Bluetooth audio quality concerns

OK, I'm opening a new thread with this one, since I would really like to gather opinions of people who are also facing bluetooth audio quality issues.

Since I got my iPhone 3G, and paired it with my bluetooth headsets, people have been complaining that the couldn't hear me well. My voice would crack up, or even not make it at all to the other side. I got a couple of new bluetooth headsets, only to find out that it wasn't the headsets' fault. That said, I would like to add, that all the headsets that seem to misbehave when paired to the iPhone, work great when in use with my older SE mobile phone.

I did some testing and found out that, the issue of my side cracking up or not sounding at all would only arise when the OTHER party was in a noisy environment (usually trying to talk to somebody in a Mall would do the trick). That said, I would also like to add that when talking through the iPhone itself (even on speakerphone), would work fine!

I am suspecting that there is an echo cancelation feature build-into the iPhone that revs up when talking through a bluetooth headset and seems to cut-off my headset's input level when strong noise it detected from the other side, presumably to avoid echo. Seems like this feature is badly tuned, in a way that communication can no longer work in an syncronous way.

What seems strange to me is that, after updating to v2.2 of iPhone software, the issue seemed to have gone away; however, it looks like it's back!

This whole situation could also be connected to various bluetooth quality issues many people are facing when using bluetooth car kits. I would suggest you try and connect such issues with the NOISE on the OTHER END.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I will try and put together a Skype call that would hopefully demostrate what I am trying to say.

iPhone 3G v2.2

Posted on Nov 26, 2008 4:23 AM

Reply
359 replies

Feb 7, 2010 10:34 PM in response to RealMonStar

Well, we reported this many times on Apple support.
No result as u see. And it's a funny excuse that they don't watch this thread,
on their very official site!! They are aware of the problem, one way or another. That's for sure!!! Their response on this matter is the definition of self-delusion,totally ... As I said before it's funny to see how they will handle the iPad issue, if it does actually have cell phone capabilities, then BT headset will be an essential.
And this is such an irony... 🙂

Feb 8, 2010 1:47 AM in response to masterstif

masterstif wrote:
And it's a funny excuse that they don't watch this thread, on their very official site!!


What they told me was, that they do not read the forum to track new unknown bugs.

As I said before it's funny to see how they will handle the iPad issue, if it does actually have cell phone capabilities, then BT headset will be an essential.


from http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/

Wi-Fi + 3G model
- UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
- GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
*--> - Data only*
- Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
- Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

Feb 8, 2010 11:45 AM in response to masterstif

There is a headset I now have tried for sometime...
1. Paired and stay paired
2. A2DP (All iphone sounds and music)
3. No active DSP (It has it but use it differently) (Very important for the issue we have)
4. Been tested with success for 20 calls so far...

Some tests done:

Person who answers, has their phone nearby a running shower VS Me in walking with traffic
Person who answers, sits on a full train with talking people VS Me doing the same
Person who answers, vaccums his floor VS me constant talking in a silent room

etc

I have a few more tests to do...

Feb 8, 2010 11:48 AM in response to Thanar

Thanar wrote:

To Apple engineers: an option to enable / disable noise cancellation in Bluetooth Settings wouldn't take you more than 3 mins to compile for the next iPhone software version. Please; make us proud!


There are no Apple engineers here. They have better things to do that read these forums.

Sebd your feedback to Apple at http://www.apple.com/feedback/

Feb 8, 2010 12:22 PM in response to Thanar

This is certainly the funniest answer I have ever read in this thread.

"They have better things to do"

Because maybe fixing this issue to make thousant of apple customers happy is not important for apple.
That said, this is funny because I have personnaly already sent my feedback to apple via the feedback page about one year ago, has this changed anything ? No
I also opened a bug via bugreport.apple.com about one year ago, has this changed anything ? No, in fact as usual, for every bug you open they respond that this is being investigated then they close your bug as a duplicate of another one and this leads as being unable to monitor this other bug. This is the standard response from apple.

Whatever you do, this is useless. Apple doesn't care about their customer' satisfaction because this is so easy for them to sell their products to their customers.

Regards from someone who stopped dreaming and is not expecting any miracle from apple.

Feb 8, 2010 10:24 PM in response to Community User

Yeah Apple cooperates with NASA engineers and they need to find more efficient ways to burn bio-fuel for their space iphones!!!
Better things to do?
Is there anything better to do than to SATISFY YOUR OWN COSTUMERS?
Have tried any possible way of sending feedback (yours included Graham Outterside) but you can see the clear results.
If there is noone from Apple to redirect our demands through those topics on their very official site then what is the purpose of those threads in the bottom line???
Those are PROBLEM SOLVING THREADS, NOT LITERATURE ONES.
That was a ridiculus excuse, couldn't agree more with nwi...!!!

Feb 15, 2010 10:33 AM in response to nmavro73

There's another person on this thread with the same headset reporting that he's been facing issues as well. How long have you been using your headset? Did you try calling your self on the land line and test the issue while talking at the same time on both devices? Try with a loud, durable "o". Do you still hear yourself on both devices?

Feb 18, 2010 2:12 AM in response to Thanar

Hi Thanar & Co!
Long time no see... Been busy with making iPhone apps. However just want to follow up on my earlier "to positive" note.

Recap:
Getting my third iPhone and in this case the iPhone 3GS - I was in a bliss. made over 10 consecutive calls WITH a WORKING bluetooth headset - and the calls all worked fine (I actually asked about this in every call).

BUT already the next day, the "old" problems reoccurred - same **** again! None of my 9 (YES! nine BT-headsets works!).

Back to square one. Are apple ever going to fix this FW-problem? Don't get me wrong - I love Apple's stuff & also develop apps etc...

Feb 18, 2010 9:36 AM in response to Thanar

I would suggest a bombing of iPhone's [feedback page|http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html] with the following (or a similar) text. Those of you who are in the ADC program, I guess you would have access in the [bug report|https://bugreport.apple.com> portal on Apple.

I will be using +"Bluetooth quality issue: Headset mic muting bug"+ as a Subject for my reports.


-----
Dear Apple,

A growing number of people have been facing issues with iPhone's bluetooth quality when making calls, for over a year and a half. Seems like iPhone fails to work in full-duplex mode when talking through a bluetooth headset.

You could easily replicate the bug by calling yourself on a land line and talking loudly and longly at the same time on both devices. You'll notice that -on most cases- you cannot hear yourself through the land line, meaning that the headset's mic is being muted while there is output through the headset's speaker. Talking through the iPhone itself cancels the effect. This issue does not occur when using any other phone/headset combination apart from the iPhone.

As of note, this effect is getting worse by the usage time of the bluetooth headset, meaning that when firstly paired it will most probably be unnoticed. Thus, try keeping a headset paired with an iPhone for a couple of days while using it regularly for calls and then try the above test.

As a matter of fact, there's a thread in Apple Discussions regarding the issue, dating back to 26-Nov-2008, here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1804116&tstart=0

Please take a look at this, since it has been puzzling a growing part of the iPhone users community for some time now. Thank you.
-----

Mar 3, 2010 8:10 PM in response to Thanar

This problem has continued to come and go for me with various bluetooth headsets. I opened a case with Apple in October and it has been closed 3 times without resolution. I went to the Apple store once (closest one is 4 hours from me) and they gave me a new phone which did no good, as I knew it wouldn't. About six weeks ago I called in and of course, the case had been closed AGAIN, so it was re-opened. I was assured by the rep that I would get a call back. A month later I sent him an email. He said that the case had been closed, AGAIN. When I asked why, I was told, "We have time limits." My response was, "So, if you can't solve them in a certain amount of time, you just close the ticket???" Last week they tried to get me to go back to the store again. I explained why this would do no good. The support rep told me I should post it into the feedback page. A couple days later I emailed him and asked (a) to escalate my case and have someone call me and (b) asked him if he could simply copy/paste my case notes into the feedback page for me since he had them at his fingertips. I stated that I did not understand how the feedback page could get an issue resolved before contacting support would. This is the email I received back:

"Thank you for contacting Apple!

The notes I have already made on your account will be available at the retail store should you choose this option, as they have access to the information. I appreciated the opportunity to work with you on this issue. I am closing this case and noting that you have been referred to the retail store for hands-on troubleshooting by our engineering department and myself."

I am continuing to email the individuals on the email every single day asking for a supervisor to call me. I'm sure I'm on their junk list by now, but I will not give up. Apple has THE WORST support I have dealt with in 17 years of I.T. experience. I can't even get them to admit they have even looked at this thread even though I sent them all the link. It's very likely that I will switch to an Android phone. I'm sure they are hoping I will do just that. It's easier for them to lose a customer than to fix a problem they will not listen long enough to learn about.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Bluetooth audio quality concerns

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