[Hammer110!]

So opted for B&W and luckily was included in build. Granted one week experience with it but the opinions were widely varied on its value in the forums. Yeah the lighted speakers are cool at night but personal short term experience with the system is positive. Caveat....... it has to be set up correctly in EQ. First change is to change to studio sound field vs 3D from factory. Small macro base and treble adjustments after curve is adjusted. Sound field is impressive. Does it have low end base response posters have been complaining about? No. It does however have a tight base response which I’m hopeful will improve as the speakers break in. Just my .02

[BritInSF]

Originally Posted by Hammer110!

So opted for B&W and luckily was included in build. Granted one week experience with it but the opinions were widely varied on its value in the forums. Yeah the lighted speakers are cool at night but personal short term experience with the system is positive. Caveat....... it has to be set up correctly in EQ. First change is to change to studio sound field vs 3D from factory. Small macro base and treble adjustments after curve is adjusted. Sound field is impressive. Does it have low end base response posters have been complaining about? No. It does however have a tight base response which I’m hopeful will improve as the speakers break in. Just my .02

Same here. Got the B&W just before the cutoff.

Any chance you can share your EQ settings?

I’ve been tinkering with the levels but not finding quite the right mix. Thanks!

[CruiseControl]

What is your music source for obtaining the best sound for you.

[jmciver]

Why do some people seem to think the only way to get good sound out of the high end factory systems like B&W (or even HK) is to turn off the main DSP feature of the system - which is the surround sound/3D modes? Some go as far to say that the "best" way to listen to the music is only with all EQ settings at flat. The "Studio" mode is effectively "old school" stereo with music primarily coming from the front left and right channels (and of course bass from the subs) - which essentially negates the use of the other remaining speakers in the car. Not saying the studio mode needs to be ignored, but it is by no means the only mode to get "good" sound out of the system. The sound environment preferences in a car, and what sounds "good" is very subjective - regardless of how good the sound system hardware is.

Personally, I think the enclosed environment of a car, especially a large SUV like the X7 with B&W or HK, lends itself well to using one of the surround modes. But again that is very subjective depending on your music tastes and preferences. The one thing I do agree with is that you should also adjust the EQ settings - but adjust them to the settings that work good for you, the type of music you like to listen to, and how you like to listen to your music.

[Wanderer73]

Take a look at this thread from MystroX5.

B&W audio adjustments of what most people like: How to adjust your sound system. https://g07.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1763537

[Hammer110!]

My source of choice for convenience and quality is Tidal. My phone plan allows for unlimited high speed data. I mostly listen in “masters” mode for the highest bit rate streaming. Wife uses Spotify and I feel there is definitive improvement is sound stage with the tidal app.

[Hammer110!]

Excellent post by author on basic EQ adjustments

[Hammer110!]

Excellent post by MystroX5

[Hammer110!]

Originally Posted by jmciver

Why do some people seem to think the only way to get good sound out of the high end factory systems like B&W (or even HK) is to turn off the main DSP feature of the system - which is the surround sound/3D modes? Some go as far to say that the "best" way to listen to the music is only with all EQ settings at flat. The "Studio" mode is effectively "old school" stereo with music primarily coming from the front left and right channels (and of course bass from the subs) - which essentially negates the use of the other remaining speakers in the car. Not saying the studio mode needs to be ignored, but it is by no means the only mode to get "good" sound out of the system. The sound environment preferences in a car, and what sounds "good" is very subjective - regardless of how good the sound system hardware is.

Personally, I think the enclosed environment of a car, especially a large SUV like the X7 with B&W or HK, lends itself well to using one of the surround modes. But again that is very subjective depending on your music tastes and preferences. The one thing I do agree with is that you should also adjust the EQ settings - but adjust them to the settings that work good for you, the type of music you like to listen to, and how you like to listen to your music.

To each their own. With high bit rate source material I personally find the 3D modes to be extremely artificial and flat sounding. With my preferred EQ setting and “studio mode” my ears are happiest.

[Hammer110!]

Originally Posted by BritInSF

Same here. Got the B&W just before the cutoff.

Any chance you can share your EQ settings?

I’ve been tinkering with the levels but not finding quite the right mix. Thanks!

Working from 1HZ out either direction I make small incremental increases. Right and left sliders are 2 clicks from top. Then make small changes on the macro base and treble sliders either side of the EQ to adjust.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by Hammer110!

Excellent post by author on basic EQ adjustments

Originally Posted by Hammer110!

Excellent post by MystroX5

Are these supposed to be links?

[Hammer110!]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Are these supposed to be links?

Ha. No sorry was from mobile was supposed to be response to post above that linked the post by original author

[jmciver]

Originally Posted by Hammer110!

Working from 1HZ out either direction I make small incremental increases. Right and left sliders are 2 clicks from top. Then make small changes on the macro base and treble sliders either side of the EQ to adjust.

I find it interesting that despite the music tastes of different people (or the use of different 3D sound processing modes ), the general consensus on "good" EQ settings are remarkably similar. I found similar EQ settings in different threads on this topic when looking to improve the sound in my BMWs.

In my X7, which came with HK (and I coded the B&W sound modes - I prefer Concert Hall) and my M3 with HK (and Logic 7 turned on), my EQ settings are very similar. I think those EQ settings are a good starting point, and you don't need to be an audiophile to hear a difference either

[cavalierx7]

Originally Posted by Hammer110!

My source of choice for convenience and quality is Tidal. My phone plan allows for unlimited high speed data. I mostly listen in “masters” mode for the highest bit rate streaming. Wife uses Spotify and I feel there is definitive improvement is sound stage with the tidal app.

Tried Tidal, but when i got a free 3 months choice subscription with my Sony XM4 headphones i selected Deezer and haven't looked back.

If you have a reason you do not want to support a company, like in this instance say Tidal, there are alternatives and in this case Deezer was pretty spot on. Have yet to search a title and it not be present.

[CruiseControl]

Originally Posted by cavalierx7

Tried Tidal, but when i got a free 3 months choice subscription with my Sony XM4 headphones i selected Deezer and haven't looked back.

If you have a reason you do not want to support a company, like in this instance say Tidal, there are alternatives and in this case Deezer was pretty spot on. Have yet to search a title and it not be present.

Deezer for $14.99/month?

[jmciver]

Originally Posted by Hammer110!

Working from 1HZ out either direction I make small incremental increases. Right and left sliders are 2 clicks from top. Then make small changes on the macro base and treble sliders either side of the EQ to adjust.

As another data point for those who want to tweak, below are a few pics of my EQ and other settings. But as I mentioned in my post above, the EQ settings are very similar to what many consider "good" settings. I like a bit of extra bass with my music and these settings give me that. My speakers and subs are the Bavsound upgraded units - not quite as good as the B&W speakers I will speculate, but better than the original HK speakers that they replaced…

[jmciver]

For you guys using Deezer and/or Tidal, how are you listening to them in your X7? Both appear to be compatible with CarPlay, but how is the interface of each? Deezer claims that you can link your Deezer subscription to BMW ConnectedDrive, but my initial research has been inconclusive so far with regards to how exactly that works. SiriusXM integration with iDrive is fairly seemless - but I can’t tell if Deezer will work like SiriusXM (but it does not seem like it will work that way).

[Hammer110!]

Originally Posted by jmciver

For you guys using Deezer and/or Tidal, how are you listening to them in your X7? Both appear to be compatible with CarPlay, but how is the interface of each? Deezer claims that you can link your Deezer subscription to BMW ConnectedDrive, but my initial research has been inconclusive so far with regards to how exactly that works. SiriusXM integration with iDrive is fairly seemless - but I can’t tell if Deezer will work like SiriusXM (but it does not seem like it will work that way).

Tidal plays through car play. Your mixes, title listings and downloaded albums are all accessible through car play.

Deezer Best Buy rate is FLAC (1400). Tidal master setting is 6K-9K. I have found very few tracks that are not offered in masters format.

FYI tidal has a 29.99 subscription that allows I believe up to 3-5 users so spread across user is pretty reasonable.

[jmciver]

Originally Posted by Hammer110!

Tidal plays through car play. Your mixes, title listings and downloaded albums are all accessible through car play.

Deezer Best Buy rate is FLAC (1400). Tidal master setting is 6K-9K. I have found very few tracks that are not offered in masters format.

FYI tidal has a 29.99 subscription that allows I believe up to 3-5 users so spread across user is pretty reasonable.

Interesting, and thanks for the insight. Out of curiosity, which music quality plan are you using in your X7? I loaded the Deezer app to give their free service a try in the X7. The Deezer sound quality was noticeably better than both Pandora (free), and SiriusXM (paid) that I have using for a while - which I guess makes sense when I looked up the sound quality specs for each. However, as quiet as the X7 is (and as good as my HK w/Bavsound upgrade sounds), there comes a point of diminishing returns as the sound quality environment inside a car/SUV will never be as good as a quality sound system in your house (or studio) for example.

I know you can use a trial period for both Deezer and Tidal, but I believe it is one trial per vendor, not per plan - so I don't want to burn it on the "wrong" trial in the X7. So is the high end plan, with FLAC audio files, much better than the 1-tier lower plan when listening in a car, the X7 specifically?

[Hammer110!]

Originally Posted by jmciver

Interesting, and thanks for the insight. Out of curiosity, which music quality plan are you using in your X7? I loaded the Deezer app to give their free service a try in the X7. The Deezer sound quality was noticeably better than both Pandora (free), and SiriusXM (paid) that I have using for a while - which I guess makes sense when I looked up the sound quality specs for each. However, as quiet as the X7 is (and as good as my HK w/Bavsound upgrade sounds), there comes a point of diminishing returns as the sound quality environment inside a car/SUV will never be as good as a quality sound system in your house (or studio) for example.

I know you can use a trial period for both Deezer and Tidal, but I believe it is one trial per vendor, not per plan - so I don't want to burn it on the "wrong" trial in the X7. So is the high end plan, with FLAC audio files, much better than the 1-tier lower plan when listening in a car, the X7 specifically?

No personal experience with deezer just with tidal. For tidal I do the hifi plan allowing masters level bit rate (6000-9000kbs). It’s 19.99 for single user or 29.99 for family plan (up to 6 users) The premium plan streams at 320kbs which is pretty much the same as pandora upgraded so not worth the effort. The car play interface seems to work fine. It’s sonically a huge step up from Sirius and/or Pandora or Spotify IMO. Other issues to consider are mobile data usage. I paired the tidal usage to a new ATT unlimited high speed data program so that I didn’t need to be concerned with “off” WiFi usage ie in the car.

So far I like it a lot. You can download tracks as well as albums to play offline if data is a concern.

[Kivilig]

Originally Posted by Hammer110!

No personal experience with deezer just with tidal. For tidal I do the hifi plan allowing masters level bit rate (6000-9000kbs). It’s 19.99 for single user or 29.99 for family plan (up to 6 users) The premium plan streams at 320kbs which is pretty much the same as pandora upgraded so not worth the effort. The car play interface seems to work fine. It’s sonically a huge step up from Sirius and/or Pandora or Spotify IMO. Other issues to consider are mobile data usage. I paired the tidal usage to a new ATT unlimited high speed data program so that I didn’t need to be concerned with “off” WiFi usage ie in the car.

So far I like it a lot. You can download tracks as well as albums to play offline if data is a concern.

Do you know what's the bit rate of Apple Music while using apple carplay?

[Kivilig]

Originally Posted by Kivilig

Do you know what's the bit rate of Apple Music while using apple carplay?

Just looked it up, it 256kbps but apple uses it's own AAC audio codec,