Selecting a sound card on an android. Using an Android smartphone as a sound card. Using the capabilities of an Android smartphone as a Wi-Fi card for a computer

Sometimes our tablet plays very quietly. Or normal, but I want it to be louder. Let's talk about ways to amplify sound on Androids.

Navigation

Any tablet user has repeatedly faced the need to increase the volume above the maximum. And then the question arises, how to amplify the sound on Android.

Ways to increase the volume on an Android tablet

There is only one safe way to turn up the volume of your tablet one hundred percent without harming its performance. Other methods work, but not in all cases. But who will give you a guarantee that your device does not fall into the list of those that break over time?

The safest way to boost the volume is to use an external device.

External audio card for Android tablet

Today the market has a lot of sound cards in its arsenal that can be connected to a tablet and get the highest quality and loud sound for speakers or headphones. Their cost varies greatly. It all depends on what type of connection is used, battery life, number of channels and much more.

You can buy an inexpensive option that does not require offline work and is connected via USB. Of course, you can take a high power device with excellent sound amplification and frequency control. For those who like to be mobile, there are options with built-in batteries.

Headphones and headsets for sound amplification on Android tablet

At its core, this is something a joint audio card and headphones. The cost of such devices is not that high. This is due to the delicacy of the assembly. By the way, the sound card can only work with certain headphones. This ensures the optimum frequency range.

These devices are connected via a USB interface and defined as an external audio playback device. In addition, a volume control option is provided, the keys for which are located on a small remote control on the very cord near the headphones.

Wireless headset for sound amplification on Android tablet

Android - how to amplify the sound?

There are several options here. The most affordable in terms of cost and autonomy is a Bluetooth headset. They are sold in variety. They provide music playback for six hours or more. Accordingly, it is possible to control the telephone module, player and sound control. The price for such headsets is small.

Another type of headset is those that have their own conversion and amplification module. Their cost is much higher, but you will definitely get high-quality and loud sound. Any headphones can be connected to such headsets. In other words, it is an external audio card with a Bluetooth connection.

There are also options with a Wi-fi connection. They can work from a distance and have a stable connection. But here it is necessary that the tablet be able to work with such devices. On top of that, such a headset works less because its communication module has more appetites.

Programmatic sound control on Android tablet

This is a popular way to amplify sound on a tablet, by using programs that can control a digital-to-analog converter. The most popular is the program Volume +... It is provided free of charge, has a clear interface and is Russified. But it does nothing unusual. The application does not make the sound louder, as it simply controls the frequency converter, makes them louder or quieter.

The program allows you to adjust the sound of external and internal speakers, adjust the headphone input, sound level when receiving calls, as well as an incoming call. Here these functions are collected in a simple and understandable way. In addition, the application manages the audio "image", that is, it allows you to customize the different sound strips.

The sound is amplified by simultaneously raising the gain of all frequencies. In principle, the transducer in the tablet can do this. After that, quiet sounds will become noticeably louder. But the sound card will start working at its highest power. The sound can begin to wheeze and fall through. This will be especially noticeable at low frequencies.

This is where the problem lies. Each tablet is assembled according to average parameters. Parts suppliers may change or assembly is done by another company. In this case, a situation may arise when the parts are suitable, but their characteristics will be underestimated.

Therefore, if you force the sound card to work to its maximum, it will overheat. The part can work quietly for several years, or it can break in a couple of hours. If during the regulation of the program there were no problems and the sound was normal, then you can not worry and leave everything as it is. This means that your system has a sufficient supply of parameters and it is unlikely that it will break.

Hardware sound control on an Android tablet

Tablets with a built-in telephone module and much more make it possible to access the engineering menu. In other words, this is a control panel where most of the parameters are set that regulate the hardware operation of the gadget. You can also change the gain level right there.

It is due to the hardware menu that the normal operation of the sound converter is set. Even if you take two identical tablets and enter the engineering menu, you will see a difference in the parameters.

The menu contains parameters that are responsible for the factory sound settings. Here you can adjust the signal level so that there are no problems when you are listening to music and receive a call at a lower volume. This situation can be easily corrected through the engineering menu.

If you want to ensure the tablet works to the maximum, then specify this in the menu by setting the highest values. Additionally, the Volume ++ program is also installed and all parameters are output to the frequency amplification. The tablet won't give you more. But there is a risk of overheating.

A few tips for saving and securing your Android device

To get safe and loud sound, spend some money and buy a sound amplifier for your tablet.

If you often hold your tablet in your hands, then get a small, cheap sound card with USB connectivity or headphones with the same technology.

For portability, buy a Bluetooth headset that has a separate audio processor and good headphones. Some models have built-in FM radio, which is an advantage.

If you want your tablet to transmit sound wirelessly, then buy a Bluetooth speaker. It has a high volume level, as well as excellent battery life, and you can charge the tablet from it.

There is always a technological reserve, but after software adjustment, you can break the tablet. And repairs can be more expensive than a separate plug-in device.

Video: How to increase the volume on Android

Moving from work on a stationary computer to a tablet, the user seriously feels the decrease in the number of sound interfaces with high-quality filling. A desktop computer can be equipped with a PCI, USB, PCIe or FW interface, while a laptop or tablet is most often limited to only USB and, sometimes, FW. The main solution to the problem is an external sound card for a tablet with a USB interface, or a combination of USB devices with a portable digital-to-analog converter (DAC) connected to it.

Using a sound card and DAC

The difference between a sound card and a DAC is that an external DAC works without connecting to a stationary computer, and a sound card cannot work without a computer. The price of USB devices is currently hovering around $ 100 - $ 200, so the combination seems a bit expensive. However, it should be noted that USB-SPDIF converters support 192 kHz and ASIO, which is often very useful.
Most of the sound cards and external DACs available on the market cost no more than $ 500- $ 600. Prices on the market today are such that external devices are more expensive compared to internal devices using similar components. This gives a comparable final result.

The most popular cards today are the X-Fi Elite Pro, E-MU1212m, E-MU1616m, Xonar D1 and Xonar DX.

Increasing the sound on your tablet

Many users of Android tablets are often faced with the question of how to increase the sound on the tablet. Most models have a very quiet ringer. It is difficult to hear it in transport or on a noisy street, and it is also difficult to listen to music with headphones. Some go to extremes, trying to improve the sound with all kinds of manipulations. First, they independently use unverified advice from various forums, then turn to friends for help in search of modern gadgets. But often, after these "improvements", problems remain. There are still many dissatisfied with the quality and sound power of their phone.
Volume + will help you enhance the sound on your Android tablet. This interesting development will allow you to change the quiet sound on your tablet or phone with Android OS. It is freely available, that is, free of charge, on Google Play.
After downloading the Volume + program and installing it using the usual installation manager, you should start it. A menu will appear, unfortunately in English. Next, you need to select the item with the name "Speaker Settings" to enter the speaker settings. In this case, a transition to another menu occurs. Here you should check the items "Speaker Modifications" (changes in the parameters of the speaker), as well as "Virtual Room Effect" (setting the effect "virtual room").


Then, one by one click on the items "Volume Level", then "Bass Enhance" and, finally, "Virtual Room". In all of them, it is recommended to increase the levels by one. Then evaluate the result. If there is still little sound, repeat the whole procedure again. Do not immediately set +4. This can cause a malfunction that can be difficult to fix later. It is better to gradually increase the power, choosing the optimal volume for yourself.


Another option to enhance the sound on your tablet

Here you have to use the equalizer. In GooglePlay, you should first download a convenient equalizer. For example, JetA udio. Strictly speaking, JetAudio is a fairly multifunctional program. There is a player that works with files of various formats, as well as a converter and a ripper. And, among other things, there is an easy-to-use equalizer.

How to increase the volume on an Android tablet, as well as the sound in games, videos and music files? You should start the program by opening the equalizer. It is set to Normal by default. Open the tab with the name "Custom" and increase the indicators of the required columns at our own will. Then we try to play any music file. The difference will be noticeable immediately.

Also, remember that increasing the volume of the sound degrades its quality. Too high values \u200b\u200bmay even burn out the speakers.

How to Increase Sound on Android: Video

Date of publication: 18.04.14

At the present stage, the process of improving the sound range of computers and tablets is underway. Support for 24-bit 192kHz audio is now a reality.

This year, there will be motherboards supporting fourth generation sound. The process of displacing internal sound cards by external ones is very noticeable. Today, specialists involved in sound at computers choose compact PCs assembled on the basis of Barebone platforms or laptops.

The advantages of such solutions are obvious: firstly, a working “tool” that, if necessary, can be taken on the road without any problems; these are computers that take up little space. Secondly, such computers do not install internal sound cards - there is no place for them.

Conventional internal sound cards are increasingly replacing integrated systems and external cards from computers. This will soon lead to the disappearance of internal PCL cards.

In the future, the right to life will remain with cards designed for a computer to work as a media center, that is, having the ability to connect analog equipment, speaker systems, microphones to it.

When connecting 6-channel and 8-channel speaker systems, you must use 3 and 4, respectively, 3.5 mm jacks, or 6 and 8 RCA jacks. Thus, a sound card must have sockets for 5.1 or even 7.1 channel acoustics (3 pcs, minimum), SPDIF connectors, a microphone and line-in, which is problematic for a small board panel; additional modules are needed.

The need to move the internal module out of the computer outside, behind the system unit, was born. So, Creative company in its version of AudigyPlatinum with an external module. Consequently, the external sound card can be transferred to an external unit, where all the necessary inputs and outputs can be installed, while installing a USB 2.0 or IEEE-1394 (Hi-speed) interface instead of the PCL interface.

As for the choice of interface, for a 24/192 class sound card, we can confidently say that stable data streaming is required here, and this obviously refers to IEEE-1394 (modifications a or b). All computers of the latest release are compatible with this interface, which is standard for both pros and amateur multimedia centers.

Therefore, it should be taken as a basis that an external sound card for android, isolated from the motherboard, intended for watching high-quality DVDs, listening to audio materials, may have an external solution with an IEEE-1394 interface, but this information does not apply to laptops with a USB interface - there are more serious criteria and solutions.

Once I had a need to connect large speakers to a laptop, but so as not to be tied to them by a cable. After testing several applications for broadcasting audio over Wi-Fi, I concluded that the most flexible of these kind of programs is SoundWire, which allows you to achieve audio latency of no more than 100 milliseconds (provided that the phone is quite powerful, with Android 4.2+ and supports native audio mode). This means that you can already watch movies without noticeable sound lag.

Note: of course, first of all, it all depends on the power and hardware capabilities of your Android phone. After testing this application on different devices, I concluded that on an old Android phone (Processor: 1 core, 600 MHz; Memory: 256 MB; Audio mode: standard_audio), the audio delay cannot be made less than 100 milliseconds, and when watching a movie, a clear lag is felt sound.

The application has a fairly large set of settings for any type of Wi-Fi network (in terms of connection speed). There are free and paid versions in the Google Play Store. The paid version provides the ability to set the buffer size in milliseconds (in the free version only in kilobytes), the audio compression function and the buffer size stabilization function, which allow you to minimize the load on the wireless network and achieve the minimum audio latency.

Configuring SoundWire Server on Windows

Download the program corresponding to your version of Windows and install it on your computer.

Make sure it works fine by playing some music in your player or browser. In the program window, in the "Level" field, a sound indicator should be displayed. If it rises to the red level (sound distorted), adjust the Audio Output slider so that the audio level is only green.

Depending on the version of Windows, the volume slider will adjust either the sound level of the laptop speakers or broadcasts over Wi-Fi. I have Windows 8.1, and in my case, the first option is implemented, so so that the sound from the laptop itself does not interfere, I just turned it off.

Advice: for the duration of testing the application with different settings, it is better to leave the computer sound on, then you will hear a real delay between playing sound on the computer and over the network, through the Android phone.

Setting up SoundWire on Android

Install SoundWire app from GooglePlay Store.

Make sure your Android phone and laptop are on the same Wi-Fi network. Open the SoundWire app and click on the spiral button.

After a short wait, the spiral should change color to golden and you should hear a sound on your Android phone. If this does not happen, try to manually register in the Android application the IP address shown by the SoundWire Server program in Windows and press the spiral button again.

If this time you do not hear anything, then open the "Command Prompt" application in Windows through the "Start" button, type the "ipconfig" command and press the "Enter" key. Enter in the address field in the SoundWire Android app the IP address specified in the "IPv4 Address" command line and click the spiral button again.

Reducing audio delay

To reduce audio latency, the SoundWire app has a variety of tools.

Free version:

  • Buffering setting (Audio buffer size);
  • Audio compression, only demo for a few minutes (Audio compression);
  • Enabling an alternative audio path (Android native audio).

Paid version:

  • Setting buffering in milliseconds (Audio buffer size);
  • Compression of an audio stream (Audio compression);
  • Inclusion of alternative audio path (Android native audio);
  • Reducing the "float" of the buffer size (Latency steering amount).

And now in more detail about each option.

Audio buffer size

The first thing you can do to reduce audio latency is to reduce the buffer size of the incoming audio stream. To do this, press the menu button, then select the "Settings" option, in the opened settings, click on the "Audio buffer size" item and select the desired buffer size.

The smaller it is, the lower the delay will be, but a very small buffer size can lead to a discrete "robotic sound" effect. The buffer size in the free version is set in kilobytes, in the paid version in milliseconds. In addition, in the paid version, the real audio delay in milliseconds is displayed on the main page of the application.

Audio compression (paid version)

Experience shows that this is a very important function, since it allows not only to reduce the delay, but also to economically use the communication channel, so that, for example, the video does not freeze while watching online. The application can compress the broadcast audio stream using the Opus codec. In the free version, the trial period for using this option is 10 minutes. To enable compression of the audio stream, check the box next to the "Audio compression" option in the settings, click on the "Compression bitrate" option and select the bitrate of the compressed audio stream. The smaller it is, the less traffic will be spent on audio transmission and, as a result, the delay and cutoffs in audio transmission will decrease, but the quality will suffer, so experiment.

As you can see from the picture above, in my case, at a bitrate of 64 kbit / s (as it seems to me, the most optimal), the speed of the Wi-Fi connection spent on sound transmission decreased from ~ 167 to ~ 18 kB / s, that is, about 10 times !

Android native audio

Attention: This option is not supported by all devices!

When the "Android native audio" option is enabled, an alternative internal audio path (OpenSL ES native audio) is selected, which may perform better and allows for lower audio latency times on some devices that support "Android native audio". The "Android native audio" option has three switches:

  • Auto - Uses native audio with small buffer sizes (32 kB / 190 ms or less) and standard audio with larger buffer sizes. Recommended for devices that support low audio latency (Android 4.2+).
  • Standard audio - Recommended for devices that do not support low latency audio. The standard audio path is more reliable on most Android devices.
  • Android native audio - select if the alternative internal audio path works better on the device even with large buffer sizes, for example, if you have problems using Auto or Standard audio.

On some modern phones, for the "Android native audio" function to work correctly, it is necessary to broadcast sound with a sampling frequency of not 44.1 kHz, but 48 kHz. The required sample rate will be displayed by clicking on the "Android native audio" option. If necessary, reconfigure SoundWire Server and Windows to use the 48 kHz sampling rate (see documentation).

Latency steering amount (paid version)

The Latency steering amount option allows you to control how aggressively SoundWire tries to achieve the set audio delay (roughly the size of the buffer divided by 2). The option has three modes: Normal, Tight, Very Tight.

Note that the actual audio latency will be higher than what is displayed in the panel, as many other factors contribute to latency such as the internal audio path of the Android phone and server side buffering. Therefore, to estimate the real delay, use your ears and not the numbers displayed on the phone screen.

Sandbox

steel, mink, beef, paper August 8, 2012 at 11:25 PM

Using an Android smartphone as a sound card

Good day, dear friends!

It so happened that two unpleasant things happened on my laptop: the audio-out jack flew and the Wi-Fi card began to work intermittently. As you understand, you can't live long without music and the Internet, so I decided to find a way to solve these problems.

There is no way to go to a repair shop, but with electrical engineering, and in particular, with circuitry, I have always been with you, so I decided to look for alternative solutions to these problems.

Without hesitation, I decided that the possibilities of my Android smartphone higher than it might seem at first glance. I decided to look for specialized software to solve my problems.

What came of this, read below.

Using your smartphone as a sound card
Taking a break from the Play Store, I came across the PocketAudio Headphones app.
The application is a utility that connects to a computer via Wi-Fi.

At the first launch, the program asks for the IP address of the computer to which it is connecting:

Enter the local IP address of the computer:

After successful connection, you can start using the program.
We select PocketAudio as the audio output device on the computer, and now you can use the Android device to listen to the audio from the computer.

In a similar way, we create a wireless microphone using the PocketAudio Microphone program.

Using the capabilities of an Android smartphone as a Wi-Fi card for a computer
To solve this problem, I went in a simple way:
we connect to the Wi-Fi router from the phone
we distribute the Internet from a smartphone to a computer using a USB modem:

Modem mode is enabled in the settings: Settings - Wireless and networks - More - Tethering and portable hotspot - USB tethering.

Pros of using this method:
+ no need to buy a Wi-Fi adapter
+ connection setup is quick and easy
+ although the connection is made via cable, this method of connection creates less inconvenience than twisted pair. The laptop can still be carried throughout the apartment.

Minuses:
- the phone is constantly connected to the USB port, which leads to constant charging / discharging of the smartphone battery, which in turn leads to a decrease in the quality of the battery;
- the device occupies one USB port of the computer, in the configuration of some computers this may be critical

Tags: Android, useful programs

This article is not subject to comment, since its author is not yet

Did you like the article? To share with friends: