topic Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase. in XPERIA archive

Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

jakeroth — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 22:08:46 GMT

Skype is impossible using the built-in microphone. I've installed other apps as well to test the playback, and it's very quiet across the board. Is this a limitation of the hardware or software, and is it possible to fix?

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

Axefjord — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:33:55 GMT

I got the same problem on my tablet Z, as well as on another tablet Z that I tried.

Speaking with normal voice from the front of the tablet, the results are:

- The sony recording app and skype can't be used. The mic just records whispers.

- Google hangout works partly, often the first words of each sentence has to low volume.

-Taking a video with the camera app seems to work, for some reason...

The sony response was to talk closer to the mic, something that kinda works. But when doing videocalls, it is somewhat bothersome to turn the tablet 90degrees to talk into the mic and then turn it back to look at the screen...

Another tips from sony was to use an external mic, but that should not be necessary on such an expensive tablet. That would add somewhat to the pricetag and be cumbersome to both use and transport with the pad.

Since the mic seems to work with the camera app, it seems to be a software issue. But there is no guarantees Sony will fix it, or..?

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

charliefjr — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:42:52 GMT

agreed, the mic is absolutely useless for voice search and any apps.

sony, what's the deal???

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

jakeroth — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:29:29 GMT

An official response would definitely be appreciated. I love the rest of the tablet but if I can't use it to Skype with my son I'm going to have to return it.

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

bearman — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:00:00 GMT

I too am having the same problem even using on just regular voice record. I hope this gets fixed otherwise the tablet is uselss to me.

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

Johan — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 14:44:51 GMT

Could you please send me your details in a PM, and I will forward this.

Make a relevant topic and include the following.

Name:

Phone nr:

E-mail:

Country:

(Operator):

Product(s):

IMEI/IDID/UU:

Build number:

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

mytinfox — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 15:03:49 GMT

I've just bought the Tab Z today. I have same problem, Mic is pitifully quite. Impossible to have a Skype conversation.

My son also has one, and his works perfectly. He bought his in the UK though.

Shall I return to the shop under warranty ?

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

ancientferguson — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 20:04:29 GMT

Same problem here. I PM'd Johan, as per above and await his response.

The microphone is absolutely useless in Skype. I began to wonder if there was a plastic film on the top edge that I hadn't removed, but alas, no.

Things are much better when recording video and when adding sound in "Notes". This must be a software conflict. It wouldn't be the first time that Android has had software issues with microphones.

At least one of my problems was solved today. I found that my new (fully functioning in Win 😎 Kensington SD card ready was being recognised as damaged by the Tablet Z and no amount of settings changes, restarts or the eventual reset would change that. However, a second purchase, a new Integral Mobile SD Card Reader worked fine with my Star-Tech Host OTG cable. A combination of Astro File Manager and QuickPic, made the creation of albums an absolute breeze.

If this microphone thing can be fixed then I will be glad that I moved away from Apple.

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

metturr — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 01:47:28 GMT

Received my tablet yesterday and tried Skype today....mic sucks...other side can barely hear even though I am at the top of my voice...hope SONY pushes a firmware update...atleast they acknowledge that it's a problem...

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

MarkusL81 — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 08:54:29 GMT

Same problem here. Mic is unusable in Skype. Please fix this.

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

mytinfox — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 09:03:05 GMT

Please see my previous post above...

It's not just Skype, the pre-installed Recorder app doesn't pick up sound either.

Would be interested to know where in the world people are reporting these problems from - may be there is a component problem / bad batch.

I'm in Australia - have reported it to the Australia Sony Support team - incident number 1469679 if anyone wants to x-ref.

My son is in UK and his tablet works fine.

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

Axefjord — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 09:17:43 GMT

It is interesting that the UK tab seems to work.

It would be nice to know how many other users has a working mic. None of the reviewers mention this problem...

I have checked two tablet Z here in norway, both had the mic problem.

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

pod-jf — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 09:33:26 GMT

Im in the UK and as mentioned above mine works fine on Skype and on Voice Search (sorry). As you've said this fault doesnt seem to be mentioned anywhere.

I wonder if it's an issue with where some of them were built ( assuming they weren't all made in the same factory) or when they were built.

The first part of my serial number ends 058 and is the Wi-Fi only version. Those of you that have the issues are yours different?

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

digifreak1 — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 10:45:39 GMT

Same issue here. Mine is bought in Denmark and is the 16Gb Wifi-model. (its made in China)

It's not only an issue with Skype.

When I use the video-camera and record something in complete silence there is a lot of noise (hiss) on the video-playback.

I downloaded a free voicerecorder app from google store where I was able to adjust the mic's inputvolume but it add a lot of noice (hiss) on recordings.

I really hope its a software issue that can be solved .

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

ancientferguson — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 11:36:58 GMT

This UK tablet doesn't work correctly.

Works fine in certain apps, Google search, Assistant, Notes etc, but not on Skype or voice recording apps.

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

charliefjr — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 13:56:49 GMT

I am in the US on a WiFi only 16gb model. Mic does not work on Google search or any other app. The video camera seems to pick up some sound, but the audio gets blown out by the processor/WiFi squelch the couple of times that I tried the cam.

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

digifreak1 — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 05:54:17 GMT

I tried to connect an external mic (headset with mini-jack) to the tablet and then Skype works just fine - it still add some noise (hiss) when using the video-camera app but the sound is much louder. So maybe its not a software issue anyway ?

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

pod-jf — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 21:37:40 GMT

So my Skype did work, but I tried it again yesterday and Im now in the same boat as everyone else. I did use Google Hangouts and the video call worked fine.

Why do some apps work and others are terrible.

Come on Sony sort this out.

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

KingKong — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 01:32:55 GMT

My Quite Mic Issue Was Now Solved. For Me. This might help others too.

I just bought my Xperia Tablet Z today and we used it for WeChat then it has come to our attention when I sent my wife a a recorded voice message it was incredibly quite in her side and even when I tried to replay my own voice. I was looking over the internet for some solutions but can't seem to find one so I checked for the Microphone at the bottom which for us will look like one because it's a small hole just on the right side of the MicroUSB at the bottom. I did tried to raise my voice as loud as I can but my wife told me that its just louder than my quite voice earlier. I took out the tablet sleeve/pouch so I can really hold the device without anything on it I thought to myself that could be one issue. Luckily, I saw an Infrared Sensor just above the front camera, it's on top, a little left, then there is this small hole which also looks like a mic. I tried to speak over there, did some tests, shout or normal talk... everything went well. Turn out to be the case covering my tablet was quite blocking the mic and when I talk I usually talk near the bottom as this is common for some mobile phones to have their mic somewhere at the bottom. There you have it. My case is solved.

Re: Mic on Xperia Tablet Z is incredibly quiet; no settings to increase.

mytinfox — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 06:39:05 GMT

It's great that your Mic is working.

Just to be clear to Sony for my reported issue.... I'm not using my tablet in a case and even if I speak loudly an inch from the Mic it is still incredibly faint. I test using the pre-installed Recorder app.

Whats the ETA on getting a response on this issue Johan?