BCDx36 very bassy audio

[NHdave]

The audio on my 536 is extremely bassy, I have it next to me on an end table using the bracket/stand. It's so bad at times that I can't understand what's being said. I wonder if it would be possible to have an adjustment for this in a later firmware release?

Anyone else noticing this? Someone in the 436 post release thread mentioned the same thing.

 

[troymail]

The audio on my 536 is extremely bassy, I have it next to me on an end table using the bracket/stand. It's so bad at times that I can't understand what's being said. I wonder if it would be possible to have an adjustment for this in a later firmware release?

Anyone else noticing this? Someone in the 436 post release thread mentioned the same thing.

Yes - definitely takes some getting used to....

 

[SCPD]

It's nothing that I can't live with. I must admit, however, listening through an external speaker as much as possible, due to this flat or bassy audio issue.

 

[signal500]

BCDx36 very bassy

The audio on my 536 is extremely bassy, I have it next to me on an end table using the bracket/stand. It's so bad at times that I can't understand what's being said. I wonder if it would be possible to have an adjustment for this in a later firmware release?

Anyone else noticing this? Someone in the 436 post release thread mentioned the same thing.

Have you tried to adjust the volume offset in the Sentinel software? I wonder if that would make any difference. I have noticed that if the person is speaking very close to the mic on P25 systems, the voice is loud and bassy on my 536.

 

[NHdave]

I increased the offset on a muffled frequency, just made it louder, have tried AGC as well.

 

[RF23]

Is the excessive "bass" sound on both analog and digital signals?

Have you tried an external speaker to see if it helps any? Maybe only some speakers have this problem and an external speaker may help to see if this may be true.

Hope others will check on this as it might only be certain radios have this problem. So far my 436 seems to be OK sound wise.

 

[NHdave]

Is the excessive "bass" sound on both analog and digital signals?

Have you tried an external speaker to see if it helps any? Maybe only some speakers have this problem and an external speaker may help to see if this may be true.

Hope others will check on this as it might only be certain radios have this problem. So far my 436 seems to be OK sound wise.

Don't have an external speaker, don't want one. Seems to be most noticeable on P25, analog sounds normal.

 

[ofd8001]

I think the "different" sound (as in bassy) is inherent to a digital system. When our fire department first got our P25 (Motorola) radios a couple of years ago, there was a different sound to them.

From time to time I'll monitor the Indiana trunked radio system which uses a mix of analog and digital. I can tell from the sound which is analog and which is digital. The model of scanner makes no difference either - I've listened to them on all models of Unidens starting with the 796D up to the 536.

You'll probably notice after listening to the scanner for a short period of time, you'll develop an "ear" and won't give it a second thought.

 

[mancow]

I like it. I think it sounds great.

 

[NHdave]

The issue isn't nearly as bad on my Pro-106, almost no difference between analog and digital on it.

 

[tumegpc]

I noticed the muffled audio too. I connected an external speaker with very good results. I'm using a
RoadPro RPSP-15 that I bought on Amazon for less than $12.00. It's a copy of Kenwood's KES-3 external speaker.

 

[Skypilot007]

I'm actually glad to hear this. I always thought the audio on Uniden scanners had to much high frequency componet which gave the scanners a cheap sound. It seems from reading this thread that an adjustment was made to the audio but perhaps it was an across the board change for both analog and P-25.

In my experimentation with the previous Uniden models I had encountered similar issues getting the balance of tone correct between analog and P-25 audio. The analog audio is what needed fixing, the P-25 has always been good IMO. I've always tried to get my scanners audio to match or be as close as possible to my commercial radios. Most commercial radios that do P-25 and analog must have seperate audio filtering for analog and P-25 because that sound good in either mode.

What would be really be good is if an adjustable tone option on a per channel basis could be added via firmware. This would help with systems that are mixed mode or other analog systems that have varying audio characteristics. The end user could then taylor the audio to their liking.

 

[nr2d]

I'm using an external speaker. It an old Radio Shack Minimus-3.5. The P25 Phase II audio is gassy/muffled. I scant 1 conventional channel and the volume was noticeably lower that the P25 audio. I used the volume offset and now both are around the same volume. The conventional channel has a gassy sound to it but not as much as the P25 audio. To me both sound OK.

BTW The picture of the speaker above I have 2 of those but they have ICOM on them.

 

[freqhopping]

I'm one with a 436HP that I think has too much bass, not as crisp as I'm used to with P25. I posted about this in the post-release as the OP knows. My comparison is to both my PSR800 and 396XT. Conventional sounds alright.

I know the real-life voices of some of those on the P25 system so that's how I can tell there is a difference.

 

[freqhopping]

Another thing about the audio is crackling on the phase 2 system I listen to. It's not 100% of the time but it's certainly noticeable when it happens. I've heard of another report of the same.