Audio quality question.

[Stefanovich]

Hi guys, I’ve noticed if I’m sitting in the car with the engine off the audio quality sounds fantastic but with engine on or driving it sounds terrible, lack of base and clarity. Would the ANC ( Active Noise Cancelling) have anything to do with this? If so I’m getting it turned off. Any feedback appreciate.

 

[KrackaC8]

Have your dealership disable ASE first, then decide if you want ANC disabled or not. I left ANC enabled to kill some of the road/tire noise on the highway.

ASE is the fake pumped in engine noise.

 

[Stefanovich]

Have your dealership disable ASE first, then decide if you want ANC disabled or not. I left ANC enabled to kill some of the road/tire noise on the highway.

ASE is the fake pumped in engine noise.

Thanks for the reply but its not answering my question, is the ANC actually having a negative affect on my audio sound when the car is running?

 

[KrackaC8]

Thanks for the reply but its not answering my question, is the ANC actually having a negative affect on my audio sound when the car is running?

Likely so, yes.

 

[KrackaC8]

The reason I left ANC enabled is because I rarely use the radio.

 

[alutwon]

also make sure your speed volume is disabled. apparently that has a big effect on the sound. i turned it off as soon as I got the car, maybe that's why I think the radio sounds great

 

[Stefanovich]

also make sure your speed volume is disabled. apparently that has a big effect on the sound. i turned it off as soon as I got the car, maybe that's why I think the radio sounds great

That’s interesting, any idea why that would be?

 

[alutwon]

That’s interesting, any idea why that would be?

if I had to guess I would say it's because with the "speed sensitive volume" enabled, as speed rises so does the volume (and it possibly messes with the EQ) to try to mask some of the road noise. Too much volume and cranking up the EQ will make the speakers sound blown. It's all anecdotal evidence though and sound is entirely subjective.

In my experience with trying get my mustang to sound decent you are almost always better lowering EQ frequencies to find a proper balance of sound. for example, there is a lot of glass in cars which tend to reflect the high pitch frequencies aka the treble. cranking that range of frequencies up is going to lead to a headache.

also, our cars do not allow us to tune the mid range frequencies so in order to achieve a nice "V" shaped EQ, we have to bump the treble up a little bit (not too much because remember glass) and the bass up even more. I can post my exact settings tomorrow if you want.

 

[Stefanovich]

if I had to guess I would say it's because with the "speed sensitive volume" enabled, as speed rises so does the volume (and it possibly messes with the EQ) to try to mask some of the road noise. Too much volume and cranking up the EQ will make the speakers sound blown. It's all anecdotal evidence though and sound is entirely subjective.

In my experience with trying get my mustang to sound decent you are almost always better lowering EQ frequencies to find a proper balance of sound. for example, there is a lot of glass in cars which tend to reflect the high pitch frequencies aka the treble. cranking that range of frequencies up is going to lead to a headache.

also, our cars do not allow us to tune the mid range frequencies so in order to achieve a nice "V" shaped EQ, we have to bump the treble up a little bit (not too much because remember glass) and the bass up even more. I can post my exact settings tomorrow if you want.

Sure, please do

 

[Steve1963JDPHD]

Hi guys, I’ve noticed if I’m sitting in the car with the engine off the audio quality sounds fantastic but with engine on or driving it sounds terrible, lack of base and clarity. Would the ANC ( Active Noise Cancelling) have anything to do with this? If so I’m getting it turned off. Any feedback appreciate.

The audio quality of the Z is influenced by several factors: ASC, ANC, poor factory speakers, a subwoofer that is two very small woofers in a plastic case, and an underpowered amplifier.

The radio cancels noise and adds in fake engine noise. The car rides loudly regardless. The factory sound is good enough for some people. Others don’t care about music quality. If you do, the only meaningful option is to upgrade.

 

[cxp]

For a stock system it is quite good. Here are some tips

(1) Cut the treble, and boost the bass, each by just a few points.
(2) Speed sensitive off. Even sitting still it jacks up the bass.
(3) Use lossless streaming, I prefer Qobuz. I hear clear differences between streaming services, avoid Apple/Spotify.
(4) Put music (FLAC) on a USB and use a USB filter on the port.
https://www.silentpower.tech/products/isilencer

Carplay/Android auto are not equivalent to CDs of the past, they both jack up the music and set the bar low. Music on USB skips the phone operating system all together, the Z has a nice and fast system for reading off of USB. Adding in the iFi filter the bass is night and day, sounds like a subwoofer upgrade. Not like you put a 12 in the trunk, just significantly better, clearer, punchier. USB gives both clearer/punchier sound but also sounds better at high volume. At volume 30, Carplay is getting muddy and a bit iffy, with USB it sounds good.

 

[KrackaC8]

Interesting about the speed-based volume adjustment. I'll make that change and give it a try!

 

[alutwon]

I also use FLAC. is their actually a perceivable difference? yes, but it's not in sound quality but the sound stage. mp3s cut the "air" out of a recording.

 

[sarge]

A bit rate is the amount of data used to represent one second of audio. Higher bit rate = better sound.

A CD is 1411 kilobits per second of musical information processed.

An MP3 is between 128 and 320 kilobits per second of musical information processed.

MP3’s do not sound good to me

 

[alutwon]

Sure, please do

this sounds best to me, I can crank it up to 30 and it still sounds awesome