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2010 2011 BMW 5 Series Forum F10 F10 Technical Topics Navigation, iDrive, Audio, Video, Bluetooth, Phone, Coding Premium Hi Fi System Audio Frequency Balance
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      11-24-2010, 03:07 PM   #1
wessew10
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Premium Hi Fi System Audio Frequency Balance

I just picked up my 2011 550i. It is pretty fully optioned including the Premium Hi Fi System. On first blush, it sounded quite good to me. Then I noticed that on certain bass heavy music the lower end was really pronounced and lacked clarity and there was a lot of thumping. Out of curiousity I used my Stereophile CD test disk and my sound level meter to test the frequency response of the system at the driver's seat. First, I set everything flat in the menus. Relative to 1000 Hz, the mid to low bass was about 6 to 8 db high. The rest of the frequency response curve was reasonably flat. In order to get an approximate flat total response curve, I had to use the following settings: Treble @ 0, Bass @ -5; Equalizer @ 100 Hz=-7 or -8 and Equalizer @ 200 Hz =+2 based on trial and error and repeated testing. Of course, every vehicle is different, but these adjustments indicated BMW's default settings are nowhere near flat in terms of measured frequency response at the driver's listening position. Bass, at least in my vehicle, is very heavily emphasized to the point where considerable distortion is possible at elevated volume levels since the low bass frequencies were considerably more than twice as loud as the mid-range. Once again, there is no way to tell how tight vehicle tolerances are with respect to the default frequency response. Based on my experience, it is worth it to check it out, however. I would be interested in whether other experiences mirror my own.
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      11-24-2010, 03:42 PM   #2
JZWU
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My experience is that stock audio's bass is almost always the weakest point so I usually turn down the bass a few notches, unless I install a good aftermarket amp+sub.
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      11-25-2010, 03:13 PM   #3
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Thank you, very useful measurements. I already took down the bass and 100HZ on equalizer since I found the bass too dominating, but I did not think it should be that much down. I will go and adjust further down, I still find it to be too much. But I am a little surprised the Dirac system did not tune this better.
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      11-25-2010, 05:02 PM   #4
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Interesting reading.

I find the bass varies alot with what source I use (Ipod, FM, CD, DAB etc), even between different radio-stations , so I put the "Bass setting button" in one of the preset buttons . Then I can change the bass-response without going through the whole menu all the time.
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      11-25-2010, 05:28 PM   #5
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Hi
Need some help: How can i know if i have the profissional sound system?
Canīt find the 16 sepeakers.
I think i have 12 instaed of 16.
How can i know from i drive which one is?
Are the menus the same?
Some features different?
Really got to know. i paid for the top one and iīm not sure if i have it.
Thanks
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      11-25-2010, 05:51 PM   #6
wessew10
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There is no way to know how much variation there is between the same systems in each car. One would hope that the professional system response profile is standardized. The measurements I provided produced a flat response at my listening position. Many of us prefer some elevation in bass response, but it is a good idea to know where the neutral beginning position is. In addition, how the music is mastered also plays a big role. Some recordings are deliberately bass heavy (or light) and could benefit from some minor adjustment. I took some CD's I was very familar with and used them for fine tuning adjustments. I wound up boosting the bass just a little from measured flat for impact at lower listening levels. My prior vehicle was a Lexus 450H with a Mark Levinson sound system. That unit came from the factory tuned to produce only a slight elevation in bass frequencies. For the most part, I listened to it in the flat position. With the adjustments I previously indicated, I think the 550i sound quality is actually better, with more extension at the extremes and superior imaging, but it required more adjustment to get there.
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