I was thinking about this yesterday.
When you remove the panel covering the mike there is about an inch of clearence between the panel and the mike itself. So thats an inch further the sound has to travel. Ok, this sounds like nothing, but that inch of air is inside the roof space where background noise pollution will be far higher. I'm no pretty sure this gap has alot to do with the poor pickup on the mike.
I moved my mike over following Pottsy's instructions and sound quality didnt improve that much at all (although It did improve, so the instructions are good). I then popped the cover off and flipped the mike round (it is very directional it seems). Still not a huge improvement, but an improvement none the less. I then attached the mike to the removable roof panel right behind the newly drilled holes.
The difference is astounding, I can now make calls at normal speeds (30-40mph) and people cant even tell I'm moving. At motorway speeds (70+mph
) I can make and receive calls and I dont need to shout as background noise is still low enough to be no problem at all. In fact at motorway speeds I can voice dial without raising my voice and the car doesnt have to say pardon once. Pottsy has now added this tip to the "moving the mike" how to I beleive.
With this in mind maybe an official Honda fix will be either lowering the Microphone to the grille and inslulating around it. Or conecting some sort of sound deadening cone around the mike extending to the roof panel to form the same solution.
Those on this board with the power roof blinds might wanna try lowering their mike on the passenger side and taping it loosely to the roof panel? Follow pottsy's instructions to un clip the mike, but then just attach it to the panel covering the already drilled holes. I beleive this alone will make a huge difference to the sound quality.