Car microphone?

Iamzod · 4 Feb 2016 at 21:15

Not sure if this is in the best place to be honest, but it is car related.

I retrofitted an OEM sat nav unit to my MK3 Mondeo about a month ago, it all is working perfectly.

However last night I got my hands on the Bluetooth & voice command module for it which when fitted as standard would have a microphone fitted next to the interior light, in my car this was obviously missing but the microphone holder & grille is present.

I wired the Bluetooth module up and it works perfectly, it pairs up with my phone & the headunit talks to it properly.

Knowing nothing about microphones I have ripped one out of an earlier model Mondeo (cost me £1) which fits in my holder but has a different model number.

The system will recognise voice commands about 50% of the time if there is no background noise, I can get it to ring out & dial a number by voice but the person I'm calling can't hear a thing.

Are microphones different in their sensitivity & specifications, is it likely I just need to get one from a later model car or do I need to be looking at dodgy soldering in my wiring or the possibility that my wires are the wrong thickness etc?

Any help appreciated.

Jamesyboyjim · 5 Feb 2016 at 09:37

Well, if you can get the right microphone for the unit cheaply then obviously that would rule out any potential compatibility issues, seems strange that the unit will recognise voice commands though, that would indicate to me that it works. Could it be a phone setting? maybe your phones microphone still wants to record you talking rather than the cars.

I'd try another phone on the unit or maybe see if you can use the phones built in voice recorder through the Bluetooth system just to rule out the actual car stereo first.

rodenal · 5 Feb 2016 at 09:41

The only voice recognition system I've ever found to actually work once up to a decent speed is the merc comand system. It'll be down to how much background noise the mic is picking up on the move - you can add either some foam or try repositioning the mic to help.

loltim · 5 Feb 2016 at 09:48

rodenal said:
The only voice recognition system I've ever found to actually work once up to a decent speed is the merc comand system. It'll be down to how much background noise the mic is picking up on the move - you can add either some foam or try repositioning the mic to help.

Agreed. I doubt it's anything you've done wrong. The voice recognition in my gf's 2008 Mini Cooper is dire.

Dangerous Dave · 5 Feb 2016 at 10:10

I don't think the OP is worried about the voice control, it is more that it is not working at all with phone calls over Bluetooth.

I don't know a lot about Ford systems but with a VW RNS510 unit the microphone feed for voice control and Bluetooth calls were separate as the voice control microphone went directly to the head unit and the calls microphone went to the Bluetooth module.

If retro fitting the system you had to splt the microphone feed to both the head unit and Bluetooth module (or as most people did just fit two microphones as the holder had two spaces to cover left/right had drive cars), on cars supplied from the factory with the system this was done in the wiring loom.

Jamesyboyjim · 5 Feb 2016 at 11:11

On the subject of voice control, I have an old focus, I fitted an aftermarket Sony Bluetooth headunit in the car, pressing the voice control button on the headunit just activates Siri on my iphone, which works fantastically well, its not an advertised feature but it should be! I can easily reply to texts, tell it to play music and do anything that siri does through the car speakers. I don't know why modern cars don't just do this. My missus has a nice modern focus with Bluetooth as standard, the voice control is dire.

Iamzod · 5 Feb 2016 at 22:23

I was starting to think the Bluetooth module I bought on E-Bay was damaged, I was playing around with it again last night & called myself on it & left a voice message, all I got was some extremely quiet noises which suggests a dead mic, however given that I rung myself using voice commands and dialled the number by voice which it recognised I tried a few other things.

I tried saving myself into the internal phone book where you dictate a name to it, it plays the name back to you once done but all it was playing back were a load of crackles & pops so god knows how it was picking up voice commands.

This morning I went & bought a brand new mic using a part number for a MK4 Mondeo for £45 :eek:

, which quite frankly is a ridiculous price but I could sort of justify it given the upgrade had only cost me £40 so far so isn't bad when compared to an aftermarket kit.

It all now works perfectly, i'd say it's 98% accurate with commands even at 70mph and as an added bonus I discovered I can control the climate control through it too along with the navigation, phone & stereo.

Nice upgrade it is for £85