Speed Compensated Volume (SCV) question

[wayneB7]

How can I tell whether or not my car has SCV? How does one turn it on (if it can be turned on)?

I have the Symphony head unit, with 6 CD in-dash changer, and not the Bose speakers.

As far as I could tell, search on AZ does not answer my questions.

[Grishbok]

shoot, this has been answered before but i think its buried in other posts. Its got something to do with entering the hidden menu of the symphony head unit. I cant remember how to do that but its on here somewhere, Ill look for it closer when im back at work.

[Quattro]

should be under settings in the unit, you can turn it off i believe and adjust how loud you want it.

[Hyphy]

menu..scv then turn it down.. voila

[vintagespin]

in my b6 it is so BARELY noticeable. not even really. one of my friends has a buick rendezvous, and when you're getting up to highway speed you can really hear the volume increase with the road noise. mine i only notice if i'm cruising at highway speed and turn it off and then back on again.

[nycmalu]

menu..scv then turn it down.. voila

You have to HOLD DOWN the Menu button until the alternate menu shows up... I think... Usually I check what I am about to say before I say it, but that's not an option right now since I'm away from my car for a week... But yeah, SCV or something like that, turn it up or down based on your preference. I personally don't like it, so I turned that feature off. The higher you turn it up, the more it compensates the volume based on your speed.

[wayneB7]

You have to HOLD DOWN the Menu button until the alternate menu shows up... I think... Usually I check what I am about to say before I say it, but that's not an option right now since I'm away from my car for a week... But yeah, SCV or something like that, turn it up or down based on your preference. I personally don't like it, so I turned that feature off. The higher you turn it up, the more it compensates the volume based on your speed.

Thanks for the probable tip about holding down the Menu button -- I say probable because I have not yet had a chance to confirm it, but will be leaving for work shortly.

The answers thus far -- my appreciation to all -- just serves to indicate how vague this feature is to most folk.

Grishbok -- as you said it may have been answered before but may be buried in some other post. I did do some searching and the hits that were returned were not even as clear as these. They certainly did not have a title that spoke directly to this feature. Hopefully the answer to my questions will help the next person who has similar queries.

[wayneB7]

Well thanks to the tip from nycmalu, I can confirm that if you press and hold the MENU button for maybe 3 seconds an alternate menu comes up and the first set of settings is SVC (not SCV), which I later confirmed to mean Speed-sensitive Volume Control. On my radio it was set to 3 which is mid-setting since it goes from 1 - 5 or OFF. I changed it to 5 and drove in to work while playing a CD. The volume compensation was there (I think) if subtle, but then I did not turn off the radio and turn it back on as suggested in the below quoted forum post. I will check it again on the trip back home to see what that results in.

Meanwhile, I checked the POS manual and there is nothing on the radio, let alone my Symphony and the SVC feature.

I Googled various parameters and found that these cars have not only SVC but also GALA (Graduated Audio Level Adjustment) depending on the equipment. Yet another example of Audi confusion. I continued my search and found what seems to be an excellent post on an AudiWorld forum, in 2005 --

Symphony radio hints

Please perform the following procedures while the car is parked. Otherwise you risk getting into an accident while your attention is not focused on the driving.


Entering anti-theft code
The following is the procedure to re-activate the radio if the display shows "SAFE". It is important that the procedure be followed in the correct order.


Turn on radio. The radio display shows "SAFE".
Press the P.Scan and RBDS buttons simultaneously and hold until "1000" shows on the display. Release the buttons. Do NOT press these buttons again, otherwise the radio will consider "1000" to be the code.
Use Preset buttons 1 ... 4 to enter the four-digit code number from your radio card. Preset button 1 corresponds to the first digit, Preset button 2 corresponds to the second digit, etc. Each press of the button increments the number by 1.
Once the code shown on the display is correct, press the P.Scan and RBDS buttons simultaneously and hold until the word "SAFE" appears in the display, then release the buttons.
The radio should unlock and be usable shortly afterwards.
If an incorrect code is entered, the word "SAFE" appears, first flashing and then continuously. You can repeat the above steps to unlock the radio once more, the number of attempts will be shown in the display. If an incorrect code is entered again, you radio will be locked for about one hour. After one hour - the radio must stay on and the key must remain in the ignition lock - if the display goes out, the you can repeat the above procedure to unlock again. The cycle - two attempts, one hour lock-up - still applies.
If you lose your radio code, contact your Audi dealer.

Radio Frequency Information
The following is the procedure on how to access the actual radio frequency auto fine-tuning information display.


Turn off radio.
While pressing and holding the Preset 1 button, turn on radio.
The display shows the actual radio frequency. It is constantly changing as the radio adapts and selects the strongest signal. While in FM mode, pressing the AM1 and AM2 buttons toggles the display between two modes rather than switching to AM. To switch to AM, you can first change to CD or CDC, then go to AM1 or AM2. This is a display-only mode. You cannot change any settings.
When you are done, turn off radio, then turn it back on for normal operation.

Speed-sensitive Volume Control Information
The following is the procedure on how to access the Speed-sensitive auto-volume compensation display.


Turn off radio.
While pressing and holding the Preset 2 button, turn on radio.
The display shows how many decibels the SVC has increased the volume. This is a display-only mode. You cannot change any settings.
When you are done, turn off radio, then turn it back on for normal operation.

CD Changer Detection
The following is the procedure on how to access the CD changer detection display.

Turn off radio.
While pressing and holding the Preset 4 button, turn on radio.
If you have a CD changer connected and functional, the display shows "CONNECT". Otherwise, it shows "NO CDC". This is a display-only mode. You cannot change any settings.
When you are done, turn off radio, then turn it back on for normal operation.

Hidden Equalizer
The following is the procedure on how to access and adjust the "hidden" equalizer feature in the Audi Symphony radio.

Turn off radio.
While pressing and holding the Preset 5 button, turn on radio.
You'll see a series of 8 digits displayed. From the factory, it's set to "55555555". You will not hear any sound when running in this mode.
The first four digits correspond to the four equalizer bands (low, low-mid, upper-mid, high) for the front speakers, and the last four digits are the same for the rear speakers. The level can be set from 1 (minimum) to 9 (maximum).
Turn the volume control knob to increase or decrease the level for the band (which is blinking). To advance to the next band, press the P.Scan button.
When you are done, turn off radio, then turn it back on to hear the results. On some versions of the Symphony, you must also cycle the ignition key to hear the results.

Other Preferences & Configurable Options
The following is the procedure on how to access some other preferences that you may set in the Audi Symphony radio.

Turn off radio.
While pressing and holding the P.Scan button, turn on radio.
You'll see something like "SVC 3" on the display. This is the adjustment of the effect of the Speed-sensitive Volume Control.
Turn the tuning knob (right side knob) to increase or decrese the effect, the range is from 1 to 5 (5 is maximum).
Press the P.Scan button to advance to the next adjustable parameter and you can use the tuning knob in the same way. Repeat this until it cycles back to the "SVC" mode.
When you are done, turn off radio, the setting will be remembered the next time the radio is turned on.
The table below shows a list of parameters that can be adjusted in this manner.
Parameter Description
SVC Speed-sensitive Volume Control (auto-volume compensation) effect
VOL Turn-on volume setting
SENS Station-scan sensitivity (DX/LOcal)
REM Radio Monitoring (whether radio should come on
while cassette is rewinding or fast-forwarding) (OFF/ON)
NAV Navigation system audio mute amount
TEL Hands-free telephone speaker left or right (L/R)
No effect on Bose-equipped systems.
TA Traffic Announcement volume
The volume of traffic announcements (independent of music volume). This is applicable to radios with this capability, and operated in an area with such a service.


Standard/Bose and other configuration modes
You can program the Symphony radio to use either the standard or the Bose equalization setting, as well as a few other basic configurations. This requires the use of a VAG-1551, VAG-1552 or equivalent scan tool (See VAG-COM or ProDiag). Knowledge of the usage of such a scan tool is assumed.

Note: Some Symphony radios have difficulty communicating with VAG-COM (probably due to timing sensitivity). Please visit the Ross-Tech web site for further information.


Connect scan tool to the car's OBD-II diagnotic port.
Turn on ignition and radio, select Radio Controller in scan tool.
The radio shows "DIAG" in the display.
Select "Recode Module". You may enter a 5-digit code according to the table below. For example, "00007" is a standard setting while "00017" is a Bose setting, both with CD changer and secondary display.
Turn off radio and ignition, disconnect scan tool.
Turn on radio to hear the effects. In Bose mode, the radio display will show "BOSE" briefly after turn-on.
Digit Description
1 Country ID (0 = standard)
2 Sound Coordination (0 = standard)
3 Number of passive speakers
0 = No passive speakers (Bose)
1 = Front left (Bose with hands-free phone)
2 = Fronts passive, rears active
5 = Passive fronts, non-active rears
4 Sound System
0 = standard
1 = Bose
5 Radio Configuration
1 = No CD changer
3 = With CD changer
5 = With secondary display
7 = With CD changer and secondary display

Note: Programming the radio to run in Bose mode does not make it a Bose system if it wasn't installed at the factory as such. The Bose system also has an different external amplfier and different speakers.

There are similar hints for the Delta and Concert radios.

Now AZ has some useful information regarding SVC!

[nycmalu]

Meanwhile, I checked the POS manual and there is nothing on the radio, let alone my Symphony and the SVC feature.

Doesn't the radio have its own manual? It comes in that little pouch they give you... I have the main manual in one side and 3 or 4 other little booklets in the other side. Fold closed and stick it under the steering wheel.

Dang, I'm definitely going to have to check this when I get home

[wayneB7]

Doesn't the radio have its own manual? It comes in that little pouch they give you... I have the main manual in one side and 3 or 4 other little booklets in the other side. Fold closed and stick it under the steering wheel.

Dang, I'm definitely going to have to check this when I get home

You are right nycmalu -- there is a separate small booklet. Still, I guess it was too hard to put an item in the Index of the main manual pointing to the supplementary manual.

That said, the supplementary manual had maybe a short paragraph or two on the SVC -- that's it. No step by step, and no extras like the stuff I quoted earlier.

I did hear the effect more on the way home, especially with the radio. I was playing a CD before and it was not that noticeable even at 5.

Thanks to all for all the help.