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Help [OFFICIAL SOLUTION]Change your vocoder settings to improve voice quality

BTW,

For those of you who bought the phone from Best Buy and can't seem to convince a Sprint rep to give you the MSL code, it should be on the printout stapled to the BB receipt under "Phone Information > Security Lock Code"

EDIT: mine doesn't work :(
 
BTW,

For those of you who bought the phone from Best Buy and can't seem to convince a Sprint rep to give you the MSL code, it should be on the printout stapled to the BB receipt under "Phone Information > Security Lock Code"

EDIT: mine doesn't work :(

I notice that on my receipt as well. It must be another security code. I wonder what different kinds of lock codes there are and what they are typically used for?

It sounds that the only ways to get the MSL is to either get it from Sprint, or using CDMA Workshop. Any apps on Marketplace won't work since you need root access for them to be able to retrieve your MSL. I am curious however what the Security Lock Code you mention above is exactly since I see it on my BB receipt as well?
 
I notice that on my receipt as well. It must be another security code. I wonder what different kinds of lock codes there are and what they are typically used for?

It sounds that the only way (right now with a locked bootloader and no root) to get the MSL is to get it from Sprint. I am curious however what the Security Lock Code you mention above is exactly since I see it on my BB receipt as well?

You can get your MSL through CDMA Workshop, too. Instructions for that are linked to in the FAQ in my signature. Go to A.01.
 
BTW,

For those of you who bought the phone from Best Buy and can't seem to convince a Sprint rep to give you the MSL code, it should be on the printout stapled to the BB receipt under "Phone Information > Security Lock Code"

EDIT: mine doesn't work :(

Unless Sprint sent out a mass memo telling techs to stop giving out MSLs, I'd just call back. Before I posted my initial findings yesterday, I called and the lady rattled off 3 MSLs for EVOs on my account like it was nothing. She first wanted to make sure there wasn't anything she could help me with as far as programming.

One thing that might make a difference is getting the right person. I tried chatting with Customer Care and she said she was unable to give it out and to call technical support...
 
just to help,

there is a one time one-use code thats used to activate the handset. this has been the case for decades. after that code is used it is no longer able to work. the MSL is the MASTER code..

before online activation's, one would use these codes to get into the programming ( lower level) of the handset to enter ones telephone information.. now with the online/OTA activation's, these one time use codes get burnt and the MSL is the only one to get in.
 
just to help,

there is a one time one-use code thats used to activate the handset. this has been the case for decades. after that code is used it is no longer able to work. the MSL is the MASTER code..

before online activation's, one would use these codes to get into the programming ( lower level) of the handset to enter ones telephone information.. now with the online/OTA activation's, these one time use codes get burnt and the MSL is the only one to get in.

That's precisely what I remember, and what made me confused: Back in the day there used to be one MASTER code that would unlock many things. There may have also been the simple '0000' code to do a hard reset or something, and GSM devices had an unlock code (not sure if this was the same as the MASTER code).

Anyway, thanks for the description.
 
Didn't know which one of your posts to reply to, but I have an update.

Got a call back from the Sprint rep telling me that tech support wanted to talk. Got my MSL through them (by asking nicely) :)

I was told on the first call that I am talking to tech support, but I guess there is a real "tech support". Just get to those guys and you should be fine!
 
Ok,

i have the second gen Airvana model with VoIP and 3D support.

altering all 3 settings make the handset NOT work on calls. the call connects however any voice is garbled and completely unintelligible. back to the standard defaults for me.
 
Ok,

i have the second gen Airvana model with VoIP and 3D support.

altering all 3 settings make the handset NOT work on calls. the call connects however any voice is garbled and completely unintelligible. back to the standard defaults for me.

There were some reports that the 13k setting removed some of the static from calls, and works with both generations of Airave and Airvana. If EVRC still doesn't sound quite right, maybe it is worth trying some of the other settings for people who also use network extenders like the Airave and Airvana?
 
maybe I'm just being timid, but I don't plan to muck around in those MSL-protected areas unless it's a tried and true procedure. The call quality is fine for me, so there's no reason for me to take on any risk at this point.
 
Well, that's a no go for me when I called. The Tech simply said he could not give it out and that I could go to a Sprint store and have them fix what ever I needed.

Oh well, I will probably try the xda way of getting the MSL number. Is it a pain it the butt or worth doing?
 
maybe I'm just being timid, but I don't plan to muck around in those MSL-protected areas unless it's a tried and true procedure. The call quality is fine for me, so there's no reason for me to take on any risk at this point.

+1, excellent point. I also tend to be timid, and think for areas I'm satisfied with, I don't see the need to take on risk by making changes in MSL protected settings. Since I wasn't happy with voice quality, I was willing to take on the risk of making the change to see if it helped me out. But if I were satisfied, then it wouldn't make much sense for me to try something else.
 
maybe I'm just being timid, but I don't plan to muck around in those MSL-protected areas unless it's a tried and true procedure. The call quality is fine for me, so there's no reason for me to take on any risk at this point.

Definitely a solid point. Anyone who doesn't really have complaints about voice quality really has no reason to fix what "ain't broke."

That said, you can trace back my original posts in the Support Call Quality Analysis thread and see, it was markedly bad for me. Straining to hear callers, and lots of repeating myself.

I guess I don't see any true harm. If I start noticing negative differences in my experience with the phone, I'll just switch it back.

One of my justifications to myself is that Sprint isn't ready to flip the switch on EVRC-B on our handsets until it is enabled across the board. They'd rather have customers experience consistent call quality than "clearer" calls some of the time, and muddy/muffled/garbled calls other times. It would draw attention/increase technical support calls. Purely speculation ;).
 
yeah definitely. if today my call quality was markedly worse than what I was used to, I'd be trying everything. All options on table, including returning the phone.

So... I'll wait for more daring guinea pigs to try out these other vocoder options and I'll wait and see :)
 
Well, that's a no go for me when I called. The Tech simply said he could not give it out and that I could go to a Sprint store and have them fix what ever I needed.

Oh well, I will probably try the xda way of getting the MSL number. Is it a pain it the butt or worth doing?

I assume you're referring to CDMA Workshop. I couldn't get Sprint to give me the MSL so I did it this way. I was fortunate to be running win7x64, so the screenies were directly relevant to me. I followed the instructions exactly as specified and got the MSL easy.
 
One potential thing to monitor is whether the EVRC-B settings eat up battery life substantially faster then the stock EVRC settings?

I believe EarlyMon had stated he noticed his CPU usage went up with the new EVRC-B settings from where they were with the stock EVRC.

I haven't used it long enough to report anything definitive yet, but I think it is something worth monitoring as decreased battery life and increased CPU usage may be a potential side-effect / trade off you make in order to get better voice quality.
 
One potential thing to monitor is whether the EVRC-B settings eat up battery life substantially faster then the stock EVRC settings?

I believe EarlyMon had stated he noticed his CPU usage went up with the new EVRC-B settings from where they were with the stock EVRC.

I haven't used it long enough to report anything definitive yet, but I think it is something worth monitoring as decreased battery life and increased CPU usage may be a potential side-effect / trade off you make in order to get better voice quality.

Yeah, I think I read somewhere that this might be a potential side-effect. The slight battery ding, which I haven't noticed yet, is worth the better voice quality to me. I'm guessing we'll all be forced to EVRC-B eventually, anyway.

Another article (about halfway down) on vocoders with some battery comparisons. They show that 13K has even better battery life.
 
Yeah, I think I read somewhere that this might be a potential side-effect. The slight battery ding, which I haven't noticed yet, is worth the better voice quality to me. I'm guessing we'll all be forced to EVRC-B eventually, anyway.

Another awesome article on vocoders with some battery comparisons. They show that 13K has even better battery life.

This may just explain why Sprint had the Evo3D set to use the EVRC codec out of the gate in the first place, provided there is a trade-off between battery life and voice quality when using EVRC-B.

With all the pressure to give both the Evo4G and the Evo3D (along with ANY other device) the best battery life possible, perhaps that helps to explain why they had EVRC as the default. That, in combination that EVRC-B doesn't seem to play nicely with network extenders either.

I'll continue to monitor it and see if I notice my battery dying markedly faster. I agree, to me a slight decrease in battery life is definitely a sacrifice I'm willing to make to get better voice quality. On the other hand, if I were to find my battery is getting drained a lot faster then before, then I might need to reconsider.
 
Hey guys I got the new airave, installed it about a week ago and did this mod. I do notice calls being louder. I am going to test my wifes phone now.
 
Hey guys I got the new airave, installed it about a week ago and did this mod. I do notice calls being louder. I am going to test my wifes phone now.

Wait, you can confirm that you're using EVRC-B on the Airave? Dial *99 to get the recorded confirmation, if I'm recalling the code correctly.

Someone else reported that it wasn't working on the newer Airave, unless there is a NEW new one :rolleyes:.
 
Well, that's a no go for me when I called. The Tech simply said he could not give it out and that I could go to a Sprint store and have them fix what ever I needed.

Oh well, I will probably try the xda way of getting the MSL number. Is it a pain it the butt or worth doing?

I went through all the steps and was about to figure it out when Sprint called me back with my MSL.

Just a note, if you get an error that you can't get the MSL through cdma workshop, there's an alternative driver on page 8 of the thread. Might even be better to go for that one first since it gets annoying trying to uninstall drivers. (this is the driver for the diagnostics tool btw)
 
yes please confirm you are actually ON the airvana (the first gen is called Airave) and you get the tone at the beginning of the call.

I have the second gen airvana and the audio was completely garbled.



Wait, you can confirm that you're using EVRC-B on the Airave? Dial *99 to get the recorded confirmation, if I'm recalling the code correctly.

Someone else reported that it wasn't working on the newer Airave, unless there is a NEW new one :rolleyes:.
 
Wait, you can confirm that you're using EVRC-B on the Airave? Dial *99 to get the recorded confirmation, if I'm recalling the code correctly.

Someone else reported that it wasn't working on the newer Airave, unless there is a NEW new one :rolleyes:.


I just dialed *99 and its saying, "You are now within airave coverage."

So do am I good?
 
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