[M2compcharlie]

Has anyone with Harman Kardon used Bimmercode to add Bowers & Wilkins sound settings and if so what’s the difference?

[NewToM]

Originally Posted by M2compcharlie

Has anyone with Harman Kardon used Bimmercode to add Bowers & Wilkins sound settings and if so what’s the difference?

Yes. I can’t really tell. I’m not a huge audiophile, so any benefit is probably lost on me.

[JABCAT]

I just did this yesterday and there was a very noticeable difference. It adds Studio, Concert, Stage & Rear profiles plus surround sound. I have it on Concert with the equalizer set as in this picture and I think it sounds 100% better than before.

[xps]

Originally Posted by JABCAT

I just did this yesterday and there was a very noticeable difference. It adds Studio, Concert, Stage & Rear profiles plus surround sound. I have it on Concert with the equalizer set as in this picture and I think it sounds 100% better than before.

Very similar settings. Was pretty happy with the sound. Then went into my Chrysler Pacifica, the sound stage feels so much better, it is a let down on the M2.
Note that the Chrysler has the H&K as well.

[J-RO]

My wife's Santa Fe has H&K and it sounds better also.

[nype]

The Fender audio in my 2016 GTI sounds a lot better as well.

[Carefree]

The HK in our 240i’s sounds better than our M2 but given all the drawbacks of car audio, no big deal. At the end of the day, it’s about the car.

[ZPD]

Originally Posted by NewToM

Yes. I can’t really tell. I’m not a huge audiophile, so any benefit is probably lost on me.

Same with me. I am sure that if I had the volume high then I could tell a difference but the days of 4 gauge cable powering 1000 watt amps pushing 4 12's in a tuned box with a few component speakers scattered around the car are far behind me. Now I just have the volume set to a level where I can hear the engine and talk over it if there is a passenger.

[Carefree]

Originally Posted by ZPD

Same with me. I am sure that if I had the volume high then I could tell a difference but the days of 4 gauge cable powering 1000 watt amps pushing 4 12's in a tuned box with a few component speakers scattered around the car are far behind me. Now I just have the volume set to a level where I can hear the engine and talk over it if there is a passenger.

As a life long “audiophile” (6 decades) you’ll never hear in the car what you hear at home. Yeah, you can load the car with 12” woofers and mega powered Class D amplifiers but to hear the detail and nuance of a high quality recording (not available in cars BTW) you’ll need to sit in front of the speakers as mid-range and tweeter (high frequency) drivers are very directional whereas low frequencies are not. This is why subwoofers are placed in the car’s trunk and in the corners at home. Move a few degrees off axis and much of the mids and highs are strongly diminished. To end, you can play it loud but never achieve “high end” sound quality. IMO

[M2compcharlie]

Tried to code a few things in the same process that worked on my F87 but none of the coded changes worked afterwards. Has anyone experienced this?

[NewToM]

Originally Posted by M2compcharlie

Tried to code a few things in the same process that worked on my F87 but none of the coded changes worked afterwards. Has anyone experienced this?

I’ve had luck coding for the M3 on my M2

[LCDRJohn]

Originally Posted by Carefree

As a life long “audiophile” (6 decades) you’ll never hear in the car what you hear at home. Yeah, you can load the car with 12” woofers and mega powered Class D amplifiers but to hear the detail and nuance of a high quality recording (not available in cars BTW) you’ll need to sit in front of the speakers as mid-range and tweeter (high frequency) drivers are very directional whereas low frequencies are not. This is why subwoofers are placed in the car’s trunk and in the corners at home. Move a few degrees off axis and much of the mids and highs are strongly diminished. To end, you can play it loud but never achieve “high end” sound quality. IMO

I'm with you on that.

I was an installer at a relatively high-end shop back in the 90's. We used to make cars to compete the IASCA Sound Off circuit (not the SPL competitions, but rather the SQ comps).

It was a revelation when Sony Mobile ES came out with their full time-alignment system. But no matter where we put the speakers, you were still in the near-field and we got wonky results. In some ways, the sound in the car was far more engaging that the sound booth, but nothing we could do would remove the odd reverb and high-freq echos to recreate the proper timbre.

My reference back in the day was the PSB Stratus Gold speakers, and we would tune the cars to that standard. Polk audio got us closest and was the first company to admit that there was a problem with making near-field sound correct/right. We worshiped those guys!

But...then "premium sound" options came out on cars and we were out of business!

I managed to tune the HK pretty well for me, but as others have said, it just lacks that last bit of air and dynamics.

[Carefree]

Originally Posted by LCDRJohn

I'm with you on that.

I was an installer at a relatively high-end shop back in the 90's. We used to make cars to compete the IASCA Sound Off circuit (not the SPL competitions, but rather the SQ comps).

It was a revelation when Sony Mobile ES came out with their full time-alignment system. But no matter where we put the speakers, you were still in the near-field and we got wonky results. In some ways, the sound in the car was far more engaging that the sound booth, but nothing we could do would remove the odd reverb and high-freq echos to recreate the proper timbre.

My reference back in the day was the PSB Stratus Gold speakers, and we would tune the cars to that standard. Polk audio got us closest and was the first company to admit that there was a problem with making near-field sound correct/right. We worshiped those guys!

But...then "premium sound" options came out on cars and we were out of business!

I managed to tune the HK pretty well for me, but as others have said, it just lacks that last bit of air and dynamics.

I hear you (no pun intended). Given the amount of glass and metal to reflect sound in the interior, highly accurate audio reproduction is impossible.

[J-RO]

Originally Posted by LCDRJohn

I'm with you on that.

I was an installer at a relatively high-end shop back in the 90's. We used to make cars to compete the IASCA Sound Off circuit (not the SPL competitions, but rather the SQ comps).

It was a revelation when Sony Mobile ES came out with their full time-alignment system. But no matter where we put the speakers, you were still in the near-field and we got wonky results. In some ways, the sound in the car was far more engaging that the sound booth, but nothing we could do would remove the odd reverb and high-freq echos to recreate the proper timbre.

My reference back in the day was the PSB Stratus Gold speakers, and we would tune the cars to that standard. Polk audio got us closest and was the first company to admit that there was a problem with making near-field sound correct/right. We worshiped those guys!

But...then "premium sound" options came out on cars and we were out of business!

I managed to tune the HK pretty well for me, but as others have said, it just lacks that last bit of air and dynamics.

Would you care to share your settings?

[Carefree]

Originally Posted by J-RO

Would you care to share your settings?

Not sure that would be helpful given the wide variance in hearing measurements from person to person. To further complicate the issue (sorry ) there is even a wider variance in the quality of source material. Conceivably one might change settings for every selection be it Sirius XM, FM, MP3, WAV, FLAC, etc. IMO

[LCDRJohn]

Originally Posted by J-RO

Would you care to share your settings?

Hey J-RO!

My car is currently frozen in block of ice!

We had an ice storm in NJ and it is 12DegF for the rest of the week. I will put up a screenshot of my settings. I really only mildly tuned it. I reduced the spatial effects by one unit, moved the fader 2 steps forward, and moved the balance 2-3 steps to the passenger side. (the stock imaging, even with a center channel was right next to my A-pillar! LOL) Remember that rear speakers should only be used for "Fill", so moving the slider forward leaves a cleaner soundstage and less of that "smear" that the stock system has. I don't remember what I did to my EQ and will check later after the thaw.

Another interesting thing is that the sound does seem to benefit from some burn-in. I know it is controversial, but after about 5 hours of playing, the depth of the soundstage increased and the harshness diminished.

[Carefree]

Car speakers, similar to home audio speakers, (woofers and mid range only) benefit from 15-25 hours of break in as the stiff cone stretches. Don’t play extremely loud, don’t over equalize low end. Avoid excessively loud break in at very low temperatures.

[NewToM]

Originally Posted by Carefree

Car speakers, similar to home audio speakers, (woofers and mid range only) benefit from 15-25 hours of break in as the stiff cone stretches away from the magnet. Don’t play extremely loud, don’t over equalize low end. Avoid excessively loud break in at very low temperatures.

I totally fucked up my speaker break in apparently. Hopefully didn’t void the warranty…

[Carefree]

Originally Posted by NewToM

I totally fucked up my speaker break in apparently. Hopefully didn’t void the warranty…

Probably not. Those were only guidelines based on years of audiophile obsessive behavior. If there is any damage, it would be clearly audible. So long as the glass is intact you’re fine.

[Ravenseal]

Originally Posted by Carefree

Car speakers, similar to home audio speakers, (woofers and mid range only) benefit from 15-25 hours of break in as the stiff cone stretches. Don’t play extremely loud, don’t over equalize low end. Avoid excessively loud break in at very low temperatures.

Made up nonsense. Speakers don't "break in". Their frequency range is well defined within their design, manufacturing, and function. If anything changes, it's your brain's perception of sound.

[Carefree]

Originally Posted by Ravenseal

Made up nonsense. Speakers don't "break in". Their frequency range is well defined within their design, manufacturing, and function. If anything changes, it's your brain's perception of sound.

That’s really not true. Audio has been a hobby of mine for 6 decades and I owned a business for 14 years. Break in is a reality for speakers, amplifiers, phono cartridges, cables etc. and varies from component to component. I won’t engage in an argument here. Believe what you wish.

[Ravenseal]

Originally Posted by Carefree

Break in is a reality for [...] cables etc.

You have zero percent credibility now. Lmao. Please give a refund to every single customer you deceived for the last 14 years.