topic Re: People can't hear me well during calls in Z Series

People can't hear me well during calls

olivers1 — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 14:45:09 GMT

Hi,

I have a Z5 Dual. Others have mentioned to me that they have a hard time understanding me when I'm on the phone with them, so I did some tests. The thing is, if I hold the phone as close to my face as possible, the audio quality on the receiving side is okay. However, if the phone is away from my cheek even just a centimeter or so, audio degrades very quickly. The impression is that the sound gets quieter, as well as cutting out occasionally. I know what this kind of thing sounds like and I'm pretty sure this is some kind of suppression mechanism running wild. I searched, and for lots of previous Xperia Z... models there are recommendations on these same forums to switch off the call option for noise suppression, but the Z5 doesn't have that option anymore.

What can I do? For the time being, I have that workaround of pressing the phone to my face as best I can, but this is not comfortable, especially since I also have a beard. I can't quite believe that the noise suppression mechanism should really overreact like this... any way of configuring this at all?

Thanks

Oliver

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

Uliwooly — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 15:24:58 GMT

@olivers

Is still there

http://support.sonymobile.com/global-en/xperiaz5/kb/0231018801247f9c6014d711dbe3e004259/

To turn off noise suppression

From your Home screen, tap the Application screen icon.
Find and tap Settings > Call or Call settings > Microphone noise suppression.
Drag the slider beside Microphone noise suppression to the left, alternatively unmark its checkbox.

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

olivers1 — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 15:36:39 GMT

That all sounds great, but the setting does not exist. I go to Settings and then Call, and that page divides in three tabs: SIM1, SIM2 and GENERAL. SIM1 and SIM2 are identical and offer these settings:

Phone Ringtone

Smart call handling

Voicemail

Xperia Answering Machine

Fixed dialling numbers

Call forwarding

Call Barring

Additional Settings (bringing this up offers Caller ID and Call waiting options)

The GENERAL page has these options:

Also vibrate for calls

Increasing ringtone

Smart call handling

Phone account settings

Dialpad tones

Reject call with message

TTY mode

Hearing aids

Equaliser

Slow talk

I'd be very interested indeed to find out whether the noise suppression option is still around somewhere. Any other hints?

Thanks
Oliver

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

Uliwooly — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 16:05:05 GMT

@olivers

check under equalizer

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

olivers1 — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 16:06:24 GMT

There are only two options to select from when I choose Equaliser: "Normal" and "Bright".

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

Rickard — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 16:51:39 GMT

I'm sorry to hear that.

On Z5, there's no setting to turn off noise suppression.

Could you please check so that you don't have anything covering the top microphone located near the headset jack. If the phone has been exposed to water recently it may also affect the sound quality until the phone is completely dry which may take a few hours.

If this is not the cause, does the microphone work properly if you test it under Settings -> About phone -> Diagnostics? To test the top microphone you can dial *#*#7378423#*#* and go to Service tests -> Secondary Microphone.

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

olivers1 — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 09:49:10 GMT

I tested the microphones, both using Diagnostics and also the Service tests. Everything seems to work fine. I am able to hold the phone to my face the way I would normally do it and the sound recording works fine. It actually still works fine if I hold the phone further away - of course the recording isn't as "loud" then, but there are no cut-outs like I hear when I'm in a phone call and move my mouth away from the phone just very slightly.

This all reinforces my initial thought that this problem is related to some software algorithm that tries to process audio while I'm in a phone call. Looking at all the similar issues I've found on these forums, this is not a new problem with Xperia phones - only for those who had these issues in the past, there has always been the option to switch off noise suppression. Why was this option removed, especially if so many Sony customers have had to use it in the past to get proper microphone performance? Is there anything else I can do now to improve things?

Thanks

Oliver

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

Rickard — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 13:29:48 GMT

I've tested it here but it doesn't happen for me. The sound for the counterpart does of course get a bit lower as the microphone is moved further away but even at extreme angles, it doesn't cut out.

What happens if you do cover the top microphone with your finger during the call?

Could you try if this happens during a call when the phone is set to GSM only and then on WCDMA only? You can set network mode under Settings -> More -> Mobile networks.

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

m0rssiten — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 18:22:34 GMT

Yep, same problem here.

I am with the Z5 Premium (single sim) and everyone is just telling me to speak up because they cannot hear me. It is really frustrating. Immediatelly I knew where the problem was as my previous phone was Xperia Z and there I had the same issue which was corrected by turning off the noise cancelation/suppression.

And I was a bit surprised to find out that I cannot control that setting anymore! I even cannot comprehend why someone thought that it would be a good idea to hide this feature from controlling?!?

It is frustrating to pay such amount of money so you can have the best phone just to turn out that it gives you hard time making conversations. I really hope that with the introduction of Android 6M, the option to control the noise cancellation will be introduced again! Really, really hope!

Cheers,

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

Finbarr30 — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 15:03:47 GMT

Well there is a setting for microphone here:

Settings>Sound&Notification>Accessory settings>Mic sensitivity

Try changing it to High or Medium and see if there's a difference.

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

m0rssiten — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 17:59:02 GMT

Yes, I've tried that. However it does not affect calls. I think this controls the quality of the mic recording while on camera or some voice/sound recorders.

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

Vladimir007 — Tue, 31 May 2016 19:18:17 GMT

Hi all,

I have the same problem, I own Sony Xperia Z5 Compact with Phone Software ver. 1295-6639-32.1.A.1.185, Global-LTE2A user, not sure, whether this info helps, but during a call my opponent cant hear me from time to time, it happens suddenly and it sounds like I am speaking away, really away of mic. and after few seconds its back in the "standard mode" and honestly, I am speaking directly to the microphone, so more straightforward it cant be. Its really annoying, and it happend many times, when I had longer call lets say over 10 minutes. I dont know what to do with this Sony Xperia, I am just thinking, whether it can have a connection with LTE. Dont know....

Regards

Vladimir

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

rerx — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 17:10:06 GMT

For a few weeks I have also been having this problem (Z5 Compact, unbranded German version, Marshmallow). People can only hear me during calls if I use the speakerphone. I did a factory reset once. Immediately afterwards it seemed to work fine, but the problem has returned since then. Is this a hardware defect?

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

Nitin_Saxena — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 08:56:06 GMT

Try one simple trick, stick a small piece of tape over the top microphone hole and it will work.
Basically I also got the same problem sony can't help.
It's a software issue noise cancellation algorithm is too aggressive.
Try and let me know

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

Hillfigger — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 02:36:13 GMT

Same issue here. It doesn't seem to be an issue when on speaker phone or using Bluetooth audio. Pretty disappointed in this performance.

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

drFishFlan1 — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 10:10:50 GMT

Exactly the same problem here... Moving the phone around seems to help... I will try covering the top mic with my finger while making a call to see if that helps.

Dissapointing.

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

ARJUN_SINGH — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 17:02:53 GMT

Facing Same Problem on My Brand New Xperia Z5 Dual (E6683), I feel so bad that Paying Soo Much money and Buying a Flagship can't even fulfil the most PRIMARY need of a cell phone. Please SONY Solve this Issue. I am too much disaapointed by People complaining that they can't Hear me Properly.

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

Xperiaman007 — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 10:26:25 GMT

Same problem with my z5p people cant hear me on call i need to talk very loud and as far as i know its software problem and sony need to fix these problems z5 series has worst software treatman so far.

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

drFishFlan1 — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 12:36:19 GMT

I have a z5 compact with this issue... I have had to use a temporary phone for work calls.

I have tried a factory reset.

Changing the settings suggested in this post.

Holding my finger over the top mic.

I have noticed that if I move the handset around a bit the sound can sometimes improve in quality.

But obviously this is not a fix.... I wonder if anyone at Sony is ready about our issues...

I hope some one fixes it soon.

Btw I am on EE network and in the UK.

Re: People can't hear me well during calls

RoeK — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 18:30:54 GMT

Hello Sony, any fix/idea/response?!?