Helix Soundbox Upgrade Information Post!

[Thomas.brian23]

Anyone have issues with the way the volume control works after installing the Helix?

I swear that only the first 40% of the volume does anything since I installed the Helix two years ago. After increasing the volume past 40%, the sound doesn’t get any louder. Additionally, the steps between each volume knob twist on the first 40% of the volume control are too great.

The volume at startup is too loud too. I know where the setting is in the menu to adjust the startup volume and I already have it turned all of the way down.

First thing in the morning (like <6AM) when I leave for work, even one, single volume click above mute is too loud for me. I don’t have any hearing problems and others that have ridden in the car with me agree that it seems wonky.

It seems like the entire range of volume control has been compressed into the first ~40% of the volume knob/ steering wheel button range. This has made the steps when increasing/ decreasing volume too large and the upper ~60% of the volume range useless. Do I need to mess with the knob on the Helix sound processing box under the sub? I’m an audio newb so I don’t even know where to start.

I’ve googled a little and found a similar issue on an older Passat, but nothing that would help me with a MK 7.

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

Anyone have issues with the way the volume control works after installing the Helix?

I swear that only the first 40% of the volume does anything since I installed the Helix two years ago. After increasing the volume past 40%, the sound doesn’t get any louder. Additionally, the steps between each volume knob twist on the first 40% of the volume control are too great.

The volume at startup is too loud too. I know where the setting is in the menu to adjust the startup volume and I already have it turned all of the way down.

First thing in the morning (like <6AM) when I leave for work, even one, single volume click above mute is too loud for me. I don’t have any hearing problems and others that have ridden in the car with me agree that it seems wonky.

It seems like the entire range of volume control has been compressed into the first ~40% of the volume knob/ steering wheel button range. This has made the steps when increasing/ decreasing volume too large and the upper ~60% of the volume range useless. Do I need to mess with the knob on the Helix sound processing box under the sub? I’m an audio newb so I don’t even know where to start.

I’ve googled a little and found a similar issue on an older Passat, but nothing that would help me with a MK 7.

yes you need to adjust the gain, and possibly use one of the 90’s programs

 

[wasbaggedonce]

I've had mine for six months now and it sounds better than it did before. The bass hits harder and overall everything just sounds better. My only complaint, and this would I guess be with the stock speakers not the Helix, is that it's still not loud enough. Once the volume level on the screen reaches halfway it doesn't get any louder. If I'm driving to/from work with the windows down on the interstate going 80, the bass level is just fine but the rest of the sound is too low. Might have to look into upgrading the speakers..

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

I've had mine for six months now and it sounds better than it did before. The bass hits harder and overall everything just sounds better. My only complaint, and this would I guess be with the stock speakers not the Helix, is that it's still not loud enough. Once the volume level on the screen reaches halfway it doesn't get any louder. If I'm driving to/from work with the windows down on the interstate going 80, the bass level is just fine but the rest of the sound is too low. Might have to look into upgrading the speakers..

what are you coded to? Mines too loud

 

[wasbaggedonce]

what are you coded to? Mines too loud

57

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

57

Yeah mine was 57 before I made it 60. I like it more at 60 than 57 but since my car doesn’t have tweeters in the rear doors I need the 97/98 program.

time to rent the dongle for a *3rd* time

 

[wasbaggedonce]

Yeah mine was 57 before I made it 60. I like it more at 60 than 57 but since my car doesn’t have tweeters in the rear doors I need the 97/98 program.

time to rent the dongle for a *3rd* time

I never even considered trying different programs. I opened the box, took the dongle out and programmed, and had it back in the box and at the post office all in half an hour lol. Maybe should have kept it for a full day and drove around testing it out..

I also noticed in the other thread that you said you didn't even use it the first time because it was already at 57. Mine was too, but I switched it to 60, power cycled the car, and then switched it back to 57 and it sounded different even though it was already set to 57.

 

[Forthespeeds]

Have people found any programming differences between Mk7 and Mk7.5 GTIs given no tweeters in the rear doors of the 7.5? Is 57 still ideal or should the low output 97 be used?

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

I never even considered trying different programs. I opened the box, took the dongle out and programmed, and had it back in the box and at the post office all in half an hour lol. Maybe should have kept it for a full day and drove around testing it out..

I also noticed in the other thread that you said you didn't even use it the first time because it was already at 57. Mine was too, but I switched it to 60, power cycled the car, and then switched it back to 57 and it sounded different even though it was already set to 57.

I know it was already at 57 bc I bought it used from a GTI owner who had programmed it at 57.

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

Have people found any programming differences between Mk7 and Mk7.5 GTIs given no tweeters in the rear doors of the 7.5? Is 57 still ideal or should the low output 97 be used?

I mean there’s no difference between a 7.5 GTI’s tweeterless back door setup and my 7.5 Alltrack’s tweeterless setup. Based on the comments I’ve seen on the previous page I would think yes - 97/98 would be better. When the upper profiles say “low power output” I’m wondering if the factory system “amps” the rear doors more due to the lack of tweeters, so the low power settings on the Helix reduce the amplification so as to not make them too loud/bright. My system is definitely too loud/bright, hurts me ears.

 

[Thomas.brian23]

Thanks for the suggestions. I turned the gain down on the DSP and the volume control is way better on all sources (CarPlay, CD, Bluetooth, etc.) except SiriusXM which is what I listen to 90% of the time.

Something still seems off to me. I can be listening to CarPlay or FM at a totally reasonable volume and then switch to SiriusXM and it’s blasting. Same thing going the other way, but opposite. When I get SiriusXM to a comfortable volume and then switch to another source, I can’t hear it. Messing with the AUX volume (Quiet, Medium, Loud) doesn’t do anything.

I couldn’t find any volume or sound settings specially for SiriusXM. Any other ideas?

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

yeah I need to turn the gain down on mine

 

[flipflp]

What gain are you guys all referring to? Unless someone determines otherwise the only adjustment knob on the DSP unit is the sub output level, not an overall gain. There are source gains in the settings for BT and AUX but that's it.

The Helix does have the quirk of being full loud at less than 50% volume on the head unit. Some programs might help that, but otherwise you just get 10 clicks from quiet to loud instead of 30.

 

[boston_chris]

Has anyone else noticed how the woofers become increasingly distorted after the car goes above 40 mph or so? The sound just breaks up and there's more harmonic distortion, I guess maybe because the wind is getting in the door or the speaker is just getting vibrated. I'm not even sure how to go about fixing this... I wonder if this is a common car audio problem?

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

Has anyone else noticed how the woofers become increasingly distorted after the car goes above 40 mph or so? The sound just breaks up and there's more harmonic distortion, I guess maybe because the wind is getting in the door or the speaker is just getting vibrated. I'm not even sure how to go about fixing this... I wonder if this is a common car audio problem?

maybe you have SDVC on. Turn it off.