Zumo 660 and audio levels from Pocket GPS Announements

[David1948]

I use my Zumo 660 with a Nolan Bluetooth headset (motorcycle use). There is a significant difference between the audio level received for the navigation instructions and the camera warnings. This to the point where the mixer levels have to be turned down to stop the sound distorting.

Is there a way of adjusting the audio levels in the downloaded file prior to loading it onto the Garmin?

Thanks in advance to anyone who knows if this can be fixed.

[Andy_P]

Do you need them to be louder or quieter?

They were created to peak at full digital level, so it will not be possible to make them any louder relative to the navigation instructions (that would have to be done by a change in Garmin's own software).

But if you want them quieter, that is certainly possible.
I can give you some instructions on how to do it for each sound file individually in one of the popular sound editing programs, and I know several audio editors can "batch process" a group of files to do it al at once, but it might be worth searching the web to see if there are any simple utilities that can do it which have a less steep learning curve!

I guess the first thing we need to know in order to find a suitable tool, is does the Zumo use the .wav or the .mp3 versions of the audio files?
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[David1948]

Thanks for the information.

Yes I am trying to reduce the levels.

I would like to keep the process simple so a batch file approach would be best. I am assuming that I will need to go through the process every time I upload a new database.

The announcements are useful on the bike as it does not involve looking at the 660s screen.

I am not sure how much attenuation is needed as the sound levels vary between headsets and my other 550. In order to get the pocket gps announcements free from distotion the level for MP3 is set to about 50 or 60% for the 660.

Apart from this I am having trouble with the agc in the headset and no transmission on the 660 if I make outgoing calls via the Bluetooth connections (phone and headset). So by adjusting the audio level on the announcements it should with the agc added distortion.

[Darren]

[dales]

Audacity is a free and commonly-used program that can batch-process wav or mp3 files to reduce their volumes (and much more besides).

Dales
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[Andy_P]

Hi, sorry I disappeared, I had a couple of days away, and away from my PC.

Yes, if you fancy trying it yourself, then the program I was going to recommend is Audacity.

If you reckon the volume needs to be about 50% then try a "6dB" reduction.
It's not a program I use myself very often, but if you need any help with the batch process, give me a shout.
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[David1948]

A question really aimed at Darren. You say that I would only have to edit the audio files once. From this can I take it the audio files are stored somewhere else so that when you use Garmin's POI loader to remove an old database before loading the new the audio remains unaffected?

Sorry for labouring the point but I seem to getting a number of issues around Bluetooth comms and trying to resolve them seems to take a long time.

Thanks for the help.

I used Audacity about 10 years so I should be able to pick up the threads again.

[dales]

The POI folder on the PC contains both the camera files and the audio files. Each time PoiLoader is run, it processes all of the camera files and the audio files into one file for the Zumo.

When the camera files are updated on the PC, the original audio files remain unchanged. PoiLoader then processes the New camera files together with the Original audio files.

You'll need to update your old Audacity to the latest version to get the batch processing ability.

Dales.
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[dales]

In other words, take care not to download the voice pack again - just the cameras!!

Dales
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[David1948]

I normally create a new folder and download the zip file into it then extract the files. I have seen the extracted mp3 files in the folder. So if I am understanding this correctly I will need to extract the camera files into the same folder as the edited audio, keeping the same folder as a working folder.

[Andy_P]

Correct.

Don't forget that when you download the updated camera files, you can choose whether or not to include the audio files.
So just untick that box and you won't get them any more.
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