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Arelunde

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 6, 2011
980
28
CA Central Coast
My friends are telling me there's either an echo or feedback (high-pitched sound) when I'm using my iPhone 5 on speaker. Had no problem with my iPhone 4. In fact, with the i4, people couldn't tell if I was on speaker or not.

On my i5, I've found that turning down the volume makes it "normal" for those listening, but then it's hard for me to hear. If I turn it up, they have problems and I end up with a harsh, very tinny sounding voices from the speaker.

I've tried to set the EQ (in the music settings) to bass booster, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Also, I reduced the overall volume limit in Music. Not sure if this will make a difference (no phone calls since I reduced it.)

Anyone else having this problem? If so, how did you fix it?

UPDATE:

After some research, I changed several things on my iP5. All is working perfectly now. No feedback. No echo. Incoming speaker voices are normal and clear.

First: in Settings > Music > Volume Limit > on > adjust to about 3/4 of max.

Second: I took off my case and put on a shell. Reason: Research brought out the concept of feedback caused by cupping the hand over the speaker/mic area so the sound would transfer from one to the other.
Most cases surround the lower speaker/mic area with about 1/8 inch-deep of case material. This, I thought, might do the same as the cupped hand phenomena, especially since the speaker and mic are considerably larger than on earlier iPhones.

Third: I make sure the volume is set so the speaker voice sounds normal for incoming calls. Before, it was tinny and scratchy - hard to listen to.
 
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