A simple fix for the microphone wind noise issue

[Dysan911]

Originally Posted by st falcon

just talked to a sync tech (rep, so maybe not 100% knowledgeable) but she said the mic sensitivity is not adjustable in the car, so maybe it is a buried setting...

Thank you for contacting the Ford & Lincoln-Mercury SYNC Support Center.

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you: Is there a way to turn down the sensititvity of the microphone on sync, while making a phone call. When at highway speeds (55 and up) there is alot of background noise/windnoise...

you: the person on the other end of the call reports this every time we are at highway speeds

Sheila: There is not way to adjust that. You may want to have your dealership check the microphone to ensure it is operating properly.

The fact that the Mic is working and picking up sound indicates to me that it's likely fully functional. The fact that it also picks up background noise is probably incidental and I wouldn't have a lot of faith that the service dept would find any issue with it and state its working as intended. If it were something like the person on the other end couldn't hear you or the Sync voice commands never seemed to understand you, etc than I would thing that would be a clear case of a possible issue with the mic.

I wonder if there would be any improvement in either relocating the mic lower in the car away from the roof or try to lower the sensitivity of the mic itself by putting one of those foam wind noise protectors that you usually see on boom mics or conference room wireless mics. We have one of those and without the foam cover on the mic it seems to pick up way more background noise. I know the foam is suppose to reduce the wind noise when standing outside. It may have no effect on a mic like were using inside the car though.

That's a shame, I was truly impressed with every other aspect of this car. Sucks there had to be one feature I was looking forward to that turned out to be sorta useless.

EDIT: If I relocate the mic I will definitely share my results.

[st falcon]

Originally Posted by Dysan911

The fact that the Mic is working and picking up sound indicates to me that it's likely fully functional. The fact that it also picks up background noise is probably incidental and I wouldn't have a lot of faith that the service dept would find any issue with it and state its working as intended. If it were something like the person on the other end couldn't hear you or the Sync voice commands never seemed to understand you, etc than I would thing that would be a clear case of a possible issue with the mic.

I wonder if there would be any improvement in either relocating the mic lower in the car away from the roof or try to lower the sensitivity of the mic itself by putting one of those foam wind noise protectors that you usually see on boom mics or conference room wireless mics. We have one of those and without the foam cover on the mic it seems to pick up way more background noise. I know the foam is suppose to reduce the wind noise when standing outside. It may have no effect on a mic like were using inside the car though.

That's a shame, I was truly impressed with every other aspect of this car. Sucks there had to be one feature I was looking forward to that turned out to be sorta useless.

EDIT: If I relocate the mic I will definitely share my results.

The OP pretty much did the same thing, and it showed marked improvement. I was asking whether there was a way to adjust the sensitivity of the mic with SYNC itself, without having to resort to the fic the OP originally listed. I just like to keep things stock if for no other reason than disassembling the overhead console and risking breaking something...looks like I will be shoving some insulation in there tho.

[Dysan911]

Originally Posted by st falcon

The OP pretty much did the same thing, and it showed marked improvement. I was asking whether there was a way to adjust the sensitivity of the mic with SYNC itself, without having to resort to the fic the OP originally listed. I just like to keep things stock if for no other reason than disassembling the overhead console and risking breaking something...looks like I will be shoving some insulation in there tho.

I don't think you'll find the insulation will make it any better unless you plan on dynamatting the entire roof which would require removal of the headliner.

I mentioned sealing my mic off so well that if I put my palm over it. The other side hears absolute silence. When I remove my palm and don't speak all they hear is what sounds like rushing wind noise. It doesn't sound anywhere near that loud to my ears in the car but obviously to a mic that is turned up so sensitive it does.

[st falcon]

Originally Posted by Dysan911

I don't think you'll find the insulation will make it any better unless you plan on dynamatting the entire roof which would require removal of the headliner.

I mentioned sealing my mic off so well that if I put my palm over it. The other side hears absolute silence. When I remove my palm and don't speak all they hear is what sounds like rushing wind noise. It doesn't sound anywhere near that loud to my ears in the car but obviously to a mic that is turned up so sensitive it does.

Some have actually dynamatted the whole roof, and yeah, they had to remove the headliner. Also, many have only insulated the area surrounding the mic, as the headliner IS the noise-deadener for the rest of the roof. I would think if you could insulate the mike locally, it would help. Are you saying the its the ambient noise from INSIDE the car that is causing this?

[Dysan911]

Originally Posted by st falcon

Some have actually dynamatted the whole roof, and yeah, they had to remove the headliner. Also, many have only insulated the area surrounding the mic, as the headliner IS the noise-deadener for the rest of the roof. I would think if you could insulate the mike locally, it would help. Are you saying the its the ambient noise from INSIDE the car that is causing this?

Exactly. I thought the road noise was being picked up from the Mic on the backside of the headliner. So I took about a half inch thick piece of condensed foam and cut it to where I could wedge it directly over the back of the mic. It is completely sealed now. I have a sun roof so I can look down behind the mic by opening the sun roof and looking fwd of the headliner. My mic is literally air tight now on the back side yet it made very little difference when I test drive. Inside the car there's a degree of road noise like you'd expect in just about any car. I wouldn't say its excessive at all. But the Mic seems to amplify the crap out of it so when your talking I can hear myself clearly but it sounds like Im on a speaker phone for sure and when you stop speaking you hear the roar of the interior road noise.

Before you put insulation above your mic. Try this. Call a friend or your voicemail and leave a message as your driving and then go quiet for a sec so it can record the sound of the car inside. Place your palm over the mic and when you play back the message see if you notice when you had your palm over the mic that it was dead silent. If so then I doubt the insulation will do much.

[cacophonous]

I tested mine by putting a small head phone foam cover over the mic (inside the cabin) with small pieces of two sided tape (just a temp setup to test) and my one complainer said it was like night and day. I am going to work on something more stylish next.

Originally Posted by st falcon

Some have actually dynamatted the whole roof, and yeah, they had to remove the headliner. Also, many have only insulated the area surrounding the mic, as the headliner IS the noise-deadener for the rest of the roof. I would think if you could insulate the mike locally, it would help. Are you saying the its the ambient noise from INSIDE the car that is causing this?

[Dysan911]

Originally Posted by cacophonous

I tested mine by putting a small head phone foam cover over the mic (inside the cabin) with small pieces of two sided tape (just a temp setup to test) and my one complainer said it was like night and day. I am going to work on something more stylish next.

Thats an awesome way to test. You could probably drop your console down. Pop the mic up and fit the foam over the mic. Then snap it back in place and achieve the same if not better results.

[Dgc333]

FWIW, when my wife calls me from our Focus the only time I hear any back ground noise is if she has the sun roof open at any speed over 20 or speeds over 35 if the side windows are open.

[Murray5476]

I was told by my daughter that when I was talking she heard a lot of (static)... When I was not talking she did not hear it....
How does that fit into your ideas????

[cacophonous]

Originally Posted by Dgc333

FWIW, when my wife calls me from our Focus the only time I hear any back ground noise is if she has the sun roof open at any speed over 20 or speeds over 35 if the side windows are open.

Well if she drives under 20 MPH you are good to go.