BCD536HP Headphone Related Issues

[DMSROX2]

I think its okay to pay 600 dollars for a radio that is really awesome and be the first ones to get the radios and do some testing. I am really okay with it.

Sometimes in life you dont always have to do things to get paid for it. The more you give back in life the more you shall receive. "Thats how it works in Life"

Trust me Uniden as a corporation is not perfect and we put a lot of pressure on them to perform and get these radios out to the general public. They did a fine job. Now if us serious scanner freaks like myself can help them out and find the bugs which is always going to happen on new products then these forums are a perfect place to channel all of this positive information to UPMan and he will get this issue taken care and get this info to the right channels at Uniden.

Overall the radio is really awesome. Its a fine GEM and the people that do not have the radios yet will soon find out when they get them either this week or next week.

I will get my Serial Number sent over tonight on this thread. Got to get back to work so I can afford these expensive toys.

Well put! I'm glad to see there are others that appreciate what Upman and Uniden are trying to do.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[gonzalu]

Another observation worth noting unless already noted, the volume setting does not seem to affect the volume level of the hiss. If set to 1 the hiss level is the same as it the volume is set to 20. Henceforth when the volume is set high, the voice on the channel will be much louder than the hiss but it is still there. It may seem to be lower but isn't.

Best way to test is on an open carrier as with a full duplex system such as FDNY. Long periods of silence on an open carrier can be used to test very well. If volume is set at ZERO, no audio comes through. Anything from 1 to max makes the hiss come on. Volume of the hiss is constant.

 

[yaesumofo]

Hello all
Not only is there an unacceptable signal to noise ratio there is a TERRIBLE noise when the squelch opens. If the radio audio level is set loud the squelch noise is many times louder than the background noise radio and audio signal.

I could tolerate the hiss and background noise but the squelch noise is terrible!!

Serial number is a little higher than unit 120.

If it's a hardware problem I can easily see a recall being necessary to fix this.

Great radios always have growing pains.

Yaesumofo

 

[Boatanchor]

Pepsima1 I Love your attitude!
I wish more people on sites like this would look at life the same way instead of always pointing out the negative.

Sent from my wireless world

If people didn't point out the negatives, how would the likes of Uniden ever improve their products?

A public forum such as this can be a valuable tool for manufacturers and marketers to obtain customer feedback and targeted product exposure, but it can be a double edged sword when the inevitable negative comments are posted.

Nobody should be surprised or upset that negative comments are starting to appear after the initial excitement wears off.

Hopefully, Uniden can find practical solutions to these problems. The risk for everyone is that they cannot be fixed with a simple (for the end user anyway) firmware update. If this is a hardware/design problem, it could get messy and all bets are off.

 

[gonzalu]

Not sure if anyone is using noise canceling headphones. If the noise cancelling circuit is turned on on the headset, the problem becomes worse. I tried it with Sony, Beats and Bose QuietComfort 15s and in each case, the problem is worse. The best at handling it was Beats, worst was Sony.

 

[Steve2003]

Hopefully the hissing won't be there when using the app!

 

[gonzalu]

Hopefully the hissing won't be there when using the app!

Seems to be limited to the actual headphone jack. The speaker output is clean.


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[whooey]

The BC536HP is going to live on my desk at work. I listen with a earbud in my left ear all day long. I hope this issue gets resolved, my 536 will be here Thurs...

 

[gonzalu]

Or hope the app comes out soon as a workaround.


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[yaesumofo]

Are any of you experiencing a LOUD crash noise when the squelch opens or closes on the 536? I noticed this when listening to the background noise issue which my unit suffers from.Thanks
Yaesumofo

 

[AZScanner]

Since this doesn't seem to happen with external speakers, has anyone tried plugging their headphones into the jack in the back of the scanner and see if the problem is limited to just the headphone jack? I know the front jack should be what is used for headphones, but maybe that could be a workaround for folks until the cause is found and fixed.

I'm VERY glad that the 436 does not appear to suffer from this issue as there would be no such workaround possible with that unit.

-AZ

 

[gonzalu]

Haven't since I don't think the rear jack is volume controlled. It may be line level only?

 

[UPMan]

The rear jack is for a speaker and is volume controlled, not line level. If the volume is turned up much at all it is going to blow out any earbuds you might plug in (well, it will blow out one of them...rear jack is mono). If you are wearing the earbuds at the time, it will drive your left eardrum about 3/4 of the way through your brain. i.e. DO NOT PLUG EARBUDS INTO THE EXTERNAL SPEAKER JACK!

 

[AZScanner]

Haven't since I don't think the rear jack is volume controlled. It may be line level only?

Ouch, that's a bummer. That's a bit odd though isn't it? Wouldn't you want to still have control over the volume if you connect it to an external speaker? Seems odd to make that a line level only jack.

-AZ

 

[FirstClass]

Headphone Issue

Cheap RS mono earphone slight hiss Not enough to get me upset. This is something I would use on a hand held. Not so much on this radio

Sony stereo MDR - NC7 more noticeable with NC off than the mono ear bud. This level is annoying.
With NC on it is very noticeable, and I do consider this level an issue.

Since hearing level is a relative term. I have attended quite a few rock concerts so my highs may not be as well as others. Anyone try a quality mono headset?

 

[AZScanner]

The rear jack is for a speaker. If the volume is turned up much at all it is going to blow out any earbuds you might plug in (well, it will blow out one of them...rear jack is mono). If you are wearing the earbuds at the time, it will drive your left eardrum about 3/4 of the way through your brain. i.e. DO NOT PLUG EARBUDS INTO THE EXTERNAL SPEAKER JACK!

Well there you have it.. OK, scratch that and if you do it anyway then don't sue me, people! It was just a suggestion for people who need to use earbuds (and have enough sense to keep the volume low). I've done this with my 796D plenty of times and as long as the volume was kept low, I didn't blow my hearing out...much...

... does anyone else hear that loud ringing sound...? LOL

-AZ

 

[gonzalu]

The rear jack is for a speaker and is volume controlled, not line level. If the volume is turned up much at all it is going to blow out any earbuds you might plug in (well, it will blow out one of them...rear jack is mono). If you are wearing the earbuds at the time, it will drive your left eardrum about 3/4 of the way through your brain. i.e. DO NOT PLUG EARBUDS INTO THE EXTERNAL SPEAKER JACK!

Thanks for stealing my thunder LOL... I just tested this and was going to report. There is definitely MINIMAL noise (hiss) on rear output jack on my radio... although it is mono and it is loud.

Thanks Paul... any ideas yet?

 

[yaesumofo]

Thanks for stealing my thunder LOL... I just tested this and was going to report. There is definitely MINIMAL noise (hiss) on rear output jack on my radio... although it is mono and it is loud.

Thanks Paul... any ideas yet?

OK So when I plug my sony 7506 headphones I hear a MONO signal with a slight emphasis on the left, Poor audio with 20-30% hiss NO squelch just a BIG THUMP before a transmission is passed to the speakers. From a sound Man's POV its about as Bad as Bad gets.
The REAR speaker port is MONO (of course) MY headphones are wired so the sound comes out of the left headphone. The sound from the "speaker port" Is nice and clean audio good short squelch tail and has good volume, too good because if turned up too high it is likely to damage the headphones (I do not use ear buds for radio monitoring)
Untll UNIDEN comes up with a fix... the rear jack will do fine.
I just wonder what audio they are sending to the headphone amp, clearly they are pulling it from the WRONG pin.... Maybe a software fix is possible but I am thinking that in order to correct this properly (unless they can re route the audio via a firmware change) that surgery may be necessary. NO SMALL TASK on a peice of gear as sophisticated as the 536.

Yaesumofo

 

[gonzalu]

I find that for now, it works in just plugging in my Sony headphones about halfway in to the rear port to force mono out both ear cups. Sounds cleaner too...

I am a bit disappointed and have put the radio away and brought back the HP- for day to day listening until I hear more about the resolution of the problem.

Tomorrow I will contact Ham Station to see what their return policy is. Don't want to wait until it is too late to return the unit.

Hoping for good news soon.

Thanks

 

[wise871]

I'm going to keep mine. It's either going to be fix with a firmware update or Uniden may make the repairs. Everyone that has a 536 has reported the issues so I don't believe uniden will ignore this. They may have a send in for repair option if it's hardware. I'm waiting.