I searched and found no thread. Sorry if this common knowledge. As one who prefers to NOT hear fake engine noise piped into the cabin, I disabled my active sound control. The process was easy and I wanted to share. The ASC unit is found under the center console. To access it, pull off the black, plastic, side panel located next to the gas pedal. Gently pull at all corners until it comes off. Once loose, I then bent the plastic as shown in the first photo. The second photo shows a metal box with a P/N number, serial number, and 5F. That’s the ASC unit. Just unplug it. The panel easily snaps back into place. Done. I still hear engine noise when accelerating, but it is at a lower volume and sounds cleaner.

 

Yep, its been done, but IMO it is such a worthwhile mod that it bears repeating.

I shouldn't be so judgemental but I've never understood the appeal of pushing artificial engine noise into an otherwise serene cabin. It reminds me of a five year old placing playing cards into the spokes of his bike. Vroom vroom!!
Whatever floats your boat I suppose. Acura should have made it more easily adjustable, including a total off setting.....not just indexing it to the drive mode as they did.

This device does more than just synthesize vroom vroom noises. There is also active noise cancellation to reduce road, wind noise etc. Unfortunately by unplugging the whole thing, this noise reduction is probably lost. Did you notice any increase in road, wind noise?

 

No difference in wind/road noise that I hear. If anything the car feels more peaceful at highway speeds. And for the record, with the fake engine noise disabled, the engine is still audible when accelerating, just at a lower volume. To me the main benefit is the quality of the sound. It no longer drones. The engine sound that came through the speakers was heavy and muddy and almost resonated in the car. Under light throttle and 2,500 rpm shift points, I think the transmission shifts seven times to reach 50 mph. With less volume and a cleaner sound, that process seems much less noticeable. I am very happy with the change.

 

I might do this, have you experienced any CEL or other lights/errors coming up after a few drives?

 

No CEL. No lights. Car operates exactly the same.

 

when did you disable the ASC?
just wondering how many miles you’ve logged since making the change. This seems too easy not to do. The Pros seem to far outweigh the Cons.

 

I did this about 100 miles ago. That implies about three "solid" trips and few short trips to the grocery store and what not. As stated, I observe a mild decrease in engine volume but a large increase in the sound's quality. It's hard to describe sound, but it seems cleaner and lighter and less obtrusive inside the cabin. And as you stated, the harness is quick and simple to unplug and just as quick and simple to plug back in.

 

That little noise synthesizer has prevented me from getting a CAT-back exhaust system to make some nice noise….and, of course to decrease back pressure, yada, yada……. It’s a money saver for me…..<smirk>

 

This does stop the fake engine noise but it also completely disables the noise cancellation in the car and it is noticeable. So far, I haven't found anyone able to disable only the engine noise unfortunately. I have it unplugged because the aftermarket subwoofer ends up picking up the cancellation signal and booming in the car with the engine speed. I prefer my sub over the loss of noise cancellation but it really hurts the premium feel of the car when the noise cancellation is off. In the future, I plan to make a toggle for the power to the anc. Toggle anc on, subs turn off. Toggle anc off, subs turn on.

 

Perhaps you can research if the fake engine noise is purely synthesized, or amplified from intake noise? I think it is the latter, because after I dropped in K&N filter, I noticed the fake engine noise changed and became less drony and more pleasant to my ears. Perhaps you can locate where the microphone is then unplug it.

 

I agree with you, the fake noise is pretty juvenile and is getting more annoying by day. When I bought the car I thought it wouldn’t be so bad, but it certainly hasn’t grown on me. I’m following to see if there has been any cons to unplugging this, and I think I’ll give it a try.

 

I just did the unplug trick.

While I do not like the fake engine noise and if it was “switchable”, I would definitely choose the off position.

After a test drive under different driving conditions, unplugging the control unit caused at least one very unpleasant effect.
There is a very pronounced drone at highway speed 60-80 Mph that is found under light throttle acceleration at those highway speeds.

Pull over, plug the unit back…….drone is gone. Clearly the active noise canceling unit is defeating the drone noise.

There many other issues not found or discovered……..but………the highway drone is enough for me to leave unit plugged in.

While I am not willing to spend more time on this, I have experienced active noise canceling troubleshooting on other Honda products. The drone noise I found did not surprise me. Many of the Honda V6 products that had cylinder canceling absolutely needed this type of drone noise cancelation, especially on smooth asphalt surfaces. ( yes no cylinder canceling on the RDX). On those products the average customer would notice the noise when the system had a problem.
My thought is if you taped over ( blocked) the active noise microphones in the car………your would reproduce the unacceptable drone noise I experienced.

 

Dang, I was afraid there would be a downside of getting rid of the fake engine sound.

 

So, finally got around to doing this. Some thoughts.

First, the "rattling" I heard coming from around the noise cancellation speaker right above the driver's head wasn't fixed by doing this. I assume this kill noise cancellation, and thus, would also kill any "popping" coming from the MOST bus issue? Seems it's a physical noise rather than electrical unless I'm mistaken in my thinking.

As for my experience with it, it seems to be a 1:1 trade-off. It kills the fake engine noise, which is very welcomed, but it definitely makes interior noise more prominent. Not so much tire or wind noise, but I noticed tire and suspension rebound was much more apparent while driving over fixed potholes or gaps in the pavement. Maybe it's mostly in my head, but I did seem to notice them more. While cruising on smooth pavement, it is far more relaxing not having to listen to the soft drone of a shitty 4-banger. Unlike Showkey, I didn't hear any drone at highway speeds (65-75MPH), but I did notice it with the fake engine noise plugged in. It's certainly worth a try, and I might go back and forth with this a few times before deciding on which I prefer.

 

Thank you soooo much for posting the location and how to disconnect the audio sound control. Since I disconnected, I feel like all the natural sounds of the engine, cabin, stereo, etc. are exactly what they should be. I don’t have to listen to the fake engine noise — the real thing is sooo much better!!

 

I have a switch wired that flips the and power (thicker yellow wire) on the anc. I end up always turning it off. I don't really hear a difference in the noise level, but I do feel like my ears are plugged. Sometimes a headache creator. I just drove 300 miles the past two days and did not notice a drone at hi speeds. Disclaimer, I always play music when driving myself, I have sound deadening in the trunck and doors. I have another sub wired. The noise I do not like is the road noise from the front tires. The rear Wells have dampening material, why they did not put in the front is beyond me. Another thread on here are a few of us trying to figure he best way of quieting those front wheel wells.

 

If and when you guys find the body drone noise most notable at 1500-2000 rpm in higher gears tip in with a light throttle ……..once identified it’s easily reproduced and unacceptable.

 

Just did this, thanks. Mine said 3A on the box but it was in the same place. I have a 2022 advance.

much better this way. I hate the fake noise and the ANC. I can hear a din in the background and ANC causes pressure on my ears (I can’t use the headphones either). Really wish Acura had an easy setting to disable both but at least I found this thread and everything else works with the box unplugged.

 

So I don’t know why it took so long, but I just unplugged the ANC module. What a pleasant surprise! I’ve come to despise the fake engine noise and it is so much better! I took it for a short ride and didn’t notice an increase in cabin noise at 50-60 mph. Haven’t tried a highway ride yet. I think it was a little noisier on a concrete strip of my ride, but it’s generally noisy there anyway. If it doesn’t produce too much of a drone, if it’s only a little noisier, I’ll live with it over the hideous fake engine noise.

 

I unplugged mine as well, the added noise will be over powder by the subs I just installed
It definitely sounds better with it off. The main reason I did this is so the aftermarket subs sounds correct.

 

2022 A-spec Advanced. Also had the 3A box. And unplugging it worked great. Thank you so much.