Bad quality sound with the speakers

[Nanashi]

Hello everyone,

I've been using the z4 tablet for some days and the sound of the front speakers seems to be pretty bad. There's always a white noise when any sound is played, whether it is a notification, a video or music.

I've had the first tablet exchanged but the second one has exactly the same white noise problem. This does not occur with headphones, so I guess either Sony used bad quality speakers, which I doubt, or there's some software bug.

Anyone experiencing the same thing?

[Piotre22]

Thanks!

I have a high quality audio recorder, Zoom H2, and so i made a record of the noise.

I placed the audio recorder about 3cm above one speaker of the Z4 and set the volume at the Z4 tablet on a low level.

Here is the audio record:

http://grefges.de/Z4_tablet/noise_Z4_tablet.mp3

It is a mp3, your Browser should play it when you click on it.

The record is a german weather forecast.

You can clearly hear the bad quality of the Z4 audio.

It is not a bad record of my audio recorder, it is the bad quality of the Z4 tablet.

Like i already said, it sounds like an old radio with poor signal.

[drlmiles1]

Take it back to the store you got it from - it's faulty. There seems to have been a batch of Z4 Tablets with this fault, and whether you PC repair it or not, the problem persists. Which country are you from - from reading other messages, it seems to be a batch that was only sent to a small number of countries

[Nanashi]

This problem hit France, I don't know where Piotre lives but as he recorded a German weather forecast, he may be German (fear my deduction powers!). If I remember well there was also someone from Northern Europe when I opened this thread, so it may be a problem localised in Europe mainly.

[Piotre22]

Yes, i am from Germany.

I ordered it at the Sony Online Store.

Actually I do not know if I want to have a new one or just send it to Sony and get my money back.

Everybody who exchanged his Z4 got another Z4 with the same problem...

At the german android-hilfe.de Forum are also serveral cases. Everybody sent his Z4 back and got a new Z4 and all had the same problem. So nobody had success with an exchange.

I think i will send it to Sony and get my money back.

Then i will wait, and i will look on the new Samsung Tab S2 (available September) and then i decide which tablet i take (Samsung S2 or Z4 again).

Hopefully then the faulty batches of the Z4 are gone...

Actually i am not convinced if this is a fault or just normal for the Z4. 

One more comment to my audio record which i posted above: the volume on the record is amplified. So it seems worse on the record than it is. But nevertheless the problem is there and it is not acceptable.

I think there are much more Z4 out there which have the same problem, but people just do not recognize it or they think it is normal...

Piotre

[drlmiles1]

I've had no problems at all with the sound through the speakers on the Z4 (OK, it's not hifi but it's louder than my Z Tablet), or connected to wired headphones, or to bluetooth speakers. On none of them is there any sound like on the recording above - if there was I would be sending my Z4 back. I am sure it is a faulty batch, but unfortunately it seems to be quite a large batch, given by the reports of people having tablet after tablet with the same fault

[xavinux]

Hi @Piotre22 @drlmiles

I suggest you to first run a backup of the device information like this:

http://talk.sonymobile.com/t5/FAQ/Backup-amp-Transfer/m-p/407253#U407253

then try performing a system repair using PC Companion:

http://support.sonymobile.com/gb/tools/pc-companion/

This will factory reset your phone and erase all data. You might need tocharge your device for about 1-2 hours before so the device has at least 80% battery. Make sure the device is not connected to computer or laptop and turned off (sometimes you have to press power button and volume up until the device vibrates 3 times or on some devices you have to press the small button near the SIM tray or on the back of the device). Start PC Companion and select Support zone then Update my phone/tablet then in Blue Repair my phone/tablet and follow the on screen instructions - When prompted connect your phone still switched off holding volume down or back button - This should start the repair or reformat process. If you are using Windows 8/8.1 or a 64bit operating system then adjust the settings for PC Companion and run in compatibility mode and chose Windows 7 or XP.

I hope can be useful.

I'm at disposal for any question.

Best Regards,

[Piotre22]

Perhaps i try that, but everybody who did that before had no sucess with that.

(many people on android-hilfe.de tried that)

The noise was there from the very first power on. 

[xavinux]

Hi @Piotre22

If you try it, please let us know your results.

I'm at disposal for any question.

Best Regards,

[drlmiles1]

@xavinux Can you point us to anyone who has had this problem where performing a Repair has made any difference? All the evidence is that this is a hardware fault in a batch of Z4 Tablets, or a software problem at such a low level that it has to be replaced

[RYKY]

I have same problem ;C