Anyone underwhelmed by B&O system...

[DYohn]

If you expect audiophile quality sound in any stock automotive system via XM or not, be prepared to be disappointed. I don't expect pristine SQ in my car, I just want it to sound good. XM is superior to, say, BT, but not to CarPlay. But I really don't care. I like to enjoy the music, not listen to the system. The system in the MME is great for that. To me. With my ears and my taste. As in all things, YMMV and to each his own.

Now get off my lawn.

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[iankellogg]

If you expect audiophile quality sound in any stock automotive system via XM or not, be prepared to be disappointed. I don't expect pristine SQ in my car, I just want it to sound good. XM is superior to, say, BT, but not to CarPlay. But I really don't care. I like to enjoy the music, not listen to the system. The system in the MME is great for that. To me. With my ears and my taste. As in all things, YMMV and to each his own.

Now get off my lawn.

Bluetooth has more bandwidth than XM. XM is like 68kbps

 

[MachTee]

In my car, FM sounds better than XM. I am dead serious. I don't know if it has to do with whatever messed up firmware my car might have with the DSP. When I bring my car in for the PaaK update, I'm going to ask them to update the DSP, and everything else.

 

[elrond]

@elrond, glad you upgraded and like the sound. I appreciate your write up and picture. Did the Audison amp simple plug into the existing MME head in unit? Did you need to use an adapter and if so, from who and part number? Did you replace all the speakers?

The signal is routed through the stock B&O amp before it makes it's way to the Audison. That way, the car doesn't register a difference in the hardware, and won't start throwing error messages.
As the install was done by a technician, I wouldn't be able to tell you what connections were used. Sorry.
No speakers were replaced, but new runs of wire were installed for each speaker in the car, as well as a new power cable from the 12V battery.

 

[iam-s-Hon]

My car was built in 3/2021, right at the end of the time frame of that SSM. Though I've never had the audio completely inoperative as described in that SSM, my car does have the different chimes that only comes through the instrument cluster. There is definitely nothing off with the audio system. Even at max volume 30 it is not very loud at all, plus there's barely any sound coming from the subwoofer. I literally have to put my ear right up against it to hear anything out of it. I'm not overly picky about audio quality, but in my car there is absolutely no punch to the sound at any volume.

This is the chime I heard from two other cars at the dealer, the one I originally test drove and the one on the showroom floor. The chime comes from the audio system. My car has just the dinky sounding beeps from the instrument cluster.

This is sounds a bit like my ~Apr 20/1 build. I set fader more to rear and I get noticeably much less volume. Have not really paid much attention to the chimes.

 

[Poki]

1. Volume of phone (bt connected) needs to be set at 30 to have a good conversation. If this is true you need the update.
2. Set volume to 25, play music with some bass, open trunk. You should really hear and feel the sub. If it is close to nothing, you need the update.

#1 is definitely an issue with mine. If I don't turn the volume up to 30, I can barely hear the phone conversation, and even at 30 it's pretty quiet.

#2 is harder to diagnose. I can hear a decent amount of bass when the music is at 25, but I can't tell how much of it is coming from the trunk subwoofer.

I'll contact the dealer about the DSP update (upgrade?) and report back.

 

[Illinibird]

It is the latest update for the DSP (digital sound processor). Haven't got an update number, except the info from the dealer that the DSP update fixed the issue.

I did the test you posted with BT audio/Apple Car Play and I had no sound in the rear at first. I made an appointment to have the update on the DSP. I went out in the garage to check it again and realized I hadn't turned the sound level up. When I did that and set the balance to the rear the rear speakers worked well as did the subwoofer. Saved myself embarrassment at the dealer. I cancelled my appointment. Makes sense as the car was produced after the date they gave in the article.

 

[Illinibird]

I did the test you posted with BT audio/Apple Car Play and I had no sound in the rear at first. I made an appointment to have the update on the DSP. I went out in the garage to check it again and realized I hadn't turned the sound level up. When I did that and set the balance to the rear the rear speakers worked well as did the subwoofer. Saved myself embarrassment at the dealer. I cancelled my appointment. Makes sense as the car was produced after the date they gave in the article.

I found today when I went to drive the car that the fader adjustment from front to rear was not kept and the setting went to the middle of the car when I had it set slightly to the rear. How do you get the car to hold the adjustments you set? I had this trouble with the treble, midrange and bass settings and it was corrected in some kind of update. Is there anything I can set to hold my front/rear fader settings?

 

[Mockstang]

So what did you end up finding out? I would have asked to hear the same music from another MME.

I’ve only briefly heard music during my test drive. Pink Floyd Another Brick in the Wall came on and I would rate myself “under-impressed”.

 

[Illinibird]

So what did you end up finding out? I would have asked to hear the same music from another MME.

I’ve only briefly heard music during my test drive. Pink Floyd Another Brick in the Wall came on and I would rate myself “under-impressed”.

I’m not sure you’re asking me but now that I have set the front/rear fader slightly to the rear that the rear speakers and subwoofer do indeed work. I like the sound when my speaker adjustment is set that way. I had to crank up the volume to hear the system play like it was intended. If I could get the adjustment controls (front/rear fader) to stay where I had adjusted them the issue would be taken care of.

 

[Mach-e avelli]

I’ve read lots of these posts, trying to tease out the answer to one question about the upgraded B & O sound system, but have not seen it so,
Does anyone know if the system (via the usb flash drive) can read sound file formats other than mp3? The upgraded (such as it is) system in my Civic Coupe Touring cannot!

 

[TuxToaster]

Though I've never had the audio completely inoperative as described in that SSM, my car does have the different chimes that only comes through the instrument cluster.

...

This is the chime I heard from two other cars at the dealer, the one I originally test drove and the one on the showroom floor. The chime comes from the audio system. My car has just the dinky sounding beeps from the instrument cluster.

Not sure about the MME, but I've been experiencing this phenomenon for years in my Fusion Energi as a sign that the 12V battery was getting drained. It's a long story with lots of phantom loads and multiple battery replacements, but the chimes coming through the instrument cluster instead of the audio system is always one of the first indicators that it's starting to have problems again. Though getting the dealer to even tell the difference was ... difficult.

So definitely keep an eye out for some of the other indicators folks have mentioned with a low 12V.

 

[MachTee]

I just had the dealer reprogram the DSP, per SSM49737. The difference it made is absolutely night and day. How Ford missed this during production is a mystery, but I am very glad there's a fix.

As I said before, my car had absolutely no punch (very thin sounding) to the sound at any volume level, and even maxed out at level 30, it was not very loud at all especially when playing music through CarPlay. In fact, I could not hear Siri read a text to me while it was raining one night. And the subwoofer basically made no sound before. Now it is thumping.

Post update, level 20 was already too loud. At volume level 5, it already produced a punchy sound, very full sounding, way fuller than maxed out pre-update. Even the highs are much better. The surround mode actually does something now. When enabled, the voice is concentrated in the center channel speaker, which I wasn't even sure made any sound at all.

I think I read a few posts of other owners also complained of the volume being too low even maxed out. I will start a new thread on this, maybe it'll have better visibility in a new thread so more owners will get this addressed. My car went from the worst sounding car audio system I've had to one of the best post update.

And the added bonus is now I have the cool thumping chimes that come from the audio system, instead of the tiny beeps from the instrument cluster.

 

[nmope]

I too have been very underwhelmed with the b&o on Mach-E test drives. Nothing at all like the b&o in my Audi rs3 which was incredible with surround sound. Crazy considering it’s the same audio company.

 

[MyLittlePony2022]

I too have been very underwhelmed with the b&o on Mach-E test drives. Nothing at all like the b&o in my Audi rs3 which was incredible with surround sound. Crazy considering it’s the same audio company.

Yes, same company but Ford probably approached them with their criteria and cost. B&O had to create a system that "fit in that box". I sure Audi and Ford's budget were different.

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