[Jolman]

Let me start that I was very disappointed with sound quality of the HK. Tinny, hollow sound from the front speakers. No subwoofer. That being said, I started using the Spotify app and I am amazed by the sound quality from this app. Front speakers no longer sound hollow and the under seat woofer’s actually vibrate my butt! The difference is immediate apparent when switching from Spotify to Sirius. It’s worth trying.

[nype]

I noticed a similar improvement in sound quality when using iDrive Spotify instead of CarPlay Spotify.

[ScruffMcgruff]

I was highly disappointed with it as well until I messed with some of the settings. I copied a few that I found online and made a massive difference. I have not tried the idrive Spotify app. I will have to check this out for sure.

[punchdance]

Originally Posted by ScruffMcgruff

I was highly disappointed with it as well until I messed with some of the settings. I copied a few that I found online and made a massive difference. I have not tried the idrive Spotify app. I will have to check this out for sure.

When you have a moment, will you please post those settings? Thanks!

[Littlecoupe]

https://g87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...69&postcount=5

See this post, I showed my baseline settings for the HK EQ. Note that I am running the Bowers and Wilkins profile that I coded in, so this will change how your EQ should be set. I think what I offer adds some bass and brightness on the high end to give a starting point. It's not the be-all-end-all that fits everyone's tastes.

To understand the EQ, consider the left-most and right-most sliders as the coarse adjustment, they pull the whole EQ curve up or down based on those. The 7 bands within are the fine tune adjustments. I suggest starting with the coarse adjustments, then fine tuning from there. Use a good reference song based on your musical preference (I can't name this, just pick something mainstream that is well mastered).

100hz and 200hz is your lower bass
500hz is mid-bass, can sound boomy if pushed too high
1khz is what I call the "AM Band" and I never push this up, I don't like how it sounds.
2khz is where a lot of instruments like electric guitars seem to pick up
5khz is where a lot of vocals lie
10khz is your high end like cymbals. Pushing 10khz too high will clip and sound too crisp, hurting sound quality. I like mine quite bright, without clipping.

[fortysecond]

Originally Posted by Littlecoupe

https://g87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...69&postcount=5

See this post, I showed my baseline settings for the HK EQ. Note that I am running the Bowers and Wilkins profile that I coded in, so this will change how your EQ should be set. I think what I offer adds some bass and brightness on the high end to give a starting point. It's not the be-all-end-all that fits everyone's tastes.

To understand the EQ, consider the left-most and right-most sliders as the coarse adjustment, they pull the whole EQ curve up or down based on those. The 7 bands within are the fine tune adjustments. I suggest starting with the coarse adjustments, then fine tuning from there. Use a good reference song based on your musical preference (I can't name this, just pick something mainstream that is well mastered).

100hz and 200hz is your lower bass
500hz is mid-bass, can sound boomy if pushed too high
1khz is what I call the "AM Band" and I never push this up, I don't like how it sounds.
2khz is where a lot of instruments like electric guitars seem to pick up
5khz is where a lot of vocals lie
10khz is your high end like cymbals. Pushing 10khz too high will clip and sound too crisp, hurting sound quality. I like mine quite bright, without clipping.

That's actually a reaaaaly sound advice on tuning the Spotify + HK.
Btw, do you mind sharing how did you coded/installed BW profile?

Specifically, I'm interested to know what App and BT dongle did you use?

Thank you!

[Littlecoupe]

Originally Posted by fortysecond

That's actually a reaaaaly sound advice on tuning the Spotify + HK.
Btw, do you mind sharing how did you coded/installed BW profile?

Specifically, I'm interested to know what App and BT dongle did you use?

Thank you!

I use a Veepeak Bluetooth OBDII dongle (it's a few years old now). It can't access all of the setting in iDrive 8, so I suggest if you buy a dongle now, see what the coding software recommends to access all settings. I used BimmerCode, myself, in the 3 Series coding section.