1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Prius v3 Radio - Sound going in and out

Discussion in 'Prius v Audio and Electronics' started by ghettomaximaz, Aug 4, 2012.

  1. ghettomaximaz

    ghettomaximaz Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2012
    23
    0
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    Hello,

    This could very well be that I am a newbie, but when driving the v3, i noticed when on FM radio, the radio goes from crisp sound to muffled noise as if the person is singing under water. I noticed that when this happens the "HD" sign next to the FM radio frequency goes on and off.

    No other car that I have has "HD" radio and it always sounds crisp in those. Is this to be expected that as I am driving down the road the HD radio goes "in and out" and the sound quality suffers as a result?

    Can something be done to correct this?

    Thanks
     
    #1 ghettomaximaz, Aug 4, 2012
  2. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2005
    29,110
    8,591
    201
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    Yep, hd radio is cd quality sound, fm is well fm. Mine goes in and out in places and the clear sound switching back and forth to fm can get annoying. Only fix is turn hd radio off to force it to stay in fm.
     
    #2 Paradox, Aug 4, 2012
  3. ghettomaximaz

    ghettomaximaz Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2012
    23
    0
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    only thing is when i switch hd off, the fm sounds awful. not sure why fm should sound that bad. Not the case in other vehicles. The FM sounds just so muffled and i have to kick up the volume and its still not crisp.

    Assume there is nothing I can do?
     
    #3 ghettomaximaz, Aug 4, 2012
  4. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2005
    29,110
    8,591
    201
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    Basically, that's it... Leave hd radio on, but have it switch or just use fm. That is, short of making your own CDs or mp3 loaded thumb drive etc.
     
    #4 Paradox, Aug 4, 2012
  5. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2008
    8,498
    5,063
    7
    Location:
    Texas Hill Country
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    Adjust the bass and treble for the best sound under standard FM. There is no doubt that the v's speakers and amps were optimized for the HD radio function, the bass and treble "pops" and is very detailed when receiving a good HD stream.

    Other FM only receivers often use digital signal processors to dynamically enhance lows and highs (often called "rock", "pop", "jazz", "normal"). This car does not have that kind of DSP although they have an option with the name for variable sound levels based on noise levels in the car. As a result, the HD radio sounds good in an always "normal" DSP and you hear the difference in FM.

    Another option is to increase the antenna length. I did and it helps maintain HD in good signal areas. Typically the radio stations broadcast HD with only 1% of the power as the analog FM. No wonder it drops out in a moving car with a stub antenna.

    Finally you could have a DSP amp installed which some have done. If you are one of tremendous faith and hope, one could hope that software upgrades (toyota or 3rd party) will eventually improve things.
     
    #5 rjparker, Aug 4, 2012
    ghettomaximaz likes this.
  6. ghettomaximaz

    ghettomaximaz Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2012
    23
    0
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    RJParker,

    Thank you so much for the response. Sorry in advance for the barrage of questions below but any help would be greatly appreciated.

    In regards to a DSP amp, do you know of any that others have used?
    Will installation of this completely wipe out the issue I am having?
    What do these things typically cost?
    What is the level of difficulty in installation?

    Thanks
     
    #6 ghettomaximaz, Aug 6, 2012
  7. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2008
    8,498
    5,063
    7
    Location:
    Texas Hill Country
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    The amp will help the clarity of your analog FM but will do nothing for the HD dropouts. Plus the HD disable is apparently only good for the current trip and then you have to do it again. A better antenna is the only hope for better HD and is only a moderate improvement since the power is probably 1% of normal analog FM. You aren't the first to complain about the intermittent HD in a moving vehicle, Prius or not. Too bad it sounds good.

    When you are talking audio, you will get a lot of opinions on how elaborate to go. Assuming you don't need to shake the car with subwoofers, there are reasonable options. Look for amps or dsp in this forum for options others have installed, but my suggestion is to shop your local audio suppliers and go in with a max budget you are willing to spend. They do have to keep your radio as it is highly integrated into your v model three Prius. If you had the non-navigation version of Display Audio, there is an aftermarket replacement but it's pricey. I would think $500 could improve things with an amp and some basic new speakers but that might be the low end. Two or three audio shops and Best Buy can offer pricing and options and they would install it in a couple of hours. They do have to run wires and hide them.
     
    #7 rjparker, Aug 6, 2012
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)