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FM Radio sound quality problem

550K views 1.6K replies 317 participants last post by  FamilyVanLife  
#1 ·
I have an EX-L without Navi. What I'm experiencing is it seems the volume is going up and down and clarity going from very clear(this is when volume goes up) to muffled(this is when volume goes down). I disabled the volume compensation thinking that was the problem but it's still doing it. It's driving me crazy. It's like the head unit is adjusting the volume if it senses static on the station or something? The thing is, many times, there is no static so I can't figure out what it's doing. It doesn't seem to do it on all stations though. The station I'm trouble with the most is not local but only an hour away. I listen to it in my other cars with no problems :confused:
 
#2 ·
I also have 2016 EX-L no Navi, and the sound is terrible on regular radio stations. Cannot get the bass and treble adjusted to sound right. Turning up the subwoofer does not seem to make any difference. However, XM stations sounds very good, and bluetooth streaming thru my phone sounds great. I just sold my 2003 Pilot EX-L and factory stereo had better subwoofer and radio stations sounded better than in the new Pilot. Anyone else noticed this issue? Great vehicle otherwise.
 
#3 ·
I have an EX-L with navigation. I have the same problem. Navi or not the sound is just straight bad. They just don't make speakers in cars like they used to, like where's the subs at?! I miss the great sound quality my traded in 2005 Odys produced. Oh well I just wish the bad quality sound at least stayed the same volume because that would make it slightly better lol.
 
#4 ·
Spoke with a friend who has a different manufacturer vehicle but he was able to turn HD radio OFF through his radio. He had very similar problems to me. I did some reading and some HD radios will pull in HD and automatically switch back to analog when it loses HD. This could be my problem. I'm going to hunt through the options to see if I can disable HD.
 
#5 ·
I have a EXL RES non Navi and the speaker sound reproduction is horrible on any source. My 2012 was better then this and my 2010 was better then this. The 2010 was the best. Guess they just don't care about the speakers and the reproduction of good sound anymore.
 
#7 ·
Audio Quality in Hondas

I am shopping for a new Pilot now, but have owned many Hondas. Currently our stable includes a 2007 Honda CRV. The audio quality in our CRV is terrible and had been that way since new. When I think back, I cannot remember any of our seven Hondas that have had good audio quality. Why should the poor quality of the 2016 Pilot surprise us?

The head of the Honda Audio performance must be deaf, but they keep on selling them.

Honda is not the only auto manufacturer with this problem. I normally drive a BMW 335i sedan, with their premium audio system. Audio performance of this system is only slightly better than Honda audio. When the BMW was still new, I spent $1500 on a good audio amplifier and speakers (my hours of labor for the install were free). Once the new parts were installed, the audio system was transformed.

IMHO, BMW could have affected the same result by spending $250 on better components. Personally, I would have appreciated the opportunity to spend $250 to get a decent audio system as compared to spending $1500 and dozens of hours to install decent components.
 
#1,371 ·
Honda audio quality

I am shopping for a new Pilot now, but have owned many Hondas. Currently our stable includes a 2007 Honda CRV. The audio quality in our CRV is terrible and had been that way since new. When I think back, I cannot remember any of our seven Hondas that have had good audio quality. Why should the poor quality of the 2016 Pilot surprise us? /QUOTE]

I bought a 2005 Accord Coupe V6 six speed new and the audio sound quality has always been stellar. FM/CD/XM and especially from my IPod adaptor I installed since it didn't have that interface. Our 2015 Acura TLX has a fine system like our previous 2004 Acura TL. I have no complaints about any of them. I recently ordered a Pilot Touring. Now I'm worried it will sound bad so I'm planning on revisiting the dealership and getting a complete Infotainment demo by a knowledgeable salesperson to show me how to run everything and prove to me it sounds good on all sources. If not, I can cancel the order and get my $1000 check back. I've already decided to fabricate a display hood to keep the sun glare off of it. Our '15 TLX has this designed into the dash and it works very well. Why couldn't Honda do this for the new Pilot? I'll bet you will see this upgrade on the 2018's but not on the '17's.
 
#8 ·
Any resolution to this? We just picked up a EX-L tonight and we noticed our audio volume drastically changing. This is very similar to the condition I had on my Jeep's aftermarket radio and was fixed by shutting off HD radio. Very disappointed and I am hoping it is just a setting issue; if not, I will have to elevate this issue. Any advice would be appreciated!
 
#944 ·
A few Elite owners confirmed they experienced the same issues several pages back. I remember asking about this as I thought an easy fix would have been to just drop in the $5 HD Radio chip (or however much it is).
 
#13 ·
Day 2 and here is what I discovered. There is clearly something wrong with the FM tuner. The sound level fades in and out even with the sound level adjustment off. There is also zero low end bass. If I switch to XM radio it sounds like a totally different system. You regain all low level bass and your levels stay consistent. Anyone else with this problem please keep the forum posted on dealer solutions and I will do the same. Hopefully heading to the dealer next week. Thanks!
 
#16 ·
I'm willing to bet it's the antenna. My wife's car (Chevy Malibu) has the same problem with fluctuating sound quality in FM. That also has a shark fin antenna. All other sources are fine. My last car had a traditional mast antenna and I had no problems with FM.

I am surprised at the difference between the audio sources on the pilot. Satellite and Bluetooth are much better for me than what others are stating. Lots of bass too. I don't know what the real difference between the "bass" and "subwoofer l" settings are, but perhaps folks aren't tweaking them enough.

Just my $.02 on the matter.
 
#18 ·
Here is what I learned...nothing! The Honda service department called me and said they were told to pull another head unit out of a brand new Pilot and put it in mine. The dealer refused to do that. I asked if Honda would send the dealer a new head unit to try and they said Honda would not. The service advisor pretty much said there is nothing they could do. I called Honda and I am waiting for a case manager - ridiculous!
 
#21 ·
Thanks for the update.

Over in the Accord Forums, people have good luck turning off some of the sound processing. I think they got into the service menu to do this. Maybe there is something similar on the pilot.
I went into the service mode but didn't see anything that looked like it would help. Maybe I overlooked it. I'll look again this weekend.
 
#22 ·
2016 Honda Pilot Radio Sound Issues

I have a 2016 EX-L with Navigation. I'm experiencing the radio volume going up and down and clarity going from very clear to static. I disabled the volume compensation but it's still doing it. It's really annoying.It happens with FM, AM, connected telephone but not with XM stations.
I took it to the dealer to have the issue serviced and after keeping my car for 8 days I was told that Honda technician told them to test drive another 2016 Honda Pilot to see if the same thing happens. I was told they did and that the sound is the same. I can not believe that so I have another appointment with the Honda service dept to test drive another 2016 Honda Pilot myself to see if it has the same sound issues, If it does, as I see here other people experience the same, I would have no choice but to contact corporate Honda to check if there is any solution. Please keep your input and experience posted to get this issue resolved.
 
#1,429 ·
I have a 2016 EX-L with Navigation. I'm experiencing the radio volume going up and down and clarity going from very clear to static. I disabled the volume compensation but it's still doing it. It's really annoying.It happens with FM, AM, connected telephone but not with XM stations.
I took it to the dealer to have the issue serviced and after keeping my car for 8 days I was told that Honda technician told them to test drive another 2016 Honda Pilot to see if the same thing happens. I was told they did and that the sound is the same. I can not believe that so I have another appointment with the Honda service dept to test drive another 2016 Honda Pilot myself to see if it has the same sound issues, If it does, as I see here other people experience the same, I would have no choice but to contact corporate Honda to check if there is any solution. Please keep your input and experience posted to get this issue resolved.
I have a 2016 Accord coupe. Same problem. Honda America says they are unaware of any issues with radio. I find this hard to believe.Looks like just another instance of BIG business not wanting to deal with little guy problems.
 
#24 ·
Here's another audio issue I cam across the other day. For those of you who have ever installed your own aftermarket stereo in a car, if you don't ground it correctly you can get a high pitched whining noise that fluctuates when you press on the throttle.

Well, yesterday I turned off the radio and AC in the car while waiting for the kids to finish up some shopping with the wife. With the windows up and everything off and th ePilot still running I could hear this faint sound...when I pressed on the gas pedal the sound increased in pitch and frequency as if it weren't grounded properly. You would never notice this if you have the radio turned up. And since we can't actually turn the entire radio/Nav system off the sound is always present.

By the way this is in a Touring. Basically my opinion is the system and probably the car itself is not grounded as good as it can be.
 
#25 ·
I have had the exact same experience as 2016HondaPilot above. Two days after buying the car I took it in to the service center for fluctuating sound, intermittent static, going from stereo to mono, etc. Most noticeable on FM, but also occurs on AM and XM sounds poor as well. The service center acknowledged there is an issue but claims other cars on the lot do the same thing. After having the car for a week they said they talked to Honda Tech and the maker of the stereo (I think they said Clarion but could be wrong) and no fix at this time. Completely frustrated as this is by far the worst sound system I have ever experienced.
 
#1,549 ·
Had pretty much the exact same experience with my '17 Pilot - Touring. After only 1 week, it stayed at the dealership as much as it did in my driveway. Had every technician and manager listen to the poor sound quality. 1st Service rep tried to tell me that it sounded good to him. 5 minutes later when the 2nd Service rep walked up to the car to hear the complaint, he immediately said "yeah, that sound totally 'flat'". The Service manager took a listen and ultimately had to agree that audio sound quality was not good. After a week in the shop, they said they checked the antennae in the rear window for connection issues, checked for system problems, listened to another similar model on the lot to say it sounded the same, and called Honda to find out they're saying there's nothing they could do... Just a model defect. Spending over $30k for a vehicle that you have to make yourself try to like is deplorable!!! Thought about trading in the car after 3 months but found out i would not get anywhere near price I'd just put into it. So now I'm faced with adding another $800-$1,500 for sound equipment to drive down the rode without a frown...
 
#26 ·
Strange that reception is so bad. My Accord has an in glass antenna and has spectacular reception. I can typically get FM stations up to 100 miles away. Of course in South Dakota there aren't too many things in the way.

Now as far as sound quality goes - that is a different story. I think the CD/AUX sound is good, but the FM sound is only fair (sounds like AM). In comparison I would rate my other cars stock head unit with Kicker door and headrest speakers as very good.

Frankly I am not interested in going up to Excellent in a car - too much other noise to compete with. I'll save that for my home system.
 
#27 ·
We too are experiencing the same issues. EX-L, bought 2 weeks ago. The volume fluctuates and the overall sound is terrible for FM as well as Sirius. It sounds like we have a transistor radio playing on the floor. If I play off my phone, it sounds better but the volume fluctuates as well. The 09 Odyssey that we traded in had much better sound. I just dropped it off at the dealer to see if they can fix it. The Civic they loaned me even had better sound. Has anyone been able to fix the issue? The accessory specialist at First Texas Honda basically told me that the quality of the stereo (and paint) has gone down since we purchased our 2009 Odyssey. Maybe she is right....
 
#29 ·
So my case manager called me a week ago now. The way he left it was he would be calling the service department I went to. I have yet to hear back from anyone from Honda. It sounds like there is a systemic problem. If that is the case then fine, but I would expect better communication from Honda than that! The case manager didn't even give me his phone number or a case number. I had to ask for his number, but he won't return my call and doesn't answer.