Hi all,

I did a search on HFL problems/solutions, but never really saw anyone talk about road noise. It seems like people either experienced that "popping" noise, or sounding like they were in a tunnel, or the sound quality was just as good as talking over a regular phone. But what about just plain 'ol road noise?

I have a 2006 TSX and a new Motorola V3m with Verizon. While the car was stationary, I called via HFL to my girlfriend, she said I sounded okay. Maybe a bit muffled. Then I started driving...and she said the road noise came up to a dull droning in the background while I was driving, to the point where I have to talk really loud for her to make out my voice over the apparent attack of African killer bees going on in the background.

Has anyone experienced this kind of road noise as well over HFL and TSX? If this is as good as it gets, I'm dissapointed. However it seems that others have had better success, even with Motorola phones.

If it makes a difference, I'm on stock OEM rims/tires, which I hear are not the quietest. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Yes, my wife said the same thing...specifically, when I am on Asphalt it is fine but when I enter a road that is cement paved the noise gets too loud to talk on the HFL.

 

I've not had this problem at all and I have summer tires on the car now that make a lot more noise than the stock michelins.

 

I've noticed that I need to manually turn off the AC if it's on while I'm using the HFL voice command otherwise it starts adding in random numbers to my commands.

 

Turning down the fan speed while talking also seems to help. Unlike the nav-system, the HFL does not turn the fan speed down.

 

What kind of phone do you have CGTSX2004?

Thanks all for your tips, I'll try the A/C fan speed trick.

 

Yup. My fiance confirmed this issue today while I was on the freeway talking to her using the HFL. Despite all the windows being closed, and the asphalt being as smooth as Canadian asphalts get, there was excessive noise in the background making me have to speak louder.

The AC and the fan were both "OFF" and the phone had full reception.

For Canadians: This was on highway 427-south and continued all the way to QEW at Ford-drive, so it wasn't a short conversation.

 

I have a RAZR as well that I have not had problems with and my V80 works equally well.

 

I have mine working on a Cingular Blackberry 8700c

 

Update on this issue:

I tried driving with my ear next to the HFL mic/sunglass holder assembly. When I go over bumps in the road, or when I am decelerating around 2500 rpm, I hear a slight vibrating or rattling noise inside the assembly. This seems to be consistent with the droning background noise that my gf says she hears when speaking with me over the HFL.

Time to pay Acura a visit

 

So far, the HFL is my biggest disappointment with my 2006 TSX 6MT. Similar issues as Steeveage in terms of muffled sound and excessive road noise.

I use mine with my Blackberry 8700 and have had to resort to my "wired" headset (with noise cancellation technology) on a conference call as I was driving between Montreal and Toronto, as the road noise was affecting the client's half-duplex speakerphone. The client couldn't get a word in unless they were screaming.

If you find a solution to this, please post it so we can all benefit!

 

ChrismanTSX, I think I read on the Acura website that their HFL system is supposed to have noise cancellation as well. Apparently it sucks.

So I figured out what that vibration is. It's the map light switch that swaps the lights from "Door" mode to "Off". The switch is located right next to the HFL mic. When I'm driving around 60-65, the car's vibrations seem to hit the resonance frequency of that switch, causing it to humm along with the car and introduce a vibrating noise directly into the mic! I never noticed it before because the road noise on some roads drowns it out. If I put my ear up to it though, it's there when I hit little bumps in the road or when I'm just at the right rpm.

I called my girlfriend with my finger pushing it down to stop the vibrations. She said it sounded a lot better. When I took my finger off, the annoying background noise came back again. So I'm going to call my dealer and ask them what to do about it. Maybe I can pop off the switch and put some kind of dampening underneath it. It seems to be an up and down vibration of the switch -- I tried jamming some paper into the gaps around the switch and this did nothing to silence the vibration.

I can't imagine I'm the only one with this loose switch issue. Hope this helps some of you out there with HFL noise problems.

 

i have same problem...06 w/ navi 6mt.... the rattle is heard from 2500 rpm to 3000 rpm.... but the funny thing is the rattle stops for few days, and come back...
let me know when u fix this....cuz the dealer guys r dumb... they told me it is fixed...they told me they tighten glove box....

 

My wife has a RAZR V3 with Alltel as the carrier. We haven't had any problems with pairing, send/RCV calls, or quality. We have the OEM tires on the car and she usually driving between 55-70 mph on hwy when I talk to her. I hear the road noise in the background; but, my wife is 4’11” and she sits pretty close to the mic and I understand her very well. I have a harder time hearing my son in the back seat.

The TSX needs noise canceling tech coming out of the speakers like the Honda Odysseys.

 

No problems here. People are amazed when I tell them I am in the car and driving.

Every once and a while if the road has been ground up (for a new surface) you can tell, but had I been talking normally on the phone, you would hear it also.

Unless you have a noise cancellation headset... I don't see how the HFL can be much different then your phones normal handset.

 

the HFL is probly one of my favorite features on this car, my only problem and this is probly exclusive to my car, but for some reason when having a conversation, the driverside front dash speaker distorts a lil bit while the person is talking and its really annoying. Does anyone else experience this coming from any of the speakers?

 

YES! I have that problem as well. It's not always, but usually when the person on the other line has higher pitches in their voice.

Don't know how to fix though. And why is it only the driver side speaker? Does that one receive more of the volume?

 

An update on this issue. I didn't want to tear up the map light/sunglasses/HFL assembly, so I took it in to Acura under warranty. I drove around the block with an Acura tech and showed him the vibration. He said there are wiring harnesses inside that route to the map lights and HFL, so it's possible one of them is loose inside and vibrating around...though that wouldn't explain why if I push down on the switch the vibration stops.

Anyway, they said they will just replace that entire assembly, and it's a 20 minute replacement job. I was in and out in about 10 minutes and the part is on order. For you SF Bay Area Acura owners, Autowest Acura of Steven's Creek has very friendly, helpful service.

 

Just kidding, Autowest Acura of Steven's Creek sucks.

I was told I would be called within a week. Instead I called Acura after two weeks, and they said they had the part, so I scheduled an appointment.

I arrive at 8:15 for my "appointment", and they couldn't find my paperwork from my first visit. And, instead of it being a 20 minute wait, they said it would take 1.5 hours. I was upset, but I just decided to wait and get it over with.

Anyway, 2 hours later, I rolled out of there with a brand new dome light assembly. Revved it to 2.5-3K rpms to test the vibration, vibration gone.

I called my sister to verify that my voice was clear. She said when I speak she can hear the road noise in the back, but she can hear my voice okay. The background vibration is gone. So I guess that fixes it!