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I have new Garmin DriveSmart 51

 
Sun, 02/17/2019 - 1:20pm

I have a new Garmin DriveSMart 51.

I find two things I do not like.

The Driver Alerts are very low volume, and I can barely hear them. I really like the alert that I am driving over the speed limit, but it is not very useful if I do not hear it.

‹ DriveSmart 61 Planned trip Problem 3597 Sound Issue ›
Sun, 02/17/2019 - 1:21pm

Second item is that I can

Second item is that I can not Blue-tooth connect my old dumb phone. Garmin GPS says it is not supported.

I liked being able to make and receive phone calls via the Garmin.

Sun, 02/17/2019 - 1:54pm

In the Manual

I was reading the DS61 manual. On page 2 you can

1 adjust the volume
2 enable/disable Automatic Volume - or -
3 adjust individual Audio types in Audio Mixer

Maybe the Automatic Volume is affecting the volume. I don't have a DS51 but is it possible the Alerts have their own Volume Type?

Page 9 shows a Master Volume control under Map Tools.

--
Harley BOOM GTS, Zumo 665, (2) Nuvi 765Ts, 1450LMT, 1350LM & others | 2019 Harley Ultra Limited Shrine - Peace Officer Dark Blue
Sun, 02/17/2019 - 2:12pm

bear, thanks for suggesting

bear, thanks for suggesting things.

I already tried disabling automatic volume. It did not help. Automatic volume just makes the volume louder in a noisy environment. If it works properly, having automatic volume ON should be best. I tried both ON and OFF and the driver alerts are too quiet.

The volume mixer only has sliders for Navigation and Phone.

I contacted Garmin Support and suggested they add a means to increase the volume level of the Driver Alerts.

Sun, 02/17/2019 - 2:17pm

Master Volume

Anything with the Master Volume under the Map Tools? On 1 of my Garmins I have the Master Volume up all the way and use the mixer to decrease the levels.

--
Harley BOOM GTS, Zumo 665, (2) Nuvi 765Ts, 1450LMT, 1350LM & others | 2019 Harley Ultra Limited Shrine - Peace Officer Dark Blue
Sun, 02/17/2019 - 2:55pm

bear, I will try that next

bear,

I will try that next time I drive somewhere.

thanks

Sun, 02/17/2019 - 4:14pm

Bluetooth

According to the Garmin webpage on the DriveSmart 51 it does have bluetooth. Maybe the phone you want to pair is not compatible?

Quote:

Putting the Smart in Smart Connectivity

When you sync your Bluetooth-enabled smartphone to Garmin DriveSmart, you get great features that let you stay connected without taking your hands off the wheel. Make hands-free phone calls and receive customizable smart notifications on your navigator’s display. That means you can see incoming calls, text messages and calendar reminders without ever having to reach for your phone.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/552072

ETA, I misread your post, you already know your phone is the problem, sorry

.

--
. 2 Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT-S, Nuvi 2689, 2 Nuvi 2460, Zumo 550, Zumo 450, Uniden R3 radar detector with GPS built in, includes RLC info. Uconnect 430N Garmin based, built into my Jeep. .
Sun, 02/17/2019 - 4:16pm

manual

In case you don't have one you can download the manual for your DS51 here:

https://support.garmin.com/support/manuals/manuals.htm?partN...

--
. 2 Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT-S, Nuvi 2689, 2 Nuvi 2460, Zumo 550, Zumo 450, Uniden R3 radar detector with GPS built in, includes RLC info. Uconnect 430N Garmin based, built into my Jeep. .
Sun, 02/17/2019 - 4:20pm

Volume (from the manual)

Adjusting the volume

1 Select Volume.
2 Select an option:
• Use the slider bar to adjust the volume.
• Select to mute the device.
• Select for additional options.

Enabling automatic volume
Your device can increase or decrease the volume automatically
based on the level of background noise.

1 Select Volume > .
2 Select Automatic Volume.

Using the audio mixer

You can use the audio mixer to set the volume levels for
different audio types, such as navigation prompts or phone calls.
The level for each audio type is a percentage of the master
volume.

1 Select Volume.
2 Select > Audio Mixer.
3 Use the sliders to adjust the volume for each audio type.

--
. 2 Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT-S, Nuvi 2689, 2 Nuvi 2460, Zumo 550, Zumo 450, Uniden R3 radar detector with GPS built in, includes RLC info. Uconnect 430N Garmin based, built into my Jeep. .
Mon, 02/18/2019 - 7:54pm

Bear, making the master

Bear, making the master volume level 100% does indeed raise the volume level of Driver Alerts to an acceptable level.

Using the Volume mixer, I lower the Navigation volume down to be around 1/3rd.

Mon, 02/18/2019 - 7:55pm

Now the problem is my Red

Now the problem is my Red Light and Speed Camera announcements are too loud.

I am experimenting using Audacity to lower the volume of the WAV and MP3 files used for the camera announcements.

Mon, 02/18/2019 - 8:29pm

Fantastic

Glad it worked out for you.

--
Harley BOOM GTS, Zumo 665, (2) Nuvi 765Ts, 1450LMT, 1350LM & others | 2019 Harley Ultra Limited Shrine - Peace Officer Dark Blue
Tue, 02/19/2019 - 11:14am

Might upgrade to drive

Have an Nuvi 67lm and it is showing severe signs of age. Sometimes it can't calculate a route even though none of the restrictions are set.

Tue, 02/19/2019 - 3:02pm

Not a bad thing IMO

HowardZ wrote:

Now the problem is my Red Light and Speed Camera announcements are too loud.

--
John from PA
Wed, 02/20/2019 - 12:58pm

I used audacity to reduce

I used audacity to reduce the volume of my POI wav and mp3 files.

First attempt, reduced by 2 dB.
Second attempt, reduced again by 1 dB.
Third attempt, reduced again by 1 dB.

It's still a it loud, but as long as it doesn't ruin the GPS speaker it will be OK.

Tue, 03/05/2019 - 11:40am

I have come to conclusion

I have come to conclusion that no matter how much I reduce the MP3 and WAV files' volume using Audacity -- something is raising it up to maximum volume.

It might be POI Loader or SOX.
It might be the Garmin NUVI itself.

So, I either:
1. Make the volume comfortable, and can not hear the Garmin Driver Alert Ding noises, or
2. Make the volume 100%, and hear really loud redlight/speed camera POI alerts.