AudioPilot is Bose technology that monitors noise levels in a vehicle’s cabin and adjusts level and equalization to compensate.
Oftentimes, catchy trade names and marketing hoopla in the automotive and audio industries don’t amount to a hill of beans when it comes to performance. Bose Corp., the best-known and most established provider of premium “factory” car stereos, is not immune to this. But its AudioPilot noise compensation is a sophisticated and effective feature that you can’t get anywhere else.
Bose sound systems with AudioPilot are found in new cars offered from Mazda, General Motors, Infiniti, Nissan and Porsche. AudioPilot addresses the same problem as speed-sensitive volume control but does it more effectively and seamlessly. AudioPilot uses a microphone in the vehicle’s cabin to monitor ambient noise, and digital signal processing to adjust the music or other program material’s level and equalization in “real time.” AudioPilot is not — as has been reported in the popular press more than once — a noise-cancellation system. It alters the music signal to increase its audibility in the presence of noise.
AudioPilot’s advantage over speed-linked volume control is twofold: First, the action is based on real detected noise — not the vehicle’s speed, which is only one factor in the noise level inside. Other factors include the type of tires, the road surface and whether a window, multiple windows or a sunroof are open. Second, AudioPilot changes equalization and not just overall volume. Because of this targeted approach and other provisions, the system’s action is barely detectable. You don’t hear it working, but you don’t find yourself constantly fiddling with the volume or tone controls regardless of the ambient noise level, within reason.
Information for this was taken from the Cars.com’s glossary, written by Joe Wiesenfelder.
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