Background noise when calling.

Every body I call from my iPhone complains that they can hear a lot of background noise, not static but it's more like the iPhone mic is so sensitive it picks up quiet a bit more than it should.
I am placing calls from the same places I used to with my previous phone, home, car, work etc...

I made a search but could not find anything.

Has anyone experience this problem?

Thanks

powermac 2xG5 MacBook 2.0 MacbookPro, Mac OS X (10.4.10), Airport Extreme, TV, iPhone

Posted on Jul 22, 2007 11:42 PM

Reply
9 replies

Jul 23, 2007 12:35 AM in response to fredericlang

fredericlang, i've not experienced that problem. Interestingly enough, i get complimented at how well my voice sounds on the iPhone. I do have mutual friends with iPhones and we all communicate all the time... the phone sounds great!

Could be a sensitive mic on your phone or malfunctioning. Does this happen with just the phone or the earpiece/mic combo?

Jul 23, 2007 2:44 AM in response to fredericlang

I notice it when driving and using a BT headset. It very obvious and picks up any road noise and seems to amplify it. Its driving me insane and, if there is one thing I wish Apple would fix, its this. I've tried five different DSP headsets to no avail, although some are better than others. I have three iPhones with the same problem. Took it to a "Genius" and he looked at me like I had six heads. To be honest, I think they're clueless - their internal knowledgebase is actually this forum (at least thats what he was searching).

PS - RE:the service area, I live in NY-NJ.

Jul 23, 2007 3:08 AM in response to leeferna

leeferna,

I wonder if the problem is actually in the design of the headsets and not in the iPhone?

The reason why i mention that is because not too long ago when i had AT&T service on my Moto RAZR phone, it seemed fine until i'd plug in the mic & earpiece unit.

Once i plugged that in, i had to be careful not to cough, hiccup or sneeze. The party on the other end would get a HIGHLY amplified sound, almost borderlining painful to the eardrum.

They could hear everything!

It was the same on my friend's phones/ear piece setups.

So perhaps it's the design of the earpieces and not that of the iPhone. I don't know. I'm just making an educated guess here.

You mentioned yourself after trying 5 headsets that some are better than others.

I think it's the "sensitive" circuitry/mics these headsets contain that causes this. Then again....i'm just guessing 😉

Jul 23, 2007 4:16 AM in response to Leone-D-Antonio

Its probably true. Because if I put the line on mute the noise goes away. But its so strange that it happens with every BT headset. I never had this problem with a half dozen other phones (all Verizon). Though I've always gotten the typical BT "crackling" noise when the phone and headset are separated by some distance. But this is not the same noise that we're talking about here.

Apple probably needs to make fixes to the BT stack thats implemented on the iPhone, and some of these issues will get better.

Jul 23, 2007 3:11 PM in response to Travelyn

I've Tried the earpiece and it seems better than no hands-free. The opposite of Travelyn...

So, went to the  store, before trying anything else they did a reset. Then we tried the phone and I could not really hear any more background noises than on any of my previous cells.

Also, got a case (incase leather) for the iPhone, on my way home gave a few phone calls from the car (usually lots of complaints about wind noises, even with windows up) and nobody complained.... So is it the reset or maybe the new case, don't know but it's working better now.
F

Aug 31, 2007 6:39 PM in response to fredericlang

have the same complaints. I use the wired headset when I drive. I have had 2 diff blackberries and a nokia E62. The blackberries with their wired headsets were the worst. They picked up all the background noise while I was driving. When I got the E62 using its wired headset, the people on the other line "allowed" me on conf calls again while driving. It was great! When I switched to the iPhone with its wired headset, I received the same complaints again just like the blackberries. They asked if I went back to the blackberry or if I had my windows down of if I was standing on the tarmac.

I left myself vmails back in the office to hear what everyone else hears. It sounds horrible....just like the old blackberries. When I unplug the wired headset during the same conversation, the other party says it sounds 'much better'. Can someone at Apple pipe the headset mic signals through the noise cancellation circuitry?

BTW, I drive a 2 year old E320 Mercedes. It is a very quiet car. When I use my wife's free nokia and free headset to leave the same voicemails on the same patch of road under the same driving conditions, the background noise is non-existent.

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Background noise when calling.

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