Soundcore 2 Volume Fluctuations

#1

I recently purchased one of these and overall I’m happy and the sound quality and general build quality was much better than expected but there’s one issue that’s becoming increasingly irritating to the point where I’m considering sending it back and I really don’t want to if I can help it so thought I’d post on here to see if there’s something I’m doing wrong or a way to sort it.

Basically the volume fluctuations when playing music. The fluctuations are more obvious on slower songs with a mix of bass and treble but it can be quite noticeable. I’ve tried connecting it to my laptop as well as my iPhone and the issue occurs with both. I’ve also played a large variety of music so I’ve ruled out that.

The actual volume on the volume bar doesn’t change on my phone; it seems to be more fluctuations dependant on the bass in the track. It becomes very noticeable around half volume, so it’s not a case of me pushing the speaker volume to the max.

Any ideas? Perhaps it could be a faulty speaker but I’ve got a strong suspicion that the same would occur on another speaker as other than this issue the sound is very good.

Thanks

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My second anker soundcore 2 still has the audio fluctuation issue
Soundcore 3 and Boost volume fluctuation issue
My second anker soundcore 2 still has the audio fluctuation issue
#2

It may be a fault with the speaker or may just be you used a different dynamic range device.

All devices boost each frequency in a slightly different ways so some boost bass more, some boost treble more so you may find, as you describe, the bass is louder than you are accustomed to which makes it appear variable volume based on the frequency spread.

If you want to ask support then email support@anker.com , or wait a while for other Soundcore 2 owners to show up with their feedback.

I own the Soundcore XL, Mini, Nano and some buds and to my ears I prefer the Nano, others prefer the Mini and others the XL. The XL particularly boosts bass so a quiet bass on one is a louder bass on another.

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#3

Thank you for the reply. It’s not so much overpowered bass or treble, more the volume fades up and down as if I was sliding the volume bar up and down a bit on my phone. So if there’s a constant note for a few seconds you can hear the volume move up or down noticeably. This is more apparent when the speaker is turned up a bit in volume.

I’ll contact Anker, thank you for the email. If anyone experiences similar it would be good to hear about it though. The sound is so good for such a small speaker, if only the volume would stay constant!

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#4

I’ve noticed a similar thing on both my SoundCore XL and SoundCore 2 occasionally, especially when the volume is in the 25-40% bracket. On the whole it seems like a volume normalisation feature, as the volume dips do not occur when listening to tracks of a similar style, such as rock / pop followed by another rock / pop track with similar decibel values. Going from a classic rock track to something like a low opening opera track causes the dip.

Not been a massive issue for myself but as @nigelhealy has mentioned you could drop a email to support@anker.com to see if this is a undocumented design feature or fault.

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#5

Yes, I agree with @ndalby; it sounds to me like a volume normalization or compression aspect of the speaker, possibly anticipating the louder and/or bass-heavy passages of the music and adjusting the volume accordingly.

Even if this is not the case, contacting Anker should help help shed some light on the situation.

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#6

I’m having this issue with my Soundcore 2 (model A3105) with an mp3 player plugged directly in. Just tested with my phone via BT and it doesn’t seem to be doing it then. Weird. I have used my mp3 player in my car and with headphones for years and haven’t ever noticed anything like what I am w/Soundcore 2. Just got it as a birthday present so kinda bummed to hear that (pun intended). Please advise.

#7

I think the ‘volume normalization’ is one of those ‘it is what it is’ things, your welcome to contact Anker for clarification if this behaviour is intended.

As your’s is not replicating on BT connection I would lean towards the aux cable being the issue with yours. Have you tried a different cable and is the cable connected securely?

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#8

Hi, well considering the cable doesn’t cause this behavior in other scenarios… I contacted support and they are exchanging the speaker for me. Thank you for your help!

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#9

Your welcome, glad to hear your issue has been fully sorted (hopefully).

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#10

Turns out it was a faulty speaker. Anker support were excellent and sent out a new one which seems to be perfect. Very impressed with the customer service.

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#11

Great news! It seems like there are several other defective units out there, too (you are not the only one)! Just check out the reviews on Amazon.

#12

That’s great news! Kudos to Anker and their willingness to stand by their top-notch products. :thumbsup:

#13

This is why Anker.

Excellent support.

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#14

Hi @simon23 same here, just like u describes weird thing is it only happens on certain songs .,

#15

Hello. This flaw was only a BT issue since the AUX input didn’t show any volume/bass limitations. The solution is to update the firmware here.

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