What Is Speed-Compensated Volume and How Does It Work?

If you’re the type to listen to music while driving, then you know how frustrating it is when the harsh wind ends up drowning out your favorite song every time you have to speed up. Unfortunately, you can’t always control how fast you drive, especially on highways and busy roads.

But what if there was a way you could freely rev up your engine and speed down the road without worrying about missing your favorite verse? With speed-compensated volume, you can have the best of both worlds.

What Is Speed Volume Compensation?

If you like listening to music or podcasts while driving, then speed-compensated volume (SCV) is a pretty neat feature to have in your audio system.

Also known as speed volume compensation, speed-compensated volume automatically adjusts your audio system’s volume based on your driving pace. In other words, the faster you drive, the louder your music will be, and when you slow down, the volume softens too.

How Does Speed-Compensated Volume Work?

So how exactly does your audio system know when to adjust the volume? Most manufacturers install an interface into the radio system that can automatically adjust the volume. When the controller area network (CAN) receives data from the speedometer, it sends this information to the interface, so that it can adjust the volume according to the vehicle’s speed.

What Are the Advantages of Speed-Compensated Volume?

SCV isn’t for everybody, but if you’re the type of person who likes listening to tunes or podcasts while driving, then it’s certainly a great feature to have. Here are some advantages of SCV:

Fewer Distractions While Driving

When it comes to driving, there’s one thing that will always hold true: the fewer distractions, the better. With SCV, you don’t have to constantly adjust the volume of your audio system, so you’re less distracted while driving.

Drown Out Noise

If you live in a busy city, then you know exactly how hard it is to listen to music when driving around. Your music has to compete with cars honking, noisy pedestrians, and the harsh wind, especially during rush hour.

However, with SCV, your audio system adjusts as the noise levels around you change, helping you drown out all those unpleasant sounds.

Adjustable Settings

Just because speed-compensated volume is an automatic feature doesn’t mean you can’t personalize it to your own taste. Some audio systems allow you to choose among three settings: low, medium, and high. You can even turn it off if you just want your music set to the same volume throughout your entire drive.

What Are the Disadvantages of Speed-Compensated Volume?

As convenient as this feature is, SCV isn’t perfect. Here are some disadvantages:

Limited Control

Unfortunately, most vehicles only come with three SCV settings, so you might not be able to adjust it to the exact volume you want. If you want something louder or softer than the default settings, you’ll have to turn it off and manually adjust the volume yourself.

Possible Delay

Your vehicle’s wheels are much faster than your audio system, so you can also expect some delay as your audio system adjusts the volume. In most cases, it shouldn’t be too noticeable, but suddenly going from fast to slow or slow to fast can make your audio system’s delay seem jarring and distracting.

Not a Standard Feature

While it’s certainly becoming much more common on modern vehicles, SCV still isn’t a standard feature for most manufacturers. Because of this, some drivers might not even know their vehicles have it, leaving them to wonder why their audio system’s volume keeps fluctuating at different speeds.

How To Adjust Volume Compensation

Adjusting your vehicle’s volume compensation is pretty straightforward, but the process can vary depending on your vehicle’s make and model. However, here are some general steps you can follow to adjust this feature:

1. Turn on your dashboard screen, and click “Settings”.
2. Go to “Sound”.
3. Scroll down until you see “Speed-Compensated Volume” or “SCV” and click it.
4. Adjust the setting to off, low, medium, or high.

Keep in mind that this process isn’t going to be the same for every vehicle, so if this doesn’t work for you, then you might have to consult your owner’s manual for more information.

Which Manufacturers Use Speed-Compensated Volume?

Not all manufacturers use SCV, but you can find this feature in some Ford, Subaru, and Infiniti vehicles. Manufacturers usually have different names for it, so you’ll want to be on the lookout for some variations of the name, like speed-sensitive volume control or SVC on some Audi vehicles.

Speed-Compensated Volume vs. Automatic Sound Leveling

Contrary to popular belief, speed-compensated volume and automatic sound leveling (ASL) aren’t the same thing. Yes, they’re similar, and they sometimes use the same technology, but they do have some key differences.

Like SCV, ASL is an audio feature that automatically adjusts the volume of your music, podcast, or whatever you’re listening to as you drive. However, it doesn’t rely on data from your speedometer. Instead, it adjusts the volume according to the noise level inside your cabin.

ASL uses data from microphones inside your cabin to measure the ambient noise before automatically adjusting the volume of your audio system to match it.