Anyone underwhelmed by B&O system...

[markboris]

Again, I don’t have my Mach-E yet but if it sounds anything like the B&O system in my Mustang, I’m sure I’ll be more than happy with it (except for maybe the bass). ?

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[ab13]

So I take back my criticisms of the B&O system.

What changed? Android Auto arrived.

For some reason I don't pretend to understand, YouTube Music streaming over "Bluetooth Audio" sounded muffled and not clear at all... but YouTube Music streaming over Android Auto sounds fantastic.

I've now switched from underwhelmed to impressed.

Bluetooth audio is compressed, unless the aptX modes are supported by server and receiver hardware, even that is "less compressed," so bypassing it can avoid signal compression.

 

[Jimrpa]

So I take back my criticisms of the B&O system.

What changed? Android Auto arrived.

For some reason I don't pretend to understand, YouTube Music streaming over "Bluetooth Audio" sounded muffled and not clear at all... but YouTube Music streaming over Android Auto sounds fantastic.

I've now switched from underwhelmed to impressed.

Bluetooth is a pretty crappy way to listen to audio. It’s fine for wireless earbuds on a run, but streaming music over Bluetooth and expecting it to sound better than a Maxell cassette that had been played too many times is ... optimistic. The vehicle has USB ports for a reason ?

 

[Jimrpa]

One other thing: from what I’ve read Wireless Apple CarPlay streams using to the vehicle audio system over WiFi (not sure what container/format/compression). From what I’ve read, music through Wireless Apple CarPlay should be equivalent to connecting your device via USB. Bluetooth is apparently only used for setup of the wireless CarPlay connection.

 

[markboris]

^^^ You are correct.

 

[Jimmy2]

I should be clear it's wireless Android Auto I'm describing.

So I take back my criticisms of the B&O system.

What changed? Android Auto arrived.

For some reason I don't pretend to understand, YouTube Music streaming over "Bluetooth Audio" sounded muffled and not clear at all... but YouTube Music streaming over Android Auto sounds fantastic.

I've now switched from underwhelmed to impressed.

Thanks for the update; that is good info to know.

 

[Jimmy2]

So I take back my criticisms of the B&O system.

What changed? Android Auto arrived.

For some reason I don't pretend to understand, YouTube Music streaming over "Bluetooth Audio" sounded muffled and not clear at all... but YouTube Music streaming over Android Auto sounds fantastic.

I've now switched from underwhelmed to impressed.

ChasingCoral posted the attached last summer. Good to know now. If you like your music, figure out how to listen to it un-compressed. The compressed stuff "cuts corners".

 

[JayDoc]

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?

I’m fairly picky, but sounds good to me. ?

 

[jcharnet]

I think the sound is AMAZING. Best sound I ever had in a car without customizing at all.
You need to set bass and treble to desired settings for sure. Surround gives it a nice touch, but I think the highlights is the clear crisp sound along with a very adequate dose of bass. Not too overwhelming. Just the right amount I would say.

 

[benk016]

I still will randomly turn back to SXM on occasion. Like if Wireless AA flakes out. And it really does seem like somedays its just OK, and other days its absolute crap. Twice now on SXM, its sounded like SXM volume was up too loud and distorting on the SXM side. Like they had the volume too high before broadcasting it. Even with the MME stereo turned down, It was like clipping out from peaking volume.

I've never had any audio quality issues with any other source though.

 

[memcm_expert]

Just adding a stupid question - Is there a CD player in the Mach E?

Nope

 

[SteelMach]

ChasingCoral posted the attached last summer. Good to know now. If you like your music, figure out how to listen to it un-compressed. The compressed stuff "cuts corners".

Yeah I don't own any music whatsoever, so YouTube Music it is, or TuneIn for podcasts.

 

[Major]

I am extremely well pleased with the sound system. I took the suggestion here to switch it to surround and since then I have found it to sound better than any previous car stereo I've had.

 

[agoldman]

Turning Carplay on and setting the Sirius phone app on the highest quality setting (lots of data) makes a huge difference in sound quality on the ME.

As far as surround, in general I find that surround muffles the high end fidelity a bit, but the center sepaker is a bit to trebbly to begin with, so I move the center of the listening position back 1 notch and then rotate between surround and stereo as desired. It's not an audiophile system, but it is plenty ok. Above average for sure.

 

[Kieferalan]

Turning Carplay on and setting the Sirius phone app on the highest quality setting (lots of data) makes a huge difference in sound quality on the ME.

As far as surround, in general I find that surround muffles the high end fidelity a bit, but the center sepaker is a bit to trebbly to begin with, so I move the center of the listening position back 1 notch and then rotate between surround and stereo as desired. It's not an audiophile system, but it is plenty ok. Above average for sure.

I’m not an audiophile by any means, but I really was expecting more out of this system. For a car that costs 60k I was really thinking it was gonna be a lot better than my Kia Forte that I’m leasing. It is better obviously but I wasn’t blown away at all

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