JBL Charge 4 cracking while volume uping

[ILoveZed]

Hi, yesterday I got a JBL Charge 4 from a pretty famous site in my country. I was very satisfied with it until today. I discovered that while I press the volume up button on my phone the speaker makes a cracking sound, but only in certain songs. The sound quality is great for me, but I am not really a speaker person, so everything sounds great to me. I really don't have any other issues with the speaker. I dont really want to return it just for that, because the whole process is really long and annoying. The problem is not big at all, but it's one of those things that are just annoying. I hope someone here can help me fix it. Here is a video of the problem

 

[Tony Stewart]

Most likely the volume does not change at the zero voltage crossing (ZVS) and is just asynchronous pulse ticks, a feature avoided with ZVS sync'd volume steps found in some digital pots or volume controllers

 

[ILoveZed]

Most likely the volume does not change at the zero voltage crossing (ZVS) and is just asynchronous pulse ticks, a feature avoided with ZVS sync'd volume steps found in some digital pots or volume controllers

But I think I am the only one with this problem. I have to add that I found a song where I can clearly hear a static sound in some parts of it.

 

[gophert]

If it only happens while using Bluetooth communication to change your volume, most people are not so critical. Also, if you'd change volume while music is playing, you likely won't notice at all (unless it is a very quiet section of a song).

It is likely caused by terribly designed software on the speaker and a low-tech communication protocol from the microcontroller on the speaker to the digital potentiometer on your speaker - especially when there are chances that the speaker's buttons can be used to control the volume. Each time you control the volume with your phone, the speaker may be tapping the volume to a minimum then tapping back up to the target set point.

You picked that speaker because of the good price vs reviews. Feel lucky that you got a good quality hardware ( speaker) and audio circuit and the manufacturer skimped on the communication software and potentiometer instead of the reverse. You only notice when changing volume instead of crappy audio all the time and glitch-free communications.

 

[ILoveZed]

If it only happens while using Bluetooth communication to change your volume, most people are not so critical. Also, if you'd change volume while music is playing, you likely won't notice at all (unless it is a very quiet section of a song).

It is likely caused by terribly designed software on the speaker and a low-tech communication protocol from the microcontroller on the speaker to the digital potentiometer on your speaker - especially when there are chances that the speaker's buttons can be used to control the volume. Each time you control the volume with your phone, the speaker may be tapping the volume to a minimum then tapping back up to the target set point.

You picked that speaker because of the good price vs reviews. Feel lucky that you got a good quality hardware ( speaker) and audio circuit and the manufacturer skimped on the communication software and potentiometer instead of the reverse. You only notice when changing volume instead of crappy audio all the time and glitch-free communications.

The problem is that now I can hear a static sound in some songs with a lot of bass. A guy from the website where I bought it from told me that it would take a month to just see if there is something wrong with the speaker, because they send it to an official JBL service, which we dont have in our country, so they send it somewhere abroad. After they check the speaker they will decide if it can be repaired or if they need to send me a new one. I decided to keep the speaker for a little bit more and to send it. I am just sad that I won't have it for a whole month.

 

[gophert]

The problem is that now I can hear a static sound in some songs with a lot of bass. A guy from the website where I bought it from told me that it would take a month to just see if there is something wrong with the speaker, because they send it to an official JBL service, which we dont have in our country, so they send it somewhere abroad. After they check the speaker they will decide if it can be repaired or if they need to send me a new one. I decided to keep the speaker for a little bit more and to send it. I am just sad that I won't have it for a whole month.

The speaker is likely to clip with strong bass when the battery is low. You may also have unrealistic expectations of how much bass power a battery operated speaker can project.

Turn down the bass (if adjustable), or turn down the volume on songs with lots of bass. The clipping should go away.

 

[ILoveZed]

The speaker is likely to clip with strong bass when the battery is low. You may also have unrealistic expectations of how much bass power a battery operated speaker can project.

Turn down the bass (if adjustable), or turn down the volume on songs with lots of bass. The clipping should go away.

I dont really know much about speakers, but I have friends with the same speaker and they dont have any issues like this. Is it possible to be something with my particular unit?

 

[gophert]

I dont really know much about speakers, but I have friends with the same speaker and they dont have any issues like this. Is it possible to be something with my particular unit?

Yes, you could have a bad power decoupling capacitor, a bum battery (can't handle the peak demands), a charger that turns off too soon (not enough headroom for the peak outputs at given amplification, or the DC bias is set incorrectly because of a bad resistor in the voltage divider network. Or, it could be any of those issues but imbedded in a dedicated audio amplifier chip. Who knows?

 

[ILoveZed]

Yes, you could have a bad power decoupling capacitor, a bum battery (can't handle the peak demands), a charger that turns off too soon (not enough headroom for the peak outputs at given amplification, or the DC bias is set incorrectly because of a bad resistor in the voltage divider network. Or, it could be any of those issues but imbedded in a dedicated audio amplifier chip. Who knows?

I think it would be better to just return it

 

[Tony Stewart]

if you cannot verify your DC is stable with Bass crackles or that the power is exceeding power rating or caused by some resonance by location or by some previous overstress, then we cannot advise