Sound distortion with headphones

[IvoBG]

Hello!

Recently I've bought a new Xperia E4. When I plugged in my headphones to listen to some music via Walkman, the sound was extremely distorted. When I lowered the volume at 60%, the sound was good, but quiet. Once I pass the 60% marker the distortion starts (mainly in the bass) and at 100% the distortion is awful - basically impossible to listen. I'm sure my headphones aren't damaged, because I tested many pairs, including big over-ear Pioneer headphones which I use for my home receiver - the distortion is identical everywhere, no matter if it's a tiny in-ear headphone or a full-sized Hi-Fi set.

I've turned off all of the audio enhancements, the equalizer and the surround effects are off, but the sound is still distorted. All of the headphones I've used are 32 ohm ones. My friend also has an Xperia E4. I've tested the same headphones on his phone - the sound is distorted as well.

I've made tests with my old smartphone, which is 4 years old, lower class model without any special audio capabilities. The sound there is perfect in the entire volume range. Even at 100% the sound is loud and accurate, the bass is clean - no distortion. As for the loudness, it's almost identical to the maximum of the Xperia E4.

Please, help me to fix this problem. I know Sony for their excellent audio reputation and there must be a solution. Do I have to find different headphones? Maybe there is a software setting or an App that helps?

Thank you!

[IvoBG]

I'm sorry for double-posting. I've made more test, but still can't find an answer.

- I've updated the Walkman app to its latest version - the distortion is the same;
- I've tried a third-party audio app - the distortion is the same;
- On 2009 Nokia 6303 Classic - no distortion at 100% volume;
- On 2011 Samsung Galaxy Gio - no distortion at 100% volume (with its standard player);

I'd really appreciate to hear your thoughts about this:

- Is there a fault in my phone or this is something normal? It seems like no one is talking about this in any review.
- Is it normal to give the user an option to increase the volume to a point that's unusable?
- Are my headphones unsuitable? If yes, are there headphones, which can guarantee that the sound will be unchanged up to the maximum of the official Walkman app?
- Why two 4+ years old lower-class phones, without any audio features, don't distort the sound, while a 2015 model does? I don't expect a hi-fi player, but I expect at least the same quality as my old Android 2.3 phone, with the same headphones and the same loudness, without creaky sounds at 70-80% volume.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to rant about this, I'm genuinely asking if you have similar problem, is there a solution, software update or different headphones to pair better with Xperia E4?

Thanks!

[IvoBG · Accepted solution]

I'm writing you with some news. A couple of days ago I've installed the latest Xperia software update (over 100MB) and now the sound is perfect! I've tested with Walkman again, the same headphones, even at 100% volume the sound is crystal clear. I've even boosted the bass with the equalizer and there isn't any distortion!

I don't have any feedback from Sony's support so I don't know if my topic here helped, but I'm really happy with the sound quality now. If you read this, thank you for this fix.

[fenix3nk0r3]

What is your phone model? Android version, CDA, Compilation?

Xperia E4

E2104

E2105

E2115

E2124

Xperia E4g

E2003

E2033

E2053

E2006

E2043