Weird problem with Etymotic MC2 / Samsung Galaxy S

[Vinay]

I've just picked up a pair of Etymotic Mc2 canalphones (thanks Felix for recommendation) to replace my broken stock Galaxy S phones. The sound is alright, except when connected to the phone. It seems like there are missing frequencies and also like the sound is alternating between left and right ear. Here is the weird part.. When I press the button on the headphones (next to the mic), the sound becomes fine! It sounds just like it should, as long as I hold that button. When I release the button, it goes back to sounding bad. Happens across all apps, even voice navigation doesn't sound right. The button is supposed to pause the music when pressed, but nothing happens, it just makes the sound ok. Any idea what is causing this, and how do I fix it? I've tried the headphones connected to my PC and they sound fine.

[GougMan]

Then it's definitely a problem with the phone. You can try the following or do a reset of the phone :

"You have to unplug the headphones from the 3.5mm jack then play the audio over the speaker and then connect the headphones again. Simply pausing the audio while the headphones are still plugged in & resuming playback will not fix it."

[Vinay]

Hi Gougman. Thanks for your reply.

I tried playing audio over the speaker and then connecting the headphones, but it did not affect the problem at all. I am investigating other solutions before I try wiping my phone .. it seems others have experienced this same problem.

[Vinay]

Ok I think I've pinpointed the source of the issue, as described here

im sure its the jack, cos the galaxy s has a 4pole trrs at left/right/mic/ground
iphone compatible headset have a 4pole trrs at left/right/ground/mic
thats why pressing the mic button clears up the sound as it closes the circuit
so it a matter of finding an adaptor that switches the mic and ground terminals

Need to find one of these adaptors now..

[Felix]

I've seen this issue once before but it was a compatibility problem using an iPhone set with a Galaxy phone. Not sure what would be causing it in this case. Sorry to hear about that! If it persists maybe send us an email and I can talk with my managers about warranty, it could be that it's a known issue

[Vinay]

I've seen this issue once before but it was a compatibility problem using an iPhone set with a Galaxy phone. Not sure what would be causing it in this case. Sorry to hear about that! If it persists maybe send us an email and I can talk with my managers about warranty, it could be that it's a known issue

Thanks, Felix. Do you sell the conversion adapter? Something like this. I'm pretty sure that will solve the issue.

[Felix]

No we don't. Definitely should though, I might pass that on to management