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UBS28

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Oct 2, 2012
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My IEM's (they are like earbuds) pick up strange computer like noises and buzzes from the iPhone 6S plus. All demo models that I tested have this issue too so it is widespread?
 
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Same problem on iPhone 6S... I mentioned it on one of the posts here somewhere awhile back. It's actually the worst sound quality I've gotten through headphones since I made the mistake of buying an Archos media player around the turn of the century. Oh wells!
 
Check this out:


That's the buzzing I hear with the Shure SE846 and the Shure SE535 IEM's.

You think I should exhange it or ask for a refund and wait for the iPhone 7? All demo units I tested has this problem so I'm not sure how many exchanges are needed to get a good unit.
 
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That's the sound mine makes too. Possibly a design flaw Apple overlooked, as it sounds like it's affecting most if not all units. We will probably have to wait for iPhone 7, or maybe Apple will silently fix the problem with a minor hardware revision in a few months. No way to know, really.
 
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I connected my 6S to a pair of A7X monitors as well as some Atomic Floyd Superdarts IEMs, and I can't reproduce the noise from the app switcher.

Edit: okay I can actually hear it with my headphones, but it's very faint. Like, extremely faint. Fainter than my own heartbeat. I guess some equipment is more sensitive to electrical noise than other.
 
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That's the buzzing I hear with the Shure SE846 and the Shure SE535 IEM's.

You think I should exhange it or ask for a refund and wait for the iPhone 7? All demo units I tested has this problem so I'm not sure how many exchanges are needed to get a good unit.
Apple will let you return it for a full refund as long as you are within the 14 day return period. If not, they will only exchange it for you.
 
Tried it with my UE900 and can't reproduce the noise from the video.

Didn't get to try on 9.0.2 as I've updated to 9.1
 
My 6S Plus has the best audio quality that I have experienced from any smartphone, way better than my Samsung Note 4. I have had the phone for about three weeks and so far no buzzing using both the stock ear buds and two sets of higher end headphones.
I would return the phone and get a new one.
 
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Mine seems to be hit or miss. I don't have any buzz but speakerphone, regular voice calls and audio all seem lower than what they should be. Not as loud as my 6 was. Is it just me or is it something different? I have to have the volume much higher/max to get the same results as halfway on my 6.

I also noticed today while playing musing via aux/headphone jack in my car, the music was nice and loud and then all of a sudden it got softer. Nothing changed (the automatic speed volume was not the issue here either). Nothing changed except the audio was not as loud as before.
 
That's the buzzing I hear with the Shure SE846 and the Shure SE535 IEM's.

You think I should exhange it or ask for a refund and wait for the iPhone 7? All demo units I tested has this problem so I'm not sure how many exchanges are needed to get a good unit.

According to the video poster this issue is present in all the 6s series if you try to exchange it probably you're gonna get the same results, that's why I decided to keep my 5s until the next release... lots of bugs and issues!
 
I went to 3 different Apple Stores yesterday and all demo units buzz when using the app switcher.

I suppose most people don't have IEM's that are very sensititive so they don't hear it.

The old iPhone 6 didn't buzz.
 
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iPhone 6S --> Chord Hugo --> Shure SE846 = no buzzing noises. Seems if you use a dedicated DAC / AMP, all problems disappear.



iPhone 6S --> Shure SE846 = buzzing noises when using the app switcher.



I also tried the B&W P5, Shure SRH 1840 and I can't hear buzzes. So it's only with the Shure SE846 and Shure SE535 without using the Chord Hugo.



I don't have a connector to use my Sennheiser HD800 on the iPhone 6s, but I don't think it would buzz either if all the other full sized headphones don't buzz.
 
I have a TMSC iPhone 6S with outstanding battery life and a very good screen, so I'm worried that if I do an exchange, I'll get an other iPhone 6S that buzzes with the Shure SE846 but having worse battery life and screen.

It seems some people do have an excellent iPhone 6S, so you guys think it's worth playing the exchange game?

Based on all the demo units I listened (all demo units I heard have this problem), it will probably take many exchanges and it might piss Apple off? :p
 
I have a 6S Plus and also use the Shure 535's. I haven't noticed any buzzing at all and after watching/listening to the video, I checked and still cannot hear it.

So far I've been extremely happy with my new phone. I have a really clean looking screen, the supposedly preferred chip and none of the issues others have mentioned in these forums. I should call it a day not keep looking for trouble. My last 6 plus was surely a dog.
 
That was one of the first things I noticed using my iPhone 6S, the audio loudspeaker quality is considerably poor compared to the 6, a bit tin can like
 
The Apple Store (physical, not online) won't allow me to exchange my iPhone for a new one while I'm still in my 2 week period. They say the fault is my €1000 IEM because they can't hear it with their ****** Apple Earbuds o_O

They didn't even measure my iPhone with graphs to see what is going on. Somehow they think that listening with Apple Earbuds is the most scientific and reliable way to asses the sound quality.

They should be called Apple dumbasses instead of Apple geniuses.

Trying to get a refund now and I'll
never deal with a physical Apple Store again. The Apple online store gave me exchanges without problems in the past. Guess I should have stayed with the online Apple store :p
 
Those fingernails! Why???

From what I understand from these videos, you can only reproduce this issue when using the app switcher and only on high end headphones. I guess I can see this being a slight annoyance for an audiophile but at least its not a continuous buzz and only generated by a specific action.

I can't reproduce this with my 6s plus but admittedly my headphones are not very expensive.

Oh, I'll never get why someone that is very particular and who has such expensive and precise equipment doesn't take the time to clip his nails!
 
I'm not hearing this on my current 6S Plus and the RHA 750i that I am using these days.

However I found right away that the music playback quality through headphones was not quite the same as my old 6 Plus. I'm not really surprised by this, as it must be very difficult to isolate RFI from such a powerful CPU in a phone. 3D touch is probably a big source of RFI as well. I've come to feel that you are not going to do any critical listening on a phone because of issues like this.

The GSM Arena measurements show that the 6S Plus has considerably poorer results than the 6 Plus with headphones.

One interesting thing that I found is that on the TSMC phones that I returned (I returned 4 due to the screen blemish) music playback was worse than on the Samsung I kept.
 
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