Awful audio quality when on a discord/Skype call

[unknown56]

Hello, 

I've had my S10+ since some months already. I switched from an HTC 11, with which I had the exact same issue I'm going to describe.

Basically, when I start a call using discord, Skype or whatsapp, my audio quality becomes really bad. I'm using earphones with a built-in mic. It means that I can't multi-task while being on call. I can't listen to Spotify, nor watch Netflix or YouTube because the audio quality is just awful...

On discord, you can change the communication mode (VOIP) to call mode. When on call mode, the audio quality from other apps is perfect, but I cannot be heard : my mic stops working.

So I think that's a lead. I read on internet that people had found a small fix, they forced the phone to be in call mode and everything worked well. It is not a permanent fix however and it's complicated to do.... 

Can I get some help please?

I hoped that by switching phone, my issue would go away... It is really annoying. I would like to be able to watch series while being on call with someone, for example. 

Thanks. 

[PPSeriousGang]

It's in the "Voice and Video" settings in the Discord app. The OpenSL ES setting will be on the bottom, and to switch the call from VOIP to call (which is also necessary), that setting is around the middle.

[SamFallows]

I found an actual solution

Go to Settings/Sounds and vibration/Sound quality and effects/UHQ upscaler and select 'Bit and bandwidth upscaler'

See if that does you any good. Unfortunately Samsung support is as useless as the people that comment saying they have the exact same problem.

You all need to actually try looking at your sound settings. Hope this helps 👍

[Anonymous User]

This did not work for me. Don't just assume we haven't tried tweaking all the possible settings. People here commenting are not useless, they are trying to find a fix and letting others know this is a problem across many Samsung devices and HOPEFULLY get Samsung to do something. Also the UHQ upscaler options only appear when you have headphones or a bluetooth device connected, and I'm trying to find a fix that would work for my phone when i'm using its speakers. A71 OneUI 2.0 here btw. 

[FixTheSound]

@SamFallows

Sadly this doesn't work.

It's really annoying how some apps (mostly games) will ignore this "bug" while Netflix, YouTube, Twitch, Tiktok and whatever else won't ignore it...  It's so *****ing annoying ahhhhhhh.

I'll submit a 2nd bug report today, wish my luck with live chat :)))

Also, from what I can tell any Samsung phone after the s7 has this problem....

[FixFixFix]

Hello, after many live chats, bug reports etc, I can finally and happily say this bug HAS been fixed!

1st September 2020 Patch.*

 FixTheSound

[ToxicTysken]

For me it's still a problem. I have the newest update but it's still not fixed. Is there anything I need to do in settings? I talked to support and they said that I should factory reset the phone but that doesn't feel like it would fix it.

(S9)

[AnneWithAnE]

I NEED TO REVIVE THIS THREAD WITH THE DEFINITIVE SOLUTION * WITHOUT VOICE MAIL *

Tested on One UI 2.5, Jan 2021, Samsung Galaxy S9 (Snapdragon model) BUT MUST WORK ON ALL TYPE OF ROM!!!

• Since I bought the Galaxy S9 I immediately noticed the problem: the high-fidelity sound just sounded like an OGG (inferior to mp3 file, like whatsapp audios) audio from whatsapp recorded on a galaxy pocket, no matter how high the quality of what I was hearing was, the bitrate seemed to go to the smallest ever evidenced in the entire history of mankind.

• HOW BAD IS THE SOUND: I could see that not only does the bitrate quality drop unbelievably, but ALL AUDIO IS TRANSFORMED IN MONO.Worse than a normal mono, it is a fake mono. In fact, it does not fulfill even the minimal role expected of a mono sound.Instead of joining the Right and Left channels, ONLY THE LEFT CHANNEL BECOMES TO EXIST AND IS CENTRALIZED, CANCELING ALL THE SOUND THAT SHOULD BE PLAYED ON THE RIGHT CHANNEL. I realized this with the song Oui ou Non, by my favorite artist, Angèle. At the beginning of the song there is a stereo separation of her voice, which is a delight to hear in high fidelity with Tidal Hi-Fi/Master. I could also see that DOLBY ATMOS affects this fake mono audio. In Dolby Atmos mode set to AUTOMATIC you can hear the right channel a little. In MOVIE mode you can hear even more, as this mode has surround sound that amplifies the stereo sound, so it is possible to hear with the left channel what plays on the right channel through that surround. In MUSIC mode it is IMPOSSIBLE to hear the right channel, the same way with Dolby Atmos disabled, as this mode does not apply surround and just maintain the original stereo separation without radical changes in the original file. Great for audiophiles who don't want their files to suffer so much changes, just delivering a more powerful and balanced audio, very decent. In VOICE mode there is minimal surround, so it is possible to hear the right channel even without its real operation, as the surround makes the left channel able to hear the sound with an amplified sound stage. TEST ON YOUR OWN WITH ANY STEREO SOUND TEST APP ON THE PLAY STORE AND CHANGE DOLBY ATMOS MODES DURING THE CALL.

• THE DEFINITIVE AND EASY SOLUTION: I had problems on the phone (via radio, like sms) Whatsapp, Discord, Viber, and others, BUT NOT WITH THE TELEGRAM. No, I'm not telling you to make these calls on Telegram. Just start a call on the telegram with someone who will not answer the call (this works for the person you want to call on WhatsApp or other apps because the call will work at the same time).

FIRST: PLAY A MUSIC AND LET IT PLAY. IF THE MUSIC PAUSES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CALL, PLAY AGAIN.

Start the call on TELEGRAM FIRST and then call the person you want to talk to via the app you prefer. The call on Telegram will drop (will fail) because the person did not answer, and when that happens DURING YOUR CALL IN ANOTHER APP, the audio will return to normal. YOU ONLY NEED TO DO THIS. JUST MAKE A TELEGRAM CALL NOT ANSWERED WHILE YOU ARE IN A CALL IN ANOTHER APP LISTENING TO MUSIC.

YOU CAN ALSO JUST FINISH THE TELEGRAM CALL SINCE YOU HAVE STARTED THE CALL IN THE OTHER APP AND ARE PLAYING THE MUSIC.

I'm happy to have found the solution, I hope more people will find out.

[CRITICALWEST]

I tried this solution (Samsung Galaxy S9+) but found different results when using Discord. I can fix the poor audio for Telegram by joing and leaving a discord call while telegram is ringing. But if they answer the audio drops again and stays bad no matter what I try. 

No matter what I do with Discord the quality is bad. Whether I start a call in Telegram, (answered or not) first or join a call in telegram after.

Bottom line is if I'm in an active call the quality really bad. Even cutting in and out at lower volumes.

It's worth noting that when I stream apps, people watching my stream don't have the poor audio. It's definitely something with the phone and not discord. 

[algernon]

Try turning on WiFi calling. Really improved the call sound quality. However, only works over WiFi. I used to get terrible sound quality while listening to music in a discord channel...not anymore!

[No name]

I am using the all new Samsung Galaxy M21 and it seems even in new phones, they still havnt fixed this. Samsung i really hope u guys read this because im getting seriously mad about this thing.