Any way to improve the Satellite Radio reception in the S4?

[danmm7]

As many of you probably know, the Sirius radio reception in the S4 is not great. It's pretty bad actually.

Every time i go under an overpass or i am close to a tall building, i am losing my reception. It takes 10-20-30 seconds to regain the signal. It is very annoying and downright embarrassing to deal with such issue in a $50k car.
I've had much cheaper Ford Focus rentals with much better Satellite radio reception. My old Acura RL also had much better reception. It must be a problem with the Audi radio receiver or antenna placement or both.

Has anyone found a solution for this problem?
Is the Satellite radio antenna hidden in the fin sitting in my roof? Or is it hidden anywhere else?
Any tips on how i can boost the signal?


Thanks!

[SwankP3RF3ct10n]

Yeah, it's supposed to be that fin. That said, to me, it's always seemed like the reception problem wasn't really a reception problem, but more of a buffer memory problem with whatever head unit or SAT modules Audi uses. Eventually all SAT radios lose the signal, but some have larger buffers that compensate for "some" signal loss and make it seem like you didn't lose reception when you actually did. I just think the electronics Audi chose to use in these cars isn't all that in those terms.

[danmm7]

Yeah, it's supposed to be that fin. That said, to me, it's always seemed like the reception problem wasn't really a reception problem, but more of a buffer memory problem with whatever head unit or SAT modules Audi uses. Eventually all SAT radios lose the signal, but some have larger buffers that compensate for "some" signal loss and make it seem like you didn't lose reception when you actually did. I just think the electronics Audi chose to use in these cars isn't all that in those terms.

If you're right, and i do agree with your logic, we may be screwed.
Not sure how the buffer size can be increased and i certainly don't feel like replacing my whole stereo or adding an external satellite radio. Shame that Audi messed up on such simple thing. :(

[Senseless]

I have experienced signal losses, but not that severely. Steel underpasses can be a problem. I had Subaru and Acura cars with XM and they were actually worse than the Audi, so I figure this is normal.

[CardFan]

I had my car less than two weeks, and only had Sirius active a few days, and I've lost the signal like this more than once in situations where nothing was blocking the signal. Guess this may be normal behavior, as I have it in for warranty service today and they checked the radio and said it's functioning fine. Disappointing.

[KnewJack]

While my car was in the shop a few months back, I had a 2016 A4 as a loaner and the Sat Radio sounded much better. Stations that sound like a 64kb mp3 in my S4 sound like 320kb in the A4. Don't know why. Better converters?

[ghideon]

While my car was in the shop a few months back, I had a 2016 A4 as a loaner and the Sat Radio sounded much better. Stations that sound like a 64kb mp3 in my S4 sound like 320kb in the A4. Don't know why. Better converters?

I think that also depends on which channel you are listening to. Sirus/XM will encode certain stations differently.

That being said, I have a 2013 S4 and a 2015 RS5. Both of their radios suck wrt reception compared to my 08 Infiniti G37 (which was XM branded if that makes a difference). All of them paled in comparison to a standalone unit that I bought for a car before the G. The buffer on that thing was amazing. Receiver was maybe $50.

[unasupra97]

I have a problem with my reception for regular stations on fm..sometimes its good other times it just sucks

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