Active Road Noise Cancellation (ANC) Test

[SDRick]

I may have found a simple way to test ANC and whether it's working and how well.

At least according to my ears, there was a noticeable increase in road noise the farther I moved my head from the head rest toward the windshield. As I brought my head back to the normal driving position, road noise significantly decreased. The decrease was almost dramatic!

Anyone else have the same experience?

 

[xG35]

Mine iS always calibrating

 

[mswlogo]

I may have found a simple way to test ANC and whether it's working and how well.

At least according to my ears, there was a noticeable increase in road noise the farther I moved my head from the head rest toward the windshield. As I brought my head back to the normal driving position, road noise significantly decreased. The decrease was almost dramatic!

Anyone else have the same experience?

Yes, others have mentioned that. But many are puzzled why toggling it off/on makes no change. You’re also moving your head away from the glass

My guess is, they are canceling the thud of tires going over seams in the road. Not the constant tire roar. Tire roar is actually many frequencies and many that are high (not easy to cancel).

It’s hard to A/B test seams (the thuds) in the road.

I was gonna try to record sound at the headrest going over the exact same seams at the same speed with ANT on and off then compare in Audacity or something. Just have not had the time.

Supposedly the foam in tires is also targeting thud over seams in the road too, not high frequency roar or tires hitting pavement. That’s why nobody thinks foam does anything either.

 

[glide]

I may have found a simple way to test ANC and whether it's working and how well.

At least according to my ears, there was a noticeable increase in road noise the farther I moved my head from the head rest toward the windshield. As I brought my head back to the normal driving position, road noise significantly decreased. The decrease was almost dramatic!

Anyone else have the same experience?

Nope. Mine is barely noticeable. Another poorly implemented marketing gimmick.

 

[WilliamG]

Nope. Mine is barely noticeable. Another poorly implemented marketing gimmick.

Agreed I think it’s junk, too. In my 2021 and 2022 S Plaid it actually introduces more noise, easily confirmed when driving over concrete roads at 35-40mph and toggling the setting on and off. Off is noticeably quieter.

 

[glide]

Yes, others have mentioned that. But many are puzzled why toggling it off/on makes no change. You’re also moving your head away from the glass

My guess is, they are canceling the thud of tires going over seams in the road. Not the constant tire roar. Tire roar is actually many frequencies and many that are high (not easy to cancel).

It’s hard to A/B test seams (the thuds) in the road.

I was gonna try to record sound at the headrest going over the exact same seams at the same speed with ANT on and off then compare in Audacity or something. Just have not had the time.

Supposedly the foam in tires is also targeting thud over seams in the road too, not high frequency roar or tires hitting pavement. That’s why nobody thinks foam does anything either.

Funny how Lexus and even Honda are able to implement a functional solution.

And that’s without foam in the tires.

 

[mswlogo]

Funny how Lexus and even Honda are able to implement a functional solution.

And that’s without foam in the tires.

I’m not convinced it’s not functional yet. Everyone can make their own assessment. I had another car with ANR and that was difficult to prove it’s affect as well. No on/off switch. But the cabin was very quiet.

And I’m very happy with the level of cabin noise in my S.

 

[glide]

I’m not convinced it’s not functional yet. Everyone can make their own assessment. I had another car with ANR and that was difficult to prove it’s affect as well. No on/off switch. But the cabin was very quiet.

And I’m very happy with the level of cabin noise in my S.

I’m not displeased with the level of cabin noise in my Model S either. But it’s not the ANC that’s contributing to that.

 

[mswlogo]

Actually it is

I’m running 2022.12.3.12 had it for a while now.

I was all set to test my Theory of it perhaps only goes after the thuds of seams in the road.

I had a calibrated Mic, REW software on a MacBook ready to go. My wife wasn’t keen on helping with this nonsense *sugar* though ;( she would have if I begged her but it would have cost me something.

Well it was a nightmare juggling the Mic near my ear ( headrest ), Steering/ watching the road and trying to start REW collecting, noting where I was on the road because I needed to come back with another pass with ANR flipped in the exact same spot.

It just wasn’t gonna work safely.

Well, it turns out I was also testing old vs new tires for efficiency. I was on the old 19” summer Pirelli’s. I wanted to test wh/mi with HVAC off. So I had the windows open before I got to the highway.

ANR noted calibration won’t run until I shut the windows. Ok fine.

So I hit the highway and set AutoPilot to 65mph. Closed windows, reset Trip B and monitored tire pressure, wh/mi and ANR.

After ANR calibrated. Which Took like 5 miles. I started to fumble with the MacBook and REW. I gave up on that due to being to unsafe.

Then I decided to just see if I could hear ANR again. I had tried before with no success. So I flipped it and did a double take. Did I just hear a significant difference? Damn I did, it’s working !!!

It’s not huge by any means, but clear as a bell and significant, in my opinion. It sounds a lot like when you change the type of pavement your driving on.

Focus on the roar of the tires when you flip it. I don’t consider my ears great.

Few things that might have helped tune myself in.

1) HVAC was off.
2) Did the fact I calibrated on the highway make difference? I hope not.
3) Radio was off. There were arguments it had to be on, lol.
4) Much newer firmware than when I last tried to A/B ANR

Once I did hear it I did manage to run REW with ANR on and off. Can’t see any significant change. I do but it makes no sense.

Also I recorded with my iPhone. I need to play it on better speakers to see if I can hear what I heard in the car.

Now that my ears are “tuned in”, I can hear it pretty easy now. I’ll experiment more with HVAC on and normal calibration starting when I leave the house. I usually have HVAC on Auto and don’t hear the fan. But it might act as white noise not realizing it.

It’s nothing like Bose or Apple noise cancelation. But I’m psyched I do hear some net benefit.