This is my concern - the overall sound quality took a big hit. I personally could not care less about the reduced EQ range, all I ever did was a slight boost at the low end and never would have noticed the change to the EQ range. OTOH, the reduced audio quality was immediately noticable.
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2018.12 has ruined the audio system
- Thread starter sorka
- Start date
This is my concern - the overall sound quality took a big hit. I personally could not care less about the reduced EQ range, all I ever did was a slight boost at the low end and never would have noticed the change to the EQ range. OTOH, the reduced audio quality was immediately noticable.
In case its not obvious, my concerns have nothing to do with the EQ range per se. Nor do I ever have the EQ maxed. It is rather that the limited range has been demonstrated to be associated with the separate issue of the limited dynamic range and generally poorer sound quality.
This. The problem is the sound, not the number of notches on the EQ scale. Top of the list of problems for me is that there is nothing but a pathetic trickle of sound coming from all the speakers behind the front seats.
George Jetson
Member
I have 2018.18.2 on an MCU1 MS w/ UHF. There was a weird thing that happened after the upgrade. The initial "changes" screen came up showing the nav improvements. Then a day or two later, another "changes" screen showed up without performing another update. After that the EQ went back to +/- 12dB. I rip needle drops as192/24 .aiff files and convert to 0 compression FLAC to play in the car. They sound great, but it seems some of the soundstage is missing from the original iteration of UHF. The .mp3 downloads from the Kraftwerk 3-D box set still sound stellar and are the best litmus test files on my drive. The resurrection of the bass boost to fire the subwoofer has made a tremendous difference to the enjoyment factor of listening to tunes in the car. YMMV.
George Jetson
Member
To tell you the truth, I don't really recall. Since we no longer receive a comprehensive description of all of the changes contained in the updates, I usually just skim them without paying that much attention.
That's one the great things about this forum; there's always someone in the know. The fact that the second screen popped up without manually initiating an update was something new. The restoration of the +/-12dB turned out to be a nice surprise.
mymacbook
Member
I concur that our sound system bass has been dramatically reduced and the audio experience really sucks. This was a 2014 Model S with UHFS. Our Model X 2017 was also eventually impacted too, sigh!
Really really upset us that a downgrade like this would happen. Want my money back (on the price paid to upgrade the sound system).
Really really upset us that a downgrade like this would happen. Want my money back (on the price paid to upgrade the sound system).
EQ was back to +/-12 with the 2018.18.2 update with improved sound but still not quite the same quality sound. I just had the 2018.21.9 update 2 days ago and noticed that the sound and volume is much improved; seemed back to the same sound quality as originally. Was wondering if anyone else have the same perception.
cruiserlarry
Gadgetologist
I think the sound quality has been fully restored over the last few updates, in addition to the equalizer setting range...I'm on 2018.21.9, and all is good with UHFS 
thecloud
As rhythm raced inside, the ship came alive
I have the same perception of 2018.21.9. It's definitely a huge improvement over 2018.14, and it feels like the subwoofer is actually back in the mix again. But it's hard to compare when you don't have the old firmware anymore, and can only go by your ears and memory.
My recollection is that certain songs with low-frequency synth tones (say, "Black Milk" by Massive Attack) used to rumble the car like an earthquake. If the EQ was raised, you'd feel the subsonic thump right in your gut. That was completely lost around 2018.12. Now the 2018.21.9 update has restored the bass response, but... is it definitely at the same levels as it used to be? Not certain yet.
George Jetson
Member
Good news; I just got the 21.9 pushed to me last night. Time to break out the Kraftwerk! Has anyone noticed an improvement in the rear speaker fidelity while using the Dolby Surround? As others have noted, if you pushed the fader all the way to the rear, it sounded like a bad cell phone speaker.
I think we need to be clear when we are talking about restoring the prior UHFS fidelity, and when we are talking about improving upon it.
If we are talking about restoring it... then I would EXPECT the poor rear sound. That's how it has always been.
George Jetson
Member
A new glitch noted today. When playing big hi-res flac files (24/192), the sound will drop out entirely for a fraction of a second. A very similar effect to reaching the end of the buffer on a streaming file. File plays 100% fine on my computer using VOX.
thecloud
As rhythm raced inside, the ship came alive
I don't think that's a recent issue; have noticed that before with high-bitrate FLAC files. Usually it's completely repeatable with a particular file, and so I end up re-encoding that file (or the whole album) at a slightly lower bit rate to avoid the problem.
George Jetson
Member
Thanks, I'll give that a try. It seems to affect the needledrops I made from 45rpm albums (like L.A. Woman by The Doors) more so than the other hi-res files. I've tried several experiments now, different brand/capacity USB drives, etc. I think there may be too much audio information for the system to process and keep in its buffer. I wonder when they messed with the UHF audio if they also reduced the buffer size?
George Jetson
Member
Thanks for verifying what my ears were telling me this morning after upgrading to 2018.26 3. The bass response came back in a big way. The audio seems more dynamic too, less compressed than it was before.
I’m going to feed it some hi-res 24/192 FLAC files on the drive home to see if the dropout issue has also been resolved. I’ve been encoding in MP3 VBR just for play in the car for the past few albums and the Tesla media player seemed to digest them better. I’d really like to be able just dump the hi-res FLAC files I play through the home Hi-Fi onto a USB drive without the extra hassle.
ebrand
Member
I'm so glad this thread and forum exists.
I thought I was the only one noticing this.
I just took delivery of a 2017 100D and traded in my early 2013 85 which had the UHF system. I noticed a HUGE downgrade in audio quality in the new 100D.
It does have the premium upgrades/audio package.
What it sounds like is happening to me, regardless of EQ settings and issues, is that Tesla may be lowering the streaming bitrate from Slacker Radio?
The quality used to be flawless when streaming music, but I'm just guessing this is going on, especially because when I took delivery and asked about the new "subscription" you have to pay for to have internet and data service on the cars, the Service Center said "Yeah, our data bill is insanely high, we have to find a way to cut costs"...
I know on apps Pandora and Slacker Radio on a mobile phone the default is "low or normal quality" and you have to select "high quality" for something closer to a 320kbps.
Maybe we are all listening to streaming at 128kbps now and we used to have access to higher?
Also, a new and silly feature I've noticed on this car is every 5-6 songs you get an "ABC News Update" that turns on. Luckily you can skip it.
I thought I was the only one noticing this.
I just took delivery of a 2017 100D and traded in my early 2013 85 which had the UHF system. I noticed a HUGE downgrade in audio quality in the new 100D.
It does have the premium upgrades/audio package.
What it sounds like is happening to me, regardless of EQ settings and issues, is that Tesla may be lowering the streaming bitrate from Slacker Radio?
The quality used to be flawless when streaming music, but I'm just guessing this is going on, especially because when I took delivery and asked about the new "subscription" you have to pay for to have internet and data service on the cars, the Service Center said "Yeah, our data bill is insanely high, we have to find a way to cut costs"...
I know on apps Pandora and Slacker Radio on a mobile phone the default is "low or normal quality" and you have to select "high quality" for something closer to a 320kbps.
Maybe we are all listening to streaming at 128kbps now and we used to have access to higher?
Also, a new and silly feature I've noticed on this car is every 5-6 songs you get an "ABC News Update" that turns on. Luckily you can skip it.
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