Mr Jones

I love my C63 and I love the sound it makes. Whenever you hear one drive past it sounds fantastic but I’ve always thought it’s a pity you can’t hear it a bit better from the driver’s seat. I tend to always drive with the windows down and that helps, but it’s not the same as standing behind it. Well I’ve come up with a solution and it sounds fantastic.

I bought a stereo condenser mic, taped it to the middle fin of my diffuser and connected it to the audio AUX input. It’s brilliant. From the moment you start the engine you’ve got that wonderful sound we all know, but right inside the car, surrounding you. You get that high rev roar, great low down burble and all the crackles and pops, and all in stereo. So you actually can hear and feel it burbling and crackling from left to right etc. And by adjusting the volume you can get just the right mix of natural sound vs microphone sound.


You can’t connect these type of mics directly to the AUX input, you have to go through a small preamplifier. You will most likely have to set the AUX input level to 'Boost'. If you find you’re getting wind noise, place the mic in a small felt bag, like a ring/jewellery bag. I don’t have it connected all the time. I leave it in the trunk when the family are in the car and then I just flip it out when I’m driving by myself. And the great thing is, even when you aren’t driving in a spirited manner, like just cruising in peak hour traffic, it just means you can hear that V8 sound so much better.

Let me know if anyone wants parts information of the mic, preamp or connecting cables.

For all of you that love the sound of your car, I highly recommend it.

ToXicXxX

You could also just buy headers. More power and the car sounds better.

chrisridebike8

So you just turned your car into a BMW...

Next time just fold the seats down

LakeShow23

BMW pumps in artificial noise where OP is the actual noise lol. And I agree folding the seats makes a huge difference.

Mr Jones

Yes BMW synthesize the sound and I agree that folding seats makes a difference. But this is really like standing behind your car and hearing it. Not for everyone of course.

Autosport7

Tough crowd...
Lets give this guy some credit. At least it was inventive.


Not going to do this, but thanks for sharing.

abcut973

Just tell me this was an one off attempt? You won't actually leave that ugly little mic thing taped to your diffuser 24/7?
First I'm not sure this mic will survive rain or winter.
Second as others mentioned you just retrofitted an BMW option
But that was ingenious. For sure we "drivers" don't get the opportunity to experience the exhaust sound from behind. We still have plenty of options to do so like gopros or asking your wife to drive off with you standing outside

alexmtl

Wow you guys really are hard to please lol.

I'll give it a shot. I actually have a high quality mic and I already have a long mic cable running from the back to the front of the car for when I record GoPro videos, so I just need to plug things and I'll be good to go .
Knowing how awesome the vids sound with a proper microphone, it should be thrilling.

Thanks for the idea OP!

VaclavSV

Maybe the OP is just looking for some extra ear pleasure?

alexmtl

Mr Jones

As I said, not planning to leave it as a permanent install and yes I just pop it out when I want some extra ear pleasure. LOL.

AMG893

I feel the OPs struggle. Its real.

Good idea.
Not for me. Though coz i think in the estate, the sound comes through a little more.
But i agree, i love it when other people drive my car, and im outside of it. Sounds great.

avery.whss

even with the seats down it's not that much louder..just sucks cause if you have someone drive the car past you and punch it..it's actually ridiculously loud for everyone within a 1-2Km radias...headers are a good idea for sure but then your probably going to wake everyone up within 5km when you bury the RPM needle but yolo i guess

Case1906

Mr Jones

I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying being able to do this. Almost every time I'm in the car by myself I pop the microphone out and listen to the exhaust while driving. It's just magic - the pops, burbles, blips and roar, right inside the car and all in glorious stereo. I really miss hearing it when I don't have the mic connected. I know it's not for everyone but if you are at all considering trying this, give it a go. It will blow your mind. As I've said, I never wanted to make my exhaust louder, I just wanted to hear it better.

-Marlin-

Blue ******* with a french tickler

Hedges

haha hilarious!

Kriston

Damn you created your own active sound.

xxaarraa

I don't understand why Mr. Jones isn't getting credit for a unique solution. No, this isn't BMW's cheesy "sound engineering" - what you will hear is actual exhaust noise, not fake.

Mr. Jones shared part numbers with me and I plan on tackling this over the winter. I need to give some thought to mounting it permanently underneath the diffuser so it's not visible to the naked eye, and to cancel out wind noise/interference that the mic is likely to pickup.

qx70rs

Hey mate, I have a 5L V8 QX70 which I've fitted with a bimodal straight through exhaust which has a brilliant exhaust symphony. But after sound deadening the interior in order to remove road noise and improve my sound system my beautiful exhaust note is now very quiet and distant.

I like your method of using a stereo mic via the aux. Can you get in touch with me via email? Would love to get some feedback regarding what mic/pre amp combination would deliver the best sound quality. Also curious about power delivery to the mic and amp.

meteronomestudioslv@hotmail.com

Thanks legend, I'm in Melbourne too!

dasix

OP, cool, please share parts ID on this post. thx

IBowlC63AMG

pretty cool...lmao at everyone giving you a hard time...but still cool

ZephyrAMG

I actually really like it. Not piping in fake sound just YOUR real sound. I dont hear crap when I drive the car, but others tell me it sounds insane. I wanna fill the cabin with all that glory...

Part numbers and sources? I would appreciate it...

skratch77

can the rear seats come down on a coupe? I looked at mine real quick and thought they would hit the front seats if they came down

CarHopper

Depending on how far back your drivers seat is, you may have to move the seat forward a little bit so the seats can fold down. Then just slide the drivers seat back.

I'm short so don't really have this problem.