Car Audio Question

[pearldrummer1111]

First off, thanks to anyone who reads and tries to help, and I apologize for being long winded here as I want to give as many details as possible.

So I just recently got a new car; it's a 2024 VW Tiguan with the Fender Premium Audio stereo system. I had a 2007 Toyota Rav4 prior with no premium audio system. From the moment I had my Rav, I played music solely from CDs or an iPod/iPad hooked up via an AUX cable. That car had a simple EQ with Treble/Mid/Bass ranging from -5 to +5 as settings. I typically had them set between 3 and 5 and got some pretty darn good sound and low end.

Upon getting the new car, the speakers are a big upgrade in clarity and overall sound, but I'm not getting the low end as I would have expected, even though there's a subwoofer. I do play my music through Apple CarPlay and I have read that CarPlay does have a tendency to make music sound dull, with no depth and a lack of low end. I've tried Bluetooth and plugging in directly, and there's not much difference. I've even changed the EQ on the Apple Music app on my phone to "Rock" and it didn't help much at all.

So, I'm looking for suggestions as to what to try to maybe get some better depth and low end. Should I try putting all my music on a USB stick and playing through that? Or does anyone else have a recommendation?

Also, on my iTunes (Apple Music App) on my laptop, I have tried to play with the overall EQ for the whole app (I'll attach a photo) , and that makes a clear difference in sound through my headphones. Does anyone know if I keep the EQ turned on, if I transfer songs to either my iPhone or hypothetical USB-C stick.. will those EQ settings transfer as well? Or do I have to change them on each individual album (I'll attach a photo)? When I turn off the main EQ, and try adjusting on just an album by album basis, it doesn't seem to do anything ( I know the screen shot says 'none' but when I do put it to 'Rock' or anything else, it doesn't have a difference in sound) Am I doing something wrong?

Any help would be appreciated. If anyone needs me to clarify anything further, please let me know! I'm certainly no expert on audio, but I can tell there's a lack of low end and depth, and I'm hoping I can improve things.
Thanks, everyone!

 

[cjf]

First off, thanks to anyone who reads and tries to help, and I apologize for being long winded here as I want to give as many details as possible.

So I just recently got a new car; it's a 2024 VW Tiguan with the Fender Premium Audio stereo system. I had a 2007 Toyota Rav4 prior with no premium audio system. From the moment I had my Rav, I played music solely from CDs or an iPod/iPad hooked up via an AUX cable. That car had a simple EQ with Treble/Mid/Bass ranging from -5 to +5 as settings. I typically had them set between 3 and 5 and got some pretty darn good sound and low end.

Upon getting the new car, the speakers are a big upgrade in clarity and overall sound, but I'm not getting the low end as I would have expected, even though there's a subwoofer. I do play my music through Apple CarPlay and I have read that CarPlay does have a tendency to make music sound dull, with no depth and a lack of low end. I've tried Bluetooth and plugging in directly, and there's not much difference. I've even changed the EQ on the Apple Music app on my phone to "Rock" and it didn't help much at all.

So, I'm looking for suggestions as to what to try to maybe get some better depth and low end. Should I try putting all my music on a USB stick and playing through that? Or does anyone else have a recommendation?

Also, on my iTunes (Apple Music App) on my laptop, I have tried to play with the overall EQ for the whole app (I'll attach a photo) , and that makes a clear difference in sound through my headphones. Does anyone know if I keep the EQ turned on, if I transfer songs to either my iPhone or hypothetical USB-C stick.. will those EQ settings transfer as well? Or do I have to change them on each individual album (I'll attach a photo)? When I turn off the main EQ, and try adjusting on just an album by album basis, it doesn't seem to do anything ( I know the screen shot says 'none' but when I do put it to 'Rock' or anything else, it doesn't have a difference in sound) Am I doing something wrong?

Any help would be appreciated. If anyone needs me to clarify anything further, please let me know! I'm certainly no expert on audio, but I can tell there's a lack of low end and depth, and I'm hoping I can improve things.
Thanks, everyone!

Hello,

I didn't see it mentioned but what is the format, Bit/Sample Rate of the music files being used? Are they .MP3 files, or are they Lossless files?

Its possible that the Audio system in the new vehicle is much better than the last vehicle and you can now hear all the warts and or lack of quality in certain areas of sound if you happen to be using lower quality music files.

If you have made adjustments on some other device via EQ settings they will not likely transfer to another device since in most cases those adjustments are just taking place to the music as it plays thru the system where those settings were configured.

Maybe take a look to see what "Mode" your Bluetooth configuration allows for on the Phone and the Car audio. Some have an option within the Bluetooth settings to allow for the use of higher quality Bluetooth streaming codecs (aptX, aptxHD..etc) from the Phone to the car stereo.

 

[pearldrummer1111]

Hello,

I didn't see it mentioned but what is the format, Bit/Sample Rate of the music files being used? Are they .MP3 files, or are they Lossless files?

Its possible that the Audio system in the new vehicle is much better than the last vehicle and you can now hear all the warts and or lack of quality in certain areas of sound if you happen to be using lower quality music files.

If you have made adjustments on some other device via EQ settings they will not likely transfer to another device since in most cases those adjustments are just taking place to the music as it plays thru the system where those settings were configured.

Maybe take a look to see what "Mode" your Bluetooth configuration allows for on the Phone and the Car audio. Some have an option within the Bluetooth settings to allow for the use of higher quality Bluetooth streaming codecs (aptX, aptxHD..etc) from the Phone to the car stereo.

Thank you for the reply! I should've mentioned the Bit/Sample Rate! That slipped my mind. All of them are .MP3 files either ripped directly from CDs I own, or downloaded from the internet. I'd say the majority of the downloaded ones are 320kbps.

I'd definitely say the new vehicle allows me to hear all the warts and lack of quality for sure; 90s tunes sound much more dull than something that came out anytime in the past decade haha. I figured the EQ settings wouldn't transfer over from the first picture, but wasn't entirely sure if they would or not if I adjusted them individually as shown in the second photo.

I'll definitely look around for those settings you mentioned to see if I can find anything to tinker with! I appreciate that info.


The stereo overall is definitely nice and crisp and clear and I really enjoy it; I know Fender Premium Audio is no Bang and Olufsen, Bowers and Wilkins or even Harman Kardon, but it does sound really nice, I just wish I could get some more low end and depth. Now that I'm thinking about it.. I wonder if the subwoofer is plugged in correctly?.. lol