Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

SiriusXM Volume Scratchy

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.

DerbyDave

Active Member
Jul 2, 2020
4,637
2,730
Kentucky
My SiriusXM (SXM) has a scratchiness in the volume control and in the sound. When I adjust the volume, either using the steering wheel control or the buttons on the main screen, there is a static, scratchiness sound like we used to get sometimes with analog volume controls where the resistive control sometimes corroded. I can move the control fast and slow, and the static always follows the speed. Also the scratchiness occurs when not adjusting the volume on the media content, but only on SXM. No other media source exhibits this static-type noise / distortion. Does anyone else have this issue or any suggestions as to the cause?
 
My SiriusXM (SXM) has a scratchiness in the volume control and in the sound. When I adjust the volume, either using the steering wheel control or the buttons on the main screen, there is a static, scratchiness sound like we used to get sometimes with analog volume controls where the resistive control sometimes corroded. I can move the control fast and slow, and the static always follows the speed. Also the scratchiness occurs when not adjusting the volume on the media content, but only on SXM. No other media source exhibits this static-type noise / distortion. Does anyone else have this issue or any suggestions as to the cause?
Yes I think I see the same issue.
 
Interesting that I was just out reviewing the "recent clips" on the Dashcam viewer in the parked car, and while the Viewer was playing, the SXM audio was very distorted and scratchy as I describe. I turn off the Viewer, and the audio becomes much cleaner. The mystery deepens. What possible relationship would these two processes have?
 
Additional data point: I hear the pops when changing the volume on FM stations, in addition to SXM.

My wild guess on the whole situation: the process on the MCU that receives data from the tuner module isn't prioritized high enough, so that other processes on the MCU can intermittently overtake it and cause it to drop packets, resulting in those pops.
 
Yes, there is a clipping noise, like a bad voice activated device with a delay in starting. I am going to fool around some when I get the time to see if one of the newly implemented Tesla sound processors or range enhancers are causing problems. Several new audio "controls" were recently added. I can't really remember when this all started happening. I heard the issue maybe months before I realized there was a continuing problem.
 
ME TOO. I’ve been looking for any evidence or post on this, so I’m glad it isn’t just me. Seems to be XM and FM, volume OR eq adjustments. It is a real annoyance. So now that I’m not (as) worried my unit is going bad, I will be patient and see how it rolls for others, service or update resolves it. I am second guessing myself on if this existed prior to activating the Xm free trial (only had the car 10 days, so,,,)
cheers
 
Tonight I confirmed neither the new Subwoofer controls in the Equalizer or the new Immersive Sound feature seem to have any effect on the scratchiness. Steaming music and USB music does not seem to be affected. It appears, at least on my car, to only be the two radios, broadcast FM and SiriusXM, that are affected by this distortion.
 
Thanks for posting about this. I have an '18 Model S and have been experiencing this issue for some time now as well. At one point I thought it went away and then tried to figure out what might be causing it. It does seem like a CPU process priority issue, or an improper digital audio decoder programming, or buffer memory issue. I park in a garage, so my Sirius signal is interrupted the majority of the day -- does this issue happen with anyone who parks outside all day?
 
It happens to me when my car is parked outside and driven outside. It also seems to happen on FM, but I really don't listen to that much, and it doesn't seem quite as bad, but it is there. I have no idea what could cause it. A bad MCU?
 
I’M SO GLAD TO FIND THIS THREAD! I have a 2020 Model S Performance and have taken it into Tesla in Superior, CO twice, and once to Tesla in Loveland, CO. They replaced some harnesses and “other connectors” and nothing solved the problem. They finally told me, word for word, “we’ve done everything we can do.” And honestly, the static, scratchiness seems worse now than ever before. It only happens with XM Radio. It happens every time you adjust the volume, and quite often on its own while simply driving the car. There is no static when using other media like streaming from my phone. I’ve explained all of this to Tesla, and have driven around in the car with three different techs. It is quite annoying, especially when listening to talk radio or news, which is where you’ll really hear the static stand out. I really hope that someone can figure this out soon, it’s been pretty disappointing that Tesla has basically given up on it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DerbyDave