Bad sound on headphones if I don't press mic button

I've just bought these headphones: www.amazon.com

They have a mic button so you can talk when attached to a mobile.

If I use the headphones in a mobile (I've just tested Samsung S3 and S1) it works like a charm.

But if I use them with my Sony Laptop with Ubuntu, sound quality is really bad. If the player is flash, sound is not good. If it is not, sound is just horrible. But if I press mic button, sound is perfect!!

What can I do?

Solution 1:

It is very simple. The headphones with mic aren't compatible with the only headphone jack.

The headphones with mic used with phone has 4 step. The standard configuration is either CTIA or OMTP. The tip is audio L, next step is audio right, 3rd step is ground (or may be mic) and 4th step is mic (or ground).

On the other hand the headphone jack only compatible with 3 pin, audio L, audio R and ground.

The reason you get horrible sound because of those last two steps. When you press the mic button, it shorts the ground with mic which intern makes your headset act like earphone without mic.

This is not related anything to ubuntu. Pure hardware issue. You need to get a 4pin to 3 pin spliter like below, or if you're having this similar problem on a mobile try the second picture

2

Solution 2:

I would suggest going to Sound Settings and try adjusting them. The bad sound might be an issue that can be fixed through the laptops' settings... If you have tried this, please let me know for further details.

Regards, Anthie G.