[Atlant]

I have problems with a specific HD Radio station in the Denver area that's driving me a bit crazy. When listening to one particular HD Radio multicast (sub-channel) station, there is intermittent audio distortion that sounds like a crackling or "loose audio source connection" which seems to be present as part of the lower frequency ranges. The distortion makes the station unbearable to listen to.

The issue seems to be unique to my 2023 ID.4. It seems to me that this could be a hardware problem with the radio itself because I do not hear distortion on this station when listening on two other HD radios I have access to: one in my wife's vehicle (not a VW) and the other being an HD Radio receiver I have at home.

Has anyone else encountered this issue with your ID.4 radio?

Is there someone else in the Denver area with a 2023 ID.4 that could try tuning into HD Radio station 97.3-2 and let me know if you also hear distortion as well?

Do other HD stations work successfully for you on your ID.4?

 

[Atlant]

Yes, absolutely. This specific FM frequency has 3 multicast stations. HD1 and HD3 have no distortion. HD2 is the only one that has issues.

I have listened to multiple other FM frequencies and HD multicast stations as well. I have only found this one multicast station so far that exhibits this distortion. 🤷‍♂️ (Of course it's one that I'd like to use!)

It might be worth calling up the station and asking to speak to their engineer.

With regard to listening to it successfully on another HD radio, did you/could you do this successfully SIMULTANEOUSLY with hearing the distortion on the ID.4's radio? Perhaps the station has an intermittent electrical fault and you just managed to get lucky when you checked that HD2 channel on another radio?

 

[Atlant]

This is a good suggestion - I'll give this a try.

I feel fairly confident in saying that it's not a station issue that affects all receivers because my wife listens to this same station regularly and has never heard the distortion issue, but I hear it every time I try to listen to this station in my ID.4.

Various observers may have varying tolerance for distortion, of course. ;-)

 

[Atlant]

My 2022 ID.4 has the same issue with 97.3-2. My other vehicles are too old to access -1 and -2 stations to troubleshoot 🙂.

'Sounds like that call to the station engineer is in order!