How to turn off noise cancellation on Xiaomi: 5 proven ways

Noise cancellation on Xiaomi devices is a useful feature that helps improve sound quality during calls or listening to music. However, in some situations it can work incorrectly: distort the voice of the interlocutor, create an underwater effect, or simply interfere with the use of external microphones. If you encounter such problems, this article will help to completely disable noise cancellation on smartphones, headphones and other gadgets of the brand.

We will look at the official settings in MIUI, hidden settings for power users, as well as solutions for wireless headphones Redmi Buds, Xiaomi Earbuds and other accessories. We will pay special attention to models with Qualcomm and MediaTek processors, as the noise reduction algorithms on them may differ. If after reading there are questions, check the FAQ section at the end of the article.

1. Disable noise reduction in MIUI settings

The easiest way to deactivate noise cancellation is through the standard MIUI menu, which works on most Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones with MIUI 12 and later firmware. Importantly, on some models, the path to settings may vary slightly.

Instructions:

• 📱 Open the Settings app (cog icon on the home screen).
• 🔊 Go to the section Sound and vibration.
• 🎤 Select Sound Quality or Sound Effects (on some devices – Sound Improvement).
• ⚙️ Find the Noise Cancel option (may be called Mik Noise Suppression or Voice Clearing) and move the slider to the Off position."

If you don't have one on your menu, you can control noise reduction at the application level (such as Zoom or WhatsApp), and then you can go to the app settings section.

Open "Settings"→"Sound and vibration"|The section "Sound quality" was found"|The "Noise Reduction" option is translated to "Off."|Checked sound in a phone call or recording-->

⚠️ Note: On devices with a MediaTek processor (e.g., Redmi Note 11 or POCO M4 Pro) noise reduction can be integrated into audio drivers HAL. In this case, it is disabled through the menu. MIUI It will not work, you will need to use an engineering menu.

2. Deactivation of noise reduction for specific applications

Settings in messengers and programs for calls

Many applications (such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Zoom or Google Meet) have their own noise reduction algorithms that work independently of MIUI system settings.

For WhatsApp:

1. Open the application and go to ⋮ → Settings → Warehouse and data → Quality of calls.
2. Turn off the option of Sound Improvement (or Noise Suppression).

For Zoom:

• 🎤 During the call, press three points (⋯) lower-right.
• 🔇 Select Sound Settings → Additionally.
• 🔕 Uncheck the box with Background Suppression and Original Sound (if available).

For Discord:

User settings → Voice and video → Noise suppression → Off.

If the app doesn’t have an explicit option to turn off noise reduction, try resetting it to factory settings or using the ADB method to force it to shut down.

WhatsApp|Telegram|Zoom|Discord|Google Meet|Other |I don't know-->

3.Use of the engineering menu (for experienced users)

Hidden settings of audio HAL

If standard methods don’t work, you can try turning off noise cancellation through the engineering menu, which is suitable for Qualcomm-based devices (e.g. Xiaomi 12T, Redmi K50) and some models with MediaTek. Be careful: improper changes in the engineering menu can lead to malfunctions in the audio system!

Instructions for Qualcomm:

1. Open the Phone app and enter the code ##36446337## (or alternative code ##4636## → select Audio).

For MediaTek:

• 📱 Enter the code ##36446337# or #83781##.
• 🔊 Go to Hardware Testing → Audio → Noise Reduction.
• ❌ Disable all options related to NR (Noise Reduction).

⚠️ Note: On some devices (POCO F3, Xiaomi 11 Lite) engineering menu can be blocked by the manufacturer, in which case, the attempt to enter the code will lead to the message "Connection problem or invalid". MMI code." The solution is to use the method ADB.

4. Disable noise reduction via ADB (no root)

Universal method for all devices

If previous methods didn’t work, you can use Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which doesn’t require superuser rights, but requires connecting your smartphone to your computer, and is suitable for all Android 10 and later devices.

Step-by-step:

1. 💻 Install. ADB Tools on PC.
2. 📱 On your smartphone, activate Developer Mode: Settings → The phone. → Version. MIUI (press 7 times)
3. 🔗 Turn on Debugging. USB In Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
4. 🖥️ Connect your phone to your PC and type in the command line: adb shell settings put global audio_effects_enabled 0 Next: adb shell settings put global audio_noise_reduction 0
5. 🔄 Reset the device.

To get the settings back, replace the 0 with 1 commands above, which disables noise cancellation at the Android audio policy level, so it works even where standard settings don't help.

💡

If, after the execution, ADB-Noise cancellation commands are still active, check the settings of a particular application (e.g. Google Assistant or Mi Voice Assistant) – they may have their own audio processing algorithms.

5.Noise suppression in Xiaomi wireless headphones

Xiaomi’s wireless headphones (Redmi Buds, Xiaomi Earbuds, FlipBuds) also feature active noise cancellation (ANC) and can be turned off directly in the Mi Earphones app (formerly Mi AIoT) or via Bluetooth system settings.

Method 1: Through the Mi Earphones app

• 🎧 Connect the headphones to the smartphone.
• 📱 Open the Mi Earphones app (download from Google Play if it isn't available).
• 🔊 Go to the Noise Reduction tab.
• ❌ Select Off or Transparency (if you want to hear surrounding sounds).

Method 2: Through Bluetooth settings (for some models)

1. Open Settings → Bluetooth.
2. Press the badge. ⚙️ near the connected headphones.
3. Select the sound settings → Noise suppression → Disable.

If the headphones don’t show up in Mi Earphones, update the firmware through the Mi Home app or reset them to factory settings (press the button on the case for 10 seconds).

6. Problems after switching off noise reduction and their solutions

Sometimes, after the noise cancellation is deactivated, users face new problems: the sound in one of the speakers disappears, wheezing appears, or the microphone stops working altogether. Let's look at typical situations and how to fix them.

Problem 1: The microphone does not work after the noise reduction switch is turned off

• 🔄 Reset the device.
• 🔊 Check permissions for applications in Settings → Annexes → Permits → Microphone.
• 🛠️ Reset network settings: Settings → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Resetting network settings

Problem 2: There are wheezing or distortions of sound

• 🎵 Install another calling app (e.g. Google Phone instead of the standard Mi Dialer).
• 🔧 Turn off all sound effects in Settings → Sound and vibration → Sound quality.
• 📲 Update the firmware through Settings → The phone. → Updating the system.

Problem 3: Noise reduction turns on itself after restarting

This is typical of devices with MediaTek.

1. Use the ADB method to permanently shut down.
2. Install custom recovery (TWRP) and delete the file /vendor/etc/audio_effects.conf (root).

⚠️ Attention: If the microphone is still not working properly after all the manipulations, check the physical condition of the connectors. On Xiaomi devices with a lower speaker (for example, the Redmi Note 10 Pro), the microphone mesh often clogs. Clean it with a soft brush or compressed air.

💡

If the noise cancellation is turned off, but the interlocutors still do not hear you well, the problem may lie in a hardware malfunction of the microphone or antenna, in which case contact the service center.

FAQ: Frequent questions about noise cancellation on Xiaomi