Xperia Z2 Mike issues?

[Ken7]

It was suggested I start a thread on this so that people would have an opportunity to listen to the issue and come up with any ideas as to what the problem may be.

The sound, when recording video as demonstrated by any clip you watch on YouTube from the Mobile Congress event, is very poor. It sounds as if the audio circuit is being overloaded and the resulting audio is being squelched and as a result sounds very tinny. My concern also extends to regular phone call use if this same mike is used for making calls.

I'm hoping that this is the result of the units at the show being pre-production pieces and that Sony will tweak this prior to release. I'm hoping this is not a design issue as the result of the waterproofing. If anyone has any ideas on this, or experience with the Z1's audio, which is also waterproofed, please chime in.

Here's a few examples of this issue:
Sony Xperia Z2 4K video test - YouTube
Sony Xperia Z2 4K Video Sample | MWC 2014 - YouTube
Sony Xperia Z2 4K Video Test Steady Shot Off - YouTube

 

[darigaaz12]

Finally got a chance to listen to this on my computer (with studio monitors). I want to say this wouldn't have to do with the waterproof design. If it was it would be more likely that highs wouldn't make it through and it would sound more muddy. Just sounds like a processing issue (cutting out lows and low mids all together) more to me. If this was overloaded or over processed I would expect to hear more muffling and less clarity.

 

[Ken7]

Thanks for listening and I'd agree, it does sound like the lows and mids are being cut out. I just wasn't sure if this was the result of an overload & resulting attenuation (AGC circuit) or, as you said, a processing thing.

Would you agree darigaaz12, it doesn't sound good? There seemed to be a number of people that commented on the audio. Again, a bigger concern is that it doesn't sound like that on phone calls.

 

[Elias Fazel]

the sound is clear
it s not that loud but really clear because built-in noise cancellation

 

[Ken7]

Elias, the only problem is that the noise cancellation is killing the lows and mid frequencies. If you listen to a phone like the S5 from the show, you'll hear a huge difference. There's a sense of ambience in those clips that is totally missing in the Sony.

I wonder if the noise cancellation can be defeated. That might solve the issue....hopefully.