BMW Equalizer Tweaks - G* Chassis

Try a free trial of Apple Music they offer lossless audio for just $9.99 a month now. You will be blown away with how it sounds.

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If you tune to regular FM and it’s on HD, isn’t that the best possible source?

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Not by a long shot. Any decent streaming service is going to sound better. Lossless is going to be significantly better.

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Not bad idea. I like listening to music on Sportify. There, the sound quality is preserved better than on YouTube.

Aren’t all these things micro improvements compared to hardware changes?

Seems a bit like k&n filters or split fire spark plugs.

I gotta check that out. I mainly use Tidal since it is included with my cell plan, but it sucks that you need a DAC that is compatible with Tidal to fully use their Master quality. Quboz’s quality was great and some tracks were higher quality than Tidal, but I couldn’t justify spending $20/mo extra when I already have Tidal and I use just occasionally use my audiophile setup.

Is this the default playback mode?

I just started a six-month free trial of Apple Music, and I used it for the first time in the car this morning.

It didn’t sound any different from SiriusXM, quality-wise.

I was using the Bluetooth connection, which may have been the limiting factor.

It was a short drive so I didn’t try it with a wired connection.

I don’t have HK.

If you’re driving a BMW SiriusXM could potentially sound better to an untrained ear. They’ve done a lot of optimization to maximize sound quality specifically for satellite radio. It’s the main reason I’ve subscribed. It’s odd because it did sound terrible on the Harman/Kardon, which has high-end components that bring out how compressed it is.

I inquired with BMW and there is a serious bass boost when using SiriusXM that isn’t applied with Bluetooth or CarPlay. That being said it is possible to stream Apple Lossless over wireless CarPlay, and there is definitely more detail.

Yes, it’s a BMW.

My main hope after reading this thread was that the low-level sssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh*** that runs constantly underneath music on SiriusXM would be gone or diminished with Apple Music.

This noise is incredibly apparent when listening at a high volume and then suddenly there’s a particularly quiet part in the song, or, say, when there is just one instrument playing.

It’s still there with Apple Music, and if there is any improvement at all, it’s so small that I can’t detect it.

*** Don’t let me overload you with technical jargon. :stuck_out_tongue:

I signed up for a three month trial of Apple Music after seeing @CapsCup2018 comment about Apple Music before. I’m not audiophile by any means but initially it did seem to me that Apple Music lossless tracks sounded much better. However, after doing back to back comparisons with same tracks running on Spotify, I’m not too sure about the quality difference anymore. Do you guys have Logic surround sound enabled?

My setup is HK on 2021 model BMW and streaming all songs over wireless CarPlay.

I don’t have HK. I don’t think I have that setting.

XM’s quality is complete crap. Will never pay for it when there are better listening experiences.

You have to go into your setting, then music, audio quality, and then turn on lossless.

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I mostly stream SiriusXM on my iPad while I’m going to sleep.

Definitely sounds better than a clock radio in a room at the airport Marriott. :stuck_out_tongue:

I agree with you 100%. However, what I’ve found is that BMW must have worked closely with SiriusXM’s sound engineers since it sounds dramatically better than what I’ve experienced in the past. It really feels like the sound system is being utilized to its potential, as far as compressed audio can go. I subscribed specifically for the bass boost, which I wouldn’t be able to achieve with Bluetooth or CarPlay. In fact, I’m able to use the same EQ settings (+7 bass +0 treble) on my 2018 330e across all audio sources. The bass tends to get muddy at above +7 yet it doesn’t with SiriusXM so they must be separating the frequencies/boosting it at a hardware level.

The XM in my M4 with HK and the Bavsound subwoofer upgrade is noticeably worse than it was my S5 with B&O or any Porsche with Bose (other than the 718). HD FM sounds better than XM too. I typically turn the bass to 3 or 4 and the treble half of that since I am not looking for my whole car to shake.

There’s minimal mirror shake-age in my 2018 330e, although 2019+ BMW’s seem to have a much stronger bass boost to begin with.

SiriusXM did sound terrible on my previous i3’s Harman/Kardon system. I’m not even sure they improved it on newer models. However, BMW thankfully did upgrade the base sound system on newer i3 models and I definitely could feel a massive bass boost with satellite radio. It’s a dramatic difference over the pitiful sound system they used to put on the i3, maybe even with more bass than my 2015 i3’s Harman/Kardon. Perhaps premium audio systems such as the HK are tuned better for actual high-quality sources.

This is crazy: I measured the 2019 stock Hi-Fi 4 Series sound system on SiriusXM as having more of a bass boost than a Brooklyn nightclub during Alvin Risk’s set. The bass reached deeper at the club, but the 4 Series had a ~ 10-15dB stronger bass boost.

You can compare the club frequency response below to the 4 Series measurements I posted earlier:

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No it has to be enabled. It defaults to regular audio.

Don’t bother with the max setting because CarPlay maxes out at CD quality which is the first tier of lossless not the max.

For everyone saying Apple Music sound the same please read the article and enable hifi audio.

It is off by default because it uses a lot of data and most people don’t care about it.

Also re: XM. It is complete shit. Possibly the worst source you can listen to after AM radio. HD FM radio sounds better.

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I switched the Apple Music app to lossless on the way home from a couple of errands this morning, and the quality of the music itself was noticeably better.

Unfortunately by the time I thought of it there wasn’t enough time to even listen to one full song before I got home.

The other observation in this very limited sample is that I didn’t get the volume I normally do.

I was really surprised when I reached over to turn it up again and there was nothing left to give.

Might have just been the way my selection was recorded.

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BTW, I have an extra code for 6 free months of Apple Music.

I don’t know if that’s anything special (it came free with a Best Buy purchase this week), but the first person to PM me and ask for it may have it.

New subscribers only.

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