usdmJON

Small update... or rather confirmation into something I can't really explain.

One user says they turned the anc off remotely and got a buzzing or humming and compared it to my results.

I already have the unit behind the glove box unplugged. I remotely went in the same way this other user did and never got a buzzing sound when turning Anc off.
I expected this since what we assumed is the anc unit is already unplugged so turning if off seems redundant.

But I believe this shows there is some difference between the users getting an auditory feedback when they flip the switch and mine. I wish I knew what the difference was though. Maybe unplugging the unit does more than remotely turning it off. Maybe turning it off isn't actually turning it off but going into standby and it results in still hearing some audio feedback.

I don't know. Just thinking out loud. I feel like conspiracy Keanu right now. Haha

Flyers257

I turned the ANC off via the diag and heard the same buzzing sound from the sub. Went away after a minute.

Idk if I was just stuffy today or what, but I feel like the car was quieter today with the ANC "off" than with it "on."

I also feel like the stereo had much higher treble on certain songs and higher bass on others. Beach Boys were piercing my ears and Iggy Azalea was thumping away. Both treble and bass are set above center, so maybe they need to be turned down with the different ANC setting.
Treble is 1 tic above center, bass is 2 tics from max, sub is 1 tic from max, and center spkr is 2 tics above center.

I'm going to leave all as-is for the week and see if I notice any noise difference with the radio off during my normal commute.

usdmJON

I felt the same. Highs became almost splitting at points where as before I had it turned all the way up and didnt ever feel it was enough. As for the bass it still isnt where a sub would put you. But my rearview mirror vibrates heavily now as well.

I however didn't get the buzzing sound when I turned it off in the diagnostic. I already had what we believe is the ANC unit unplugged so I wonder what exactly that buzzing sound is.

Is this sound when the car turns on every time or just when you deactivate the ANC?

Flyers257

Only when the ANC is first deactivated. it goes away after a minute, or you can exit the diag and cycle the car power

usdmJON

Aaah. This I figure explains why I never heard the buzzing. I physically unplugged it while there was no power on in the car. Couldn't buzz if it tried.

Someone with it plugged in still should download a db reader app for their smart phone and experiment with the anc on and off. Turn the stereo to 15 and see the db level. Then turn off the anc, leave it at 15, and see where the new db levels match with anc.

usdmJON

This may not be conclusive because the phone is reading all noise, not the the bass frequency. So unless the system as a whole gets louder it may read the same.

In2itioN

Finally took time to do the same thing today, worked like a charm. As opposed to disabling the ANC through the Diag menu, physically unplugging it actually does make a major difference.

The ELS Subwoofer itself doesn't kick all that much (almost no difference between -7 and +7), but each speaker seems to generate a lot more kick as well as physical vibration when playing lower tones.

Overall VERY happy to have done it, took a big 15 minutes total and the difference is very noticeable.

usdmJON

Awesome. Glad we got another owner to confirm it sounds better to them.

It would make sense to me that the ANC may cancel lower tones from the speaker since the point of the ANC is to drown out lower tones from the engine... how would the ANC know engine noise verse road noise verse media player noise.

I assume it doesnt and they probably tuned the ANC to allow it to do its job but they can still claim the ELS is nicer than stock... which Im sure it is even with ANC active.

In2itioN

Agreed 100%. The sound quality and clarity is much better than stock (for having compared).

With ANC unplugged I feel the bass is more present, but also I had to adjust the treble down a bit because highs also felt quite stronger.

I noticed as well that I tend to keep the volume level lower than I used to (ie. between 20-25, while it was mostly always around 30 before).

Overall I think the best term to describe the impact of unplugging the ANC is it makes the sound more powerful.

JeffN9

Hi, I'm new to the forum and have been doing some searches to try and get answers for our problem.

Fast forward two years.

My wife just purchased a 2016 ilx. We knew before buying the car that we would want to upgrade the sound system. The car came with the most basic radio/head unit. The audio shop that we wanted to work with told us that they had concerns about whether the car had anc or not. We asked the dealership and were told that it didn't. Immediately after installing a JL Audio system with a sub box in the trunk we noticed a very loud bass reverberation, for lack of a better term. It was loud enough to make you jump. We mainly noticed it when accelerating from a stop or if the sub was turned up too high from a control on the dash. From the research I've done here this seems like a common anc problem.

My question is how to get anc turned off on a 2016 without affecting the Bluetooth HF system? All of the radio diagnostic instructions I've read were for the higher end head units. Is there a way to get into the diagnostic menu and turn off anc on the base model head unit? Will it stay off? If unplugging the anc module is the way to go where is it on the 2016? Is it above the glove box like the 2014's?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff