iPhone 4/iOS 4 bluetooth muffled on other end

I finally experienced the BT issues firsthand. AS a long-time Nokia and Sony user, the BT call quality on my wife's iPhone4 is embarrassingly atrocious.

She likes the rest of the device (not the phone, quite as much), though - so I'll learn to live with it.

Note that this is with a Sony HBH-PV703 (quoting from memory) headset that works flawlessly with other phones.

It pairs and reconnects incredibly well with the iPhone4, no worse than with her rock-solid SE phone, but the speech quality, with absolutely full signal/bars is awful. Exaggerated pitch variations, clamping at the upper end, are common.

Reasonably impressive device, on the whole - they do know how to make it likable enough that the defects (however glaring) are not quite deal-breakers!

It is highly unlikely the iPhone will be returned because of this, but such a glaring deficiency MUST be brought to Apple's attention, assuming they've ignored (or failed to conduct) their own comparison tests! Especially if they only care to fix issues that enough people call/write to complain about.

And what is this I hear about echo cancellation on/by the iPhone's mik's when a BT headset is in use? Seems like a silly oversight that is easily fixed in software. Disable silly, gimmicky DSP when Bluetooth (or external speakers/mike) are in use for a call!

Same issue here with Plantronics Voyager Pro.
Worked GREAT with 3GS.
I never updated that phone to ios 4.x
I hear the other party fine. They can barely hear me.
I have figured out whether it has to do with incoming or outgoing calls, but sometimes it's clear. Once it starts sounding muffled, it doesn't seem to correct itself. ie, outgoing call is fine, then I get an incoming call and it doesn't work. I call out again and it's still muffled... Would LOVE a fix. I love that headset!

Throwing my hat in the ring here in hopes apple will acknowledge there is a problem and give us some peace of mind by advising us that they are working on a fix.

Same as everyone else here, on the jawbone forums and plantronics forums and everywhere else. I'm on my second jawbone icon, no change. Calls are always muffled if bt is connected during a call, have a 50/50 shot when answering a call and 60/40 when calling out. All calls have white noise (hiss) during speech and is quiet when both parties are silent. Disconnects a plenty and so on...add nausea. Other than the phone functions of this phone I like it, I just miss having a reliable phone in my phone.

Add one more the problem report pile. I have tried using my iPhone with two different bluetooth devices. One is a Jawbone 2 headset, the other is a built-in car stereo integration in a 2010 Subaru Outback. As other have reported, people that I am talking to consistently tell me that "it sounds like I am really far away" or that they "can barely hear me". Both of these devices worked great with my old HTC Tilt phone. I have filed an "Apple Expert Case" online. I don't expect that the problem can be directly resolved with Apple Support but I just hoping to add one more report to emphasize the need for a fix.

Here's the intro from an article on CNET yesterday:

"The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that Apple has not heard of any issues regarding iOS 4 on the iPhone 3GS. This may come as a shock to the nearly 1000 replies on a single Apple Support Discussions forum thread where users are complaining of random reboots in the middle of calls after installing the update." ( http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-20012962-233.html)

Sound familiar? I took the time to add the following to the comments section:

Over 1000 people are reporting sound issues with iPhone 4 and 3GS after upgrading to iOS4 on the Apple Support Forums. Sadly, these are spread over several threads as there has been little reporting and no official recognition of the problem. This reportedly is affecting not only headsets, but a variety of foreign and domestic 2010 model year cars that functioned PERFECTLY prior to iP4/iOS4.

Here are two sample theads:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2481487
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1804116

I have the solution !

I suspected the noise canceling via the mic on the top of the phone was over-filtering the bluetooth headset mic input so I just taped over it to mask it and viola ! it solved the problem.

Apple needs to simple disable noise canceling for bluetooth devices with microphones !

backinmac wrote:
I suspected the noise canceling via the mic on the top of the phone was over-filtering the bluetooth headset mic input so I just taped over it to mask it and viola ! it solved the problem.

Three things...

1) This doesn't explain why the problem exists on the iPhone 3GS which doesn't have the second mic on the top of the phone.
2) I just tried it with my iPhone 4 and it really doesn't make ANY difference. I would talk continuously for 10 seconds, then put my finger over the mic (next to the headphone jack) and keep talking for another 10 seconds, and alternating between the two. The other party didn't notice a difference AT ALL.
3) WHAT did make a difference was that when the other party was talking at the same time or there was background noise on their end, I sounded muffled to them.

Based on #3, it seems like the problem really is due to some kind of half-duplexing issue w.r.t. my voice being half blocked while the other party is talking. It only happens on BlueTooth and it only happens after transferring the call from the iPhone to the headset.

This time, my tests were done with the Plantronics Voyager Pro.

Let's keep in mind that the iOS 4 bluetooth problems go beyond muffled audio. Many of us (Plantronics Voyager Pro) are experienceing diminished ranged and intermittent connectivity issues as well, none of which existed on any device prior to iOS 4. I couldn't deal with all of this anymore, so I just bit the bullet and purchased the new Blueant Q2. Works like a charm or, in other words, THE WAY IT'S SUPPOSED TO!

Tape over the aux mic on iPhone 4 works perfectly for Motorola S9-HD bluetooth headset. I can't speak for other bluetooth devices - reportedly the mic in the S9 headset is inside the earbud hence there is very little ambient noise to begin with.
Many other headsets have their own aux mic and built-in canceling feature.

Your results may vary for your device but I am convinced the iPhone 4 noise canceling function is the culprit for having muffled voice with bluetooth microphone devices. (which is the original topic for this thread)

My new Jabra Bt530 works fine on my 3g with version 4.01. The previous Sony ericsson pv-703 and Plantronics 925 were breaking up badly on the callers end.
Someone earlier on in this post has also said they have fixed the issue using a Jabra extreme headset which is a similar newer model to the BT530. It's worth trying one if anyone could test one out in a a shop or borrow someone's.

backinmac wrote:
I have the solution !

I suspected the noise canceling via the mic on the top of the phone was over-filtering the bluetooth headset mic input so I just taped over it to mask it and viola ! it solved the problem.

Apple needs to simple disable noise canceling for bluetooth devices with microphones !

Taping over the mic does nothing. I've covered it with my finger on multiple occasions when the problem started occurring and it didn't fix anything.

I think you're failing to realize it's an intermittent issue to begin with that does not occur on every single call for most people. You probably just got lucky since taping over your mic and the problem hasn't cropped up since. Unless you can reliably recreate/resolve the issue by placing your finger over the mic, having the problem disappear and then cause the problem to reappear while on the same call by removing your finger, I believe you're incorrect.

I hate when people spread rumors on forums without thoroughly testing their "fixes" first.

Well, I can officially say that my problem is fixed. I had tried everything. I did a restore, a DFU restore and a restore as new iphone. Nothing worked. My bluetooth devices would lose connection or be intermittent within a short distance from the iPhone (or on the opposite side of my body). I took my iPhone 3GS into an Apple store and talked with a Genius and I showed them the issues with bluetooth disconnecting and being choppy at a short distance away from the iPhone.

They brought me another one from the back and it is perfect. No problems at all. I have to say, it must be a problem with some particular parts used by certain manufacturing facilities and iOS4. I restored my old backup and I've had no problems no matter what I've tried. I can walk 25+ feet away and my connect is great, sound quality is great.

I should also note that my iPhone was 49 days out of warranty so I've got to give Apple an A+ for customer service. In-store customer service is unmatched. Also, I paired up some of my bluetooth devices with an iPhone 4 at the store and started playing some music and walked all over the store without any glitches which leads me to believe that it has something to do with a incompatibility between iOS4 an some parts used in the manufacturing of the iphone. Maybe a bluetooth chipset made by a certain manufacturer or something along those lines.

Rangeshooter wrote:
Well, I can officially say that my problem is fixed. I had tried everything. I did a restore, a DFU restore and a restore as new iphone. Nothing worked. My bluetooth devices would lose connection or be intermittent within a short distance from the iPhone (or on the opposite side of my body). I took my iPhone 3GS into an Apple store and talked with a Genius and I showed them the issues with bluetooth disconnecting and being choppy at a short distance away from the iPhone.

They brought me another one from the back and it is perfect. No problems at all. I have to say, it must be a problem with some particular parts used by certain manufacturing facilities and iOS4. I restored my old backup and I've had no problems no matter what I've tried. I can walk 25+ feet away and my connect is great, sound quality is great.

I should also note that my iPhone was 49 days out of warranty so I've got to give Apple an A+ for customer service. In-store customer service is unmatched. Also, I paired up some of my bluetooth devices with an iPhone 4 at the store and started playing some music and walked all over the store without any glitches which leads me to believe that it has something to do with a incompatibility between iOS4 an some parts used in the manufacturing of the iphone. Maybe a bluetooth chipset made by a certain manufacturer or something along those lines.

Interesting. Keep us posted how it holds up after a few more days.

unfortunately i have some bad news for those who went out and got Blueant Q2's ...or those who are planning on trying them. after hearing about the positive results regarding this headset i bought one on Tuesday. it seemed to work well and i was extremely pleased thinking my issues were solved (even though of course i was waiting for apple to fix the problem with the os4 i have on both my iphone 4 and my iphone 3gs)

i was so happy with the Blueant that i bought another on thursday so i always had one charged. unfortunately friday a couple people complained of the "muffled" or "robotic" voice they were hearing and i was just disgusted. i realized that shortly before them complaining i had transferred from the speakerphone back to the headset. i switched to the other Q2 with the same results. :(((((((

the only good thing is that it hasn't reoccurred after it lasted a couple hours on friday and i havent been able to duplicate it with minimal testing, although i have used them about 8-10 hours since then. i also have to say i like the Q2 for the fact it tells you the name of the person calling as well as the fact you can listen to your music and navigation through it. it doesnt have the distance capabilities of the jawbone that i use to use (although i dont know if i attribute that to the iphone 4.1 software or the headset).

i was planning on "borrowing" the headsets until apple fixed the problem and returning them within the 30 day period but there is a chance i will keep them due to the couple extra features....although i still hope for the fix to help the q2 perform better at distances and hopefully negate any chances of the muffles reoccurring.

Look at it this way if the Blueant Q2 is getting us through this now ( mine has been perfect for 8 days now) imagine how great it will be when Apple fixes the problem. Just for the record my Blueant distance goes further than my Jawbone Icon. Make sure you power down and restart your Iphone4 at least once a day also very important make sure you close some of those apps at least once a day or you will have to many things going on in the background.