DIY: Bose Symphony Radio Controls

[1997gtx]

This hasn't come up in a while and since there are so many new S4 owners hanging around now, I thought it would be a good idea to let you know how good the stock stereo system can be. Below are the things you can do that I know about. If anyone knows of any others, please add it to the list. Thanks!
--Adam

Hidden Equalizer


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

1. Turn off radio.
2. While pressing and holding the Preset 5 button, turn on radio.
3. 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.
4. 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).
5. 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.
6. 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.

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.

1. Turn on radio. The radio display shows "SAFE".
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. The radio should unlock and be usable shortly afterwards.
6. 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.
7. 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.

1. Turn off radio.
2. While pressing and holding the Preset 1 button, turn on radio.
3. 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.
4. 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.

1. Turn off radio.
2. While pressing and holding the Preset 4 button, turn on radio.
3. 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.
4. When you are done, turn off radio, then turn it back on for normal operation.

Speed-sensitive Volume Control & 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.

1. Turn off radio.
2. While pressing and holding the P.Scan button, turn on radio.
3. You'll see something like "SVC 3" on the display. This is the adjustment of the effect of the Speed-sensitive Volume Control.
4. Turn the tuning knob (right side knob) to increase or decrese the effect, the range is from 1 to 5 (5 is maximum).
5. 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.
6. When you are done, turn off radio, the setting will be remembered the next time the radio is turned on.

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 amountTELHands-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.

1. Connect scan tool to the car's OBD-II diagnotic port.
2. Turn on ignition and radio, select Radio Controller in scan tool.
3. The radio shows "DIAG" in the display.
4. 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.
5. Turn off radio and ignition, disconnect scan tool.
6. Turn on radio to hear the effects. In Bose mode, the radio display will show "BOSE" briefly after turn-on.

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.

[RolledMySTi]

Damn these cars have a lot of hidden tricks. Great post. I'll have to try a few of these out.

[1997gtx]

The hidden equalizer is especially good. It really made my stock system sound much better after a few tweaks.
--Adam

[Das General]

what did you tweak yours to? or did you just max those bitches out...

[AMC]

those are cool features but im havin issues with my cd player part of it... it only plays track 1 and 2 and maybe 3, im thinkin the laser is off but have any of u had these issues b4?

[AudiSportB5S4]

i'll try to remember how i didnt see that you posted it but there is a way to get into a main menu of the radio and you can change things such as what volume you power on to, and like speed sensitive volume can be adjusted, i like that one. theres a bunch of stuff you can do in the menu.. i like this post i wanna say i found this on audiworld before ? i think.

[1997gtx]

I don't know where it came from, actually. I had the info in a word document that I found today.
--Adam

[AudiSportB5S4]

http://forums.audiworld.com/a4/msgs/2304751.phtml


theres the almost same post. this guy has the info on there about the speed sensitivity and some other things that this one doesnt ! check it out. some SOPHisicated radio stuff if you ask me !

[Go_S4]

What are the best presets for the equalizer???

[S4 in_lowplaces]

what did you tweak yours to? or did you just max those bitches out...

not unless you wana blow your speakers, here are two popular codes.

76567656 <--- I like this oe

88698869 <----this one was two hollow sounding for my taste, but these are the two moat popular settings for the bose hidde equalizer

[1997gtx]

I like that first setting, it's what I use. AudiSport, thanks for the link. I'll update the above post with the new info.
--Adam

[DarkcydS4]

adam....this is good info if i still had my symphony

[1997gtx]

Hah. Fair enough ... maybe you'll get another S4 and you'll need this info :)
--Adam

[Das General]

Yesterday I was sporting 99999999. Today I changed it to 78787878. When I get a chance, I'll sit down and try and tweak this sucker.

[1997gtx]

I tried 87678757 and it sounds pretty darn good.
--Adam

[BBS4]

that equalizer trick helped a lot, thanx

[Das General]

VOL = Turn-on volume setting

I put that to the On Setting, what does it do?

[1997gtx]

That's for when you turn on the system ... It will automatically put it to a preset volume versus turning it on to wherever you left it off at.

Meaning, if you get out of your car blaring music, when you turn it on the next day, it will automatically lower it to whatever you set it too. It's great for when I forget to lower my music when I turn the car off.
--Adam

[VonPooper]

it's great for when you forget about the mortal kombat remix u were blasting...

[sinisteraudi]

I set mine to 66666666 and I blew my speakers :(

[1997gtx]

That had nothing to do with the settings. Maybe it was the devil?
--Adam

[IAJonny]

87678767 Rocks Out Loud!

But Also,

VOL = Turn-on volume setting

When I go to my VOL setting it is a scale from 1 to 5, not an off/on switch, and it doesn't seem to do anything when I adjust it. How do I turn this setting to on?

Thanks,
Jonny

[mrrod420]

I tried a bunch of different settings and after going through 2 sets of subs and 1 set of door speakers.... I left it at the stock setting. It does really jam when you mess around with it though!

[1997gtx]

87678767 Rocks Out Loud!

But Also,



When I go to my VOL setting it is a scale from 1 to 5, not an off/on switch, and it doesn't seem to do anything when I adjust it. How do I turn this setting to on?

Thanks,
Jonny

I am not sure off the top of my head Jonny. When I get my car back from the dealer (Monday), i'll play around with the radio and let you know.
--Adam

[Kievskiy]

Adam, thanx for the post, but i still trying to figure out how to make the whole system louder without massing with equalizer? is it that VOL setting or something else?
Thanx in advance.
Andrey.

[1997gtx]

The VOL setting is for the loudness when you turn the radio on after it's been on. It's a set volume of your stereo to turn on to, no matter what volume you had it set to when you turned it off. Is that what you mean by the whole system louder?
--Adam

[Kievskiy]

no, i ment, output volume? i feel like that is not enought volume when i put cd or cdc or w/e its not really loud when you crank it up all the way, compared to my Volvo its not loud at all....comparing stock to stock systems, is there any way to make it louder or that is it?
thanx

[1997gtx]

Hmm ... I don't think there's a way unless the stock amps have tuneable buttons on them, but I doubt they are. I am honestly not sure, but I would venture to say maybe some of your speakers are blown. I can't turn my volume up past half way without it being wayyy to loud and distorted.
--Adam

[1997gtx]

Also, check the hidden equalizer settings. If they are all set to 0 that could be it.
--Adam

[chiptronic]

I was thinking that my stereo was crap and then I reset my radio to the 76567656 code. Wow, what a difference! Sounds pretty damn good for a stock system.

Thanks for the advice fellas.

[Rjsund]

i'm trying to get rid of the vibration noises from my rear speakers/sub and i can't seem to make it better, is that just a hardware issue? or maybe cuz i have stuff in the trunk?

[1997gtx]

Probably blown speakers. It's pretty common. Is it a popping sound? If so, you can either remove the speakers and re-glue them, or get a new system.
--Adam

[samtimtom]

Is there a way to adjust the lower volume set point? I find that the lowest volume setting (when adjusting the volume down with the rotary knob) is sometimes still too loud during conversation with my passengers. Especially when stopped in traffic, ie no road or wind noise. Too big of a jump between silent and the lowest setting...know what I mean?

Thanks.

[1997gtx]

I am not sure, but I would start with the VOL setting. Some have said that at a lower level, it helps. Other than that, maybe your hidden equalizer settings are at all 9's? Try them all at 5 or all at 0.
-Adam

[nvrfollow]

Mine sound like crap at low volume on stock setting really fuzzy and distored, even more so when it's cold out, but they still kick ass at high volume. My guess is i need to replace a few of the door speakers and all the tweaters...

[1997gtx]

My guess is maybe your amps are frizzled. Try listening to each speaker individually noting what they are supposed to sound like (tweeter, mid and bass) versus what they actually sound like.
--Adam

[sweed]

Very cool. going to mess around with it after work in about a half hour. I posted this on audiforums.com.

One guy is talking about messing with the climate controls to get a digital tach.

[Pearl_2.7T]

Hey ya'll,

For some reason the "hidden equalizer" trick doesn't work on my car? Can anyone think of why? Yes, it has Bose, ha-ha...so don't ask that question.

Thanks for any input/advice that ya'll can provide.

[1997gtx]

Hmm, I honestly have no idea, sorry. Maybe it needs to be recoded.
--Adam

[JayyyyyC]

I just recently got the S4 and found out a few days ago that the CD player in the car can't even read MP3 CDs, let alone a normal burned music CD. WTF? It only plays the first track on the music CD and can't seem to read any other songs on the CD.

I haven't tried playing the CD-RW music cd I made with the 6 CD changer in the back, but I'm assuming it will be the same thing?