What are your Bang Olufsen EQ settings?

[Ridicule23]

Hello,

I know there are threads with EQ settings but they didn't exactly specify what genre of music they were for nor was it for this platform. Anyway the type of music I listen to is generally Hip-Hop. so what settings do you recommend?

[JNoSol]

Sup bro. I left my EQ alone, just +2 on bass and +4 on treble. Keep in mind these speakers take about a month to break in. They will sound better after that.

I also found that our exhaust note gets better at 4k miles.

[Ridicule23]

awesome to hear! so the exhaust has a breakin period too ?!

[Serge944]

I keep the EQ flat. The sound engineers worked hard to achieve a flat frequency response - so why mess with it!

At the end of the day, adjust it to what sounds better to you.

Funny story. The salesman told me that "he adjusted the EQ so that it sounds good" when I bought the car and the treble and bass were both turned up to the max. I had to adjust it within minutes because the sound was so fatiguing. To each their own!

[JNoSol]

Originally Posted by Ridicule23

awesome to hear! so the exhaust has a breakin period too ?!

Yes. Mufflers are filled with fiber glass. Over time those fiber glass gets clogged up with carbon, they allow more air to pass through = more volume and deeper.

Originally Posted by Serge944

I keep the EQ flat. The sound engineers worked hard to achieve a flat frequency response - so why mess with it!

At the end of the day, adjust it to what sounds better to you.

Funny story. The salesman told me that "he adjusted the EQ so that it sounds good" when I bought the car and the treble and bass were both turned up to the max. I had to adjust it within minutes because the sound was so fatiguing. To each their own!

+1. EQ are really for after market stereos. The BMW and B&O engineers spent hours to make it sound great, no need to mess it up. A good audiophile system can closely replicate the sound that the studio intended for the listeners.

As long as you have a great hi-fi audio source (like CD/Apple Music - Beats/Dense MP3), never mess with EQ.

[AlexLou1222]

When I got my car, the EQ was set by the manager of the dealership, I'm too lazy to take a pic but it looks like a wave. I kind of like it and after adjusting it myself and hear no difference, I left it as is lol

[Ridicule23]

Originally Posted by AlexLou1222

When I got my car, the EQ was set by the manager of the dealership, I'm too lazy to take a pic but it looks like a wave. I kind of like it and after adjusting it myself and hear no difference, I left it as is lol

haha when you get a chance and not feeling lazy would you mind taking a picture ?

[Tightt]

Originally Posted by AlexLou1222

When I got my car, the EQ was set by the manager of the dealership, I'm too lazy to take a pic but it looks like a wave. I kind of like it and after adjusting it myself and hear no difference, I left it as is lol

My dealer did the exact same thing...looks like a wave. The salesman told me he learned it during training.

[Yoyoniner]

Originally Posted by JNoSol

Yes. Mufflers are filled with fiber glass. Over time those fiber glass gets clogged up with carbon, they allow more air to pass through = more volume and deeper.

How would clogging up the fiberglass with oily carbon improve airflow?

[JNoSol]

Originally Posted by Tightt

My dealer did the exact same thing...looks like a wave. The salesman told me he learned it during training.

Lol. Trust me, if B&O felt that adjustment was necessary they would've tune it that way out of the box and preprogrammed the amp. No salesman are better than B&O engineers and sound testing equipment. You can call B&O and they will tell you the same thing.

EQ adjustment should be done to recalibrate speakers in case there are small variation long after the car left the factory. There are expensive tools to analyze each frequency then the expert would "trim" the EQ to meet the requirement.

The normal users should only touch the bass and treble setting.

I get it if the car has a $300 system, but this is a very expensive setup and well thought out system.

[JNoSol]

Originally Posted by ctwickman

How would clogging up the fiberglass with oily carbon improve airflow?

The muffler canister is filled with fiberglass, with perforated exhaust pipes run through it. The fiber glass have pores and air pockets to "muffle" the exhaust sound coming through. Over time, the fiber glass pores and pockets have a layer to carbon deposit on it. This makes the fiber glass less effective, allowing more air to bypass, and making your car slightly louder.

Some of the guys I know with M3s wants it even louder with OEM muffler. They would take their cars to the muffler shop, have them disassembled the muffler then replace some the perforated pipes inside with solid ones. My muffler shop would do that for $500.

[jcfay]

My 2 cents... I've left the EQ alone. Generally I think the best approach is tune it to your ears and to your style of music. Play a few tracks, and then tweak the upper/mid/lower ends to see if you prefer the sound. Yes, the engineers know WAY more than us and it should be setup perfectly for fantastic sound, but not all ears are alike (nor preferences), and so fiddle with it if you like and see if you prefer a tweak here or there. I know in the past I've added some high end (which has been knocked off over the years of listening to high volume music ) but I haven't done that on the B&O.

Short answer, there is no perfect or correct EQ setting for you. Just tweak it until you like it, and you can have a very high degree of certainty that as-is it will sound great in most situations.

[Ridicule23]

Originally Posted by jcfay

My 2 cents... I've left the EQ alone. Generally I think the best approach is tune it to your ears and to your style of music. Play a few tracks, and then tweak the upper/mid/lower ends to see if you prefer the sound. Yes, the engineers know WAY more than us and it should be setup perfectly for fantastic sound, but not all ears are alike (nor preferences), and so fiddle with it if you like and see if you prefer a tweak here or there. I know in the past I've added some high end (which has been knocked off over the years of listening to high volume music ) but I haven't done that on the B&O.

Short answer, there is no perfect or correct EQ setting for you. Just tweak it until you like it, and you can have a very high degree of certainty that as-is it will sound great in most situations.

you make a very good point. have you noticed an improvement after a month with the system being broken in ?

[jcfay]

Originally Posted by Ridicule23

you make a very good point. have you noticed an improvement after a month with the system being broken in ?

hard to say. This whole discussion is complicated a bit, in my opinion, with the piped in muffler sound (ASD). There have been a few other discussions in this forum (and others which I'm less familiar with) on how to disable ASD. I don't know if disabling it would improve or hurt the B&O sound, frankly, as I'm guessing the B&O engineers built that into their engineering. I haven't disabled it but I wish I knew if it was hurting the sound.

I haven't noticed any improvement in sound yet, but I play it LOUD, and it certainly sounds great. I'll take other folks word for it that the sound improves over time, but I'd never heard before of speaker "break in" and I'm a musician and serious audiophile but no engineer. So I'll keep listening and see what other folks report!

[Alberta]

Any audiophile knows that speakers need a break-in period ...

[jcfay]

Originally Posted by Can-am

Any audiophile knows that speakers need a break-in period ...

Well I guess I'm no "audiophile" then by your definition... Care to expand on your audiophile take on break in period then, for in car speakers versus those intended for in house use? Any idea how to quantify this or is it just based off of your experience? Any idea on how ASD impacts the system?

[UrbanExtant]

A good example of speaker break-in is thinking of a stiffly starched shirt. When one first retrieves it from the dry cleaner, it doesn't move well, it is stiff, and unyielding. Speaker cone material is very similar. When it is first used, it is stiff, and unyielding. Everyone knows that sound is produced by the tiny vibrations of these cones and pieces in speakers. As this material loosens up, more variations in waves are able to be created more easily, just as a stiffly starched shirt loosens throughout a day of wearing it.

[jcfay]

All right - well, I've read a bunch now on speaker "break in", and it seems like much of the audiophile community thinks it is bunk. Yes, some speakers can alter their performance shortly after purchase, but this isn't uniform across manufacturers, nor type of speaker. So anyone who states that the B&O system in our X5/6M requires break-in, without B&O stating so, is just voicing their own opinion. Please let me know if the B&O engineers have any input on this or ASD, etc. If you think it sounds differently over time, this can be totally just subjective too, of course...

So I guess I am an audiophile then?

[UrbanExtant]

I base my opinion on having had a B&O system in four cars now. In each, the sound improved after a month or two of use. The sound initially was quite spartan on all four of the systems I've owned, and it filled in, and became much richer after some use. B&O is known for its clarity, though, so it will never be as muddled as many other systems are, and this is the gripe most who don't care for B&O harbor. I know it is not just me that noticed this change in the systems, as others who've ridden in my vehicles have said the same thing.

[jcfay]

Originally Posted by UrbanExtant

I base my opinion on having had a B&O system in four cars now. In each, the sound improved after a month or two of use. The sound initially was quite spartan on all four of the systems I've owned, and it filled in, and became much richer after some use. B&O is known for its clarity, though, so it will never be as muddled as many other systems are, and this is the gripe most who don't care for B&O harbor. I know it is not just me that noticed this change in the systems, as others who've ridden in my vehicles have said the same thing.

Fair enough, that counts as decent anecdotal experience. I guess it really doesn't matter much more than giving the system a month or so for the B&O for break in, if it does occur. I may try fiddling with the EQ a bit, but I don't think I'd be doing much good, at least for me. Thanks

[UrbanExtant]

Originally Posted by jcfay

Fair enough, that counts as decent anecdotal experience. I guess it really doesn't matter much more than giving the system a month or so for the B&O for break in, if it does occur. I may try fiddling with the EQ a bit, but I don't think I'd be doing much good, at least for me. Thanks

B&O really shines at mid to high volume, and it is at that range that the speakers will "break-in" the most. Don't be afraid to push the system a bit, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how well it responds.

[jcfay]

Originally Posted by UrbanExtant

B&O really shines at mid to high volume, and it is at that range that the speakers will "break-in" the most. Don't be afraid to push the system a bit, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how well it responds.

No worries there... I'm at 75-85% max volume most of the time Unless I shut it off completely to just listen to the engine/exhaust "notes"