MB said:
The audio is hard to make out, muffled and sometimes gets really loud. Do I have a defective 521 or is this normal? What can I do to fix this audio problem?
Is the Audio Compander option enabled on whatever frequency you're trying to receive on?
If so, try turing it OFF in the programming.
With audio companding, it's an "all or nothing" type proposition. All radios intercommunicating with each other must either be using companding or none of them using it, otherwise you can have significant audio problems.
Non-Companded radio talking to non-companded radio ---> Good clean audio, like what we're used to.
Companded radio talking to non-companded radio ---> Received audio will sound loud and punchy due to the transmit radio compressing the audio before transmit. I like how the compressed audio sounds on the air. It will sound sort of like the microphone gain has been cranked up and there's an auto gain control to limit the maximum audio. I like the loud and punchy sound this way.
Companded radio talking to companded radio ---> Good clean audio, with noticeably improved S/N ratio if recieved slightly weak, and with a "radio" quality to it, like the audio has been "processed". It might sound a bit muffled and not as loud as normal non-companded audio but should sound clean. Basically, the expander expands audio by making quiet part in the audio quieter and loud parts in the audio louder to expand audio that was compressed on transmit.
Non-Companded radio talking to companded radio ---> Received audio on companded radio will sound like CR@P as the expander tries to expand audio that wasn't compressed originally, blowing the audio components out of proportion. It sounds muffled, distorted, un-natural, and some parts may be really loud while other parts are quiet.
The companding option is more trouble than it's worth. Best off to not use it if none of the other radios in your system don't use it either.
Good luck.
