[vignesh.cv]

Hello,

I have a '21 630d MSport version that comes with Harman Kardon speaker system. The HK audio system to be honest is good, but definitely can be improved on. I've been trying to get a bit more clarity from the audio without having to turn up the volume quite a bit. I listen to music either via Spotify or Apple Music via wireless Carplay from my phone.

Interestingly, when I switch to the radio in the car, the audio does sound a lot lot better than what is streamed from the phone. Is this normal or is there something I'm missing. I did go through the Bimmercode app trying to tweak with the EQ and such, but there's only marginal improvement.

I see companies like Focal have products that claim OEM style plug and play - complete set of replacement speakers & amplifier. Should I be investing in something like that or is there something else am missing?

Many thanks.

[GTO]

The 6GT has a great sound system, as do many cars today. In an entirely different segment, I am test-driving the Tata Curvv and loved its audio setup.

This is a topic close to my heart as I live on music; it's a part of every waking hour for me.

1. Open up your streaming apps, subscribe to the premium plan (subscriptions are cheap in India), and select "high quality" always. This is how my YouTube Music looks. This alone will significantly improve your SQ.



2. Get a good music player. I personally love "Power Amp" and crank up the bass + treble on its equalizer.



3. If you download tracks, do so only from the iTunes store. 10-15 bucks a song for truly high quality files.

4. There are other options like door damping etc., but that's more for mainstream cars than your 6GT which is already well insulated from the elements.

5. In some cars, Bluetooth streaming sounds better...in some cars, Wired Android Auto / Apple CarPlay sounds better. Play around with connection options.

6. Tune the equalizer of your head-unit.

[vignesh.cv]

Originally Posted by GTO

The 6GT has a great sound system, as do many cars today. In an entirely different segment, I am test-driving the Tata Curvv and loved its audio setup.

This is a topic close to my heart as I live on music; it's a part of every waking hour for me.

Thanks a lot for the practical tips GTO. I noticed that Apple Music app on the phone was set to stream at Lossless by default, have switched to Hi-Res Lossless. Also, have set the EQ to Off on the phone, will rely on the headunit's EQ setting. Will try this over the next few weeks and report back.

[drumbrakes]

Originally Posted by vignesh.cv

Thanks a lot for the practical tips GTO. I noticed that Apple Music app on the phone was set to stream at Lossless by default, have switched to Hi-Res Lossless. Also, have set the EQ to Off on the phone, will rely on the headunit's EQ setting. Will try this over the next few weeks and report back.

I believe lossless audio can only be streamed via a wired connection, so make sure you are connected with a wire.

[Ojas]

BMW cars support Android Auto or Apple CarPlay only in wireless mode, so you can't really make use of Hi-Res music.

In my 5er, I use EQ on car and get soundstage that I really do like.

What made difference in my case is the streaming app. Apple Music still seems to have higher quality in terms of clarity/bass compared to YT Music or Spotify despite using higher compression format (AAC).

[Sbk__Audiophile]

The system is not powerful enough to run the music good enough. Let me post steps for the best results in the order of most simple to more effort requiring.

Step 1- Run your music through Tidal app. Tidal has a higher bitrate than Apple music in with same High res audio quality and would boost up the music in the stock setup. Playing with equalisers is not going to help.
Tidal is not available in Indian store so you'll have to switch the country of store to download. APK will also work.

Step 2- Try a Plug and Play with a DSP Amp, preferably from Helix - Match PP UP8 BMW. This has 65W RMS to run the speakers and 160W to run the underseat subwoofers. This can be done DIY. Change the coupler and you should be done. You can even add a Conductor for further controls.

Step 3- Install Plug and play speaker options from brands like ESB Audio, Focal or Eton. ESB Audio makes the best plug and play for BMW as far as I know. Remember the Midrange speaker is the most important as the underseat will only play upto 150 Hz. The midrange should be able to easily start from that low and tune the DSP accordingly.

If you're satisfied at any of those steps, no need to go further.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

[d3mon]

Vignesh, for my G30 pre-LCI, which has a slightly different but similarly branded HK setup, I found that the onboard EQ was a bit insufficient for boosting bass enough. This is because the lowest bass frequency that you can boost using that EQ is at 100Hz, which is just not low enough and it also adds muddiness in the 100+Hz region.

Using the systemwide EQ on my Samsung phone, which is automated to switch to the custom BMW EQ profile whenever the car is connected, I have been able to boost lower frequencies of 64Hz, which makes a night and day difference to the punch in the system. You also need to cut bass at ultrasonic frequencies, as very surprisingly, there's no bass floor in the DSP and I observed a strong response to a 20Hz test tone from the underseat subwoofer. It was trying hard but not producing much bass, so it was just wasting energy in that region and reducing the bass punch in the useful frequencies above.

The other problem was a slight resonance between 150-200Hz, and that was again sorted out by adding a small dip in that frequency.

I don't know much about iphones - if they support EQ over bluetooth, try that, else try out an android phone with EQ over bluetooth and see if that helps before making any upgrades.

[Go1Gamer]

Any tips on improving the OEM sound of the 2022 onwards maruti suzuki Baleno (Smartplay Pro Plus) . I daily drive a Celerio (2015) and i feel the oem speakers of that sound a lot more better than the baleno. I do not know if it's because of the additional two tweeters in the baleno or my general audio preference but the audio does not seem as lively as that in the celerio which is a bummer.
I have played around with the tuning but it still doesn't sound as clear and lively.
How big is the audio quality difference between wired and wireless carplay and does wired carplay really give lossless audio or is it lossy ?(on apple music to be specific)

[vignesh.cv]

Originally Posted by drumbrakes

I believe lossless audio can only be streamed via a wired connection, so make sure you are connected with a wire.

Thanks, I'll try downloading the audio to usb stick and try that route as well.

Originally Posted by Ojas

In my 5er, I use EQ on car and get soundstage that I really do like.

Thanks, still figuring things out with regards to this.

Originally Posted by Sbk__Audiophile

The system is not powerful enough to run the music good enough. Let me post steps for the best results in the order of most simple to more effort requiring.

Thanks a lot for these steps. Tidal is an option I haven't explored, will give it a try.

Originally Posted by d3mon

Vignesh, for my G30 pre-LCI, which has a slightly different but similarly branded HK setup, I found that the onboard EQ was a bit insufficient for boosting bass enough. This is because the lowest bass frequency that you can boost using that EQ is at 100Hz, which is just not low enough and it also adds muddiness in the 100+Hz region.

Thanks for the clarifications. Unfortunately in the iPhone, there is no way to control EQ over Carplay, seems to have no effect. I agree, the onboard EQ does seem limited that way. Will get hold of an Android phone one of these days and give it a try.

[Sbk__Audiophile]

Originally Posted by Go1Gamer

Any tips on improving the OEM sound of the 2022 onwards maruti suzuki Baleno (Smartplay Pro Plus) . I daily drive a Celerio (2015) and i feel the oem speakers of that sound a lot more better than the baleno. I do not know if it's because of the additional two tweeters in the baleno or my general audio preference but the audio does not seem as lively as that in the celerio which is a bummer.
I have played around with the tuning but it still doesn't sound as clear and lively.
How big is the audio quality difference between wired and wireless carplay and does wired carplay really give lossless audio or is it lossy ?(on apple music to be specific)

Check the output of VXi and Zxi of the same car. The full option headunit is manufactured by a diff manufacturer although having touchscreen is not as good as the vxi.
Infact the VXi stereo is far superior.

Regarding the output in lossless vs non lossless, atleast maintaining CD quality and not playing youtube converted music should be standard. Done expect magic if you're feeding crap input.
Unless the system has a complete setup with DSP tuned to highest, anything above 44 Khz 96 kbps need a good system for the difference to be evident.

[hondatoyotafan]

I somehow find the HK systems put in BMW in India lower in quality compared to the premium HK is had in my X5 back in the states or is it the ambient noise in India spoiling the experience.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by vignesh.cv

The HK audio system to be honest is good, but definitely can be improved on. I've been trying to get a bit more clarity from the audio without having to turn up the volume quite a bit.


Interestingly, when I switch to the radio in the car, the audio does sound a lot lot better than what is streamed from the phone.

Without actually listening to your system and being present in person to observe your experience is just wild guesses here. But a few things based on your choice of words:

Audio played via Radio stations is extremely companded (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companding). This improves the signal to noise ratio (giving an impression of better quality) but at the cost of elimination loudness variations in music. The side effect is that the music sounds extremely loud (even if you reduce the volume knob).

A good example closer home is when you watch movies on your TV and get deafened by the advertisement/commercials in between.

Another similar example would be the Loudness war experienced in music from 70s/80s vs today https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war
So imagine there is an already companded music which is further companded by the Radio station

No wonder Radio will sound louder and "better/clear"

What can you do about it?
I remember in my old car's Pioneer stereo system there were two features:
1) decibel compensation. What it did was apply a manually adjustable boost of 3 to 6 dB to non-radio source. This made the sound variation between radio and non-radio minimal.

2) your preference appears to lean towards the companded audio. Again in my old Pioneer unit there was a setting called Loudness compensation (or perhaps it was called noise compensation?) - it had 3 settings: off, low, mid, high. The higher you go, the higher was the companding effect (making the quieter sounds also as loud as the louder sounds).

If your audio unit has these two settings, I am confident your issues will be completely resolved.


Note I am deliberately ignoring the EQ and bitrate discussion, because you are finding radio (which has much poorer bitrate and usually terribly boosted 50-150 Hz spectrum) much better than streaming audio in your system. Which leads me to conclude that these are not the cause of your issues.

[vignesh.cv]

Originally Posted by alpha1

Without actually listening to your system and being present in person to observe your experience is just wild guesses here. But a few things based on your choice of words:

Thanks for the explanation regarding radio. Never knew that. I also understand it is difficult to suggest a solution without actually hearing the system.

I did couple of experiments.

1. Ripped an old cd into a variable mp3 on a usb stick. This sounded a lot better than Apple Music. My definition of better here being it sounded clear, I could make out the different tones even in a low volume.

2. Downloaded a song using the Airtel Wynk app. Never used it in recent years as I had moved to Apple Music. This was same as the usb stick - lots more clarity and definition even at low volume.

I don’t get signal coverage in the parking lot, so even the music played through Apple Music would be a downloaded version.

[Pontiac]

Nothing sounds better than downloading a track in Hi-Res or even CD quality and use it with a USB stick.

Some notes:

1. Hi-Res only works over blue tooth if the receiver also has the capability to handle LDAC.
2. Apple Lossless or Hi-Res does not work over blue tooth. So, if you are listening to over blue tooth, this is a waste of money.

If someone has tried Apple Lossless or Hi-Res over wired connection on Apple car play and has compared against a downloaded track sitting in a USB drive connected to HU, let me know as I am curious as well.