Multimedia playback calibration methods, devices and systems

A multimedia playback calibration method includes a calibration module (185) operating on a mobile communications device (100) to cause it to: introduce (610) test data (520) at a first end (340), in the mobile device (100), of a first playback path (430) and receive (620) data (514), played back by a playback device (350,360) at a second end (460) of the first playback path (430), at a sensor (121) integral to the mobile device (100); compare (630) the received data (514) against the test data (520) to determine a characteristic of the first playback path (430); and configure (640) the mobile device (100) to compensate for this characteristic. The mobile device (100) may comprise a handheld casing enclosing a central processing unit (105), a multimedia player module (183) for initiating playback of at least one data stream (312) on a playback device (360), communication capability (145,153,155,170) for forwarding the at least one data stream (312) from the mobile device (100) to the playback device (360) along a first playback path (430) and the calibration module (185).