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Old 11-04-2011, 12:40 AM   #76
SoCal11Subie
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The bluetooth doesnt sound good on mine either, with the NAV. I hope to mess with my phone settings and see if there is something i can do too.

What i hate is when i turn up the volume to hear the caller better it starts turning up the music volume again while im on the call!? junk
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Old 11-06-2011, 09:54 AM   #77
CarTuned
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Ok...back from the dead, I wanna add my latest experience on the blue tooth issue.

I just rented a Kia Soul (wasn't my choice, just what they handed me) and decided to sync up my phone to it for the time I had it. At one point during the trip, I got a phone call and I figured it would go as badly as in my Subaru so I started the conversation with a loud question "can you hear me?". Well, it turned out she could and very clearly too. We had an entire conversation without a single sound issue. And just for the record, I was driving at highway speeds...around 65-75.

So, after seeing a proper work correctly, I can't stand this bull**** excuse of a bluetooth from Subaru. Wtf is it gonna take for Subaru to own up to this crap and recall for replacement?

Seriously...a petition? Thousands of emails straight to Subaru headquarters? C'mon guys and gals...let's make this actually happen.

My two cents
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Old 11-06-2011, 02:58 PM   #78
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CarTuned View Post
Ok...back from the dead, I wanna add my latest experience on the blue tooth issue.

I just rented a Kia Soul (wasn't my choice, just what they handed me) and decided to sync up my phone to it for the time I had it. At one point during the trip, I got a phone call and I figured it would go as badly as in my Subaru so I started the conversation with a loud question "can you hear me?". Well, it turned out she could and very clearly too. We had an entire conversation without a single sound issue. And just for the record, I was driving at highway speeds...around 65-75.

So, after seeing a proper work correctly, I can't stand this bull**** excuse of a bluetooth from Subaru. Wtf is it gonna take for Subaru to own up to this crap and recall for replacement?

Seriously...a petition? Thousands of emails straight to Subaru headquarters? C'mon guys and gals...let's make this actually happen.

My two cents
in on this

if i would have known about the bluetooth, the subpar radio sound, and all the rattles in the car i wouldn't have bought it
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Old 11-06-2011, 03:52 PM   #79
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What's the first step? Anyone have time input on how we can get this issue resolved? Do we get a list of owners who agree on the problem and solution? Open to ideas.
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Old 11-07-2011, 02:57 PM   #80
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i would imagine we could make an online petition saying what is wrong, have people sign it, and tell them we want a recall to fix it
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Old 11-14-2011, 09:39 AM   #81
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Just being a +1 on having this issue with my 2011 STi
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Old 11-14-2011, 09:54 AM   #82
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I installed an aftermarket HU in my '11 wrx. I used the OEM location of the stock Mic. A Garmin BT mic fits perfectly along with some FrostKing weather stripping as a backing insulating. It works ok. You will hear road and wind noise while driving. I found it best to NOT install it anywhere on the steering column. Several installers said the same thing, it's best to put it up as high as possible with the headliner. Installation on the steering column results in all the bumps your hit to be sent over the mic. It sounds horrible while driving.
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Old 12-15-2011, 09:06 PM   #83
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I'm willing to sign a petition. Just returned a new chevy Malibu rental with a Bluetooth mic in the same location as my '11 Sti but was angled towards the driver. Everyone I talked to heard me crystal clear...
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Old 12-31-2011, 11:33 AM   #84
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Just picked-up my 2011 WRX last night. Same issue. I figured it was some kind of widespread issue due to a design flaw and immediately found this thread which confirmed my concerns. As a telecom guy I was glad to read about the ability to reduce the gain, and that this had a positive affect even if it was not a complete fix. The human voice covers a 3KHz frequency range between 300-3300 Hz in telephony with most voices actually operating in a lower frequency range especially for guys. I can only imagine that the lower frequency sound of the boxer engine, the lack of sound deading and air noise. the quality of mic, and the pitch of the users voice are all contibuting factors. I have a deeper voice and as a result any attempts to talk through the BT mic have been nothing short of comical. Guess I will see how it is after reducing the gain. I work with electrical engineers on a daily basis that do component level production and circuit board servicing, so at some point maybe I will pull mine and have him check out the little mic/circuit board and figure out what is actually going on electrically and how a replacement might be wired in.

Thats my logical side speaking, but my honey badger side is thinking wtf is subaru thinking when they roll a feature like this out in a new car and its close to unusable? The right answer is that they should do a better job with R&D before saddling their customers with unusable features and that instead of sending form letter replies should step-up and make this right by creating a TSB that would address the issue.

Thats my .02 as a "once-again" Subaru owner. Btw- The rest of the car is great!

Last edited by N10S; 12-31-2011 at 11:40 AM.
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Old 12-31-2011, 01:29 PM   #85
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I would say these would be heavily affected by the way the steering shroud is mounted to the steering column. If doing an aftermarket mic on the steering column I would use a foam style stickie to mount the mic to help prevent vibration being introduced into the microphone. As an installer 9 out 10 mics get mounted on the drivers A pillar. Spot is typicaly acceptable because it is padded so noise from vibration doesn't transfers as much. Also it's typically far enough from the windshield to prevent wind noise. On convertibles mounting it somewhere on the dash aimed at the driver is best. Center roof console is also acceptable if you have a driver that smokes, A pillar will present too much noise in that situation. A lot of factory mics are mounted in the center roof console.
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Old 01-01-2012, 08:00 PM   #86
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I was kinda disappointed to run across this thread since I just ordered my '12 WRX hatch yesterday but it's the least of my worries. I recently rented a Hyundai sonata and it's mic was mounted in the headliner right in front of the visor and it worked great. No problems at all. Hope Subaru does something to remedy this issue...
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Old 01-02-2012, 05:22 PM   #87
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Damn, I was looking forward to using this on the '12 WRX I just ordered too. Hope I can make it work well enough...

Oh, and there wont be a recall for this. Recalls are for safety related problems. I think it would take a act of God to get Subaru to do anything about this issue if the parts are in spec (may not be a good spec...).

Sucks tho especially since I am about to sign up to pay $30k for this car!
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Old 01-02-2012, 06:03 PM   #88
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Be prepared to be disappointed by the BT and the sound of the radio. Not only is it hard for others to hear you on BT, the system itself sucks. No way to upload your phone book or a way to trigger voice dial on your phone. I remember driving my 2011 off the lot and being in disbelief of Subaru installing such a piece of **** radio in a 28k car.
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Old 01-02-2012, 10:39 PM   #89
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I bet the microphone pics up wind noise from the roof sheet metal since it's fairly close to the area where the windshield and roof meet. has anyone tried adding some deadening to the roof around the stock microphone location to see if it gets better?
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Old 01-05-2012, 09:05 AM   #90
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I've done the padding idea (see previous posts) and it did help but it didn't fix it altogether. I am, however, going to try another material and see if it will make a difference. I'll post my results in a day or two. Hopefully, we can come up with a simple, cost effective, solution to this issue.
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Old 01-05-2012, 09:10 AM   #91
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I wrapped a layer of frostking weather stripping around the mic when I installed it in the stock location. The factory mic also had foam around it AND a printed circut board encased in plastic. I reused the black plastic enclosure. I do not get any wind noise unless the windows are open.
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Old 01-05-2012, 09:29 AM   #92
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Good idea...let's keep them coming!
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Old 01-05-2012, 11:30 AM   #93
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Are you working with the stock mic or aftermarket? Mine is all aftermarket as I replaced the factory junk.
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Old 01-05-2012, 01:04 PM   #94
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I just got my 2012 STi on Friday, driving off the lot the wife said it sounded great, driving on the highway, pxss poor.

Also I agree, the 12's will not transfer the phone books at all. POS for sure. Mine wants to do some bs voice recog garbage.

I had a single din Pioneer and it was great, expensive but no noise, dual mic, excellent. Hoped a high 30k car would be reasonable.

Looks like another grand is needed to fix it. I put the dual mic on the visor. Worked well in a truck, and is about as noisy as the STi.
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Old 01-05-2012, 01:11 PM   #95
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As are most who have posted here, I am dissappointed in the audio quality of the head unit and in the usability of the OEM bluetooth mic.

I have been able to make one improvement to the phone sound quality, however, I was using a proclip phone mount to hold my iPhone on the dash. It mounts to the center vent on the passenger side. I noticed that people could barely hear me on the car's microphone most of the time. Other times, it was OK. After several weeks of this I realized that if the phone is in its holser on the dash (3" from the stereo faceplate), callers can barely understand my voice. If the phone is sitting in the center console cupholder, on the passenger seat, or in my pocket, my voice clarity goes way up.

This is not a microphone placement issue, as in all cases I'm using the car's built in mic, paired to the phone by the H/U bluetooth connection. I believe that it is an RF coupling issue that is causing a poor bluetooth connection with the phone when it is placed that close to the H/U.

So, if you use a cell phone holder that places your phone very close to the head unit, try moving it away. Your call clarity will definately improve. However, it only improves from 'unusable' to 'poor'. I am still considering changing out the headunit and bluetooth mic to improve both call quality and the music sound quality of the OEM head unit.
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Old 01-07-2012, 10:07 PM   #96
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I just got a new 2011 STI in the hatch last week. I am not an audio guy, but even I can tell the stereo (nav plus stereo stock set up) sounds like absolute crap.

The BT does as well, pretty disappointing actually. Reading through this thread just pisses me off...not so much the stereo but the BT. That would be a really nice feature to have if it sounded decent.
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Old 01-07-2012, 10:17 PM   #97
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JMB1911
I just got a new 2011 STI in the hatch last week. I am not an audio guy, but even I can tell the stereo (nav plus stereo stock set up) sounds like absolute crap.

The BT does as well, pretty disappointing actually. Reading through this thread just pisses me off...not so much the stereo but the BT. That would be a really nice feature to have if it sounded decent.
Where did you find a new 2011??
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Old 01-07-2012, 10:52 PM   #98
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Quote:
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Where did you find a new 2011??
what you dont know? go read the I want 400hp thread.
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Old 01-07-2012, 11:00 PM   #99
ethernet
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Quote:
Originally Posted by airbornesoldier
what you dont know? go read the I want 400hp thread.
Only reason I ask is cuz I was recently looking for one. Looked all over the west coast and couldn't find a brand new one. No reason to be a jerk about it.
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Old 01-07-2012, 11:44 PM   #100
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Where did you find a new 2011??

Doug smith subaru in american fork utah....it had been there for 2 or 3 months on the showroom floor. Just got it last week.

Now they have a 2012 STI hatch on the showroom floor, the lighter blue one.
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