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Since there's been a lot of chat in other threads about the sound system, and the preferred settings, I thought I'd start a new thread to illustrate how we each have it configured, so that we can maybe reach a general consensus on the 'optimum' configuration, accepting that that's a very personal opinion, and depends on the material and compression.

Still, for me, I don't like having the sound stage in front of me, I tend to listen to a lot of spoken word (Podcasts) and practically any popular music from the last 3 decades. Being a relatively early VIN, I have the 'original' Studio Sound system, though I think most people agree nothing was changed, aside from the name and price, with the move to UHFS.

balance.jpg
balance.jpg
 
I agree that the flat audio signature is rather blah. Music and balance is definitely a very subjective and personal opinion. Having a degree in music and having taught music (band) for many years, I have found the following settings suit my preference. The fade is set to the center (0/0) for the benefit of all passengers and I have the Dolby Surround ON.

Sound.jpg
 
Do you guys ever use close to the full volume? Those are all boosted pretty high , especially Pete's. You'll be really working the EQ amp like that (likely clipping, but certainly non-linear). WeazL's, for example, would become 3.5, 0, -1.5. The balance is the same, but less drive on the EQ. I'd be curious if sound quality gets better if you normalize, especially at high volumes.

Mine is...
Fade: -11
Balance: 0
Bass: +3.5
Mid: -2.5
Treble: 0

I listen to HD radio, FLAC, and high bitrate AAC/MP3 only. Not much Slacker.
 
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I sometimes get all the way to 11, maybe my source (typically streamed content from my phone) isn't very loud in the first place. That said, the A-Pillar speakers do start to top-out around 8 or 9 with the EQ settings I have, so other adjustments have to be made if I just want it loud.

I have good hearing, at least, it's better than my wifes' :)
 
I sometimes get all the way to 11, maybe my source (typically streamed content from my phone) isn't very loud in the first place. That said, the A-Pillar speakers do start to top-out around 8 or 9 with the EQ settings I have, so other adjustments have to be made if I just want it loud.

I have good hearing, at least, it's better than my wifes' :)

Bluetooth-streamed audio is very low in volume compared to the other sources, so that doesn't surprise me. Given your settings, I'd consider normalizing and see if you get any improvement. It may allow more volume out of the other speakers before you start clipping the A pillars.
 
Fade: -5
Balance: 0
Bass: +3.5
Mid: +1
Treble: +0
Dolby: Off

I like the sound to feel like it's all around me, rather than from the front or rear. I wish the side/rear speakers were better or had more of them. Enabling Dolby makes things sound really crappy, so I never turn that on.
 
Do you guys ever use close to the full volume? Those are all boosted pretty high , especially Pete's. You'll be really working the EQ amp like that (likely clipping, but certainly non-linear). WeazL's, for example, would become 3.5, 0, -1.5. The balance is the same, but less drive on the EQ. I'd be curious if sound quality gets better if you normalize, especially at high volumes.

I usually listen to it between 4-6 for volume with these settings. Tried normalizing it lower on the EQ before and did not feel that it produced the same depth and balance, which is why it is where it is for me. I took it up to 10 once to test it and it did not peak or distort, but that could vary based on the music played at the time. I chose a tune that was gentler just to see if clarity and balance was retained that high. I would not suggest listening to anything at that volume for risk of hearing damage and speaker damage.

I primarily listen to FLAC files and Slacker.
 
My fade is at -13 though, so a lot of the loudness is lost in trying to move the sound stage slightly behind me. It's really not capable of going anywhere near as loud as the system in my previous A5, which probably was a little too loud on occasions.
 
Interesting. Unless Tesla is doing something weird, those two settings are exactly the same. The only difference should be the overall output volume of the normalized version is slightly lower. The equalization is likely performed digitally by an IC in the audio path, and like a traditional pre-amp EQ, the goal is to balance the sound, not boost volume by cranking up the sliders. Indeed, boosting the sliders across the EQ should actually degrade your audio quality, particularly as volume increases.

Now I'm interested in what Tesla's done. I'll play some this weekend.
 
I sometimes get all the way to 11, maybe my source (typically streamed content from my phone) isn't very loud in the first place. That said, the A-Pillar speakers do start to top-out around 8 or 9 with the EQ settings I have, so other adjustments have to be made if I just want it loud.

I have good hearing, at least, it's better than my wifes' :)

There is no way to get up to 11 without ear pain IF you have the volume on the iPhone at max WHEN connected to Bluetooth unless your recordings are really low volume. The max I listen to is around 7. The Bluetooth volume setting is separator from the speaker volume and is also separate from the headphone volume. I have the fader at 11.
 
There must be some programming error or something with the Dolby. It sounds soooo much worse when it's on (and pretty much everyone seems to agree). Wonder if they'll ever (if possible) offer a software update to the sound system...

I think if you're ok with the front stage, it kinda works ok, but if like many you prefer the sound behind, then it just screws it up completely. On my previous car there was a setting for surround sound, but if that was enabled, the fader options were disabled, which makes sense.
 
Interesting. Unless Tesla is doing something weird, those two settings are exactly the same. The only difference should be the overall output volume of the normalized version is slightly lower. The equalization is likely performed digitally by an IC in the audio path, and like a traditional pre-amp EQ, the goal is to balance the sound, not boost volume by cranking up the sliders. Indeed, boosting the sliders across the EQ should actually degrade your audio quality, particularly as volume increases.

Now I'm interested in what Tesla's done. I'll play some this weekend.

I agree, Gizmotoy. Let me know your thoughts after you tinker with it.
 
I use Greg Timber's recommendations as described here.

Greg is a Chief Engineer with JBL. He measured the frequency response of his Model S with a microphone array and came up with settings to get a good response.

The setting are:

Fade: -13
Balance: 0
Bass: +6
Mid: -3
Treble: +0
Dolby: Off

Larry
 
I use Greg Timber's recommendations as described here.

Greg is a Chief Engineer with JBL. He measured the frequency response of his Model S with a microphone array and came up with settings to get a good response.

The setting are:

Fade: -13
Balance: 0
Bass: +6
Mid: -3
Treble: +0
Dolby: Off

Larry

I hope I'm not speaking out of school, but i communicated with Greg after 5.8 came out and some were reporting that Tesla had done something to the audio system. Greg re-measured after 5.8 and concurred that something had changed. He advised me to do the following:

Bass +1
Mid -1.5
Treble 0 to -1
Fade -4
Dolby off