Voice quality issues - when using iPhone 4 - anyone else having issues?

Question

Level 1

31 points

Voice quality issues - when using iPhone 4 - anyone else having issues?

I am experiencing voice quality issues when holding the iPhone 4 as a normal phone to my head. I have made test calls to my home line VM and can tell a big difference in my speech quality when I use it in other configurations (i.e. speaker phone or with a headset/headphones. When I talk directly into the microphone my voice sounds muffled and choppy. I feel this is an issue with MIC location or MIC volume which is fixed and cannot be adjusted. Apple replaced my iPhone 4 on Wednesday and it has not helped the issue. I can hear the called party voice fine, but several folks have noted that they have issues with my voice. I would like to know if anyone else is experiencing this or have any input to help resolve the issue?

MBP 2.4ghz, Mac OS X (10.6.4), iPhone 4 (32g)

Posted on Jul 3, 2010 7:47 AM

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Answer 1

w7ox

Level 4

2,407 points

Jul 3, 2010 8:00 AM in response to jdbowden

Not so far as I know. I've asked my wife, daughter and grandson. They all say I sound normal, as with the 3GS.

And two of the three also have an iPh4. They sound the same to me as they did with the 3GS.

Phil

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Answer 2

gdgmacguy

Level 7

21,891 points

Jul 3, 2010 8:01 AM in response to w7ox

I'm having no problems either with the phone itself or calling using my Motorola bluetooth headset.

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Answer 3

Jul 3, 2010 8:17 AM in response to gdgmacguy

I've been told I sound better than with any other phone I've used. And other people sound perfect, too. And FaceTime? It sounds like they're in the room!

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Answer 4

Jul 3, 2010 8:29 AM in response to jdbowden

My wife and I both notice that the outbound audio on the iPhone 4 sounds hollow. My guess is that it is the noise cancellation, not the mic. The character of the sound suggest cancellation artifact. On the positive side the cancellation in noisy rooms works well.

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Answer 5

jdbowden Author

Level 1

31 points

Jul 3, 2010 8:57 AM in response to Edmund Pirali

Looks like the MIC and Speaker positions have been swapped on the iPhone 4 (vs. 3G). That appears to be the potential issue given that I am holding it different..... It could also be sound cancellation as well.....

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Answer 6

Jul 3, 2010 11:05 AM in response to jdbowden

I have definitely noticed a degradation in voice call quality (tinny, slight echo, just bad) versus the 3gs and confirmed it with 4 different iPhone 4's. The most drastic change in sound quality can be noticed when going from using face time (voice over wifi) and then switching to a call over the cell network. This can't be blamed on ATT's network as my 3GS didn't do this. Must be related to noise cancellation, and there's no software option to disable it..........

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Answer 7

Jul 13, 2010 9:41 AM in response to jdbowden

My iPhone 4 sound is very poor when on a call with another iPhone 4. It sounds like the other person is under water with a bubbling noise instead of the "normal" background noise. Much worse vs the 3G iPhone it replaced.
It may be an effect of the noise canceling. It is not working for me, but no way to turn noise canceling off...

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Answer 8

Jul 13, 2010 9:54 AM in response to Bengt Schultz

Yeah vie noticed its particularly bad when talking to a person using an iPhone 4. But it's happening for me when I'm using a headset. Even when talking to a non iphone 4 I can hear myself and things around me when that wouldn't happen with the 3GS. Iphone to iphone4 in addition to hearing background sounds in the headset adds a tinny digitized sound... Frustrating, because Make all my calls with my headphones. Need to decide in the next two weeks whether I'm going to keep this thing, I need to be able to make calls

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Answer 9

IamHawk

Level 1

9 points

Jul 13, 2010 10:07 AM in response to jdbowden

I live .25 miles from an AT&T Tower and generally have full signal and it tests strong. However, the other day I was on a call in my back yard, and had to walk around and then stay perfectly still so I wouldn't lose the call.
I have a bumper case (2 actually) so it wasn't a death grip issue.
Not sure what it was, but the other caller got very "choppy" sounding and twice went completely silent in mid-sentence.

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Answer 10

matonski

Level 1

0 points

Jul 14, 2010 12:04 AM in response to Bengt Schultz

I get this underwater bubbling sound as well. I hate it. It happens every single time I talk to my girlfriend iPhone 4 to iPhone 4. The sound is all around muffled and hard to hear. It is almost impossible to have a decent conversation due to constantly having to repeat ourselves. Luckily, we are able to use Facetime often. Call quality is perfect there.

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Answer 11

Jul 28, 2010 7:30 PM in response to jdbowden

My husband and I both have iPhone 4 phones - first smartphone for each of us...first iPhones. We have had no problem EXCEPT for the quality of our calls to each other. It is horrible. It sounds as if we are both in a tunnel, or with a bucket on our head, or under water. We are returning the phones tomorrow and going to the iPhone 3. Very sad, but I'm not paying this much for phones with the way the voice quality of speaking iPhone 4 to iPhone 4.

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Answer 12

dsg76

Level 1

1 points

Jul 30, 2010 3:50 PM in response to keithn916

Yes, I am seeing the EXACT same thing with mine, very frustrating. Have you made any progress?
I am planning to visit the store soon, hopefully get a replacement.

Dan

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Answer 13

May 7, 2011 2:16 PM in response to jdbowden

I just upgraded (May 2011) from iPhone 3G to iPhone 4, and noticed an immediate degradation of sound quality compared to my old iPhone 3G, more noticeable when using my Garmin GPS as a BlueTooth speaker for "hands free" calls, but also when using just the device (no BlueTooth!). 3G used to be GREAT, now it is simply not usable!, Love the iPhone otherwise, but not for phone use!

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Answer 14

BrUsEy

Level 1

4 points

Jun 22, 2011 3:59 PM in response to jdbowden

It works better holding the bottom of the phone tilted up slightly so that you are talking more into the lower oblong hole in the bottom (left side hole when looking directly at the bottom of the phone).

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Answer 15

Mar 3, 2012 5:34 PM in response to jdbowden

I am having the same problem with the audio from my iPhone 4. Everyone complain they can't hear me and I sound like I am under water. The only thing that seems to work is using the speaker phone or to plug in the wired headset.

Has anyone solved this problem ?

I am disappointed in my iPhone!

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