Audio hiss and other weird noisea

[Lucky815]

Hi, there. Firstly, I love Poweramp. Lately, I have noticed some hiss with my earphones when listening to quieter songs. On top of that, I hear some weird clicking noises when I hit the home button, scroll, open another app, etc. I do not think it's a problem with Poweramp;I think it's a hardware problem with my Note 3. I've read through some other posts, and it seems like other people have faced similar problems. Any ideas on how to fix? I read somewhere that Samsung boosts the audio gain to satiate people's needs for loudness. Can I change that setting for the whole device? I do not notice the problem on my LG G pad. Also, I only notice it with my hifiman re-400 and not my Audio Technica ath-m50s. Both have the same impedance, though (32 ohms). I'm going to see if Verizon can help. Maybe it's an audio jack issue, and I can get a replacement. Any help you guys can give me would be much appreciated.

[andrewilley]

I found that there was some low-level background hiss on my Galaxy S3, which was far worse after I had the mainboard replaced due to another issue. It seems that they are pushing the final analogue output gain far too high, presumably so they can claim that the max volume is nice and loud - great if you want to listen on a crowded train, but horrible if you listen at lower levels in the middle of the night.

I now use a custom kernel which allows me to directly adjust the final stage gain from 60 down to about 40, where the hiss is no longer audible. It also has the benefit of giving me finer control of the volume at lower levels (albeit at the expense of it not being as loud when set to full volume).

The kernel I use on the S3 is GoogyMax, but presumably the Note 3 has similar development activity going on (I do hope so as I'm thinking of getting one soon, unless the S5 turns out to be better than the current previews are suggesting).

Andre

[Lucky815]

Thanks, Andre. I'm very new to all of this. How would I go about using a custom kernel to adjust the gain? Is it a complicated process?

[andrewilley]

Once you've installed a kernel, changing the setting itself would be trivial. I alter mine in a little app called STweaks.

However, installing a new kernel in the first place is not for the faint hearted, and requires you to root your device and install some very low-level firmware using special software. If you are not careful don't do it exactly right, you run the risk of bricking your device (i.e. leaving it with no working operating system to allow the phone to boot). Also, Samsung are getting very fussy about not providing warranty support for rooted devices (and this has got worse since they introduced their Knox security software, which I think is on the Note 3). So, yes you can try it, but you really do need to know exactly what you're getting into before you start.

Andre

[Lucky815]

Thanks again for your help. Installing a new kernel seems like a bit much for me. I got a new phone from Verizon, but the issue is still here. I'm hoping that kitkat will help. Is that naive? Is there anything I can do within Poweramp to reduce the hissing noise? Any recommended settings?

[andrewilley]

I'm hoping that kitkat will help. Is that naive?

Sadly I think so, yes.

Apart from a kernel which allows you to reduce the hardware gain in the final output stages, the only real answer (which is not an answer) would be to play the music louder to drown the low-level background hiss out. As I said though, this is not really an answer I'm afraid.

Andre