A while back, in the "rattles" thread, I posted this:

My driver's door audio has developed a tiny bit of sibilance. Noticing it happen at ~50% volume and above. Mostly on female speaking or vocals.
It's not bad enough to take any action on it, but it's definitely there.

Today, while sitting at the EA charger, enduring a paltry 75kw charging rate, in the pouring rain, I was struck by how truly bad female vocals, and similarly, 80's male vocals sounded in the GT. Your post reminded me that I had complained about this previously. But it's not just the slight sibilance... it's just that those higher vocal frequencies aren't being reproduced accurately. These are vocals that are basically burned into my brain, having listened to them for twenty or thirty years. I know how it should sound, and they simply don't sound right. Which, to me, is aggravating.

I'm not an audiophile. I have decent man cave equipment. But I'm more about enjoying the material. I just think there's some sort of fundamental weakness in the GT audio system.

I have a loaded Prestige. Which should be similar to the RS with the thicker glass and audio components. Different roof, of course.

 

I also have a loaded Prestige and appreciate the feedback as it does help me to get over the ‘maybe it’s just me’ thinking.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Next time I’m at the dealership, I’ll listen to another GT just to see if it has the same issue and will report back here. May take me a week or two to get over there.

Thanks again!

 

The best thing you can do is get a calibration microphone and run a frequency sweep and impulse response measurement of the cabinet. That will tell you what's actually going on.
Of course, what do you do with that afterwards? You'd have to use some playback device that allows you to de-convolve the data you capture in the car. I bet the B&O could do it if you could get the data into it, but there's no way to do that ...

 

Do you notice in your vehicle?

 

Agreed, it’s the ‘what do it do about it’. I believe I have it close enough to the right frequency range, and could pull my calibration mic out to the car, but first wanted to see if I’m alone in general as to what I am hearing. If a bunch of folks say it sounds fine to them, then I’ll do a side by side at the dealership (will do this anyways on the 2nd as I have to go into service to replace the rearview mirror to fix the ITM). If I can hear it side by side, I’ll assume it is the B&O sound profile. If it is clear as day that the distortion is only in my vehicle, then I’ll try to pressure the dealership to replace the tweeters in the pillars and upper mid-range part of the side door speaker arrays.

Agree with you that in the end, I may or may now be able to do anything about it… will hope for the best.

 

Of course, for Carplay, I only allow wired USB for optimal quality, and I do use the built in MMI player for testing purposes as well.

...

As a side note, for those of you who may not be aware, the IOS EQ does not work for Carplay as their philosophy is to let the car's audio system manage sound

Some interesting info in your post, thanks for sharing!

So -- there is a way to force CarPlay to function over the wire? I would much rather use wired CarPlay for long trips. I do get a decent amount of audio drop outs with wireless CarPlay and i'm sure the audio quality is just better through the cable. How do you achieve this?

I always wondered if the EQ on the iPhone did anything for CarPlay.

 

Instructions below for USB only, if you simply want to use wired CarPlay and not force it to be USB all the time, you can simple ‘plug it in’ and it is supposed to switch to wired. This is not consistent in most cars including the GT. Sometimes it switches, sometimes it does not. One way to test it is if you put your phone in the wireless charger ‘slot’, when it is using the cable it will not stay on wireless charge (the icon on MMI may show wireless charge for a moment or two, then it will go away because it has switched to wired charging automatically). Also, you can simply unplug it during music play and it will ‘burp’ then continue playing and the quality will be noticeably lower.

To force USB (what I do):

If you already have wireless CarPlay enabled, ensure your phone is not plugged in, then you’ll need to go into your iPhone settings, click on CarPlay, click on your car, and click ‘forget’. On the GT, go to the MMI (center screen) to phone or connected devices and use the cog to delete the phone (I don’t recall if deleting from the GT is necessary, so you can try it first only deleting it from the phone). Then go to connected devices, plug your phone into one of the USB ports in the console (the back seat USB ports are for charging only). If ‘connect to CarPlay’ does not appear on the phone or the MMI, then ‘add a new phone’ (or ‘connect to phone’ if that is an option from the list and you skipped deleting above). Once connected, the phonr will ask you to connect to CarPlay (say ‘yes’), then it will ask about ‘wireless or USB only’. Choose USB only.

You may have to reorganize you CarPlay icons using the iPhone, settings, CarPlay, your phone and customize to change the order of the CarPlay icons to what you prefer. It may reset to the default icons order when you reconnect via the process above.

Not in my car now, doing this from memory, but it should be close!

Have fun and hope this helps!

BTW - does treble seem high to you, or sounds normal?

 

The treble sounds fine to me, but i am no audiophile!

 

Potential new GT owner here...

Have recently test driven a couple of pre-owned E-Tron GT's, in my quest for a replacement for my current Jaguar XF.
As I spend many hours in my car, a decent sounding audio system is a must, and unfortunately the B&O system in the GT has been major disappointment in all of them.

As always, my first steps are to disable any surround sound (why do they have this in cars anyway?), dial back the sub/bass/treble to default/zero, and then find the optimal position for the focus point- which for me is usually slightly aft and slightly across the centre line of the car towards the passenger. Unfortunately, no combination of adjustments could bring me anywhere near the audio quality of the 10 year old Meridian system in the Jag!

Using my go-to reference FLAC files over cabled USB, I could achieve so-so acceptable results for the sub and bass, but the treble - oh dear It just sounds so synthetic, over EQ'd and sibilant - but most importantly, missing any kind of accuracy or immediacy in the hi-mids. Horns, percussion and vocals (especially female) are just lost in a wish-wash of compromised transients and overzealous use of DSP on everything above 2.5kHz.

Then again- if your reference is MP3's through AirPods or Beats, it probably sounds impressive in comparison

So, to answer the OP - in my humble opinion, there is nothing wrong with your ears, just the way the system is (unfortunately)voiced.

 

Appreciate the validation. How are you manipulating the focus beyond the 3 base choices (front, back or full)? I do not see a way to further define a position (e.g. move crosshairs across an image of seats that I have in another car)?

Went through all the same assessments. Interestingly, I tried and app called Boom Bass Booster and Equalizer and it actually illustrates that the system can sound far better (despite the app having a few bugs). It is not the greatest interface and if you have a lot of DRM songs, it won’t be viable, but for me, it is a good interim solution until I can find better CarPlay enabled EQ management.

It’s too bad because the FLAC files via a USB flash plugged right into the center console USB C port would sound amazing if there was an equalizer or at least a few more controls.

Again, appreciate the reply. Happy New Year!

 

I found the Crosshairs function purely by chance in another sub-menu, whilst trying to familiarize myself with the MMI.
As it was during a test drive before christmas I don't recall exactly where it resides.
Decided to purchase the car anyways today - so in 14 days time or so I'll be able to provide an update.
I'll definitely check out your app suggestion, so many thanks for the heads up, it's greatly appreciated.

And a happy new year to you too!

 

Devotional - Congrats on the purchase! You’re gonna love it!

 

I have noticed my second '22 GT has a lot more speaker 'buzzing' than my old one. I did bring my original GT in for them to put felt tape in various areas of both door panels according to that TSB for rattles, but even without that, i don't remember my old one being this bad.

It is most pronounced in podcasts and spoken voice, but does happen in music as well. I don't know how to classify it. It's kind of a buzzing at the ends of words or certain sounds. As if something is vibrating at some resonant frequency. does not appear related to bass or treble settings. Definitely is volume dependent and much worse at higher volumes.

I'm going to have Audi do the 'rattle TSB' on this car too, but just wondering if that sounds like the actual cause of this. Podcasts are almost unlistenable because it's just constantly buzzing.

 

I have noticed my second '22 GT has a lot more speaker 'buzzing' than my old one. I did bring my original GT in for them to put felt tape in various areas of both door panels according to that TSB for rattles, but even without that, i don't remember my old one being this bad.

This is something that has intrigued me from day 1 about this car. One of the hallmarks of german manufacturing is consistency of that manufacturing process and outcome. The wildly different build outcomes of this car befuddle me, especially since it is coming out of the flagship Audi manufacturing plant that cut it's teeth building the R8.

My GT build completed September 2022 and I have 16,000 miles on it and I've never had a single rattle or buzz on the car for it's entire life. It's just like every other Audi I've ever had. Exceptional build quality. So sorry to hear this has not been everyone's experience.

 

What @Snorlax is describing as speaker "buzzing" could be sibilance. Which is something about which I've complained previously.

While we share a common language, we don't share a common understanding or usage of terminology. And we don't have the same experience when it comes to "squishy" matters such as the sounds we hear.

Found a quasi demo of sibilance on YT

 

What @Snorlax is describing as speaker "buzzing" could be sibilance. Which is something about which I've complained previously.

While we share a common language, we don't share a common understanding ir usage of terminology. And we don't have the same experience when it comes to "squishy" matters such as the sounds we hear.

Found a quasi demo of sibilance on YT

I think that's exactly what i'm hearing, except it is wayyy more pronounced on my speakers (most notably the front passenger door) than in this video. Much more obvious with "S" sounds.

 

This is what I was trying to describe but in the treble range / context. When I use the Boom CarPlay App to turn off specific speakers (controlled through the iphone app), it helped to me isolate it to one of the front doors speakers (both sides). Being that each door has 3 speakers, I’m assuming it is the upper midrange speaker (closest to the front of the car), not the midrange next to it our the embedded woofer.

I’m hearing it less with adjustments, but still not gone. Please keep us informed as your replacements will help us determine if it is a speaker issue or simply part of the B&O sound profile.

Thanks again! Much appreciated!

 

Interestingly, it is starting to sound better. Still not at Burmester quality, however the tintiness has definitely gotten better (the speakers may have a longer settling time than others, and I was pretty good about not turning it up to loud for the first few months).

Also, the built in MMI App Store Spotify does sound better than wired CarPlay Spotify. Of course the FLAC files I put on USB sound the best. That said, from all sources, it sounds better than the first couple of months. It is not my just getting used to it as I have several other reference sources I listen to often that keep me honest (home system, air pod pros, Porsche Burmester, etc).

No buzzing either (but I never really had that, maybe they fixed that for the 24 model year).

Still wish I had more control (e.g. EQ, or even just better mid-range control), but still better than Day 1.

 

I'm not experiencing the same sibilance issues in the 2024, that developed in the my 22 GT. But the car only has 2K miles.

 

And yesterday when I was driving home, somewhere in the left door, there's a speaker rattle. Triggered by more mid than treble frequencies, but quite possibly in a tweeter.
Now I have to go run audio sweeps to figure out what the resonant frequency is so I can demonstrate it to the service people :-(

 

I couldn't reproduce it (I swept the entire 100 - 1600 Hz range) but I found a very troubling null around 180 Hz. Like, a severe, sound-drops-out void!
It's either a really poorly designed cross-over, or it's someone wired the car wrong when they installed it.
This would explain some other things ...

I do this by playing a 10 second sine wave with soft start/end at -3dBFS level, from a WAV file on a USB stick. And now I wish I hadn't gone looking for trouble ...

 

ACE - I agree on the drop out and that it is likely poor crossover config that they somehow never caught over the model years. Maybe the B&O guys are getting old and didn’t get their own ears checked for dropouts before designing the GT system 🤪

 

When I got my Q8 etron, early on I noticed a rattle problem coming from the passenger door, initiated by the speakers. I did have to have that speaker replaced, but also, part of the problem was that when the door panel had been installed at the factory several of the fastening clips had been broken, allowing some speaker frequencies to cause the panel to vibrate. Due the the way it was constructed Audi had to ship an entire replacement door panel from Germany.

 

Add me to the list. I wouldn't consider myself an Audiophile, but the B&O in my 2019 eTron SUV is not nearly as good as the Bowers and Wilkins in my wife's Volvo. Same issue as described above, although I hadn't narrowed it to actually distorting treble frequencies, I just thought there was no decent "Mid" adjustment in the EQ and I was perceiving the lack of mid in the sound signature as "too much treble". That said I've made adjustments over the year or so I've had the car and it seems to be getting better, however I'm still blown away when I get in the Volvo. B&W is one of very few automotive systems not owned by Harman, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised, especially since they've whored the B&O name out now in Ford econoboxes.

Not to derail, but automotive Bose systems are absolute trash right? I've never been impressed with any I've heard, and they might as well just have the standard unbranded system in each example vehicle.

 

automotive Bose systems are absolute trash

fixed it for you!

 

I found the base stereo in my wife's Panamera 970.2 to perform better than the Bose upgrade. Whereas the Porsche 992 base stereo is total, absolute crap and the Bose is a significant upgrade for $1600. The Burmeister system is $5560. But I've never heard it.

 

I do have the Burmester in Macan and it is what you would expect from a $5000+ sound system. Equally limited settings, but sound quality is fantastic and the ribbon tweeters super crisp and never harsh. That said, it does exacerbate the ‘low’ from low quality recordings. Even the sub is sharp, no muddiness at all.

Now that I’ve had the Macan for almost 10 years, my guilt from investing so much in the sound system is finally starting to wane…