Question for MMI Nav. plus owners about HD Radio

[Eugene-Dave-1]

I've previously posted about this over in the Electronics area but there doesn't seem to be much traffic there. Hope nobody minds me posting it in a few vehicle-specific areas. I have a new 2012 VW Touareg Lux TDI. The 2011 & 2012 Touaregs with factory nav use the VW RNS-850 nav-radio system. From what I've read online, the RNS-850 is basically the same head unit Audi uses since 2011 in some of its models. Possibly called the MMI Nav Plus. The VW head unit supports HD Radio. I believe the Audi counterpart also supports HD Radio. HD Radio is a digital broadcasting system that's piggybacked onto regular FM & AM stations so they can compete in the increasingly digital world. Directory of HD Radio stations in the US: http://www.hdradio.com/stations OK, to the point: I've discovered that my VW RNS-850 is unable to play ANY HD Radio stations in Stereo. All stations play back in mono (monaural). In fact it's actually worse than that: The HD Radio only plays the left channel information. Sound comes from all the speakers but it's not stereo and half the source content is missing. Regular analog FM stereo sounds fine, no problem with it. I've tested 2 other 2012 Touaregs, and both have the same problem with HD Radio. After posting on a few other forums, 7 other 2011-2012 Touareg owners have confirmed that their radios do exactly the same thing as mine: No stereo when tuned to HD Radio. VW denies there is a problem. I am on a mission to prove to them that the RNS-850 has a factory defect and I expect them to make it right. I am very interested in hearing from 2011-2012 Audi owners with HD Radio. Does your radio work correctly? Or does it share the Got No HD Radio In Stereo problem with its VW counterpart? I've made a video with stereo audio that demonstrates the problem as clearly as I can. If you check it out please listen with headphones, and read the description so you can understand what I'm driving at (see what I did there?). The link above the embedded video below will take you directly to the video on YouTube. I apologise in advance if I sound like I'm hammered in the video. I was completely sober. That's just how I normally sound. I appreciate any feedback from Audi enthusiasts! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDi0dUAwRWs

[Lonestarcluster]

Thanks for the post...I thought maybe I was just hearing things. My A7 apparently does the same thing. At first I just thought the HD broadcast sounded "thin" and with less volume than the standard b-cast...but I guess that's because half the data is missing. Because it automatically switches between HD and standard if the HD signal is lost, my volume was bouncing all over the place. I wound up simply turning off the HD function in my seetings. I will ask my Audi guy when I take it in for the first service.

[LarrK]

Eugene - I saw your video today. I have a 2012 S4 with the MMI system. I had the trial Sirius subscription up until now and, while I enjoyed the stations, I was disappointed in the sound and in fact noticed the some single channel mono that u experienced. I assumed it was the Sirus system. I let the trial expire and started listening to regular FM again, and noticed the same thing. Thru trial and error, I discovered the system was set to HD. After turning it off, I finally got both my channels back. What I find interesting is that I experienced the same problem in the FM-HD AND the SAT radio.

I wonder whether VW/Audi will address this issue at some point?

[Eugene-Dave-1]

Update on my issue: VW seems to be persuaded by my video that something is not right. They're supposedly talking to the supplier of the RNS-850 about it. I should know more this week.

I haven't noticed any issues with any of the other functions of the RNS-850, including Sirius-XM satellite. Stereo when expected, except for HD Radio. Satellite drops out a lot if driving where there's a lot of trees but that's always been the case for me on previous cars, not new to this one.

Will report back when I know more...