought it would clear by now.

there is probably a bit of variation of that nominal impedance value. Don't forget that the impedance depends on frequency and what seems to matter is the impedance value below ~ 500 Hz or so. Also, since there have been reports of varying nominal audio output levels in some S4 phones, that would also cause some variation. At any rate, the new firmware rolling out in Europe *appears* to have fixed the problem. (I haven't verified that myself as I have SGH-I337 and don't want to risk an unofficial flash).

Originally Posted by jensigner

there is probably a bit of variation of that nominal impedance value. Don't forget that the impedance depends on frequency and what seems to matter is the impedance value below ~ 500 Hz or so. Also, since there have been reports of varying nominal audio output levels in some S4 phones, that would also cause some variation. At any rate, the new firmware rolling out in Europe *appears* to have fixed the problem. (I haven't verified that myself as I have SGH-I337 and don't want to risk an unofficial flash).

Got it, so stay away from rave and similar types, since a lot of 500 Hz orientation ;)

Originally Posted by rushmore

Got it, so stay away from rave and similar types, since a lot of 500 Hz orientation ;)

also stay away from the standard A440 (tuning fork frequency) and The Who's My Generation

Jensigner-Thanks for the post. I'm having the same problem with my Etymotic hf5 earphones.....lots of crackling above 30% volume.

Please give a heads-up if you hear any more about a firmware update in the US. Thanks.

I ran the update from At&t last night and it appears to have fixed the crackle problem with low impedance headphones. Good job Samsung.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using AC Forums mobile app

Updated to the latest firmware with Bell Mobility for SGH-I337M. I have confirmed that the "crackle" problem is gone and that all audio characteristics (frequency response, distortion, noise) have not changed (see update to web page posted above). So this is really good news.

This did not get fixed with the latest update.