Phonecalls drastically quieter than music

I've had problems with phonecalls being insanely quiet ever since I installed my Helix DSP so I suspect it has something to do with routing. I don't recall if the phonecall audio was only sent to the rear speakers during the OEM setup, but it's what happens now. I do have my phonecall volume maxed out on my Honda head unit (30) whereas I can put my music volume to like 16 and listen comfortably.

Is there like an additional audio routing that needs to be done to send phonecalls to the front speakers as well? My bluetooth phone call audio is pretty much unusable at this point.

I have noticed the exact same thing. I am curious if others have noticed this as well. What makes it odd is I am using line level out (L/R) 2 channel out of my pioneer front end to my Helix. I have no other inputs into my Helix so the music and the voice audio share the same input path. The audio level for voice calls is way down compared to any music source.

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Originally Posted by Audiogal

I have noticed the exact same thing. I am curious if others have noticed this as well. What makes it odd is I am using line level out (L/R) 2 channel out of my pioneer front end to my Helix. I have no other inputs into my Helix so the music and the voice audio share the same input path. The audio level for voice calls is way down compared to any music source.

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Dang, that makes it a little worrisome that the problem still persists even when you use an aftermarket headunit. Do you have a buried headunit or have you replaced the factory headunit altogether?

And then is your volume lower because it's not going to the fronts or is lowered across all speakers?

My father-in-law had a vehicle that would lower the volume when he applied the brake [ he passed away in 2000 ] .
20 years later , what would impress me is the phone/CD/DVD/USB etc.., whatever , came through my system @ the level I decide ! Real signal control !

Is the phone connecting directly to the Helix via bluetooth, or is it still going thru the radio?

I had this happen with my Pioneer headunit. Turns out it only outputs phone calls out the front outputs so in my system only the speakers routed to the front inputs in the Helix (dash mids and tweets) work with phone calls. In my Grand Cherokee the center speaker did a lot of heavy lifting for calls so when I was just using line out calls via Bluetooth were pointless. Not sure if my experiences will be of any help but they're worth mentioning to maybe get the ideas flowing...

Has anyone tried turning up the volume on their phone during a call?

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Originally Posted by papacueball

Has anyone tried turning up the volume on their phone during a call?

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Yes, it's maxed out.

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Originally Posted by BigAl205

Is the phone connecting directly to the Helix via bluetooth, or is it still going thru the radio?

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Directly through the radio.

Which Honda do you have? Does it have a center channel?

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Originally Posted by BigAl205

Which Honda do you have? Does it have a center channel?

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2014 Accord LX. I highly doubt it has a center channel. I did not have this problem before I installed the Helix DSP (direct into amps), so I suspect it is related to the DSP.

I just don't see how, if the bluetooth is playing thru the headunit, and the DSP is only seeing signal from the headunit, the DSP would be muting the sound. The only thing I can figure out is that the music is stereo and maybe the phone call is mono. If both channels is playing a mono signal, you could be getting cancellation.

Here's an experiment, try muting one side and making a call to see if it's louder.

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Originally Posted by BigAl205

I just don't see how, if the bluetooth is playing thru the headunit, and the DSP is only seeing signal from the headunit, the DSP would be muting the sound. The only thing I can figure out is that the music is stereo and maybe the phone call is mono. If both channels is playing a mono signal, you could be getting cancellation.

Here's an experiment, try muting one side and making a call to see if it's louder.

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Yea, I am befuddled too. Makes zero sense to me, but your theory of the phone call being mono is plausible! I'll have to check it out.

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Originally Posted by Hillbilly SQ

I had this happen with my Pioneer headunit. Turns out it only outputs phone calls out the front outputs so in my system only the speakers routed to the front inputs in the Helix (dash mids and tweets) work with phone calls. In my Grand Cherokee the center speaker did a lot of heavy lifting for calls so when I was just using line out calls via Bluetooth were pointless. Not sure if my experiences will be of any help but they're worth mentioning to maybe get the ideas flowing...

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I am using the L/R front line level outputs of the Pioneer head unit only in the Helix. My previous system using the Hertz H8 DSP had no issues at all. I even turned up the navigation volume on the head unit with n effect. Pretty weird issue. I may troubleshoot more this weekend as the weather up here is supposed to be reasonable to work in my garage. The only change was to the helix processor/amp combo. The Pioneer is connected in exactly the same way with no new adjustments at all.

Have you tried turning up the output gains on the Helix? Sounds like you just need to balance things out with gain structure in a give and take type of situation.

Just ordered parts to put in a Kenwood 9906XR in my Accord so hopefully the phonecall issue will be addressed there. I checked my settings again, and my phone volume is maxed already.

No reason it shouldn't. Use the mic that comes with the Kenwood. This way you are eliminating your car factory system completely. And use it with carplay or android auto, whichever phone you use. With this setup, you'll be able to get up to 24/48 sampling with streaming music, too, if you use Tidal Hifi or Amazon HD. That's cd quality with a streaming service. Definitely worth it over standard 320kbps streaming.

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Originally Posted by jrwalte

No reason it shouldn't. Use the mic that comes with the Kenwood. This way you are eliminating your car factory system completely. And use it with carplay or android auto, whichever phone you use. With this setup, you'll be able to get up to 24/48 sampling with streaming music, too, if you use Tidal Hifi or Amazon HD. That's cd quality with a streaming service. Definitely worth it over standard 320kbps streaming.

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Yea, I gotta figure out a place to put the mic. Was hoping to not have to put it in front of the speedo panel. I usually stream over Spotify, and I am installing the HU for the sole purpose of getting Android Auto!

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Originally Posted by BigAl205

I just don't see how, if the bluetooth is playing thru the headunit, and the DSP is only seeing signal from the headunit, the DSP would be muting the sound. The only thing I can figure out is that the music is stereo and maybe the phone call is mono. If both channels is playing a mono signal, you could be getting cancellation.

Here's an experiment, try muting one side and making a call to see if it's louder.

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you would then get no centre information as that is identical on both left and right as it’s effectively mono also

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Originally Posted by SlvrDragon50

Yea, I gotta figure out a place to put the mic. Was hoping to not have to put it in front of the speedo panel. I usually stream over Spotify, and I am installing the HU for the sole purpose of getting Android Auto!

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You can run the wire up the a-pillar and tuck it behind your headliner to install around your sun visor/rear view mirror or mount to the steering wheel column. They're pretty small. Most of the time I forget the mic is on my steering wheel column. For the GPS I installed it in the center front of my dash and tucked the wire in the window gasket then behind the dash where a-pillar is. If you want video to work while moving, install the parking switch wire to ground instead. And to get steering wheel controls to work you'll need an iDatalink Maestro.

Once you have it set up, you should try Tidal HiFi or Amazon HD trial. I've used both and as far as Android Auto, Amazon app does better. Both have their problems. But Amazon at least consistently picks up where you left off. With Tidal I had to restart the playlist every time I got in the car.

You should notice quite a difference going from compressed 320Kbps Spotify to lossless cd quality 16/44.1 1000+Kbps for all songs and master/ultra HD songs up to 24/48 3000+ Kbps (the android auto connection will limit it to 24/48 instead of up to 24/192).