[CaptainSloww]

Since I was dissapointed with the original performance of the H/K Sound System, at some point at the beginning of having my car I discovered this thread by glennQNYC :


http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=954719


I tried some of the settings posted there and I finally found one of them, that with some very little tweaks, made me finally enjoy the system.

But I never made a copy of my final settings and neither took note of who posted the reply that I took as a reference.

Anyways, few weeks ago my car was reseted at the service so I had to re-equalize the system. My first thought was to visit this thread and try again all the settings but I finally decided to give it a try by myself.

When I was satisfied with the result, I came here to share it with you, but over the path I found a quite interesting thread, by packetpilot in the F80 Forum, about coding the NBT unit with some Bang&Olufsen DSP parameters:


http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1322442


Fortunately I was able to successfully do the coding because, in my opinion, it improves the performance of the Logic7 DSP, specially in the medium frequencies and definition departments. So I re-equalized my system starting from scratch again and somehow, even with the alleged difference of algorythms of both DSPs, I ended up with quite similar settings. Which I guess is because of the kind of sound signature I enjoy.

So without any further to addo, I want to share with you my settings for both DSPs.



Harman/Kardon:

Treble +1
Bass +3
Balance 0
Fader +2

Logic7 ON

100 Hz -6
200 Hz -8
500 Hz -6
1 kHz +3
2 kHz -6
5 kHz -2
10 kHz +2



Bang&Olufsen Coding MOD:

Treble 0
Bass +2
Balance 0
Fader +1

Expanded ON

100 Hz -6
200 Hz -9
500 Hz -6
1 kHz +2
2 kHz -4
5 kHz -3
10 kHz +3



Thanks to glennQNYC and packetpilot for their original threads!

[jgoens]

I used glennQNYC settings as well and then tweaked them ( a small bit) to my taste. For sure a good base point. I just happen to like a touch more bass.

[CaptainSloww]

Originally Posted by jgoens

I used glennQNYC settings as well and then tweaked them ( a small bit) to my taste. For sure a good base point. I just happen to like a touch more bass.

For sure, glennQNYC post was totally inspiring!

I am not a basshead at all, but I certainly love bass. I listen to a wide variety of genres and tried to make the sound work on all of them. But electro, rock and hip-hop are some of my favourites genres, so the sound signature is definitely coloured and by any means neutral. Don't get fooled by the numbers.

I toned down the lowest frequencies to keep control of the messy mid and mid-lows of the original system. But at the same time I tried to keep the bass as tight as possible since I haven't made any hardware modifications, my system is stock. Visually it doesn't make any sense but aurally it does, for me at least! As always sound perception is something subjective.

[andlloyd]

Wanted to post my Harman Kardon system settings used in my 2015 F32. I experimented with the now-ubiquitous GlennNYC's settings, which did not quite do it for me. As you'll see, I boosted treble -- also moved the fader towards the rear somewhat as I found the soundstage too much oriented towards the mono center speaker. On the EQ, I played with the sliders to my satisfaction -- for the first time, this mediocre (IMO) system provides an involving level of sound reproduction for music.

[buggydrvr]

Originally Posted by CaptainSloww

Since I was dissapointed with the original performance of the H/K Sound System, at some point at the beginning of having my car I discovered this thread by glennQNYC :


http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=954719


I tried some of the settings posted there and I finally found one of them, that with some very little tweaks, made me finally enjoy the system.

But I never made a copy of my final settings and neither took note of who posted the reply that I took as a reference.

Anyways, few weeks ago my car was reseted at the service so I had to re-equalize the system. My first thought was to visit this thread and try again all the settings but I finally decided to give it a try by myself.

When I was satisfied with the result, I came here to share it with you, but over the path I found a quite interesting thread, by packetpilot in the F80 Forum, about coding the NBT unit with some Bang&Olufsen DSP parameters:


http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1322442


Fortunately I was able to successfully do the coding because, in my opinion, it improves the performance of the Logic7 DSP, specially in the medium frequencies and definition departments. So I re-equalized my system starting from scratch again and somehow, even with the alleged difference of algorythms of both DSPs, I ended up with quite similar settings. Which I guess is because of the kind of sound signature I enjoy.

So without any further to addo, I want to share with you my settings for both DSPs.



Harman/Kardon:

Treble +1
Bass +3
Balance 0
Fader +2

Logic7 ON

100 Hz -6
200 Hz -8
500 Hz -6
1 kHz +3
2 kHz -6
5 kHz -2
10 kHz +2



Bang&Olufsen Coding MOD:

Treble 0
Bass +2
Balance 0
Fader +1

Expanded ON

100 Hz -6
200 Hz -9
500 Hz -6
1 kHz +2
2 kHz -4
5 kHz -3
10 kHz +3



Thanks to glennQNYC and packetpilot for their original threads!

Curiosly, I'd like to know if you prefer the coded settings or logic7?

[CaptainSloww]

Originally Posted by buggydrvr

Curiosly, I'd like to know if you prefer the coded settings or logic7?

I definitely prefer the coded settings. The DSP parameters of the Bang&Olufsen system help to add some clarity and a touch of spaciality too (in case you are using the “Expanded” mode).

Anyway the Harman Kardon system is what it is. If you are not willing to upgrade it, I guess that through tweaking the EQ to reduce it’s medium range harshness and bass boominess, you can get a decent sound. Specially with the B&O Mod.

I started using Tidal HiFi on a daily basis, including on my conmutes and I realized that, with such a HQ source, my last settings where totally wrong on some frequencies, resulting as some people said, in a muddy bass sound.

So now I have this EQ:



Treble 0
Bass 0
Balance 0
Fader +1

Expanded ON

100 Hz -6
200 Hz -9
500 Hz -5
1 kHz -4
2 kHz -2
5 kHz -6
10 kHz -3



Now I feel the sound a tad more neutral, and the bass, without being something crazy, has more presence.

The mids are still the critical point, I can’t get them to sound natural or at least uncanned. But I guess that this is more a hardware limitation at this point. Maybe changing the mid drivers and adding a subwoofer would make a big difference, but again it would imply doing major labors on the car.

So as far of keeping it simple, I am happy with the current setup.

By the way, since I am using Tidal Hifi, I decided to give a chance to routing the sound through a USB DAC, and for the ones that are considering it, I can tell you that it makes a big difference when using HQ sources, almost like going from bluetooth to wired. So I encourage you to do it in case you are hesitating.

Besides, you can use it with headphones and home speakers, not just at the car, so the investment is maximized!