GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: Mr Savage on 29 January 2014, 20:50
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Yep, you guys knew the thread was coming. :laugh:
So, everyone post your settings that you have for your Dynaudio and let's try and get all our systems set up right as I know numerous members are having real trouble getting the balance right.
State your Bass - Mid - Treble and Profile Setting (Acoustic, Soft ect)
Your sound location setting (front, centre or rear)
And your Subwoofer setting.
To start us off. If you choose a Profile setting then change to individual it does allow you to further modify the selected profile and have a huge impact on the final result.
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Posted this in the DynAudio thread;
(http://i874.photobucket.com/albums/ab308/justinwanstall/2014-01-29184725_zpsd1f769a9.jpg) (http://i874.photobucket.com/albums/ab308/justinwanstall/2014-01-29184734_zps8e8cb489.jpg) (http://i874.photobucket.com/albums/ab308/justinwanstall/2014-01-29184809_zps3ffa80d0.jpg)
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Thank you Mr Savage :smiley:
@Monsta. With those Individual settings, if you go back into Profiles, which one is highlighted?
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I would also like to know which Profile is selected as well. I am suspecting it is the Authentic profile as Dynamic with an extra +3 on the bass EQ and mid and treble in the minuses would probably sound a bit too bassy and not enough definition on the higher end. However if it were the Authentic profile the settings Mr Savage suggests would be about right to reduce the brightness of the treble and give it a bit more bass which Authentic profile does lack with some genres of music.
I was also thinking about starting a thread like this as well as I was starting to wonder if I could also improve on the Dynaudio profiles and was imterested what others have done.
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Hi,
I am really struggling to get the sound right on my Mk7. The Dynaudio on my Mk6 sounded great, but the latest system seems to bottom out very easily, with the bass not keeping up with the mids and highs.
From experience with my last car Dynaudio needed quite a few weeks to 'run in'. The bass response improved quote dramitally after this period. I am hoping the current system is the same.
Current setting: Authentic
Bass +3
Mid 0
Treble +2
Sub +5
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Thank you Mr Savage :smiley:
@Monsta. With those Individual settings, if you go back into Profiles, which one is highlighted?
It's on Individual... it can't be on a profile can it?
As far as I understand, the profiles are preset settings which you can't configure. The minute you go into individual you are on "individual"?
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That's where the confusion lies - some of us seem to think that Individual allows fine adjustment of one of the 4 Profiles. But we could be wrong...
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I think this is the case you know..when playing round yesterday I noticed an obvious difference switching between preset profiles, but once I switched from a profile to individual the sound would remain the same. I could then tweak to perfect. It would be far more useful if when you go in to individual you could see the levels of the individual bands for the profile that you have just come from. At the moment, it's all flat, no matter where you have come from! I guess there isn't really an actually flat..
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That's where the confusion lies - some of us seem to think that Individual allows fine adjustment of one of the 4 Profiles. But we could be wrong...
If that were the case then you should be able to reset them back to the standard configuration (like with DCC you can tailor the setup of the car in indvidual but reset to factory config) there is no option for that.
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There is a little reset button (mini EQ icon) next to the drop down for 'individual' and 'profile', but I think this only resets the current EQ settings..
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Well said, this is exactly what I have experienced. What ever the profile was set to last, before going to individual is the base on which individual will adjust the EQ values on top of without overwriting the profile. It's like the EQ is adjusting the sound either input to or output from the profile.
Profile + EQ = final sound
Is this what others have found?
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Sounds like a reasonable (but mental) assumption..
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I have mine set very similar to monstas but a tiny bit more mid range and treble
coming to work this morning Strong by London Grammar and she sells Sanctuary by the Cult were stunning..I could have just sat in the car park at work and listened for ages!
does anybody know, as I am using my ipod..if it has the rock setting on that is it already changing the music before it comes into the dynaudio system? so essentialy it would be going through 2 equalizers? I might try setting that to original then seeing how that makes a difference in the car
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I do try my best to be mental with assumptions. It's just that I set my EQ the other day then notice all the profiles were sounding as if they were all adjust the same amount of bass mid and treble as I had in the EQ.
I also tried setting a proflie like dynamic and then go to Individual which didn't adjust the sound in the slightest until I added or subtracted bass mid or treble on the EQ. I then adjusted the profile after this and again all profiles sounded like they were adjust the same amount of plus or minus bass, mid or treble on top of the selected profile. Which leads me to believe it is
EQ + Profile = final sound.
But on the other hand I may have completely lost the plot and find I am actually deaf and the noise I can hear is the white noise of deafness not the dynaudio playing with my mind.
Infact i looked up Dynaudio in the dictionary the other day and it apparently means 'confusion'. :laugh:
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I asked a couple of colleagues at work (in Germany) about this a while ago, and both came back with the same answer from their respective German dealers.
According to them - you first set Dynaudio Profile (which adjusts an internal EQ curve), then on the individual screen you get the option of changing the bass, mid and highs for that selected Profile - so the assumptions as a few have made that Base Profile + EQ adjust = final sound seems to be correct ?
Of course if could all be bull :laugh:
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Gold Star! :smiley:
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Woohoo, I got something right for once.... I hope? :grin:
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Savour the feeling! :grin:
Doesn't really help us trying to sort the sound out..where do you start?! I think Dynamic could be a good starting point..
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I guess it would depend on the genre of music and whether you prefer a lot of bass or not. For clarity through the range would Authentic be a good starting point. Although saying that I tried it recently and could not get enough bass. I think we will have to put our heads together and work it out between us.
I have found Dynamic (default) is very bass heavy and on some tracks I have thought the mids and treble would need to be a little more defined. Then again Authentic has been the opposite and required a bit more bass. So if you prefer to listen to Dance, Trance etc, Then I would say Dynamic would be the best starting point and if you prefer something a little more acoustic or melodic then Authentic would be your starting point.
Which means we may have to devise more than one complete setup for Dynaudio ideally dependent on genre.
What do you think?
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As I tend to have my nano set to shuffle, think I'll stick with one overall setup, based on Authentic. Otherwise I would have to employ someone to sit in the passenger seat and fiddle with EQ as each new track appears.
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Good call. Was just wondering if some guys may require a different setup when a lot of bass is required. But I was wondering whether to use Authentic as my overall profile & EQ setup, then maybe have a Dynamic setup when I feel like a lot more bass than is possible with Authentic.
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I tweaked the fader setting this morning, pushing it back a couple of notches, and it does result in a more "enveloping" sound, rather than everything coming at you from the dashboard.
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I tweaked the fader setting this morning, pushing it back a couple of notches, and it does result in a more "enveloping" sound, rather than everything coming at you from the dashboard.
You say that, I don't find that the 'front right' sound focus is particularly bad. I do remember on my Mk6 I had to push it back to get fuller sound you're referring to - don't think the rear speakers were up to the job in the Mk6 though.
Going to go for authentic and push the mids/ lows and drop the treble on the way home tonight. Now just need to identify a suitable test track..
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I've moved the focus to one behind the centre of the car (so it's just over into the rear part of the car) and threw my bass up to 5 on Dynaudio and 5 on Subwoofer, with the rest set the same as Monsta and it sounds the best it ever has on dance music.
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Hi,
I have just been able to compare the Dynaudio in my Mk7 with my Mk6 (My mum bought my Mk6) and the bass response in the Mk6 is vastly better :sad: I am not sure why but the door speakers have far far more bass response / punch / depth than my MK7. I am not sure if the new speakers or amplifier are the issue, I am still yet to find where the amplifier is in the Mk7. Anyone know?
I am still hoping the new speakers will 'run in' in time. What are your thoughts?
Ian
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Hi,
I have just been able to compare the Dynaudio in my Mk7 with my Mk6 (My mum bought my Mk6) and the bass response in the Mk6 is vastly better :sad: I am not sure why but the door speakers have far far more bass response / punch / depth than my MK7. I am not sure if the new speakers or amplifier are the issue, I am still yet to find where the amplifier is in the Mk7. Anyone know?
I am still hoping the new speakers will 'run in' in time. What are your thoughts?
Ian
I'm actually convinced that they've used standard drivers in mine rather than the Dynaudio drivers for exactly this reason. The sound is constrained and not what I would expect, given how good it was in my MK6. Can't fault the rest of the car but feel let down by the Dynaudio.
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Hi,
I have just been able to compare the Dynaudio in my Mk7 with my Mk6 (My mum bought my Mk6) and the bass response in the Mk6 is vastly better :sad: I am not sure why but the door speakers have far far more bass response / punch / depth than my MK7. I am not sure if the new speakers or amplifier are the issue, I am still yet to find where the amplifier is in the Mk7. Anyone know?
I am still hoping the new speakers will 'run in' in time. What are your thoughts?
Ian
I'm actually convinced that they've used standard drivers in mine rather than the Dynaudio drivers for exactly this reason. The sound is constrained and not what I would expect, given how good it was in my MK6. Can't fault the rest of the car but feel let down by the Dynaudio.
I was quite shocked when I had both cars side by side and played the same song in each car to compare. The Mk7's speakers seem to bottom out at anything but low volumes :cry:
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The bass though has been driven to the sub and so the speakers wont be as punchy as the mk6. In theory its probably the subs fault.
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The bass though has been driven to the sub and so the speakers wont be as punchy as the mk6. In theory its probably the subs fault.
Thats true I guess, and the sub is as good as useless unless you have the sound really quiet
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Is there any way of checking the part numbers for a std car vs a Dynaudio-fitted car, to confirm that VW are indeed fitting uprated speakers to Dynaudio cars?
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Im not sure, it would need someone with access to the parts system. I can't believe that VW would have a speaker company branded sound system and not use their speakers? I am wondering if there is a special amplifier like there was on a Mk6 though. On the Mk6 it was under the passenger seat so easy to identify. I don't know where it is on the Mk7? It sertainly seems like the amplifier clips / limits the signal a great deal. At times it sounds like the sound is coming and going, in the same way I have experienced when DJing in clubs, and the limiter cutting in.
Ian
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Hi. Yes there is an amplifier under the passenger seat, I just checked :)
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It would appear from the Dynaudio website that the speakers are Dynaudio sourced.
"The Dynaudio Excite Sound System in the new Golf VII:
Nine high-end loudspeakers (incl. subwoofer)
10-channel, 400 watt digital amplifier
DSP Technology with four (new) sound characteristics and four (new) focus settings
"
"The infotainment system features nine perfectly positioned Dynaudio loudspeakers, including one dedicated subwoofer, powered by a 400 watt digital amplifier. The dual 2-way systems (in the front and in the rear passenger compartments), each comprise a pair of Dynaudio soft-dome tweeters and MSP mid/bass drivers, delivering well balanced sound to the whole interior. The additional subwoofer offers breathtaking bass performance. "
http://www.dynaudio.com/int/car_hifi/vw_golf.php
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There's a What HiFi review of Dynaudio at the top of this blog:
http://www.whathifi.com/blogs/andy-madden
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There's a What HiFi review of Dynaudio at the top of this blog:
http://www.whathifi.com/blogs/andy-madden
This one? http://www.whathifi.com/blog/dynaudio-excite-sound-system-review-%E2%80%93%C2%A0vw-golf-mk-7 (http://www.whathifi.com/blog/dynaudio-excite-sound-system-review-%E2%80%93%C2%A0vw-golf-mk-7)
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That's the one. For some reason, my Mac couldn't pull the URL of the article, only the home page.
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"
[/b]
"The additional subwoofer offers breathtaking bass performance. "
http://www.dynaudio.com/int/car_hifi/vw_golf.php
I'm afraid my breath is yet to be taken. My Mk6 without the sub had more bass to be honest. Also the bass is ok at low volume, but increase it above 1/4 and the sub fades so far into the background it can no longer be heard :cry:
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Discovered my new favourite settings today, stick it on soft profile then put the bass down a little further and turn the sub up to 7/8.
The result is that the front section always sounds good with no distortion and the subwoofer does all the hard work in the boot.
At louder volumes the front speakers used to cause vibrations in the doors with heavier bass tracks now you don't get that, if you like you can turn down the mid range for a deeper sound.
:smiley:
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Not sure about 'high-end' speakers all round. Try isolating the rears - they are at best pedestrian.... :sad:
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I had Harman Kardon in my F80 1 Series and it was soooo good so when I ordered my Golf I had to have up grade sound.
I'm so disappointed with the dynaudio as to how much setup etc it required! I'm a sound engineer so know exactly how to tune eq's for best sound
I found they have relied on the door mids to produce much of the bass, big problem with that is the doors vibrate alot. Also to have a hard hitting mid speaker that produces lots of bass, you lose definition, and gain undefined midrange frequencies! Instead of putting in a capable sub to handle the bottom end they use that space saver thing! It augments the bass rather than being the bass, this makes for difficult bottom end tuning and a sub that bottoms out quickly
The BM also has auto EQ which worked very well on balancing different tracks as it's soo noticeable going from one track to another in the golf you want to reach for the EQ everytime! I really wonder if Dynaudio built this system for the golf or just supplied VW the parts as the difference to the HK is unreal (they built the system to suit the car)
Anyway, after hours of tinkering here are my settings
EQ: Authentic
Bass: -4 to -6 (so the door mids can handle high volumes)
Mid: -7 to -8 (midrange frequencies are soo harsh and overpowering & make everything sound muddy! Really poor)
Treble: 0 to +3 (mostly 0 but some content needs a little lift, anything higher is just causing fatigue)
Sub: +3 to +6 (get the sub to do the work but it has its limitations!)
Focus: Standard front + rear (haven't played about with this much, it's just balance & fader really)
The mid range is soo bad at 0 it really makes me wonder, as I said earlier did Dynaudio set the system up for the car?? Any audiophile would cut their ears off before listening to such an inbalance, It's soo bad!
The second biggest fail was using that space saving sub then trying to make up for the bass with the speakers in the doors!
VW prob insisted that the car kept its space saver or I'm sure Dynaudio would have used all this space and put in proper, capable sub, then they could have fitted a much more refined door speaker which would have sorted out the horrible mids and improved the system to no end.
Nite nite :)
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Thanks for this thread it has helped me tweak my dynaudio. I had it on front focus which overwhelmed the front door speakers with bass and i've shifted the bass to the woofer which has really helped.
I get gaps between tracks when playing mp3s from my sd card (e.g. a dance music mix album) and can't see anyway to get gapless playback. Any ideas? I've searched and a similar issue has existed with previous marks of the golf but no discussion re the mark 7 with discover pro... cheers in advance and apologies if considered off topic
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I had Harman Kardon in my F80 1 Series and it was soooo good so when I ordered my Golf I had to have up grade sound.
I'm so disappointed with the dynaudio as to how much setup etc it required! I'm a sound engineer so know exactly how to tune eq's for best sound
I found they have relied on the door mids to produce much of the bass, big problem with that is the doors vibrate alot. Also to have a hard hitting mid speaker that produces lots of bass, you lose definition, and gain undefined midrange frequencies! Instead of putting in a capable sub to handle the bottom end they use that space saver thing! It augments the bass rather than being the bass, this makes for difficult bottom end tuning and a sub that bottoms out quickly
The BM also has auto EQ which worked very well on balancing different tracks as it's soo noticeable going from one track to another in the golf you want to reach for the EQ everytime! I really wonder if Dynaudio built this system for the golf or just supplied VW the parts as the difference to the HK is unreal (they built the system to suit the car)
Anyway, after hours of tinkering here are my settings
EQ: Authentic
Bass: -4 to -6 (so the door mids can handle high volumes)
Mid: -7 to -8 (midrange frequencies are soo harsh and overpowering & make everything sound muddy! Really poor)
Treble: 0 to +3 (mostly 0 but some content needs a little lift, anything higher is just causing fatigue)
Sub: +3 to +6 (get the sub to do the work but it has its limitations!)
Focus: Standard front + rear (haven't played about with this much, it's just balance & fader really)
The mid range is soo bad at 0 it really makes me wonder, as I said earlier did Dynaudio set the system up for the car?? Any audiophile would cut their ears off before listening to such an inbalance, It's soo bad!
The second biggest fail was using that space saving sub then trying to make up for the bass with the speakers in the doors!
VW prob insisted that the car kept its space saver or I'm sure Dynaudio would have used all this space and put in proper, capable sub, then they could have fitted a much more refined door speaker which would have sorted out the horrible mids and improved the system to no end.
Nite nite :)
Many thanks mate - I've tried your settings and they are much better. :smiley:
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How do I change the sub settings plz??
I've managed to change the bass, mid & treble but can't find the sub
Edit: all sorted
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I had Harman Kardon in my F80 1 Series and it was soooo good so when I ordered my Golf I had to have up grade sound.
I'm so disappointed with the dynaudio as to how much setup etc it required! I'm a sound engineer so know exactly how to tune eq's for best sound
I found they have relied on the door mids to produce much of the bass, big problem with that is the doors vibrate alot. Also to have a hard hitting mid speaker that produces lots of bass, you lose definition, and gain undefined midrange frequencies! Instead of putting in a capable sub to handle the bottom end they use that space saver thing! It augments the bass rather than being the bass, this makes for difficult bottom end tuning and a sub that bottoms out quickly
The BM also has auto EQ which worked very well on balancing different tracks as it's soo noticeable going from one track to another in the golf you want to reach for the EQ everytime! I really wonder if Dynaudio built this system for the golf or just supplied VW the parts as the difference to the HK is unreal (they built the system to suit the car)
Anyway, after hours of tinkering here are my settings
EQ: Authentic
Bass: -4 to -6 (so the door mids can handle high volumes)
Mid: -7 to -8 (midrange frequencies are soo harsh and overpowering & make everything sound muddy! Really poor)
Treble: 0 to +3 (mostly 0 but some content needs a little lift, anything higher is just causing fatigue)
Sub: +3 to +6 (get the sub to do the work but it has its limitations!)
Focus: Standard front + rear (haven't played about with this much, it's just balance & fader really)
The mid range is soo bad at 0 it really makes me wonder, as I said earlier did Dynaudio set the system up for the car?? Any audiophile would cut their ears off before listening to such an inbalance, It's soo bad!
The second biggest fail was using that space saving sub then trying to make up for the bass with the speakers in the doors!
VW prob insisted that the car kept its space saver or I'm sure Dynaudio would have used all this space and put in proper, capable sub, then they could have fitted a much more refined door speaker which would have sorted out the horrible mids and improved the system to no end.
Nite nite :)
Many thanks mate - I've tried your settings and they are much better. :smiley:
I had my system set to generic middle of the spectrum settings, I changed to the suggested settings.
Is this how it should sound?
Maybe the standard system or Dynaudio in this application is fine for people like me, it sounds different to before, but I am not sure how much better?! :)
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I had Harman Kardon in my F80 1 Series and it was soooo good so when I ordered my Golf I had to have up grade sound.
I'm so disappointed with the dynaudio as to how much setup etc it required! I'm a sound engineer so know exactly how to tune eq's for best sound
I found they have relied on the door mids to produce much of the bass, big problem with that is the doors vibrate alot. Also to have a hard hitting mid speaker that produces lots of bass, you lose definition, and gain undefined midrange frequencies! Instead of putting in a capable sub to handle the bottom end they use that space saver thing! It augments the bass rather than being the bass, this makes for difficult bottom end tuning and a sub that bottoms out quickly
The BM also has auto EQ which worked very well on balancing different tracks as it's soo noticeable going from one track to another in the golf you want to reach for the EQ everytime! I really wonder if Dynaudio built this system for the golf or just supplied VW the parts as the difference to the HK is unreal (they built the system to suit the car)
Anyway, after hours of tinkering here are my settings
EQ: Authentic
Bass: -4 to -6 (so the door mids can handle high volumes)
Mid: -7 to -8 (midrange frequencies are soo harsh and overpowering & make everything sound muddy! Really poor)
Treble: 0 to +3 (mostly 0 but some content needs a little lift, anything higher is just causing fatigue)
Sub: +3 to +6 (get the sub to do the work but it has its limitations!)
Focus: Standard front + rear (haven't played about with this much, it's just balance & fader really)
The mid range is soo bad at 0 it really makes me wonder, as I said earlier did Dynaudio set the system up for the car?? Any audiophile would cut their ears off before listening to such an inbalance, It's soo bad!
The second biggest fail was using that space saving sub then trying to make up for the bass with the speakers in the doors!
VW prob insisted that the car kept its space saver or I'm sure Dynaudio would have used all this space and put in proper, capable sub, then they could have fitted a much more refined door speaker which would have sorted out the horrible mids and improved the system to no end.
Nite nite :)
Many thanks mate - I've tried your settings and they are much better. :smiley:
I had my system set to generic middle of the spectrum settings, I changed to the suggested settings.
Is this how it should sound?
Maybe the standard system or Dynaudio in this application is fine for people like me, it sounds different to before, but I am not sure how much better?! :)
I'm the same, I'm not convinced by those settings at all
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Short version
I don't believe it is the Dynaudio setup itself that is the problem, it is the pre-processing in some fashion.
In my experience, playing mp3 from an SD card is bad - boomy bass, muddy middle and treble is lost, and the equaliser is far too limited.
Playing via bluetooth is OK (and good if you use the phone equaliser to adjust a bit) and DAB is good.
There are plenty of other bugs in the system - ranging from volume management to crashing and not displaying lists of albums etc. from bluetooth devices.
It would be interesting to know which sound sources people are, and whether they think it is good or poor.
Long Version
I was bitterly disappointed with the Dynaudio setup in my MK7 Golf R, until I discovered what was wrong with it. I did the obvious, dumped my music to an SD card and tried it. But it sounded far worse than my 9 year old Mondeo Titanium X (with the same mp3 files). Yes, it pumped out more volume, but the mid range was just a mushy mess. The bass was far too overpowering and uncontrolled and as the equaliser is pretty much useless (only 3 sliders) you cannot adjust it without making a mess elsewhere in the spectrum.
I listen to a lot of rock music (Pink Floyd, Queen etc) and wondered if it was my oldish mp3s (though they sound fabulous normally). So I re-ripped, used Amazon mp3s, you name it - the Dynaudio setup was just poor no matter which mp3s.
In the end I gave up and switched to using music from my phone via Bluetooth, and using an equaliser in the phone, to get a half decent sound, while leaving the Dynaudio settings on Authentic, no adjustment, and the sub slightly turned down. However, I noticed that even without using the equaliser in the phone, the quality was much better. This is for the same mp3 files. So I wonder if there is a problem with how they have set up the mp3 decoder they use for playing from the SD card?
It appears that a mixture of poor mp3 decoding and a useless graphic equaliser mean you simply cannot use the SD card facility effectively. I tried the settings Taw1a suggested, and from the SD card, they were better than the standard, but it was still poor.
Other Issues
Changing focus of sound immediately halves the volume for some arbitrary reason. However if you turn the unit off and on again, it retains the new focus and comes back to the proper volume. If you don't do that, the progress bar for the volume is wrong, and when it gets to full volume, you are at about half volume - keep turning it up and it gets louder even though the bar says it is at max.
Another issue is the dreadful user interface. At least in my car, the SD card is not really usable because of sound quality, so I can either use my phone to control your music, which is clearly not practical while driving, or you are reliant on the bluetooth interface. Well, with android and Google Play Music you can get a sort of usable system - you get a list of albums, artists, songs and playlists. But it simply breaks all the time. At one point I had it listing all my albums, but then it lost most of them, and started instead showing tracks from the first album. Then it started simply not showing them at all. Remove the phone and re-add, and it breaks in another way (it showed Albums, Artists, Playlists, All Songs, album 1, album 2 etc - all in one long list). Maybe its a Google issue, maybe a VW issue - its unusable either way.
And there are other problems - poor interface, unusable touch screen while driving (why such tiny icons right at the edge of the screen, which does not respond correctly at the edges), why no next / previous album on the steering wheel (but two ways to go next and previous track ffs). Navigating a hierarchy of music is a simple issue - you need to go up down the hierarchy, and then up down a list of options. The interface, to my mind, is dangerous - the combination of fiddly interface and having to use a centre console display to change album is simply unusable in a safe fashion while driving, unlike e.g. the system in my old Mondeo which uses the centre display to let you change albums etc.
All in all, thoroughly frustrating audio, and spoiling a fabulous car.
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I have been using the Dynaudio in my GTI PP for almost 3 years now. I have to say I have had no problems with the system and sound quality is great. I find it may be due to the original files themselves. If you are using MP3's ensure they are at least 320kbps or FLAC (or 256kbps minimum). Also I personally do not fiddle with the Equalizers as they can distort or degrade the sound if not setup properly. As most audiophiles would contest the best sound will be with treble, mids and bass set to 0.
I also listen to my music from an SD Card on the Nav Pro and have not experienced any of the problems others have been experiencing on this thread. The sound on my Dynaudio system is clear and punchy. My brother in law is a sound engineer and he was impressed with the sound the Dynaudio system produced in my car. Until he heard my system he had written off the quality of sound systems in cars.
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I have been using the Dynaudio in my GTI PP for almost 3 years now. I have to say I have had no problems with the system and sound quality is great. I find it may be due to the original files themselves. If you are using MP3's ensure they are at least 320kbps or FLAC (or 256kbps minimum). Also I personally do not fiddle with the Equalizers as they can distort or degrade the sound if not setup properly. As most audiophiles would contest the best sound will be with treble, mids and bass set to 0.
I also listen to my music from an SD Card on the Nav Pro and have not experienced any of the problems others have been experiencing on this thread. The sound on my Dynaudio system is clear and punchy. My brother in law is a sound engineer and he was impressed with the sound the Dynaudio system produced in my car. Until he heard my system he had written off the quality of sound systems in cars.
That's good to hear. I read the post just before yours and the other one from Taw1a and I started wondering WTH did I hear during my test-drive that made me spec the Dynaudio and whether my ears were that off? Glad to see I was not alone. I listened to a couple of good quality reference files I have in my phone's memory and streamed via bluetooth with minimal messing on the EQ and immediately realized how much better they sounded compared to the standard system on another Golf in the showroom. Mids just immediately came to life. No issues with door rattling because of the bass even at higher volumes. In fact I got the impression the cabin aided a lot the overall sound quality, as opposed to other cars I've had over the years trying to improve the acoustics with better speakers, tweeters, sound insulation material and in the end still not getting where I wanted.
No idea about the glitches mentioned as I haven't yet lived with the car (awaiting delivery), but seemed to be working just fine during the test. Quick connection, info showing up properly and easy control. Is it possible that different SW versions affect the playback and overall smoothness of the unit? I guess I'll find out in the near future.
I will try Taw1a's suggestions as well, to see what differences I can hear.
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The mp3 decode, and indeed a lot of the whole system, is software dependent. It certainly will vary over time, as they change and update it, and a 3 year old system could easily be much better than a new one. I didn't go for the Nav Pro, just the Dynaudio upgrade and the standard Composition Media (as I use app-connect and my phone for navigation), in a Golf R Estate built in January 2016. In theory it should have the same software and hardware as far as the sound goes, as the Nav pro system but...
It would be fascinating to compare mine to a Dynaudio system that someone reckons is excellent, and see if there is a genuine difference or not.
Re my mp3s - of course they are high bit rate (256 - 320) and when I play them in other systems they sound great - it is playing them from an SD card in the Golf that they are poor. I should probably try some WMA instead, as that would at least eliminate the mp3 decode part of the system.
If anyone is in the Sheffield area and wants to meet up at a service station or something, we can compare them.
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sound preference is like art, everyone has their own taste and idea of what looks or sounds good. Also you may find some of us have systems not installed or setup properly by the factory or sound files which are not of a good enough quality.
As mentioned I have no complaints with Dynaudio, infact I even went out and bought a set of Dynaudio Xeo3 book shelf speakers for my desk I liked the sound that much.
You will find with the better speakers and sound systems you will hear all the flaws and loss of quality (compression) in a low quality music file. I have noticed this with music files myself. I now as a rule ensure I have music files which are at least 320kbps or FLAC (256kbps bare minimum). I have listened to music files with lower bit rates which sound fine on some run of the mill sound systems but not so great on the Dynaudio system in the car or even my Pioneer reference headphones. But when i sourced the same music with a higher bit rate of 320kbps and played it on the Dynaudio system in the car the difference was like night and day.
The more you compress a file the worse it will be in quality.
Hope this helps. :smiley:
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sound preference is like art, everyone has their own taste and idea of what looks or sounds good. Also you may find some of us have systems not installed or setup properly by the factory or sound files which are not of a good enough quality.
As mentioned I have no complaints with Dynaudio, infact I even went out and bought a set of Dynaudio Xeo3 book shelf speakers for my desk I liked the sound that much.
You will find with the better speakers and sound systems you will hear all the flaws and loss of quality (compression) in a low quality music file. I have noticed this with music files myself. I now as a rule ensure I have music files which are at least 320kbps or FLAC (256kbps bare minimum). I have listened to music files with lower bit rates which sound fine on some run of the mill sound systems but not so great on the Dynaudio system in the car or even my Pioneer reference headphones. But when i sourced the same music with a higher bit rate of 320kbps and played it on the Dynaudio system in the car the difference was like night and day.
The more you compress a file the worse it will be in quality.
Hope this helps. :smiley:
I though decent mp3 quality (320k+) to be a prerequisite for anyone participating in such a discussion so I didn't even mention that. No point in discussing EQ settings and audio fidelity with unknown source 128k files obviously.
As jez6363 said earlier, a meeting and real-time testing between two people with different views on the Dynaudio's sound reproduction would probably be the only to tell for sure what is the case. Maybe interesting things like different results between two cars could emerge.
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The problem is not the quality of the mp3s themselves (they are a mix of 256 and 320). It is the system in some fashion. It is not a small difference in quality - it is massive - far bigger than the difference between 128 and 320 bit rates. With the eq in neutral, the mp3s sound as if the singer has been put in a box and the bass booms (from the door speakers) - very unpleasant to listen to at volume.
I am less convinced now that it is just a case of SD card vs Bluetooth though. I use Poweramp and Google Play Music on my phone. With the app eq set to neutral, Google Play Music is similar to the SD card but with maybe a bit less bass. Poweramp is noticeably crisper when set to neutral. But with both, by using the EQ, you can easily get some decent settings (with Dynaudio all set to neutral).
I also compared 256 mp3 vs 192 wma - they were basically identical in the car - you would need a much better listening environment than a moving car to tell them apart anyway.
There is something wrong, at least with some systems and media sources. Maybe it is just default choices they made about how to set things up, but when combined with the useless EQ facility, you cannot correct for it when playing from SD card. My guess is that my favourite genre, rock music, is far from what they tuned it for, and also they did not tune it to be neutral. Given they put a sound maker in the car (which I had disabled before delivery), maybe they decided Golf R = poser = massive bass, which unfortunately means rubbish sound quality...
I do notice that when playing DAB and listening to other music, it seems much more suitable - crisp and the bass works better, though 80s stations show the same problem when playing Queen etc.
Brenbo - I guess you have an older version of Dynaudio, set up quite differently to mine (by the factory). It is a shame you are in Cornwall!
In case it is relevant, the part numbers are:
Device part number: 3Q0035842A
Hardware: H24
Software: 0245
Media Codec: 2101.0.0.10
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I can check the codes on my Dynaudio at some point to see. My car is coming up for 3 years old this October. I ordered it when the order books were opened for the MK7 GTI PP. I will be changing my car for a Golf R in September with Dynaudio, all going well with my factory build time schedule. I can let you know once I wear my new speakers in if my music sounds worse, better or indifferent. I do not primarially listen to rock myself. I mainly listen to trance & house i.e. Anjunadeep etc,. I have listened to other genres in my car as well including rock in the past. They have all sounded OK, but I do change the profiles between Authentic, Dynamic and just plain old flat (Individual without EQ adjustment). I have also tried adjusting the different focus and EQ's. But found no real need to do this on my system because the genre of music I listen to is fine on the setup of my Dynaudio system.
I have also thought before while reading this thread one of the variables would be the genre of music people listen to. So I can see where you are coming from with the comment on the system not being setup for specifically listening to rock music.
As a side note when i first got my car the sound was not great at all until I had worn my speakers in then suddenly it started to sounded great. How new is your Dynaudio, have you worn in your speakers yet?
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I am changing from a 2.5 year old Gti to an R in a few weeks. When I test drive a new R the difference in the dynaudio was massive. I even thought they have put the wrong speakers in my car! The bass from the front speakers was far far better, and even better than the dynaudio in my Mk6 (which sounded great without the sub in the spare wheel) I am wondering if they have ungraded the system since the 2014 MY
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I can confirm that the DynAudio in my Golf R sounds better than the one in my 2013 GTI PP.
Not sure what they have changed, seems like better & clearer bass.
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The likely main reason for any difference is that the newest Mk7's have MIB2.
Most of what is being discussed here is to do with the way the MIB decodes the audio files. I've noticed this a few years back when I swapped from using a non-Apple MP3 player to an Ipod - same audio files, just sounds terrible via the Ipod.
The audio decode is done in software, but the software for the MIB2 is different to the MIB1 - who knows what has been tweeked. Its a shame that even with an expensive audio setup that you cannot have better control of the underlying software.
If the guys playing at hacking the thing ever manage to get right beneath the covers, it might be possible to change something.
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I can confirm that the DynAudio in my Golf R sounds better than the one in my 2013 GTI PP.
Not sure what they have changed, seems like better & clearer bass.
I was blown away by the system in the new R. Cant wait to get it now :)
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I've just tried a CD in my mk7 GTI's Dynaudio........well, what an improvement over the iPod I was using before! Deep but clear bass, natural midrange - a night and day difference from the reproduction via the iPod, even for exactly the same track. I actually heard the subwoofer for the first time too.
It seems likely that it's either the compressed format of the iPod, or the software decoding it that's causing disappointing quality from the Dynaudio. I haven't tried using an SD card and shan't bother.
Has anyone copied CD's to the in-car hard drive, any good results to report?
Has anyone tried using a non-Apple MP3 device?
Bubba.
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I don't think the system supports in-car CD ripping. It only allows data CD's with audio files on it to be copied to the NavPro internal SSD.
You say you haven't tried a SD card, why not? You should try some 320k MP3's via SD and also some FLAC files for comparison.
You'll notice all of these will sound really rather different for the same song.
Even though the FLAC and the CD are almost perfect digital copies of each other, the difference will be in the DAC processing of them. The CD player is probably using a hardware DAC whereas any file based music will be using a software one.
As for a non-IPod player... well, good luck finding one these days! I do have a few old ones, the only problem being is that they will only connect via the 3.5mm audio jack. It will work (and probably sound just fine) but of course then apart from volume level you have no control via the head unit or the steering wheel. That would feel very retro indeed.
TBH for most of us we actually get used to however it sounds and give up caring. My "Napalm Death live at the Brixton Academy" sounds just as good from MP3 as it does from CD :D
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FLAC, DAC, MP3, SDs, formats, what a load of old pony.
This is what you all need:
(http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah214/pete_caz/15-06-03-HDB-Philips-02s_zpsf1zkgxqe.jpg) (http://s1381.photobucket.com/user/pete_caz/media/15-06-03-HDB-Philips-02s_zpsf1zkgxqe.jpg.html)
:wink:
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I don't think the system supports in-car CD ripping. It only allows data CD's with audio files on it to be copied to the NavPro internal SSD.
You say you haven't tried a SD card, why not? You should try some 320k MP3's via SD and also some FLAC files for comparison.
You'll notice all of these will sound really rather different for the same song.
Even though the FLAC and the CD are almost perfect digital copies of each other, the difference will be in the DAC processing of them. The CD player is probably using a hardware DAC whereas any file based music will be using a software one.
As for a non-IPod player... well, good luck finding one these days! I do have a few old ones, the only problem being is that they will only connect via the 3.5mm audio jack. It will work (and probably sound just fine) but of course then apart from volume level you have no control via the head unit or the steering wheel. That would feel very retro indeed.
TBH for most of us we actually get used to however it sounds and give up caring. My "Napalm Death live at the Brixton Academy" sounds just as good from MP3 as it does from CD :D
I have to agree with Fredgroves, if you use 320kbps or FLAC files on the SD card the sound quality will be near perfect audiophile quality. as Fred says the only difference is in the way the files are decoded. Although these days even CDs are software decoded rather than hardware decoded in many cases.
I always use 320kbps and FLAC files and have no complaints, infact I feel the quality of sound from a 320kbps or FLAC is superior to a CD. As I also mentioned earlier I have no complaints about the sound of the Dynaudio system on my MIB1 unit.
On another note there are none ipod players on the market. Sony are now producing Audiophile grade MP3 players which cost several hundred quid. Also the benefit of these is you do not have to use itunes which is a blessing.
If you use an MP3 Player to listen t omusic through another unit like Dynaudio then surely the sound will degrade more than if the music were played through the Dynaudio unit direct via an SD card. The reason i say this is due to the fact the audio data is being processed twice once by the MP3 Player and then again by the Dynaudio unit.
I listen to a lot of digital music files on my PC via ASIO or WASAPI so I can bypass the Window sound processing kernel and hear the true audio quality of the files. I have to say the difference between hearing the same files via Windows audio kernel and ASIO/WASAPI is like night and day. There are high and low notes audible on ASIO/WASAPI which the windows kernel clips off. Maybe the same is being done by the software decoder on the Dynaudio unit? However I have not heard any evidence of this sound degradation/clipping myself.
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FLAC, DAC, MP3, SDs, formats, what a load of old pony.
This is what you all need:
(http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah214/pete_caz/15-06-03-HDB-Philips-02s_zpsf1zkgxqe.jpg) (http://s1381.photobucket.com/user/pete_caz/media/15-06-03-HDB-Philips-02s_zpsf1zkgxqe.jpg.html)
:wink:
Only 7" what if I want to play my 12"? :rolleyes:
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Thanks Fredgroves, your reply answered my quesions perfectly, cheers. Naively I assumed I'd be able to copy CD's to the in-car hard drive but as you've said; not possible.
SD cards......well it's just yet another complication really, I just can't be doing with it; I have no other need for an SD card (I've never even seen one!). I think I'll put a selection of favourite CD's in the glovebox and/or rely on my iPod for when I fancy random tunes.
Thanks again, Bubba.
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All you need to do is buy one of these http://www.mymemory.co.uk/SD-Cards
or more exactly this: http://www.mymemory.co.uk/SDHC/SanDisk/SanDisk-32GB-Ultra-SD-%28SDHC%29-Card-Class10-UHS-I---80MB_s
you can buy bigger cards to hold more music, and cheaper cards if you don't want a reputable brand, but Scandisk 32gb is middle of the road and considered a safe bet. Grab a beer and sit by the PC for an afternoon and its all done, probably an entire music collection on a 2cm x2mm card. Just make sure you rip at MP3 320kbps and it will sound fine...
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It really is quite easy to put your music on an SD Card Bubba. Once your music library is on the SD Card you will find it far easier to listen to your music in the car without fiddling around with CD's whilst driving. As Jackie Treehorn says ensure your tracks are ripped to at least 320kbps or if this is not an option rip to FLAC. Do not rip to any quality lower than 256kbps if possible as you will hear the difference in sound quality degradation.
Please beware if you rip to FLAC the music files will be massive in file size. I usually go for 320kbps files myself as this is usually the sweet spot for quality/file size.
I have a 64GB SD Card which holds my entire music library. Another bonus with digital music files is you can store your album art on them and display it on the Nav Screen in your car to make searching for your favorite track a whole lot easier.
I would say ensure you get a reputable brand SD Card with a fairly decent transfer rate. Good Brands would be Sandisk, Kingston, PNY etc,.
As a side note, Sandisk make SD cards for other brands like Sony who usually charge a premium for the same Card as Sandisk except with "Sony" written on it. With this in mind as Jackie says, you cannot go wrong with Sandisk. I would suggest to get a card which is at least 32GB to 64GB in size. This will ensure you have enough room to add music in the near future should you wish.
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Don't buy SD cars from eBay because most are fake. If you are getting them from Amazon then make sure you buy one that is supplied by Amazon.
On another note how much music do people have? I have nearly 2TB of it.
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Well, as you can probably tell I'm off the pace when it comes to technology.......I don't even own a smart 'phone, which my teenage children think is astonishing!
Also, Jackie T and Brenbo, you seem to disagree with the poster (Jez something?) who doesn't think SD cards sound good on Dynaudio.......confusing. If it helps I mostly listen to pop and rock, never jazz or classical.
I suppose for the money it's something I should try (an SD card I mean).
Another question; can I copy music downloaded from iTunes to SD? And would that be 320k quality?
Bubba.
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What is the maximum SD card capacity supported via the Discover Pro system? Someone said 64gb earlier, is that the biggest card you can get your music on or would 128gb work as well?
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I am unsure of the SD card capacity on the MIB2 unit. But on my MIB1 unit it was originally 64GB so far as I believe.
@Bubba, what is good or not in regards to music sound quality is more often than not personal preference and you will find the largest majority of the guys and girls on this forum will be using SD cards to listen totheir music on the Nav/sound system in their GTI, GTD or Golf R. The SD card really is not the cause of poor sound quality it is only a means of storage for your music files from which the music player can read the files in order to play them. The matter of debate is whether the software decoder on the Dynaudio/nav system is decoding the files to a quality of sound which is to everyones taste.
In the greater scheme of things digital music files at 320kbps or FLAC are regarded as better than CD quality. It used to be 256kbps music files which were regarded as CD Quality. The issue being debated really may come down to the genres people prefer to listen to and how the Dynaudios DSP or presets are setup for listening to your favorite genre of music.
The only way I see how we are going to get close to resolving some of the issues being debated is for someone who finds the Dynaudio system to be not as they expect to upload an sample of the music they find not up to par on the system for others on this forum to try on their systems and see if they feel the music also sounds under par or OK. at least then we could rule out whether it is personal taste or if there is infact a problem with playing certain genres on the system or even the music file the person is trying to play on the system not being of a good enough quality.
I personally have played many genres on my MIB1 system with Dynaudio and have no complaints, absolutely love the sound of everything i listen to on my system. This includes anything from house, trance, rock, indie, even classical.
Other than a software decoder, the only reall factors which will really affect quality of sound in the car other a broken speaker are the bit rate of your music files when ripped from the original source i.e rip CD's to music files at 320kbps or FLAC and whether you have a weird setup on your graphic equalisers too much bass, mids or treble or the focus of the sound in the car i.e. front right, left or back etc,.
Hope this helps. Just take the plunge and get an SD Card, you won't regret it.
As a side note my brother in law is a sound engineer and he loves the sound of my Dynaudio system as far as in car entertainment systems go. He was stunned how good it was for an in car system. Before he heard my Dynaudio he had written off in car audio.
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Thanks for your reply Brenbo - I've just ordered a 64 GB Sandisk card from Amazon. I'll update this thread when I've listened to some music from it in the car.
Bubba.
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I personally found my 32GB Sandisk Sd to be a bit glitchy.
I've since bought a 32GB Kingston USB stick and that appears to be more stable.
Only problem is it uses up your one USB port :sad:
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Does the MIB2 unit have 1 or 2 SD Card slots. My current MIB1 unit has 2x SD Card slots.
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It has two but one is used for the sat nav
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Do you have Nav Pro or the standard Nav on your GTI?
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Just the standard MIB II nav
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Ahh, this is why i was confused. Thought you had nav pro with sat nav data on hdd, which frees up second SD card port.
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I picked up my new R today. Wow what a car! The dynaudio system is massively different to my 2014MY Gti, with the 'identical' system. I cannot begin to compare the two. The bass response in my new car is 3x better at least. What a difference :)
Ian
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I've finally got round to copying my music onto an SD card (a 64GB Sandisk jobbie, £23 from Amazon). The process was a bit of a faff, since you need to convert any iTunes music into MP3 format (iTunes uses a different file extension I believe), then copy the tracks to the SD card. Trouble is, it imports the track number as well, so you get "06 Number Of The Beast" and then have to rename the file, e.g. to "Maiden, NOTB" or whatever. Also, ripping CD's direct to the SD card takes quite a while. Finally you have to reorganise the music into playlists since it imports them by artist. So, yes, rather clunky but that may just be my incompetence.
The good news is that the sound quality over and above that of the iPod I was using is huge - we now have bass! Music sounds far more punchy and realistic and I can at last hear what the Dynaudio can do. I have formatted everything as 320 Kbps. Given that iTunes is 256 Kbps, which surely isn't too inferior, I'm thinking that the VW system is doing something odd with the data from an iPod, which it does not do with the SD card. Anyway, I'm delighted with the sound from the SD card, and thank you to those of you that told me it was the way forward.
Bubba.
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Glad to see you have sorted your music quality issue. When you get everything just right the Dynaudio system really does come in to it's own. On the point of renaming files etc, I think this is something we have all done. I went through my whole music library (which is around 40GB with many hundreds of files to ensure their metadata tags and filenames followed a file naming convention and looked correct on the Nav Pro screen.
Just a side note if you have music files which are 256kbps then there may be no point in re-encoding them to be 320kbps. If the original music file is of a lower quality than the target format you wish to encode to, the quality will not get better, only the file size will increase (i.e. less music files per SD card due to their size).
In short you cannot improve the quality of the original file. So if the original file is 256kbps then that is the best quality the file will produce even when re-encoded to a higher kbps.
Once again glad to see you have sorted your issue :smiley:
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I had Harman Kardon in my F80 1 Series and it was soooo good so when I ordered my Golf I had to have up grade sound.
I'm so disappointed with the dynaudio as to how much setup etc it required! I'm a sound engineer so know exactly how to tune eq's for best sound
I found they have relied on the door mids to produce much of the bass, big problem with that is the doors vibrate alot. Also to have a hard hitting mid speaker that produces lots of bass, you lose definition, and gain undefined midrange frequencies! Instead of putting in a capable sub to handle the bottom end they use that space saver thing! It augments the bass rather than being the bass, this makes for difficult bottom end tuning and a sub that bottoms out quickly
The BM also has auto EQ which worked very well on balancing different tracks as it's soo noticeable going from one track to another in the golf you want to reach for the EQ everytime! I really wonder if Dynaudio built this system for the golf or just supplied VW the parts as the difference to the HK is unreal (they built the system to suit the car)
Anyway, after hours of tinkering here are my settings
EQ: Authentic
Bass: -4 to -6 (so the door mids can handle high volumes)
Mid: -7 to -8 (midrange frequencies are soo harsh and overpowering & make everything sound muddy! Really poor)
Treble: 0 to +3 (mostly 0 but some content needs a little lift, anything higher is just causing fatigue)
Sub: +3 to +6 (get the sub to do the work but it has its limitations!)
Focus: Standard front + rear (haven't played about with this much, it's just balance & fader really)
The mid range is soo bad at 0 it really makes me wonder, as I said earlier did Dynaudio set the system up for the car?? Any audiophile would cut their ears off before listening to such an inbalance, It's soo bad!
The second biggest fail was using that space saving sub then trying to make up for the bass with the speakers in the doors!
VW prob insisted that the car kept its space saver or I'm sure Dynaudio would have used all this space and put in proper, capable sub, then they could have fitted a much more refined door speaker which would have sorted out the horrible mids and improved the system to no end.
Nite nite :)
Bump for some others who want to fine tune the system. This worked for me! :laugh:
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Cheers, I hadn't seen this before.
I had always thought the sound was pretty good, but i'm very impressed with the improvement, sound is much clearer.
Mine is now set as follows
Bass -3
Mid - 7
Treb +1
Sub +4
I have to say feeding the Mid back up now I realise how much better this is.
Thanks.
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Old thread resurrected. Very subjective but are there any audiophiles who recommend a particular EQ for the DynAudio?
Mine always seems to be to boomy or too tinny. Struggling to find the sweet spot. Although only three weeks old so possibly still bedding in?
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Very subjective but are there any audiophiles who recommend a particular EQ for the DynAudio?
Mine always seems to be to boomy or too tinny. Struggling to find the sweet spot. Although only three weeks old so possibly still bedding in?
I listen to a lot of vocal house/dance, so I like my mids and highs to pop with a solid bass backtrack that punches but doesn't overwhelm. So I have mine set as:
Authentic
Sub: 6
Bass: 5
Mid: 7
Treble: 9
Mines coming up to 2000miles old now and it's really starting to bed in nicely, it sounds much more punchier & flexible than when I first got it.
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Another month on, I’m still fiddling with the EQ and still remain a little disappointed to be honest. Bose on the Audi was enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stick up such was the clarity. DynAudio seems to have too much bass and sounds muffled on vocals or if the bass is turned down a notch, it can sound a bit tinny. I find it varies a lot from track to track too. Im listening to Apple Music (downloaded not streamed) via my iPhone XS.
I’ve largely stuck to Authentic then tweaked the EQ. It’s the Mid I seem to have the biggest problem with, anything above 0 is shrill, I find it has to be on -4 ish to make it sound better.
I’m hoping it’s still bedding in but with 1600 miles on the clock, I suspect it should be by now?
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Im listening to Apple Music (downloaded not streamed) via my iPhone XS.
Via Bluetooth or CarPlay? If it's the former then you'll never got a good sound quality as the sound has to be compressed before it can be transferred via Bluetooth.
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CarPlay via cable.
Incidentally via Bluetooth it sounds the same to me.
SD Card is comparable.
DAB sounds lacking in bass but crank it up a little just makes CarPlay too thumping.
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Maybe I just expected too much, hence being disappointed?
Or maybe my middle-aged ears need syringing? :grin:
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I had a long journey this morning and reached a few conclusions.
1. You absolutely cannot set the EQ while stationary with the the engine off. The road noise and sound akuator add rumble which distorts the bass.
2. The EQ varies wildly from track to track and I listen to a mix of genres and don’t tend to listen to albums as I find it feels like listening to the same song for 90 minutes so mines always on shuffle.
So while cruising along at 50 on a long straight road I had a fiddle and for me, it sounds as close to Bose in the Audi when set as follows
Sub +3
Bass -2
Mid -4 (worked out this is where the tinny vocals were coming from)
Treb +3
That works pretty well for me and I’m now happy with the bass and mid range combo. Just goes to show how varied the system can be and how highly subjective different EQs are.
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The EQ varies wildly from track to track and I listen to a mix of genres and don’t tend to listen to albums as I find it feels like listening to the same song for 90 minutes so mines always on shuffle.
I was racking my brains, as I was sure I posted a response to something similar, then I found it and I realised it was you...
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=284674.msg2600731#msg2600731
You playing different genres etc might be part of the problem, this isn't a Dynaudio specific problem. As I said then, Dynaudio is just the amp (software and physical) and the speakers making 400w of power output (versus the standard 80w), it won’t however impact the bitrate of a song/tune being played, which is the important part to everything, so if the song/tune is a low quality bitrate then it’ll sound inferior to a higher bitrate tune. The higher the bitrate, the better the sound. However, regardless if that tune is being streamed/played at a high bitrate or not, if the original digital file being streamed is of a low bitrate then it still won't sound as good, you normally find this with 80's/90's songs which have very compressed original bitrates. So in the car the Dynaudio simply allows the tune to sound at its best as it's being delivered with more power.
I do agree that the the system is sensitive to bitrate variables, I find this when I am listening to Amzon Music's predefined playlists or stations, but that's not the fault of the system, in-fact one could argue it shows the system has excellent response. IMO the front-stage sound from the Dynaudio tweeters is awesome for a factory system, so much clarity. They beat any of the BOSE or HK system I've had in other cars. The Subwoofer can be heard but not felt (which again is really nice). I like that the Dynaudio EQ is really expansive & flexible so you can adjust to cater for your taste in music, perfectly, wither that be electronic, vocal, or any type of genre where sound sensitive is needed. It's also the sort of system that allows you to turn it up loud without distortion.
Given you are listening to many different genres, I think you're probably going to struggle to find a perfect one-setting-fits-all EQ. :)
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Thanks, I just looked at our previous ‘discussion’ about this - it was a month before I had bought the car so I had completely forgotten!
Like anything with a car, the more settings you can change, the more I can’t resist unnecessarily tinkering!
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Have you tried some other audio sources? All audio media is really random in quality, you might find a different audio source yields different results...
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Yep - see a few posts back (above).
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With a bit of time on my hands, I’ve done a bit of tinkering today and thought I’d share my findings, if anyone is interested...
1) Tried replacing the stock VW USB cable with a genuine Apple one to see if there was any difference in audio quality via CarPlay. There wasn’t. Said cable then became firmly stuck in the USB socket eventually only removed with sheer brute force and a pair of pliers. Original VW cable safely reconnected and working. Won’t be doing that again!
2) As I have both Apple Music and Spotify Premium on trials which expire soon, I’m trying to decide which one I want to keep. While playing back the same tracks from both, I noticed a few things worth mentioning:
3) The built-in Spotify EQ passes through to the car and merges with the Dynaudio EQ. The Apple Music EQ does not, that appears to be treated as Flat when connected to CarPlay.
4) The Spotify EQ, when manually adjusted can make Dynaudio sound horrific. To test this yourself, manually slide the Spotify EQ curves for 40Hz and 1KHz to maximum (not that you’d ever put it there, but bare with me). It distorts like crazy, confirming another of my suspicions that Dynaudio mids are a bit hot, particularly in Authentic.
5) With the Spotify EQ set to Off (so I’m literally comparing Apples with apples), I found Apple Music over CarPlay to sound both louder and clearer (note Apple Sound Check is Off, Spotify Sound Normalisation is also Off). I prefer Spotify’s suggestions and playlist’s but I think I’ll be sticking with Apple for the slightly better sound quality (NB over headphones, there’s nothing between the two - seems to be the way Dynaudio handles the encoding better with Apple than with Spotify). Also to note, both were using downloaded tracks at their maximum bit rate, rather than streamed.
So there you have it, some useless information that may be of use to someone out there.
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So there you have it, some useless information that may be of use to someone out there.
Just to add to your tinkering, if you want far superior sound quality I suggest trying Tidal for lossless audio it's about 3x the quality of Spotify and Apple Music from memory.
I think I'll probably go back to Tidal myself, the quality is great but I too enjoy Spotify's playlists too much.
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So there you have it, some useless information that may be of use to someone out there.
Just to add to your tinkering, if you want far superior sound quality I suggest trying Tidal for lossless audio it's about 3x the quality of Spotify and Apple Music from memory.
I think I'll probably go back to Tidal myself, the quality is great but I too enjoy Spotify's playlists too much.
The recently announced Spotify HiFi will interest you then.
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The recently announced Spotify HiFi will interest you then.
It's the first I've heard of it, but I'm very interested in it. Spotify is just a very well put together app.