Jabra 30 USB headset too quiet

[Markus Robert Kessler]

Hi everyone!

I used to make phonecalls with my Logitech H390 (USB) headset over several
years, and it always worked fine, but a few days ago the cable broke.

So, I switched to a "GN Netcom Jabra EVOLVE 30 II" (also USB).

This is also high quality, but with one limitation:
The microphone signal is ways too quiet, meaning, I have to go to maximum
amplification (+11 dB) in Pavucontrol. There's no room left, in the case
that this is still not loud enough.

I tested this in Ubuntu 23.10, as well as in Mageia 9.
Same outcome.

Today I asked some of my colleagues who are also using Jabra for making
phone calls, but they are working with Windows, and they said signal
strength is ok. Looks as if there was no hardware issue with Jabra.

Anyone having the same issue?
Is there a (hidden) setting for additional boost somewhere, or any other
trick to try?

Thanks!

Best regards,

Markus

[Markus Robert Kessler]

Hello Markus!
If you have an ohm meter check the impedance on the socket and compare
to headset spec. Oh, calibrate the meter first !

Post by Markus Robert Kessler
Hi everyone!
I used to make phonecalls with my Logitech H390 (USB) headset over
several years, and it always worked fine, but a few days ago the
cable broke.
So, I switched to a "GN Netcom Jabra EVOLVE 30 II" (also USB).
The microphone signal is ways too quiet, meaning, I have to go to
maximum amplification (+11 dB) in Pavucontrol. There's no room left,
in the case that this is still not loud enough.
I tested this in Ubuntu 23.10, as well as in Mageia 9.
Same outcome.
Today I asked some of my colleagues who are also using Jabra for
making phone calls, but they are working with Windows, and they said
signal strength is ok. Looks as if there was no hardware issue with
Jabra.
Anyone having the same issue?
Is there a (hidden) setting for additional boost somewhere, or any
other trick to try?

Hi, thanks!

What I forgot to mention is,

- I have two of these Jabra headsets
- both are new
- both behave in the same way

- upon pluggin in, kernel module 'hid_jabra' is loaded dynamically

Besides this, I checked for 0 Ohms between headset USB shield and
notebook / docking station shield.

Well, adding signal strength ok on Windows, and specific kernel module
loaded, together, it seems to me, that the issue is located in (Ubuntu's
and Mageia's) kernel module.

Any idea what to test next?

Thanks!

Best regards,

Markus

[David W. Hodgins]

Post by Markus Robert Kessler

Hello Markus!
If you have an ohm meter check the impedance on the socket and compare
to headset spec. Oh, calibrate the meter first !

Post by Markus Robert Kessler
Hi everyone!
I used to make phonecalls with my Logitech H390 (USB) headset over
several years, and it always worked fine, but a few days ago the
cable broke.
So, I switched to a "GN Netcom Jabra EVOLVE 30 II" (also USB).
The microphone signal is ways too quiet, meaning, I have to go to
maximum amplification (+11 dB) in Pavucontrol. There's no room left,
in the case that this is still not loud enough.
I tested this in Ubuntu 23.10, as well as in Mageia 9.
Same outcome.
Today I asked some of my colleagues who are also using Jabra for
making phone calls, but they are working with Windows, and they said
signal strength is ok. Looks as if there was no hardware issue with
Jabra.
Anyone having the same issue?
Is there a (hidden) setting for additional boost somewhere, or any
other trick to try?

Hi, thanks!
What I forgot to mention is,
- I have two of these Jabra headsets
- both are new
- both behave in the same way
- upon pluggin in, kernel module 'hid_jabra' is loaded dynamically
Besides this, I checked for 0 Ohms between headset USB shield and
notebook / docking station shield.
Well, adding signal strength ok on Windows, and specific kernel module
loaded, together, it seems to me, that the issue is located in (Ubuntu's
and Mageia's) kernel module.
Any idea what to test next?

I found https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?p=1629503#p1629503

While that article is about the mic not working, hdajackretask appears to
support output too. I've never used it before, so other then that I can't
help.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

[Markus Robert Kessler]

On Fri, 08 Mar 2024 02:20:32 -0500, Markus Robert Kessler

Post by Markus Robert Kessler

Hello Markus!
If you have an ohm meter check the impedance on the socket and compare
to headset spec. Oh, calibrate the meter first !

Post by Markus Robert Kessler
Hi everyone!
I used to make phonecalls with my Logitech H390 (USB) headset over
several years, and it always worked fine, but a few days ago the
cable broke.
So, I switched to a "GN Netcom Jabra EVOLVE 30 II" (also USB).
The microphone signal is ways too quiet, meaning, I have to go to
maximum amplification (+11 dB) in Pavucontrol. There's no room left,
in the case that this is still not loud enough.
I tested this in Ubuntu 23.10, as well as in Mageia 9.
Same outcome.
Today I asked some of my colleagues who are also using Jabra for
making phone calls, but they are working with Windows, and they
said signal strength is ok. Looks as if there was no hardware issue
with Jabra.
Anyone having the same issue?
Is there a (hidden) setting for additional boost somewhere, or any
other trick to try?

Hi, thanks!
What I forgot to mention is,
- I have two of these Jabra headsets - both are new - both behave in
the same way
- upon pluggin in, kernel module 'hid_jabra' is loaded dynamically
Besides this, I checked for 0 Ohms between headset USB shield and
notebook / docking station shield.
Well, adding signal strength ok on Windows, and specific kernel module
loaded, together, it seems to me, that the issue is located in
(Ubuntu's and Mageia's) kernel module.
Any idea what to test next?

I found https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?p=1629503#p1629503
While that article is about the mic not working, hdajackretask appears
to support output too. I've never used it before, so other then that I
can't help.
Regards, Dave Hodgins

Hi Dave, thanks a lot!

This issue is not so drastic with nowadays kernels - at least microphone
does work. It's just that there is no more room left, if the signal will
be still too low.

Also weird is the entry displayed on screen during boot time, and written
into journalctl:

usb 3-6.4.3: device descriptor read/64, error -32

which looks like this device is messing up the USB bus.

The funny thing is, this is the same message on two machines with
different hardware and different OS (Mageia, Ubuntu).

Maybe this should be reported upstream to the kernel people?
Jabra is widely deployed, and hence should be supported properly.

Thanks again,
best regards,

Markus