Earbud microphone is too sensitive - other party complains

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Level 1

8 points

Earbud microphone is too sensitive - other party complains

I just upgraded from an iPhone 3GS to a 5S. Now whenever I use my headset to talk to people they all say that it sounds like I'm typing on my keyboard with a sledge hammer.

I've done some testing and sure enough, the microphone on the headset is insanely sensitive. It's literally louder for the other person hearing my keyboard clicks than it is for me.

This happens whether or not I use the earbud headset that came with the iPhone 5, or my more traditional headset that I always use here at my desk. I don't know the model # of that, but I've been using it for years without complaint. It's a regular across the top of the head, padded ear speakers and mic on a flexible stem with a foam wind suppressor.

Is there any way to get into the settings of the headset microphone sensitivity?

Could it somehow be possibly related to the fact that this phone is in an Otterbox? I suppose the box could theoretically be blocking some sort of noise cancellation input on the phone itself. This box is heck to get off. 🙂

Hmm..... I see upon getting ready to his post that there's an update to the OS. I'm on 7.02 and there's a 7.03 available. One of the fixes listed is related to [Fixes an issue that could cause VoiceOver input to be too sensitive]. I wonder if that's the issue? Will post this message, update, and post back.

Thanks,

Paul

iPhone 5s, iOS 7.0.2

Posted on Oct 23, 2013 2:08 PM

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Answer 1

Paul_Laufer Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 23, 2013 3:30 PM in response to Paul_Laufer

Repost of my important and pertinent followup feedback message that was removed by Apple, after removing my feature request.

===CUT===

After updating to 7.0.3 there was no change. So I removed the Otterbox and tried it again, but there was still no change. Whenever I use the headset, either the earbuds that came with the phone or a 3rd party traditional headset, my keyboard typing sounds like I'm typing with numchucks! But the same headset on my old iPhone 3gs worked perfectly.

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Answer 2

Oct 23, 2013 8:57 PM in response to Paul_Laufer

I've never had that problem with my first iPhone which was the 4 then the 4s then the 5 and now the 5s, but no offense to apple (my friends tell me that I'm a fanboy) I use the Bose MIE2 and I've beeen using it for 3 years now and love it.

It's an investment, but well worth it. I also use the Bose bluetooth headset series 2 and for noise cancellation the Beats studio. Again, all investments but no problems with those.

I apologize if this doesn't help you? Have you tried going to an apple store to let them know about your complaint?

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Answer 3

Paul_Laufer Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 24, 2013 6:13 AM in response to JonNoriega

There's no Apple store around here. I bought it an an AT&T store. Do you think there's something they can do that can help? It sure seems like a longshot. I'm sure they'd be happy to sell me more headset hardware.

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Answer 4

Oct 24, 2013 8:44 PM in response to Paul_Laufer

AT&T should help you based on principal and the fact that you had the phone for less than a year but I would call them first. If you got their version of the iPhone care plan, then they'll make you claim it through their 3rd party insurance plan or something... 😝

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Answer 5

EAcle

Level 1

4 points

Dec 6, 2013 6:46 AM in response to Paul_Laufer

My girlfriend and I both have the iPhone 4s, which we bought new when they came out. We've had this issue since the beginning whenever using speakerphone or the headset microphone. It makes talking to eachother extremely frustrating. It's one big reason (in addition to poor performance when there's a big new iOS update with little support - there really aren't that many models for apple to keep track of) why we won't be getting iPhones now that our contracts are ending.

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Answer 6

Paul_Laufer Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 6, 2013 7:35 AM in response to EAcle

I've found that if I switch someone to speaker and then back to headset it gets a little more tolerable for the other party. But it's still far worse than my old 3GS. I have not taken it back to the AT&T store because I just don't have any faith that they can even acknowledge the issue, much less do anything about it.

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