[newneotoo]

I had that popping on the odd occasion with the previous firmware don't have it all now with 12070.

[elliott82]

@newneotoo:
May i ask which headphones you are using?

Thanks!

[sagem456]

Nokia has to follow the WP standard for headphone plugs for their Lumia series, which is AHJ. By the way, Sony also changed the standard to the same AHJ for their Xperia S.

The upside is that you can now use any iPhone-compatible earphone/plug including the microphone and the answer/Skip button!. That broadens the selection quite a bit.

After I installled 12070 on a new, white Lumia 800, revision 112.1402.2.4 the sound quality is fine now on local MP3:s with a much deeper bass and clearer midrange than on my previous Lumia 800 with revision xxxxxxx.2.3. with firmware xxxxxxx.11501, T-Mobile branded.

I think Nokia Music will be released in version 2.0 any day now, let's wait and see if that version will sound as good as Spotify does. Nokia Music Version 1.6.45.132 produces sort of a bassless audio with some white noise pumping in some tracks. I think the audio quality changes from tune to tune, as well. Version 2.0 is supposedly due out any day.

I am also playing to a Belkin Bluetooth Music reciever while waiting for the Nokia Play To DLNA app to support Music Streaming, and even that sounds pretty good. I will compare the sound quality under 12070 to a friend's Xperia S using the same headset and music tracks this coming weekend.

[pezlin]

I have tried a couple of different headsets and it doesn't seems to be any way of knowing if a headset is working or not before trying. Today a tried Marshall Minor which was working fine. I also bought Philips SHE8005 which is said to support almost every type of phone (including iPhone) but they didn't work. I have also tried some iPhone standard and a-jays four for iPhone but none of them worked. I am running Lumia 800 with update 12070.

[leme]

i have a creative ep630 headphone (inear) with 16 ohm and they work fine with my iphone. But on my lumia 800 i get an interfering signal. After i paused the music or during quite parts i can clearly hear a noice.  

I tried the standard apple headphone and even my logitech x210 but they work proper, without an interfering signal.

i have installed the latest updates and my hardware number is 1402.2.3

Although the headphone is just 3 months old, i be up to buy a new one

can somebody recommend me a specific headphone?

[sentinalprime]

I think they need to release a new firmware for the white noise its making and also deffinatly a equaliser...

[Frug0]

And I think you have different phone ,seriously after reading all these bug topics I think that either I own completely different phone or I'm super lucky to have special no-bugs version of it or you all are to pedantic.

[newneotoo]

@Elliott82

Sorry it's taken so long to reply.

I have some Grado phones.. iGrado's

[darkpuh]

I'm not particular picky when it comes to audio quality, but I still have major issues with my phone even after the last 12070 update. The bass level is just about perfect now, but what bugs me the most is that listening to music or audiobooks is like listening to old scratchy vinyls... there's just a huge amoung of interference and backround noise. This is especially annoying when listening to audio books or during quiet moments in songs.

Any hope for a fix for this issue as well?

[sagem456]

Are you listening to Nokia Music? There are some tracks that have an added scratched vinyl effect...

I bought a pair of HTC RC E-190 earplugs and I must say the audio quality, when listening to local MP3*s and to Nokia Music 2.0.61.835 the audio quality is AMAZING now! The HTC RC E-190 have a mic with volume control and an answer button. I can pause/play songs, receive calls and even skip tracks in Nokia music w the the button on the mic of the headset. No audio pops, excellent stereo separation, no impedance issue. The ONLY audio issue is the volume problem. The audio level goes from from a scale of 30-13 in certain apps such  (not in Nokia Music), where 13 is almost muted and then pops up to a higher level at 12 and not muted at 1. Something is wrong with the scale, but there should be an easy fix now that all other audio issues have been solved. I tested the Nokia DLNA beta app and it discovered my Yamaha RXV671 Receiver and my Win7 computer in no time, so now I am only waiting for the audio server function to be added in the next version so that I can stream Nokia Music to my receiver. Once the Internet Sharing is added (and the volume scale bug is corrected) the Lumia 800 will be complete. I am looking forward to testing Nokia Drive in my car when I take it out of winter storage. Nokia  Music and Nokia Drive are amazing free apps that no other phone manufacturer comes even close to.

[LumiAudioSucks]

Good to know that you heve no problems, but for now we are perfectly sure that low quality issue is not headphones relatetd. Some people tested a dozen of them with very little effect. It have to be something different. Could you maybe share your version and revision numbers from settings/about page? 

[hellfreezer]

I had made up my mind to buy a Lumia 800. So I took my headphones along to test the audio as music is what I live for basically. The quality was poor. I was shocked out of my senses to not find any equalizer to tweak the sound.

Thank God I took my headphones to the store to check the sample piece or I'd have been throughly disappointed spending hard earned money on something so abysmally poor in sound quality.

Then I came across this forum hoping to find if there's been any fixes for it. I was optimistic all this while but it seems there is not single problem at the root of it. I was really amazed with how the OS functions, but the audio stopped me from buying it. And I'm happy with my decision. I doubt it if the issue will be resolved in 900 also. Plus I anyways dont find the design so sleek and sexy and 800's is.

Thanks guys for trying out so many things to fix the problem. It's you who've helped me make the decision. And I really feel sorry for the disappointment you must've faced. I was almost there.

I'm dropping the idea of buying a Lumia 800 completely.

Nokia: I've never been a symbian fan, but Lumia managed to change my impression of you for good, only till I tested the sound. You guys needed this product to work to re-enter the lost market, atleast in India. But you haven't pulled it off well. I've told all my friends to avoid buying the phone as well. It's absolutely hopeless.

[sore_ears]

I'm another buyer extremely dissapointed with the sound quality from this device. I am running the 12070 update, but still the sound is really bad. I normally use it with Klipsch S4 headphones, which sounds great on other devices. The interference/clicking sounds (almost like dust or small scratches on a vinyl record) is driving me crazy. Furthermore the treble is really hissy. In general the sound is "cold" and unengaging.

I also get the click between mp3 tracks. When listening through the headphones it is minor annoyance, but when connecting the Lumia to my stereo, the click turns into a loud thumb between every song. Very annoying.  I don't get the clicks/thumbs between songs when using Spotify, only when a playlist has finished.

I can't believe these problems have slipped through quality control on such a high end device. This is my first Nokia and one of the reasons I chose the device (apart from the great design) was Nokia's reputation for quality. I can't believe that the sound is basicly better on my more than 4 year old Sony-Ericsson stupid-phone that does not even have a 3,5mm jack! Did anybody actually use the device as a musicplayer during development? Anybody with just a slight knowledge or interest in soundquality should have been able to tell that this is simply not good enough. Or maybe Nokia knew and just figured the great (exterior) design would sell the phone anyway...

My prime reasons for getting a smartphone was to use a portable musicplayer and for having a decent camera on me all the time. And as if the bad sound was not enough I also get the red spot in the middle on most photos taken indoors, as other users have reported... Great...

I'm starting to doubt that these issues will be solved as the Lumia 800 has been on the market some time now. I'm sure most people at Nokia are already working on future models.

So basicly: If the soundquality of music playback is important to you, my opinion is that you should stay clear of the Lumia 800

[azhar0106]

I'm really dissapointed with the audio quality of the phone. It has this interference and noise which is quite audible. Lack of equalizer doesn't bother me much after the "bass" fix but the noise is something I can't stand.

I actually had my lumia replaced once I got to know of the battery issue. The new one I got has this noise issue...
The previous one was fine with audio. I should have waited for the firware update... Instead I replaced it and got this issue... 

I have a defective unit, can Nokia replace this one or atleast fix the issue???

Otherwise, the phone is awesome

[sagem456]

OS version 7.10.8107.79

firmware 1600.2487.8107.12070

hardware 112.1402.2.4

radio firmware 1.6.00.24

radio hardware 8255

bootloader 7.35.0.0

SOC-version 0.74.2.1

btw, my battery lasted for almost two days even when I played Nokia Music for a cuple of hours outdoors, having forgetten to turn off wi-fi 

Nokia Music sounds really good in the HTC RC E-190. There are some VERY FAINT pops when tunes change, and If anything, there is to much bass, but that may be due to the HTC E-190's sound character...Some FM radio channels are less bassy and with a lower volume. Stereo separation sounds like "infinite" - there was a track where audio only came from one channel for a few seconds - I thought the jack had come out partly - and then the audio came on in the second channel. This unit, w 12070, is the total opposite in sound quality compared to my first, T-branded Lumia that I returned to the seller. After having listened to that one my ears "ached", not so in this unit.

[21empark]

I have the exact same phone, battery and audio is still bad, am I doing something wrong ?

[darkpuh]

@sagem456: It's the same with Nokia Music, but I most often use Spotify. Hopefully there'll be a fix for this as the problem is really bad with lower volume songs, which I tend to like and also audiobooks. Can't be only this device as there's many other complaints about the same thing from other users, so it feels like this hasn't been tested at all...

[janlau]

The word has spread - but what happens?? A new update is sent out with improvement of the bass level (april 2012). I can sense a little improvement - but still a very poor sound. I use the head set Nokia Purity that should match the phone. All previous Nokia phones I've had with music player (2 - 3 pieces in the cheap end) had a clearly better playback function

[sore_ears]

I would really like to hear something official from Nokia on this issue. Is it considered solved with the 12070 update? If that is the case I will seriously consider selling my Lumia 800 while I can still get a decent second hand price for it. Is it something that can be fixed by firmware updates or is it not possible to get better sound with the hardware that is in the phone? An equalizer might help, but if the hardware is bad, it will not be possible to ever get a decent sound

[azhar0106]

I feel some batch of Lumia 800 has this interference/noise issue.
Coz my previous Lumia was fine. I thought this new update would fix the issue but it only improved the bass. The interference is still there.

NOKIA should come clean on this issue.