How to turn off noise cancellation on Xiaomi Redmi 10

Xiaomi smartphone owners often face a situation where the interlocutor complains about poor hearing or “robotic” voice during a conversation, the reason for this behavior is often the aggressive operation of the noise reduction system, which in an attempt to remove background noise cuts off useful frequencies of human speech.

With standard Android or MIUI devices, this process cannot be completely deactivated because it is embedded in deep audio processing. However, there are proven methods of accessing hidden engineering menus to change microphone settings. In this article, we will discuss in detail how to safely adjust these settings to improve communication quality without risking damage to the device's software.

Before we start taking any radical action, it's important to understand that the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) system in smartphones works in real time, analyzes the incoming signal and suppresses the frequencies typical of wind, transport or crowd hum. If you turn this off incorrectly, in a quiet room, the sound quality can improve, but outside in windy weather, the interlocutor can only hear whistles and noises.

Causes of problems with sound

Problems with voice transmission on Redmi 10 can be caused not only by software failures, but also by physical factors. Often users confuse software noise cancellation with a banal locking of the main microphone with a protective case or contamination of the speaker grid. In such cases, turning off functions in the menu will not work, and physical cleaning of the device is required.

Another common cause is firmware version conflict: After the MIUI update, the sound processing algorithms can change to become more aggressive, to improve speech intelligibility in noisy conditions, but in quiet rooms, the effect can be reversed, the voice becomes deaf, intermittent, or completely disappears for a few seconds at the beginning of a conversation.

It’s also worth noting that some third-party calling apps (like Viber, Telegram, or WhatsApp) have their own built-in noise-cancelling algorithms. Dual audio processing — first by the app, then by the phone system — causes severe distortions, in which case disabling system noise-cancellation is the only surefire solution to restore normal communication quality.

⚠️ Warning: Making changes to the engineering menu can cause the sound module to work in an unstable way.

To accurately diagnose the problem, you need to determine exactly what conditions the defect is manifesting in. If the distortion is only heard when using a hands-free or headset, the problem may lie in the Bluetooth settings or the specific speaker profile, rather than in the main microphone.

Preparing the smartphone to change settings

Before you go into deep system settings, you need to perform a number of preparatory steps, this minimizes risks and ensures the stability of the process. First of all, make sure that the battery charge of Xiaomi Redmi 10 is at least 40-50%. Suddenly shutting down the device during changes in system parameters can lead to a software failure.

The second important step is to back up your current settings, and although we won't reset your phone, fixing the initial state of the system is a good rule of thumb for any intervention in the engineering menu, take screenshots of current values or write them down on paper.

It is also recommended to disable all third-party applications that may have access to the microphone. Background processes can interfere with the operation of the sound driver during testing. Close all running programs through Task Manager.

If the phone has third-party audio enhancement apps (equalizers, amplifiers) installed, they should be temporarily removed or disabled, and they can block access to the audio system settings or conflict with Qualcomm drivers that are used in Redmi 10.

Use of the CIT Engineering Menu

The most affordable way to test microphones and basic noise reduction settings is to use the built-in CIT menu, which is for service centers, but is available to every user, and allows you to test each microphone individually and understand which channel is working with distortion.

To enter the menu, you need to open the standard Phone app and type a special code. On Xiaomi devices, this is usually a combination of ##6484## or ##4636#. Once you enter the code, the menu will open automatically. Find the section associated with the microphone test (usually called Main Mic, Top Mic, or Back Mic).

Inside the test mode, you can hear the phone recording your voice. If the noise reduction simulation is turned on (if this is available in the test), the voice is lost, then the algorithm is too aggressive. Unfortunately, right in the CIT menu, you can often not turn off the function permanently, but you can diagnose a malfunction of a particular microphone.

If the test shows that one of the microphones is silent or cracking, the problem may be hardware, in which case the software shutdown of noise cancellation will not help - you need to change the microphone board or clean the contacts.

Configure through the MTK Engineering Menu

For deeper customization, including direct control of noise reduction algorithms, the processor's engineering menu is used. Redmi 10 can come with different processors (Helio). G88 Snapdragon, but the method for MediaTek (MTK) This is the most common model. You'll need an app to enter. MTK Engineering Mode or code entry #3646633##.

After you log in, go to the Hardware Testing tab, then select Audio. Here you are interested in the Audio Debugger or Speech Enhancement section. This section contains profile settings for different scenarios: Normal Mode (normal mode), Loud Speaker Mode (loud communication) and Headset Mode (headset).

Within the selected profile (usually choose Handset -> Normal Mode) find parameters associated with NR (Noise Reduction) or ANC. Values can be represented as numerical coefficients or On/Off switches. Decreasing the NR value or switching it to Off will make the sound more natural, but less protected from external noise.

The path to the MTK menu:


Hardware Testing -> Audio -> Audio Debugger -> Speech Enhancement -> Handset -> Normal Mode -> NR (Noise Reduction)

Be careful: changing the values in the Digital Audio section can lead to the complete disappearance of sound. Only change the parameters associated with speech processing (Speech). After changing the settings, be sure to click the Set or Apply button to save the settings, otherwise they will reset after the reboot.

Resolving conflicts in messenger applications

Often the problem is not with the system, but with specific applications. Messengers like WhatsApp and Telegram use their own compression and noise reduction codecs, and if you notice that the sound is normal in a regular “bell ringer” and the messengers are bad, you need to look for settings inside the application itself.

Some versions of the apps have an option called "Improving Sound Quality" or "Noise Reduction," which needs to be found and deactivated, which will force the app to transmit a raw audio stream that the phone will process with its standard tools, which often solves the problem of metal voice.

Also, check permissions. Go to Settings -> Apps -> All apps, find a problem messenger, and select Permissions. Make sure that access to the microphone is in Always or Only When Used mode, but not limited to background processes that may conflict with the system.

• 📱 Check for updates: Make sure the messenger app is updated to the latest version via Google Play or AppGallery.
• 🔊 Test on different networks: Try calling via Wi-Fi and mobile Internet (4G), to eliminate problems with the channel capacity.
• 🧹 Cache Clearing: Clear the messenger app’s cache, as accumulated temporary files can cause malfunctions in audio codecs.

If nothing works, try to remove and reinstall the app, and sometimes the configuration files that run on your smartphone’s audio drivers are damaged during the upgrade.

Additional methods and resetting settings

If the software manipulations on the engineering menu seem too complicated or dangerous, you can try less radical methods, one of which is resetting access settings (Access Point Names) and network settings, which will not delete your personal data, but return the network configuration to the factory, which can eliminate conflicts of voice packets.

To do this, go to Settings -> Connection and Sharing -> Reset Wi-Fi, mobile networks and Bluetooth. Click Reset. Once you reboot, the phone will reset the communication settings, and the noise reduction algorithms can start working better using the standard operator profiles.

In extreme cases, if the problem has appeared after a firmware update, a full reset to factory settings (Hard Reset) can help. Remember that this action will delete all data from the phone, so be sure to back up photos and contacts.

⚠️ Warning: Wipe Data removes all files from internal memory.Be sure to copy important data to your computer or cloud storage before the procedure.

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Tip: After resetting, don't restore the app backup immediately. Check the microphone on the clean phone. If the sound is good, then one of the apps you installed was causing the problem.

Sometimes, a simple but effective procedure for calibrating sensors helps: dial the code ##64663## (or similar to your model) and test all sensors, including microphones, and the system can automatically recalibrate sensitivity levels.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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The software noise cancellation on Redmi 10 can be adjusted through the MTK engineering menu, reducing the NR parameter, but the safest way is to check the accessory (case) and settings of specific messenger applications.