Whine in headphone output.

[1812dave]

Listening to music (either from the Music app or Pandora) is awful due to a whine in the output of the Bionic's headphone amp. For three seconds after pausing a song, i hear the whine. It's not noticeable when playing through the speaker.

This may be the dealbreaker that causes me to return the phone.

Anyone else heard this whine when using headphones? If you haven't noticed it, please pause the music and then see if you hear it. thanks.

EDIT: I found a fix!!! (well, someone on the Moto site suggested that we turn up the volume and attenuate the signal with headphone controls). It TOTALLY works!!! I (usually) use Bose QC15's which have a switch in the cable (it's hidden inside the headphones, but the connector slides out easily and then one can adjust the switch to "hi" or "lo"). I just set the switch to 'lo" and all the whine is gone!!! YIPPEE!!! Now I don't need to return the phone! If I use my other headphones, it's not so easy to resolve the issue, but hey, I'm glad the phone works well with my most frequently used headphones. I am now a HAPPY CAMPER!

 

[Mikeyw88]

I have not tried with an actual wired connection. I use bluetooth audio, it has been whine free.

 

[1812dave]

I haven't got a BT earpiece to try that. I tried hooking it up thru BT to my newest laptop, but it's having trouble with drivers. Even my BB won't play music thru the new laptop, but it did with a BT-equipped laptop that I returned recently, so I don't know what's up with the driver issues on my new Sager laptop. (if it's not one thing, it's another!)

 

[Dirk Giggler]

First post here on these forums. I wanted my first post to be more positive. But I have the same problem here and It's driving me insane because I listen to a lot of music thru my headphones.

To describe the sound: It's a constant high pitched whine in the background. It sounds exactly like electrical feedback due to improper grounding or poor electrical shielding. If my assumption is correct, this is a problem which cannot be corrected via firmware/software.

I have an old pair of zune ear-buds and it's REALLY bad on those. I also have a pair of higher quality Monster Jamz ear-buds and it's not as pronounced on those...but still bad enough for me to seriously consider returning the phone.

I have done some searching and I see the problem is being mentioned on several other forums including official motorola support. Some, if not most, people are dismissing the problem by saying, "I just turn up the volume to drown it out". To hell with that...after taxes and a few accessories, I just dropped four hundred on this piece. I won't dismiss it and move on. I listen to a lot of modern classical and ambient (the sort of stuff that gets reviewed by "the silent ballet"). So there is no turning up the volume for me.

I'm day 1 into a 14 day Verizon return policy, so here's to hoping Motorola acknowledges the problem very soon. Coming from a nearly flawless rooted Peter Alfonso Gingerbread OG Droid, I am having a hard time dealing with the pentile display and the random bugs in the MotoUI. The audio problem will be the final straw.

 

[1812dave]

First post here on these forums. I wanted my first post to be more positive. But I have the same problem here and It's driving me insane because I listen to a lot of music thru my headphones.

To describe the sound: It's a constant high pitched whine in the background. It sounds exactly like electrical feedback due to improper grounding or poor electrical shielding. If my assumption is correct, this is a problem which cannot be corrected via firmware/software.

I have an old pair of zune ear-buds and it's REALLY bad on those. I also have a pair of higher quality Monster Jamz ear-buds and it's not as pronounced on those...but still bad enough for me to seriously consider returning the phone.

I have done some searching and I see the problem is being mentioned on several other forums including official motorola support. Some, if not most, people are dismissing the problem by saying, "I just turn up the volume to drown it out". To hell with that...after taxes and a few accessories, I just dropped four hundred on this piece. I won't dismiss it and move on. I listen to a lot of modern classical and ambient (the sort of stuff that gets reviewed by "the silent ballet"). So there is no turning up the volume for me.

I'm day 1 into a 14 day Verizon return policy, so here's to hoping Motorola acknowledges the problem very soon. Coming from a nearly flawless rooted Peter Alfonso Gingerbread OG Droid, I am having a hard time dealing with the pentile display and the random bugs in the MotoUI. The audio problem will be the final straw.

You just saved me from wasting my time by going to Verizon to try another sample. sigh. this problem is currently the number one item on my "deal breaker" list.

 

[bradvoy]

I'm experiencing this too. No problem when listening via Bluetooth, but an unbearable whine when listening via headphones.

Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

 

[1812dave]

Product testers must have all been hard of hearing or deaf.

 

[shadowsjc]

heard it too while playing it thru my tape deck in my stereo. i thought it was just the headphone cable that was old/faulty. ugh

 

[1812dave]

what's our next best option? I already spoke with Verizon and they know nothing. is there a motorola forum that is manned by Moto employees? I suspect the issue isn't S/W but stranger things have happened so it would be good to know. If it's hardware I'm gonna have to return this thing.

 

[ddggttff3]

To me its not a issue. Mine does it a little, but so does my desktop, laptop, and tablet. Its not too bad on mine, and when music is playing I hear nothing. If a little bit of static is a deal breaker too you, you may just be looking too close for reasons to return it, and may never be happy with a phone. (just my input)

 

[Soapinmouth]

I just tried mine on youtube, I dont have any music yet. I'm not getting any whine so maybe its not on all but jsut a common problem.

 

[terrapin01]

Did you guys try the extreme bass setting that was mentioned in another thread? That was more for the speaker but it may apply to this issue too.

 

[Dirk Giggler]

what's our next best option? I already spoke with Verizon and they know nothing. is there a motorola forum that is manned by Moto employees? I suspect the issue isn't S/W but stranger things have happened so it would be good to know. If it's hardware I'm gonna have to return this thing.

https://supportforums.motorola.com/thread/57436?tstart=0

The link above appears to be the "official" complaint. I am not working right now when I should be, so I won't be joining the support forum until this evening to voice my complaint. Back to work I go!

@ terrapin01: I have tried tweaking the audio in every way provided...using the audio equalizer options and playing with the master volume usiing the "quick settings" app. It really does sound like electrical interference.

 

[Dirk Giggler]

To me its not a issue. Mine does it a little, but so does my desktop, laptop, and tablet. Its not too bad on mine, and when music is playing I hear nothing. If a little bit of static is a deal breaker too you, you may just be looking too close for reasons to return it, and may never be happy with a phone. (just my input)

Maybe this is a case of different strokes for different folks. The only thing I truly perceive in your response is that you don't appreciate high fidelity audio. In my opinion, it makes absolutely no sense to be apologetic and dismissive towards the faults of a lifeless and emotionless piece of hardware (and the mega corporation that stands behind it). A fault is a fault, and to an audiophile like myself, it's a fault I can't live with.

 

[1812dave]

To me its not a issue. Mine does it a little, but so does my desktop, laptop, and tablet. Its not too bad on mine, and when music is playing I hear nothing. If a little bit of static is a deal breaker too you, you may just be looking too close for reasons to return it, and may never be happy with a phone. (just my input)

I'm not "looking" for a reason to return it. I love the phone. But it has a lot of whine in the headphone output. Maybe yours doesn't, but mine DOES.

 

[1812dave]

Did you guys try the extreme bass setting that was mentioned in another thread? That was more for the speaker but it may apply to this issue too.

I've tried all the settings. whine is constant--any volume level, any audio source (app). three seconds after audio content ceases, the whine stops.

 

[carzaddict]

I hear the whine as well.

Ill hear it after a song finishes on pandora....while its trying to load another song. even at that, the whine will cut out after a few seconds if the song is taking too long to load

 

[opuntia2]

I had a huge feedback/whine when listening to Pandora. Everything was fine until i got a notification and the whine just about blew out the PC speakers. I couldn't hear the music at all.

In addition, I find that the headphone jack itself is flaky at best. About 50% of the time when have a 3.5mm cable in there it just doesn't work. I tried 3 different cables (they were plugged into my PC speakers). The only 3.5mm cable that worked consistently was the ipod earphones...go figure.

 

[p08757]

I just tried mine, both from the jack in the phone and from the standard dock. Both work fine for me, and I hear NO whine. I tried both whild plugged in charging and without being plugged in.

There may be a bad batch that have the potential grounding issue.

I'm running mine through my a receiver and good speakers. Turned it up really loud and down soft. I can't hear it.

 

[1812dave]

I had a huge feedback/whine when listening to Pandora. Everything was fine until i got a notification and the whine just about blew out the PC speakers. I couldn't hear the music at all.

In addition, I find that the headphone jack itself is flaky at best. About 50% of the time when have a 3.5mm cable in there it just doesn't work. I tried 3 different cables (they were plugged into my PC speakers). The only 3.5mm cable that worked consistently was the ipod earphones...go figure.

Hmm...the first time I plugged in a headphone cable, I got no sound, the phone dialed my wife (!!!), and after removing the cable, the Music app no longer played thru the internal speaker. I then tried Pandora, and it played fine thru the speaker. switched back to Music and nada. I force-closed Music and then it played thru the speaker again. I was afraid to plug that same cable in, so I grabbed another cable (plugged it into my car stereo without issues) and also some headphones and didn't get a repeat of that crazy behavior--just the annoying whine. The whine isn't noticeable on the car stereo which I am surprised about.