Poor Sound on Hudl?

[Deleted User] · 28/02/14 - 15:17

Hi all, hoping someone can help.

I bought a Hudl for a Xmas present for my mum to replace an arnova. On the whole have been happy with the Hudl until we went away a couple of weeks ago. When she tried to watch a movie on the plane she couldn't hear anything the sound was so low. We put different headphones in but still the same. Any ideas what to do?

Thanks

chrisjr · 28/02/14 - 15:35

Not unusual for these types of devices to have low headphone volume. There are EU regulations about how loud such devices can go. And it seems you are not the only one to complain about how quiet the regulation levels are.

It may or may not be possible to make the Hudl go louder. The nature of the source material you are listening to will also have an effect. But assuming you crank every level control you can locate up to 11 and it's still too quiet you may not have too many options.

A possible solution is an external headphone amp. OK not the ideal solution as it's another bit of kit to cart around but may be the only answer. For example..

www.amazon.co.uk/FiiO-E06-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B005HJWWW8/

Which is at least pretty small.

[Deleted User] · 28/02/14 - 15:39

Thanks for the reply but don't think the mother is going to be thrilled with that solution! It seems a bit mad that you can't use it on a plane unless you can lip read. We've taken it back to Tesco twice now and one of the guys there couldn't get it to go louder, he spoke to customer service who said there was nothing to be done about it.

Would a different player make any difference do you think?

chrisjr · 28/02/14 - 15:56

firestorm51 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply but don't think the mother is going to be thrilled with that solution! It seems a bit mad that you can't use it on a plane unless you can lip read. We've taken it back to Tesco twice now and one of the guys there couldn't get it to go louder, he spoke to customer service who said there was nothing to be done about it.

Would a different player make any difference do you think?

There is no easy way of knowing. There have been threads here on DS and in other forums that I have seen all complaining about how quiet the EU restrictions make devices, regardless of make and type. So changing the device may not make much difference. Unless her particular Hudl is faulty or Hudls as a type are particularly quiet (no idea if that is the case though).

All you can really do is find somewhere that lets you try out various devices for yourself to hear how loud (or otherwise) they go. Though finding such a place may be the hard part. And comparing her Hudl to another similar one may be the only way to tell if hers is normal for the breed or faulty.

Either that or you go to the US and buy a player over there that doesn't have the EU restriction.

[Deleted User] · 28/02/14 - 16:06

Going to the US is a lovely suggestion but she wouldn't be able to watch any programmes on the way over

Maybe people haven't taken it on a plane yet so don't know they can't hear a thing.

Thanks for your help though.

chrisjr · 28/02/14 - 16:27

firestorm51 wrote: »

Maybe people haven't taken it on a plane yet so don't know they can't hear a thing.

Use a better airline with better soundproofing in the cabin

[Deleted User] · 28/02/14 - 16:33

Good point, it was Monarch!!

Another question, do you know of an app that shows the titles of the tv programmes/movies that we've put on the hudl. So far it shows just thumbnails that you have to select to find out what they are.

I'm used to the ipad where you can see all the episodes listed straight away.

Hope I'm making sense.

gomezz · 28/02/14 - 20:57

Try Bluetooth headphones then you get line level output from the Hudl.

Anika Hanson · 28/02/14 - 22:04

firestorm51 wrote: »

Good point, it was Monarch!!

Another question, do you know of an app that shows the titles of the tv programmes/movies that we've put on the hudl. So far it shows just thumbnails that you have to select to find out what they are.

I'm used to the ipad where you can see all the episodes listed straight away.

Hope I'm making sense.

I use player pro. It shows episodes as a list rather than images so you can see exactly what you have. I have mine all arranged in folders by TV show.

[Deleted User] · 28/02/14 - 23:19

gomezz wrote: »

Try Bluetooth headphones then you get line level output from the Hudl.

Thanks for the suggestion gomezz. Can you explain why that might help?

[Deleted User] · 28/02/14 - 23:23

Anika Hanson wrote: »

I use player pro. It shows episodes as a list rather than images so you can see exactly what you have. I have mine all arranged in folders by TV show.

That sounds like it's exactly what we need, thanks Anika. Is it a free app?

Anika Hanson · 28/02/14 - 23:26

firestorm51 wrote: »

That sounds like it's exactly what we need, thanks Anika. Is it a free app?

Yes it's free. However sorry I meant to say MX player not player Pro.

Player pro is what I use for my music.

[Deleted User] · 28/02/14 - 23:37

That's ok, thanks for the update. Will give try it out.

Thanks again

Bunions · 01/03/14 - 05:37

I use the Archos video app which is the best I've tried so far with subtitles and everything.

I paid to upgrade but there's a free version which is almost as good as the paid one.

[Deleted User] · 01/03/14 - 08:32

Thank you. Will it organise both the internal & SD Card?

Anika Hanson · 01/03/14 - 08:46

Bunions wrote: »

I use the Archos video app which is the best I've tried so far with subtitles and everything.

I paid to upgrade but there's a free version which is almost as good as the paid one.

I've got the paid version (it was on sale) . However it never recognised my files as advertised. I've been trying to use it on Samsung devices though, maybe it works better on other devices.

Anika Hanson · 01/03/14 - 08:47

firestorm51 wrote: »

Thank you. Will it organise both the internal & SD Card?

Yes both MX player and Archos player can organise files on both External (SD) and internal storage.

[Deleted User] · 01/03/14 - 08:50

Thanks for all your help.

Now to sort out the sound when using headphones and it'll be a great unit

gomezz · 01/03/14 - 09:54

firestorm51 wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestion gomezz. Can you explain why that might help?

It is then down to the Bluetooth headphones to control the volume..

[Deleted User] · 01/03/14 - 11:46

Sorry if I'm being thick, I only know about regular headphones, would the Bluetooth ones by pass the actual volume of the hudl so you can have it much louder?

gomezz · 01/03/14 - 11:58

They come with their own built in amplification and volume control. I have found the Bluetooth output on the Hudl to be appreciably louder than the headphone output.

[Deleted User] · 01/03/14 - 12:31

Which would you recommend?

gem123 · 01/03/14 - 14:22

firestorm51 wrote: »

Hi all, hoping someone can help.

I bought a Hudl for a Xmas present for my mum to replace an arnova. On the whole have been happy with the Hudl until we went away a couple of weeks ago. When she tried to watch a movie on the plane she couldn't hear anything the sound was so low. We put different headphones in but still the same. Any ideas what to do?

Thanks

Hi, you can get an app called sound booster from google store its free and works well....has adjustable boost...worked ok on my tablet.

geoff

[Deleted User] · 01/03/14 - 14:31

gem123 wrote: »

Hi, you can get an app called sound booster from google store its free and works well....has adjustable boost...worked ok on my tablet.

geoff

Thanks geoff, will definitely give that a try. My mums going away in a few weeks so need to get something sorted by then.

Toen · 02/03/14 - 19:06

Sorry to be late coming in with the solution. The hudl sets the volume really low when you plug in headphones. Go to settings and turn the volume up. You get a warning about danger of high volume. turn it up and press ok.
Now you can hear it.
You have to do this every time you plug in earphones.
This needs a software fix.

[Deleted User] · 02/03/14 - 19:50

Toen wrote: »

Sorry to be late coming in with the solution. The hudl sets the volume really low when you plug in headphones. Go to settings and turn the volume up. You get a warning about danger of high volume. turn it up and press ok.
Now you can hear it.
You have to do this every time you plug in earphones.
This needs a software fix.

Hi, thanks for the suggestion but we did that and on the plane it was still inaudible. We tried with different headphones too.

Hey there!

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