[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

Originally Posted by Dabaitu

Thanks for sharing this! I tried it out and I was pretty happy with it. Bass seemed "bigger" than I was used to, but it certainly didn't sound to be at the expense of the mid- and high-range.

When listening to a bass-heavy mix I might try going down a click of 100Hz and/or Bass. I only have barely 1000 miles on my car, so I'm still experimenting with finding the best compromise.

Think of the 100Hz slider being biased towards adding/removing punch; with the Bass control more like adding/removing "body" or "weight" to the bass. Since it is a broader adjustment, I recommend compensating for a bass-heavy mix with the Bass control first.

A more linear performing system wouldn't require as much fiddling, but you shouldn't have to do more than small trim adjustments from time to time.

[trusaleen1]

I look forward to trying these when I get my 4 series next month.

On a deeper are note how do you like the spacers?

[JPinky]

Thanks, I'll try these settings out!

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

Originally Posted by trusaleen1

I look forward to trying these when I get my 4 series next month.

On a deeper are note how do you like the spacers?

Since I put the spacers on when I dumped the run-flat tires, it’s difficult to have an opinion specifically on the spacers beyond their effect on appearance. Car looks great though!

[ADM]

Originally Posted by glennQNYC

I'm not completely married to these settings but this is how my HK is set for now.

Treble flat
Bass +1
L7 on

100Hz +5
200Hz -7
500Hz +1
1kHz +1
2kHz flat
5kHz -1
10kHz -1

As I mentioned... Use this as a starting point and tweak from here. You may want a little more of this, a little less of that. Let your ears decide. Just knowing wtf is going on helps a ton though!

Thanks for the Pics and the actual settings you are starting off with.

[fecurtis]

Thanks for the settings. Going to try them out today.

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

The last two days involved almost 600 miles of driving so I had plenty of time to listen and tweak. One issue I find myself dealing with is wanting to turn down a particular EQ band or Tone (Bass/Treble) control because of too much distortion... But then I don't have enough of that frequency! Definitely a balancing act going on here.

After the trip this is how I have my HK tuned:

Treble flat
Bass -1
L7 on

100Hz +3
200Hz -7
500Hz +1
1kHz flat
2kHz -1
5kHz -1
10kHz -1

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

Originally Posted by glennQNYC

The last two days involved almost 600 miles of driving so I had plenty of time to listen and tweak. One issue I find myself dealing with is wanting to turn down a particular EQ band or Tone (Bass/Treble) control because of too much distortion... But then I don't have enough of that frequency! Definitely a balancing act going on here.

After the trip this is how I have my HK tuned:

Treble flat
Bass -1
L7 on

100Hz +3
200Hz -7
500Hz +1
1kHz flat
2kHz -1
5kHz -1
10kHz -1

Would you believe I just realized the iPhone Music app's EQ presets are active over USB? Doh!

I did listen to Sirius a bit, but I guess you should take those adjustments I just made with a grain of salt.

:embarrassed:

[f30coyote]

I'm no audiophile but I certainly figured out that the stock settings produced a crappy sound. I've been tweaking my eq settings for months to find a decent setting which worked well across all inputs and volumes. I'm happy to report that your suggested settings (original)are the solution! Dropping out the 200hz band is key. Thanks so much for posting and I look forward to your continued feedback!

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

I spend so much time in the car I can't help but eventually find my favorite compromise. I think it is cool that everyone with an HK system can swap tuning settings.

The lesson I've learned by this bs today is that I need to get some real measuring equipment in the car. I'm sure that will really advance the ball.

I have been comparing L7 on/off... It's kind of interesting because I feel like we get better transient response (aka: impact) with it off. I wonder if it's the processing that causes this; or is the center channel not playing freeing up amplifier resources? Probably both. Nonetheless, I prefer L7 on. With L7 active the processing and center channel get the soundstage much higher and in front. Also I think the center adds more midrange output and detail. I am curious what the frequency response is going to look like with L7 on and off.

[mcli]

Originally Posted by glennQNYC

Would you believe I just realized the iPhone Music app's EQ presets are active over USB? Doh!

Always forget that as well. I have an iPod nano that lives in the car & is set to no eq for that very reason.

[swagon]

Just used your settings as a base in my E82 which has the HK as well. Did some tweaking, though, as it is an older car and a different body style etc.. Couldn't tell the difference between Surround on and off, plus it was quite hard for me to get it all right for all the genres I listne to. Also, interestingly, you guys have L7 Surround while the E82's have only Surround.

Nevertheless, it sounds much much better now! Thank you, Glenn.

[chiark]

What on earth is causing the spike at 200hz? Is that dB of eq or just some other measure?

I'm wondering whether replacing the drivers would help with the 100hz dip / 200 spike, but I'd need a known good rta to check. Car arrives next Tuesday and I'm looking forward to playing!

Thanks for sharing!

[Go123]

Appreciate the help, were your original settings on the iPod with the EQ off?

[pferdestarke]

I've just done this and now I don't know if it sounds better or not. I certainly think it's less 'muddy' for want of a better description.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything but it's such a personal thing.

[BMWbill]

I too appreciate the OP's knowledge and descriptions of his settings but in my wagon it actually sounded worse than with flat EQ. The mid tones that seem missing did not appear, and the cut took away some needed highs. The Wagon has a few less speakers so it could be tuned entirely differently of course.
I still am not blown away by the HK in my F31 but it does sound way better at high volumes, which is more than I can say about my much older HK system in my E46 M3 which is far worse in every way.

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

Originally Posted by Go123

Appreciate the help, were your original settings on the iPod with the EQ off?

Effectively, yes. Measurements and initial listening were done without using the iPhone's Music app so the EQ was not a factor.
I have since been breaking out old CDs... This also is letting me build up my Music Collection (HDD library).

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

Originally Posted by chiark

What on earth is causing the spike at 200hz? Is that dB of eq or just some other measure?

I'm wondering whether replacing the drivers would help with the 100hz dip / 200 spike, but I'd need a known good rta to check. Car arrives next Tuesday and I'm looking forward to playing!

Thanks for sharing!

I believe the 'hole' at 130Hz is the transition point between the under-seat woofers and the midrange drivers in the door. I'm thinking the 215Hz (aprox) peak is from the engineers attempting to mask this deficiency by boosting frequencies around this dip in the response.

I'll put a RTA in the car eventually... I have only owned my F30 for a bit over two weeks.

[mcli]

Boy, I'm still getting a lot of harshness from the midrange/tweeters. Are you experiencing any of that Glenn? I can pick up on it when I'm listening to certain music or audiobooks. It really just jerks me right out of the experience.

Obviously I have adjusted the equalizer, and the more coarse-grained treble adjustment trying to correct for this. As you can imagine I can reduce the effect, but not without compromising certain frequencies.

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

Originally Posted by mcli

Boy, I'm still getting a lot of harshness from the midrange/tweeters. Are you experiencing any of that Glenn? I can pick up on it when I'm listening to certain music or audiobooks. It really just jerks me right out of the experience.

Obviously I have adjusted the equalizer, and the more coarse-grained treble adjustment trying to correct for this. As you can imagine I can reduce the effect, but not without compromising certain frequencies.

Absolutely. I'll hear a frequency response problem, adjust, then have a distortion problem, or vice versa.
I should add that I would definitely order the HK system again if I had to do it over. While I can't help but notice its shortcomings, the HK is far superior to the base (US) system.

[MikeVictor]

Originally Posted by glennQNYC

Effectively, yes. Measurements and initial listening were done without using the iPhone's Music app so the EQ was not a factor.
I have since been breaking out old CDs... This also is letting me build up my Music Collection (HDD library).

If you didn't know already, I believe the CD rips are not at the greatest bit-rate so you might lose out a bit on playback. I've been using lossless WMA rips on the new CD's I buy and run them from a 32GB flash drive to avoid this.

[ADM]

Originally Posted by BMWbill

I too appreciate the OP's knowledge and descriptions of his settings but in my wagon it actually sounded worse than with flat EQ. The mid tones that seem missing did not appear, and the cut took away some needed highs. The Wagon has a few less speakers so it could be tuned entirely differently of course.
I still am not blown away by the HK in my F31 but it does sound way better at high volumes, which is more than I can say about my much older HK system in my E46 M3 which is far worse in every way.

I hear you on both counts (Support/appreciation for the OPs efforts + your comments on the HK). Realize that my comments on the HK are related to our current 2 vehicles --2003 330i & 2008 [which was then replaced by a 2010] Mini Cooper Clubman. All 3 vehicles had/have the HK upgraded systems.

The sound in the 2003 330i is still the BEST of all of them. The quality of sound, the depth, definition, clarity, bass, harmonics remind me of my home system (Bowers &Wilkerson) which are powered by an older flagship HK receiver.

The sound in both the Mini's (which are manufactured by BMW) are light years below that of the 11+year old 330i. While the radio component in the Minis is a newer/HD version, the sound in the upgrade to HK does not (at least for me) appear to be able to be tweaked to come near the 330i. THe same holds true when listening the radio in my friends 2009 335. Not coming near the sound of the 2003 iteration.

I fully realize that it might sound like I am comparing apples to oranges (HKs in Mini Cooper Clubmans compared to the 330i), but it sounds like a similar commentary is happening on this thread, in that the current output of the upgraded HK (which is supposed to be strategically created for the cabin of the car) just is not doing it in the current iteration.

Sound in one's ears is a very personal thing. However, it seems that there are several of us who are not getting what they expected. Not sure how else to say it, other than figuring out the correct settings to achieve the best sound, how can we fix it?

We all need to be happier with the HK set up.
Hopefully, some one can give us the setting that can achieve it as I am about the pull the trigger, and order a new 328dXdrive with the HK system upgrade, and I want it to work at least as good as my 11+ year old HK in the 330i !!!!!!