Does AudioPilot eat all the bass?
 

OK, I'm getting close to admitting I was an idiot for ordering the AudioPilot feature when I was warned by a few people that it wasn't worth it and/or the feature sucked...

Yesterday, driving along at around 75mph on a pretty smooth highway, I noticed that all my music sounded "thin". I went into the sound option and cranked the bass all the way up, and heard barely any difference and was worried the subwoofer wasn't working at all. When I got home, I tried another test with the same music with the engine off, and it sounded pretty good and the bass was back (I confirmed that the subwoofer was woofing). I read a couple reports of the same thing here: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2916078 .

So, is this how it is for everyone? If so, will they know what to do to turn this crappy feature off? What is involved with turning it off on the B7 S4? I feel sick at how much money this crappy option cost.

Here's how to turn it off on the B6, Perhaps the B7 is the same ..
 

It also allowed full control of the GALA(audiopilot) feature when I added the RNS-E Navi so I'm glad I did it.<ul><li><a href="http://audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=79503&amp;highlight=audio">Audiop ilot setting for Full Control....Click</a></li></ul>

If I am not mistaken...
 

... there's an "Audiopilot on/off" switch in my nav system, so you may not have to go diggin' in the trunk, not to mention solder. But I am not in my car right now so I may of course be wrong.

I talked to the dealership about it. Since there's a tsb for it(B6), they do it for free.......
 

There may also be one for the B7. It's worth looking into since it's free and so you don't have to do the work.

Re: Here's how to turn it off on the B6, Perhaps the B7 is the same ..
 

Just to clarify what you mean, with AudioPilot off, GALA is enabled, but what do you mean full control over GALA? Is there something to control for GALA? I thought it just adjusted the volume based on your speed and that's about it?

Also, did you have it disabled because it made the music sound crappy (no bass) like I'm hearing?

Thx, I'll have to ask if there's an '07 tsb...

Gala is the same as audiopilot..the mod allows you to fully turn it off..

I guess I'm getting tripped up on the definitions of GALA then...
 

From reading up on it as much as I can, I've found that GALA is Graduated Audio Level Adjustment, which I thought was only referring to the ability to vary just the volume depending on the speed, whereas Bose AudioPilot adjusts selective audio frequencies based on ambient noises picked up by a microphone. Whether GALA refers specifically to just the speed sensitive volume adjustment, or just adjusting the audio based on some criteria, it seems the tsb is to disable Bose AudioPilot, and speed sensitive volume adjustment can be enabled by recoding the RNS-E?

I'm more keen to hear from folks whether my experience with AudioPilot is typical. I'm also going to listen to it a bit more before I head to the dealer. Maybe it just needed more volume or something. *shrug*

AudioPilot Is NOT the same as GALA ...
 

GALA varies the volume based simply on road speed by using a vehicle speed signal carried over the CAN bus to the headunit (Chorus/Concert/Symphony/RNS-E).

AudioPilot is part of the Bose option from MY2004 onwards and uses a microphone to measure the noise inside the car and adjusts BOTH the volume and the frequency response in an attempt to make the radio still clearly audible when you drive on a rough road or up a steep hill - neither of which GALA can do.

To hear the difference between GALA and AudioPilot just accelerate up a steep hill from low engine rpm in two S4's (one with AudioPilot [Bose] and one with GALA [non-Bose])... I've owned both and the difference is VERY noticeable.

They may not be the same, but they work together..
 

And when you disable Audiopilot, It lets you have complete control of the Gala feature.
The Bose system never really let you turn if off before.
Perhaps that has changed on the B7 ?