Anyone underwhelmed by B&O system...

Griddlez said:

To me, it sounds best when it's put into surround mode with the bass turned up a bit, as it seems to have a great more depth in that mode. I personally think it sounds good, mostly XM radio Listening here.

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Same here. Also adjusting the balance point much further back. Otherwise I can really only hear the front speakers, and they don't seem to have as much bass or depth.

JCinTpa said:

So maybe it’s just me but is anybody else underwhelmed by the stereo system of the Mach E ? I’m convinced somethings not right. I’ve taken it to the dealer already once . The sound just doesn’t sound right at medium or higher volumes. It’s almost like a slight muffle just not clear. The dealer seems convinced I’m just being picky. They used a flash drive to show an example of the highest quality music and it did sound pretty great on the stereo but any other music medium… Unpluged CarPlay, plug-in CarPlay, satellite radio… Just sounds underwhelming. The dealer convincing me that satellite radio is going to sound worse and any unplugged streaming will also. But there’s no way that this stereo system sounds no better than a Honda. Am I missing something?

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Double check and make sure your time settings are not changing when you get in the car. I have to adjust mine every time I turn the car back on.

Satellite radio tops out at 64kbps bit rate, it is mediocre at best, regardless of what system is used for playback.

Most streaming service tops out at 320kbps AAC, with Tidal offering the option of FLAC or even higher quality (not useful in the context of CarPlar/Android Auto, which are limited to 16-bit at 48kHz in their PCM output). FLAC offers the same quality as Compact Discs which store PCM audio digitized in 16-bit at 44.1kHz sampling frequency. FLAC is essentially PCM processed with lossless compression (so it has a variable bitrates). When you put FLAC files on a USB stick, or on your phone, playback quality is identical to the CD tracks they came from - can't comment on CarPlay, on Android Auto it appears to be up converted to 48kHz (not that I can tell the difference, just a hunch from the data rate over the network connection between my phone and the head unit emulator in the Android Studio SDK). When wired, both CarPlay and Android Auto deliver audio in PCM; over a wireless connection CarPlay falls back to AAC, while Android Auto stays with PCM. Not sure why Apple decided to fall back to AAC over WiFi, PCM stereo audio in 16-bit at 48kHz sampling frequency adds up to only 1.5Mbps, which is no big deal over WiFi.

SiriusXM is extremely compressed to conserve satellite bandwidth, so it sounds like crap. As everyone else has said, your best bet is high quality digital, connected to the vehicle (not streamed through Bluetooth). So, something like Apple Music would be fairly decent (192kbps and lossless as I recall). There are other schemes, but they require effort as in digging up encoders, etc, I’m too lazy ?

No joke i was think about this mod but i laughed it off, but maybe not a bad idea now. Subwoofer in the frunk anybody? The battery is right there. Built a custom box and and hide the amp right under and you could have a nice setup.

I suspect the quality of the system might be hampered by the speakers. So often these branded stock systems skimp on the speaker quality (and number of.) With the sub in the trunk and decent power, replacing some of the speakers might be all it needs.

So yes, out of the box it sounds meh. You should go into settings, switch from stereo to surround and move the balance to the center of the car.

Next, stream a good quality song or pick an hd radio station and adjust the mid, treble and Bass to your liking.

It sounds pretty great once you set it up correctly and yes sxm is horrible quality stream so dont judge by that.

Hd radio or spotify work pretty well.

Compared to other cars I"ve owned, the SiriusXM doesn't sound half bad.

Streaming on Wireless CarPlay definitely better; playing downloaded music is even better.

I have adjusted bass and treble up a bit, as well as enabled surround.

I was considering subscribing to tidal for this car since i no longer have time to "purchase" songs. I wouldnt mind upgrading the sound system in this car but I might leave it as is and do it on my next EV. Id have to see the components but I bet you anything theyre nothing spectacular. You cant run a 1kw sound system in a car thats meant to be electrically efficient. Notice that most cars advertise the wattage of their system and Ford didnt in this case. Id be surprised if it surpassed 350w. That 300$ home soundbar that ppl swear by can never compete with a component system but for many its enough.
I'll wait to pass judgement when i get my car. If its not to my satisfaction after some EQ work, i'll see what can be done.

JCinTpa said:

So maybe it’s just me but is anybody else underwhelmed by the stereo system of the Mach E ? I’m convinced somethings not right. I’ve taken it to the dealer already once . The sound just doesn’t sound right at medium or higher volumes. It’s almost like a slight muffle just not clear. The dealer seems convinced I’m just being picky. They used a flash drive to show an example of the highest quality music and it did sound pretty great on the stereo but any other music medium… Unpluged CarPlay, plug-in CarPlay, satellite radio… Just sounds underwhelming. The dealer convincing me that satellite radio is going to sound worse and any unplugged streaming will also. But there’s no way that this stereo system sounds no better than a Honda. Am I missing something?

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Vs Shaker in my GT it sucks. No bass or audio from behind you. All it is just loud sound from the front, lacking clarity.

kgautam28 said:

Vs Shaker in my GT it sucks. No bass or audio from behind you. All it is just loud sound from the front, lacking clarity.

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I am actually pretty surprised at how directional it sounds. All of the music sounds like it’s coming from the front middle speaker. I really don’t hear any sound from anywhere else in the car. Agree that it’s pretty disappointing.

JCinTpa said:

So maybe it’s just me but is anybody else underwhelmed by the stereo system of the Mach E ? I’m convinced somethings not right. I’ve taken it to the dealer already once . The sound just doesn’t sound right at medium or higher volumes. It’s almost like a slight muffle just not clear. The dealer seems convinced I’m just being picky. They used a flash drive to show an example of the highest quality music and it did sound pretty great on the stereo but any other music medium… Unpluged CarPlay, plug-in CarPlay, satellite radio… Just sounds underwhelming. The dealer convincing me that satellite radio is going to sound worse and any unplugged streaming will also. But there’s no way that this stereo system sounds no better than a Honda. Am I missing something?

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Try an HD FM radio station that's nearby. You should see quite a difference. The source matters a LOT.

sockmeister said:

Try an HD FM radio station that's nearby. You should see quite a difference. The source matters a LOT.

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The source is everything!

MachE2021 said:

I was very underwhelmed too. I initially felt like it’s the worst sound system I’ve had since my first car (1991 Oldsmobile lol), but I’m starting to come around to it. I think it’s just a different type of sound from what I’m used to, although I still think the best sound system I’ve had by far was the HK system in my ‘09 Benz.

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This!

Griddlez said:

To me, it sounds best when it's put into surround mode with the bass turned up a bit, as it seems to have a great more depth in that mode. I personally think it sounds good, mostly XM radio Listening here.

Click to expand...

Also this!!

I thought the system sounded REALLY bad when I took delivery, but when I checked the tone settings I found that someone had already messed with the EQ and balance. I reset all the settings the. Dialed it in with surround sound and it sounds much better. Definitely not as good as advertised but good enough to enjoy music sources and sports radio.