iPhone 4/iOS 4 bluetooth muffled on other end

I just spoke to AppleCare. The representative had not heard of this problem, so he put me on hold and discussed it with his senior advisors. Fortunately, they have heard about it, and told him to reassure me that Apple is "feverishly" working on a solution. I don't doubt it, but my concern is that this muffled sound / poor voice quality, is an inherent flaw with the hardware of the iPhone 4. My iPhone 3GS was running iOS4 and did not have this problem.

Kermit262 wrote:
I just spoke to AppleCare. The representative had not heard of this problem, so he put me on hold and discussed it with his senior advisors. Fortunately, they have heard about it, and told him to reassure me that Apple is "feverishly" working on a solution. I don't doubt it, but my concern is that this muffled sound / poor voice quality, is an inherent flaw with the hardware of the iPhone 4. My iPhone 3GS was running iOS4 and did not have this problem.

The issue is noise cancellation. The new mic added to the top of the iPhone 4 and the way iOS 4.0, 4.0.1, and 4.0.2 deal with this mic when paired to a BT headset are the issue. The BT and the iPhone are fighting each other over noise cancellation. Apple knows this and is working on a fix.

Same problem here. I have tried two different jawbone bluetooth headsets, both of which worked perfectly for two years on my iPhone 3G. It is only a problem on incoming calls where I answer from the headset. Outgoing calls are perfect. The caller on the other end complains about my voice being muffled.

Just picked up a Blueant Q2 (dog ate my VoyagerPro) and wish I could report that it is the answer. Unfortunately I have already had issues. Have not made many calls yet but while listening to music on iHeartRadio the audio stream was fine while I held the phone in my hand (iPhone 4 with case) yet had frequent audio dropouts when the phone was placed in my pocket. Dropouts were worse when the phone was in the the pocket opposite to the headset. Not very good range considering my VoyagerPro would work from 30 or 40 feet in another room.

Anyone want to try and verify these observations

Where are you guys getting the Q2 and for how much? I have looked online briefly and haven't come up with squat.

Blueant Q2 is available at At&t stores.

yes, unfortunately i can verify that this is the case. i dont use my Q2 for music as much as most people (although its a great feature on the Q2 that i would expect to use more now that i got it ....my other headsets didnt have that feature) but besides the intermittent problems i have expressed in previous posts with the two Q2's i own and muffled sound, i have noticed the interruption when listening to music while the iphone is in my pocket or if i walk away from it at all.

Returned my Q2 after a week. Still had issues. While it seemed a little better, still had intermittent muffled audio issues. At this point I just use one of my other three perfectly good headsets until Apple fixes the issue. As hard as the Q2 is being promoted here within the last two weeks, it makes me wonder if there are not alterier motives. If it works for you then great, but to keep defending it looks ??? To each there own, not spending another $140 for a forth BT headset. I'll deal until the fix.

hmmmmmm...made me wonder also....i thought i was just overly skeptical....maybe i was right on...i hope not

The Q2 seems to be a pretty good, not great, answer for making and receiving phone calls on iP4. I can even walk a decent distance from the phone without dropping the call. That's the good news.
For some reason, when walking with the phone in my pocket and listening to iTunes content, I get all sorts of choppy audio. I did turn off the "shake to shuffle" feature in iTunes. That helped, but the performance is still way below expectations in that scenario.
With regard to ulterior motives for suggesting the Q2: don't be an idiot. It's helped solve an issue for some of us, so people share that in forums like these. Do you really think we're somehow benefitting from others going to their local AT&T stores and buying these things? It's been a workable solution for me, but I would never have known about it if others hadn't mentioned it.

You could not have said that any better at least I can run my limo company the correct way again thanks to the Blueant Q2. There are no motives at all it's all about survival until Apple steps up!!!

I am having the same problem! I have an iPhone 4 with iOS 4.0.2 and using a Plantronics Voyager Pro Bluetooth headset.

Initially after pairing my headset with my phone everything is great and sound quality is good. However, after a couple of hours or a few phone calls the person on the other end of the call complains that I sound muffled, I am in a tunnel, sound far away, and/or the sound keeps breaking up.

In addition to the extremely poor Bluetooth sound quality I am experiencing many other problems with my iPhone:

• The iPhone would hang/freeze/lock-up several times a day! The only way to get the iPhone to be responsive again is to do TWO hard-resets.
• Applications will randomly start! Example, I would be working and my Phone would be lying next to me on my desk and the next minute the iPhone would start playing songs (via the iPod). Other times the iPhone would be lying on my desk (no human interaction) and the next minute the Voice Control application would start and “listen” for a voice command.
• The Bluetooth headset will randomly start disconnecting and reconnecting. If I wear my Bluetooth headset I can hear it happen or watch the Bluetooth configuration setting screen I can see it happening every 15 – 20 minutes

This is my first iPhone and the experience with the iPhone has left me feeling like NEVER wanting to own another iPhone again. I am hugely disappointed with my first iPhone experience!

Zekebrad - I see that you own a Limo Co. Quite the coincidence. Would you contact me at jfkohn@me.com please? Thank you!

Some further thoughts and observations:

Blueant Interphone F4 stereo headset paired with iPhone 4 running iOS 4.1 Beta 3 - Continues to perform flawlessly in terms of both call quality (both directions) and music. Pairs and stays paired without issue. I can walk up to 30 feet from the iPhone without breaking the connection of having drop outs.

Motorola F505 hands free car kit - Same deal. No issues at all with 4.1b3.

My son's IP4 is running 4.0.2. I plan to pair and test with those devices tonight to see if they make a difference. Ditto my wife's 3GS.

Finally, after a flurry of back and forth emails with Apple development staff on my open defect re: BT audio, I've not heard a peep now since 8/5/10. Sometimes that means they've found the problem and are fixing it (or have fixed it), other times that means they've given up. Who knows?

Apparently reading is difficult for you Jim. Not sure who the idiot is. If you took the time to read my comment you would see that I think it's great to let people know if it works for you, but some, who might benefit from the sale of the Q2 perhaps, seem to be almost arguing with others when it does work for them. And my point was that I find that behavior odd. Oh yea, it's crazy to think that people might take advantage of a situation like this to promote their product? Grow up. Enough with the name calling, we're all in this together and it's obviously an issue that only Apple can solve at this point.

Message was edited by: Vetter1