DVC continuous popping noise in Android 10

[illwafer]

After some troubleshooting, I've determined DVC is causing this low level popping sound in Android 10 after about a minute of playback. It may be related to the buffer, but messing with the buffer settings does nothing.

With DVC on (hi-res, wired headphones on LG G8), you will hear popping after a certain time period. It is continuous and forever. If you press pause, you will hear it trail off in the silence. It will then go away until you've reached that time/buffer again.

DVC makes things sound better to me, so I like to use it. Right now I have it disabled.

[donaldm314]

Thanks for reporting this, I wasn't able to determine the root cause of the popping I was hearing! I disabled DVC and the noise went away for me. I'm using Sennheiser HD6XX wired headphones on a OnePlus 6, playing MP3's.

[illwafer]

Anyone else having this issue? Still exists for me and is really annoying.

[maxmp]

First, I would recommend Settings / Audio / Restore Defaults. Do you get artifacts with the default values (this includes switching to default OpenSL or AudioTrack standard def output and possible disabling DVC for BT depending on Absolute Volume system setting and Android version)?

I don't have exactly LG G8 (this one is not globally available and requires importing), but LG G7, V30 do not show behavior like this.

If you still getting artifacts, are those correlated to the music playing (e.g. happens for bass punches, or silence, etc.). If so, also please provide Audio Info screenshot scrolled to bottom for further recommendations. Thanks!

 

[illwafer]

@maxmp thanks for the reply Max.

Followed your instructions, and it is only with Hi-res and DVC enabled on my wired headphones. OpenSL and DVC work fine, but to my ears Hi-res sounds better.

Here's the screenshot:

 

[illwafer]

Bump.

[maxmp]

First, it's not Android 11 or any specific Android version issue. Some devices may have this behavior with some settings combinations: DVC, Hi-Res, sample rate and the selected output. Usually this is 3.5 output + DVC, so for Hi-Res, you may want to disable DVC, or switch to Standard definition output + DVC, until the next ROM update from the OEM. The issue may appear and disappear depending on ROM update (including "Security updates"). This is mostly due to Hi-Res outputs and DVC Mode not being tested by Google CTS tests, so OEMs fix this based on user feedback, it seems.

[illwafer]

5 minutes ago, maxmp said:

First, it's not Android 11 or any specific Android version issue. Some devices may have this behavior with some settings combinations: DVC, Hi-Res, sample rate and the selected output. Usually this is 3.5 output + DVC, so for Hi-Res, you may want to disable DVC, or switch to Standard definition output + DVC, until the next ROM update from the OEM. The issue may appear and disappear depending on ROM update (including "Security updates"). This is mostly due to Hi-Res outputs and DVC Mode not being tested by Google CTS tests, so OEMs fix this based on user feedback, it seems.

@maxmp Thanks for your reply! Would you recommend DVC + Standard (I think yes) or Hi-Res and no DVC? I will say most of my files are not FLAC/WAV and more of the MP3 320kbps and below.

[maxmp]

Avoid Hi-Res output and use Standard definition output (OpenSL or Audiotrack) + DVC, esp. if your collection is not high-res material. Also on LGs DAC can be enabled/disabled independently (via notification shade switch) and works for any resolution. Thanks!