Audio: Sound System Quality?

[DrTaras]

Dr. Taras may know that, as his sound system was fully upgraded recently. I will try to find that out tomorrow. I'm dropping my car off for sound upgrades in the morning.

Feel free to ask the boyz to give it a test listen for you and a tour as well. Ask them any technical questions that I easily won't be able to answer. Take pix if it helps to tell a story. If you are around on Sunday, come on up to the official public unveiling! Anything to help the TMC community!

 

[EarlyAdopter]

I'm a 2 channel guy as well and think the Model S has superb sound. Better than the best I've had from Audi and BMW. Detailed, balanced, slightly holographic and right where it should be - in front of me. To me, a good sound system is one that brings out the natural depth of field and separation between instruments that already exists in a recording. The upgraded Model S system does that better than any car stereo I've heard. I'm very pleased.

 

[mknox]

Anyone know if the Sound Studio Pkg. has speed-sensitive volume? Mine sure doesn't seem to, and it's something I came to appreciate in past cars.

 

[ElSupreme]

Anyone know if the Sound Studio Pkg. has speed-sensitive volume? Mine sure doesn't seem to, and it's something I came to appreciate in past cars.

I have not specifically checked, but I don't think it does. But the ambient noise level between below 45 and above 70 is so great in this car I always seem to bounce between 3-4 and 7-8 volume levels. Depending if I am on surface streets, or interstate.

I really didn't think I would like such a feature, but it worked great on my old VW GTI. My favorite thing to show people was that at ~88mph (140kmh) there was a somewhat large volume bump. I doubt many people hit that volume increase setpoint as much as I did.

 

[gtimbers]

It does not have speed sensitive volume. It should have. The car is no quieter than a good ICE at highway speeds and I find the need to constantly adjust the volume. The algorithm is very simple and is usually based on a linear increase with respect to vehicle speed. There is a time weighting function so that the volume doesn't "pump". Usually about a 3 dB increase from standstill to about 70 mph is sufficient. Normally it stops increasing above about 70 mph.

 

[jerry33]

It doesn't, but I've found that individual tracks vary in volume so much that you are constantly fiddling with the volume dial anyway. At least it's the most convenient volume control that I've ever had on a car.

 

[montgom626]

Dr. Taras may know that, as his sound system was fully upgraded recently. I will try to find that out tomorrow. I'm dropping my car off for sound upgrades in the morning.

What does it mean to have your sound system upgraded?

 

[jerry33]

What does it mean to have your sound system upgraded?

In this case it means just about everything was ripped out and replaced. Generally it means to change out one or more components.

 

[spatterso911]

What does it mean to have your sound system upgraded?

Despite Tesla's best intentions, I have a very particular quest for sonic brilliance, that I believe Tesla hasn't met as well as I could have hoped for. I am bringing it to a specialty house to have the system assessed and upgraded to meet my expectations. It will likely involve adding an additional amp and speaker upgrades as well as specific imaging and power enhancements. See Dr.Taras' pictures for an idea on how he re-imagined his sound system through A&E in West Hollywood. I hope to hear it someday.:biggrin:

 

[ElSupreme]

Well the weather was finally nice here in Atlanta, still a bit chilly but warm enough for windows down on the way home. I decided that driving fast was also a good idea, so the system went to 11!

So I got onto the car, hit "Thrift Shop Radio" and got onto the interstate. Then the urge to blast down the road hit me, I switched to Ludacris "Move Bitch" to match my triple digit mayhem. Sadly it was only 256bps MP3 and truly fell flat. Well I didn't make it through the song, quality wasn't good enough, besides the interstate wasn't cooperating and triple digits weren't really sustainable, but 90 was. So kicked it to some WMA Lossless files "Of Montreal" which sounded great, but weren't poppy enough for my mood. So back to Slacker "Flo Rida Radio", and then something magical happened. The interstate came to a grinding halt.

So windows were down, sunroof to 100%, sound to 11 still. And guess what. The system is LOUD! Holy crap I think all 4-5 lanes could hear nice and clear. Probably 4-5 cars front and back. And the gawker percentage goes up about 1000%.

Slacker sounds good. My lossless files sound great. My 256bps MP3s sound like pure crap.

Sure I have heard louder systems. I have heard better sound (but not actually in a car). But the quality of the sound at full volume is truly great. Getting rid of my 1GB USB stick and only using Lossless sound from now on out.

 

[npiwovar]

ElSupreme thanks for the information in your posts..Garbage in Garbage out is one of the oldest axioms.It doesn't matter how good your playback system is if your source material stinks.I'm sure Dr T's audio system will be excellent but it won't satisfy him without the commensurate excellent source material.

 

[contaygious]

Something strange I noticed is that even when I blast the stereo I can hear something as quiet as a finger snap. It's not the usual full sound I'm accustomed to in other cars. Not sure if its good or bad, but different for sure! The bass has the ability to hit hard if I put on a hip hop track, but there it disappeared with electronic or alternative. Can't put my finger on what's going on except maybe just that no sound seems to come from the sides or rear.

 

[pilotSteve]

Anybody else think that that the Dolby option software might have improved with 4.3? I did not like it when doing A/B testing so turned it off. Today (updated to 4.3 a few days ago) I thought some songs I'd previously played (and liked the sound) were kind of 'flat'. I checked that my custom EQ settings (+2.5 bass, +1 mid, +0 treble) were still as I'd set them.

On a whim I turned on Dolby and...... I like it better. (or so I think).....

 

[ClearwaterBchSteve]

Anybody else think that that the Dolby option software might have improved with 4.3?

Possibly... I find myself leaving Dolby on more than I did originally. When I first got the car, I thought the Dolby setting removed a lot of "punch" from the sound and left it off. I also installed the parcel shelf last week and and I'm pretty much convinced it adds more bass response.

- - - Updated - - -

I think Tesla should consider having the EQ/Fade/Dolby settings save for each source (IE phone, USB, FM, XM, Slacker, etc.)

 

[pilotSteve]

Possibly... I find myself leaving Dolby on more than I did originally. When I first got the car, I thought the Dolby setting removed a lot of "punch" from the sound and left it off. I also installed the parcel shelf last week and and I'm pretty much convinced it adds more bass response.

I think Tesla should consider having the EQ/Fade/Dolby settings save for each source (IE phone, USB, FM, XM, Slacker, etc.)

+1 for individual settings for each source. That would be very helpful.

Plus.... (per your avatar) "Elwood, fix the cigarette lighter" :smile:

 

[ckessel]

I spent much of my Sunday ripping dozens of CD's to FLAC. I'm only about 2/3rds of the way through. We'll see if the sound quality is any better when I'm done

 

[STxTesla]

Something strange I noticed is that even when I blast the stereo I can hear something as quiet as a finger snap. It's not the usual full sound I'm accustomed to in other cars. Not sure if its good or bad, but different for sure! The bass has the ability to hit hard if I put on a hip hop track, but there it disappeared with electronic or alternative. Can't put my finger on what's going on except maybe just that no sound seems to come from the sides or rear.

I was relatively satisfied with my sound system but have noticed that the "punch" is not there anymore. I recently did the 4.3 upgrade and received my shelf last week and installed it the same day. I don't know what the difference is, but my sound quality has definitely deteriorated. I have to do some testing to see if I can figure it out...but I am certain that the sound is not nearly as good as it was before.

 

[ClearwaterBchSteve]

I was relatively satisfied with my sound system but have noticed that the "punch" is not there anymore. I recently did the 4.3 upgrade and received my shelf last week and installed it the same day. I don't know what the difference is, but my sound quality has definitely deteriorated. I have to do some testing to see if I can figure it out...but I am certain that the sound is not nearly as good as it was before.

I've noticed that Dolby moves the soundfield toward the rear, but there is most definitely less "punch" as you describe when it is on. I feel like there is more bass with the parcel shelf in. Are we all imagining these changes???

 

[Al Sherman]

I've noticed that Dolby moves the soundfield toward the rear, but there is most definitely less "punch" as you describe when it is on. I feel like there is more bass with the parcel shelf in. Are we all imagining these changes???

Dolby definitely moves the sound around more but seems less crisp, or clear maybe. There is also a volume difference. Dolby needs a higher number to seemingly have the same volume.

I'm trying very hard to see a differences with different settings and formats. I even went as far as ripping a FLAC only usb and listening to it for a week. Then I put the exact same playlist on my iPhone and listened for a couple of days. I simply can't tell the difference. The iPhone via bluetooth sounds great to me.

I can tell a 100 dollar bottle of wine from a 20 dollar bottle but when it comes to audio; the premium sound system in this car just sounds great to me no matter what I do. I guess I just don't have a refined enough ear.

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

I'm (overall) quite happy with the Sound Studio on my MS. I would really like to see Tesla do a little tuning of the built-in EQ as some people have done here on TMC, and I would ***LOVE*** to see a five- or seven-band EQ instead of the current three-band for more precise adjustment. But there is certainly nothing wrong with the current system IMHO. Sounds crisp, clean, and is more than loud enough. I'm playing FLAC from USB, BTW.

Re the EQ tuning, I love singing in the car and I heavily favor vocal music. Everything from ballads to country to rock/pop to choral to Bocelli/Groban/etc. My usual preferred listening curve on a well-balanced system with a three-band EQ would usually be +1, +2, 0 or something like that. In the MS, I'm currently using +5, +4, -1. Very strange. Still, it sounds good.