Radio does not Mute when the GPS is giving directions

8354 Views 23 Replies 7 Participants Last post by citysoundman, Mar 10, 2019

danornan

Discussion Starter · Dec 29, 2018

Am I doing something wrong? Shouldn't the radio mute when the GPS is giving directions? I have spoken to my local dealer and their service tech and all seem to feel that it should, but mine is not. I've also called Subaru Customer Service and they have created a Case #. I hate that my first post to this forum is a complaint, because I really do like this car. The first 2,000 miles with my Forester Touring have been extremely positive.

1 - 20 of 24 Posts

dave5358

· #2 · Dec 29, 2018

Welcome to the forum! Don't feel bad about the nature of your first post - complaints are pretty common 'first posts'.

Your problem should be completely 'inside' the head unit.

- You (or the dealer) might try disconnecting it completely - pull the power plug. Then reconnect, forcing a re-boot. Or,

- In the unit's setup, there might be a 'restore defaults' option or something similar - try that. Or,

- the Subaru dealer might be able to re-flash the head unit firmware. Or,

If none of the above solves the problem, then replace the head unit. I agree with you - the radio should mute for GPS or blu-tooth.

Reactions: 1

danornan

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 29, 2018

When I took my Forester back to the dealer, explaining the non muting problem, they took it into the service department and told me that they connected it to something that would "re-flash/re-program/check re-flash" the software mapping and possible fix the problem. It didn't and they suggested calling Subaru customer support. I called Subaru and am still waiting to hear back from Kelly and it's been about 2 weeks. When she calls I'll pass on your suggestions. Thanks !!

Sdcerreta

· #4 · Jan 1, 2019

@danornan Mine mutes the audio when giving car navigation instructions. I think I had issues at the very beginning as well. On the LCD screen I had to use the settings option, then Phone or General, to change some settings to make it work right. Did you try changing these settings?

danornan

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 1, 2019

Sdcerreta said:
@danornan Mine mutes the audio when giving car navigation instructions. I think I had issues at the very beginning as well. On the LCD screen I had to use the settings option, then Phone or General, to change some settings to make it work right. Did you try changing these settings?

I tried several different settings as did the local shop. So far, no go, but thanks. Still waiting for Customer care to call me back... As CNN says.......Day 21

danornan

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jan 4, 2019

Subaru engineers are saying that the 2019 Forester Touring 3.1 radio is not supposed to mute when the GPS is giving out instructions. There is also a significant sound level difference between AM and FM. AM sound level is low and FM is high. Is this too normal?

My major concern is that they say it is normal for me to have to listen to two sound sources at the same time. GPS instructions and what ever music source is playing. I find this unbelievable. Am I the only one to think this is not normal. Anyone else with a Subaru GPS face this?

gumbobtr

· #7 · Jan 4, 2019

What about the comments from Sdcerreta above. He states that his mutes. I checked mine for a setting and was unable to find an option to change for this function. However, when I first picked up the vehicle and was going through the options it seems that I did see something about this and if memory serves I purposely set it to "not" mute when giving guidance. I am wondering if the first firmware release had this option however for some reason it was removed with the update. Maybe someone with the older firmware can confirm this.

danornan

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jan 4, 2019

Gumbobtr, I cannot find the setting he is referring to. When I spoke to customer support at Subaru today, they said that the 2019 3.1 Forester radio should not mute when there is audio from another source.. I find this difficult to believe and have requested a follow up with Subaru engineers. Not sure if it will happen as I'm the only one with this complaint.

If anyone else with a 2019 Forester is not happy with this lack of mute, they should give customer support a call and voice their concern. First though, check yours out. I spoke to Kelly. 800 782 2783 #6 then #3.

Sdcerreta

· #9 · Jan 5, 2019

I have the Forester Sport with 8" LCD and HK system. Maybe this is different from yours.

Peja

· #10 · Jan 5, 2019 (Edited)

I can't see the HK head unit being different across the Sport, Limited and Touring trims.

gumbobtr

· #11 · Jan 5, 2019

Sdcerreta said:
I have the Forester Sport with 8" LCD and HK system. Maybe this is different from yours.

Can you confirm that the audio is muted during voice navigation when using the built-in maps? Also, did you have the firmware/map update done on the HU? I am almost certain that I remember seeing this option prior to doing this update but I do not recall where in the settings i saw it.

Sdcerreta

· #12 · Jan 6, 2019

Yes it is muted audio while giving directions from GPS linked to CarPlay and Apple Maps. I do not have a Navi unit, just maps via Apple Car Play. Yes I updated software for the HU. No firmware update that I know of, but again I do not have a Navi unit.

danornan

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jan 6, 2019

Sdcerreta said:
Yes it is muted audio while giving directions from GPS linked to CarPlay and Apple Maps. I do not have a Navi unit, just maps via Apple Car Play. Yes I updated software for the HU. No firmware update that I know of, but again I do not have a Navi unit.

After speaking to Subaru Customer Service, they act like it is a strange request to want to music to mute when the GPS is giving instructions and that I'm alone in wanting it ! I have elevated my request and am standing by... Anyone else out there with a factory installed GPS who has to listen to another source of audio at the same time?

gumbobtr

· #14 · Jan 6, 2019

Sdcerreta said:
Yes it is muted audio while giving directions from GPS linked to CarPlay and Apple Maps. I do not have a Navi unit, just maps via Apple Car Play. Yes I updated software for the HU. No firmware update that I know of, but again I do not have a Navi unit.

Ok, that makes sense. I also noticed that CarPlay mutes when giving guidance however the HU Nav does not. Thanks for clarifying.

gumbobtr

· #15 · Jan 6, 2019

danornan said:
After speaking to Subaru Customer Service, they act like it is a strange request to want to music to mute when the GPS is giving instructions and that I'm alone in wanting it ! I have elevated my request and am standing by... Anyone else out there with a factory installed GPS who has to listen to another source of audio at the same time?

I have mixed opinions on mute vs no mute. I am still trying to find the one Nav app that I like best while traveling and to be honest the HU Nav is low on the list. There is a lot that I do like about however there are a few things that annoy me. One is I find it difficult to find POI's by name. It might just take more time to figure this out so I have not give up on it. My other dislike is for a Nav unit I would expect to under state abbreviations for things such as a state highway or the use of basic navigation terms such as "via". It says to take road A "VI" road B. Just seems to be a lot of little annoying things that it should do better such as mute when giving guidance.

Sdcerreta

· #16 · Jan 15, 2019

So I have an additional comment to make. Not sure if this is happenig in other cars. As a reminder I have the Forester Sport with 8" LCD monitor and HK system, Non-navigation. I noticed a few times that the audio woudl mute, but the sound of the Car play voice giving directions was so low that it did not really sound like the audio system was muted at all. So, after playing around with the head unit for a while I realized that there is an output level for the car play volume that is separate from the main audio volume. And the tricky part is that the only way to adjust this on the fly without going into the menu settings is to turn up the volume (on radio knob or steering wheel control) ONLY when the spoken directions are being given. In other words, the volume controls the audio sound when car play directions are not being given, so you must turn up the volume only when the voice directions are spoken. I figured out that my directions voume was at about 10 and I cranked it up to 30 then the muting effect becomes quite obvious.

I wonder if this may work for some of you with the other audio systems.

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danornan

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jan 16, 2019

Scott, you should not have to do all of that. Not only would it be distracting, but dangerous.

I have been on the phone to Subaru Customer Support several times in the last month and they say they are arraigning for a factory tech person, whatever that means, to meet with me at my local dealership about the volume/muting issue. Things like different levels between the FM/AM and not muting when AM is on and GPS is giving instructions. They admit that it should not be that way, but I'll wait to see if there is a resolution !

Sdcerreta

· #18 · Jan 17, 2019

Okay, cool. Let us all know how it works out.

OriginalTwoTone

· #19 · Jan 17, 2019

Sdcerreta said:
So I have an additional comment to make. Not sure if this is happenig in other cars. As a reminder I have the Forester Sport with 8" LCD monitor and HK system, Non-navigation. I noticed a few times that the audio woudl mute, but the sound of the Car play voice giving directions was so low that it did not really sound like the audio system was muted at all. So, after playing around with the head unit for a while I realized that there is an output level for the car play volume that is separate from the main audio volume. And the tricky part is that the only way to adjust this on the fly without going into the menu settings is to turn up the volume (on radio knob or steering wheel control) ONLY when the spoken directions are being given. In other words, the volume controls the audio sound when car play directions are not being given, so you must turn up the volume only when the voice directions are spoken. I figured out that my directions voume was at about 10 and I cranked it up to 30 then the muting effect becomes quite obvious.

I wonder if this may work for some of you with the other audio systems.

AS an FYI it's how it works with Ford Sync 2 and 3. I like it since I don't have to go into a menu to change the different volumes of the system.
It's no more distracting or dangerous than one of your favorite songs playing on the radio and you reaching over to turn it up.

Reactions: 1

danornan

Discussion Starter · #20 · Jan 31, 2019

As a follow-up, and what seems to be a work around, what I've done is raise the preset volume in the settings of the GPS to about 15. This seems to raise the volume of the GPS enough to where it over rides the radio volume.

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