Gracenote is not so good - MBWorld.org Forums

Dec 3, 2015 | 04:37 PM

Richard_P_Harve

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Junior Member

Joined: Apr 2015

Posts: 68

Likes: 5

From: Charlton, MA

2016 E400 Coupe Mars Red

Gracenote is not so good

One of the most important things in a car for me is the sound system I'm a musician and a music nut. So yeah the HK Logic7 system is not the best out there but I can live with the less that stellar sound. But frankly Gracenote is terrible. I play most of my music off a very large USB drive, have upwards of 600 full CD rips on there all as high bit rate MP3's. Gracenote can't seem to put full CD's together all the time even though they are arranged in the same folders. Many times I will get multiple covers for one album, each with some of the songs on that one album. But it's NEVER consistent, sometime one album will be split in two and other times the same exact album will all be together, I find this a real pain in the ****.

Anyone else notice this...?

Dec 4, 2015 | 04:41 PM

SnakeDoctor

Super Member

Joined: Jul 2010

Posts: 744

Likes: 28

From: Houston, TX

2014 E550 Coupe and 2010 E350 Sedan

That's why I like using the bluetooth functionality with a music service.

Dec 6, 2015 | 10:27 AM

Poot Daddy

Junior Member

Joined: Nov 2014

Posts: 20

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From: Bama transplant in DC

2012 E550 Coupe

I must have had some really sh**y sound systems in the past because I think my Harmon Kardon Logic 7 sounds fantastic.

+1 on the BT and Pandora or Spotify.

Dec 6, 2015 | 01:08 PM

Richard_P_Harve

Thread Starter

Junior Member

Joined: Apr 2015

Posts: 68

Likes: 5

From: Charlton, MA

2016 E400 Coupe Mars Red

Poot - LOL, my car before this was an Infiniti Q50 with the premium Bose sound system and it was noticeable better than the system in the E400 I have now. Much wider frequency response and far deeper bass. That said I'm fine with the sound it's the darn Gracenote that's driving me crazy. Spotify or Pandora and even Sirius are just not an option for me, they are far too repetitive and the overall sound quality is SOOOO compressed it makes the HK system really sound terrible.

Dec 6, 2015 | 01:20 PM

ffr2014

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Joined: Sep 2014

Posts: 1,018

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From: Virginia

2012 E550 Coupe, 2013 Escalade ESV, 2013 Lexus GS350, 2003 Honda VFR, 2017 Yamaha Kodiak 700 EPS SE

I use Amazon Prime Music with downloaded songs on my Galaxy S6 and connect via Bluetooth. Better music quality than the Internet streamed music like Pandora / Spotify or Satellite Radio. Decent ability to search / create playlists / get song info / etc and also has the lyrics in case you want to sing along and don't know the words.

Dec 7, 2015 | 11:51 AM

SnakeDoctor

Super Member

Joined: Jul 2010

Posts: 744

Likes: 28

From: Houston, TX

2014 E550 Coupe and 2010 E350 Sedan

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard_P_Harve

Regarding sound quality of the HK system, I'm surprised you feel that way. Now, I'm only comparing a 2010 E class HK system vs. my current 2014 HK E class one, and the new one is much better bass-wise. Freq response seems pretty good in both old and new versions to my ears as well. I listen to just about any type of music, but really try to notice when listening to say musical scores from movies and stuff.

Dec 7, 2015 | 01:21 PM

Richard_P_Harve

Thread Starter

Junior Member

Joined: Apr 2015

Posts: 68

Likes: 5

From: Charlton, MA

2016 E400 Coupe Mars Red

SnakeDR - I'm a bit of a music snob frankly. I'm a musician and an audiophile, I'm the crazy guy that spent 20K on the sound system in his living room. My wife would be happy with a transistor radio. I spend about 1.5 hours in my car each and every weekday so quality music reproduction is important to me. Like I said the HK system in my 2016 E400 is not the best I have heard but it's acceptable, I may look to replace some (if not all) of the speakers at some point. Just make sure that you turn Logic7 OFF on all inputs. With it turned on the sound field (left / right imaging) is seriously broken and lower frequencies are very muddy sounding.

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Dec 7, 2015 | 01:49 PM

SnakeDoctor

Super Member

Joined: Jul 2010

Posts: 744

Likes: 28

From: Houston, TX

2014 E550 Coupe and 2010 E350 Sedan

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard_P_Harve

Heh, I'm familiar with the type. I used to work at an audio cable company that during it's peak, was selling 1 meter of their top of the line power cable for around 8K alone. It was a new world for me, as I didn't understand how people could tell the difference. I spend a lot of time, trying to train my ears, admittedly, I could tell differences, but I didn't have the audiophile in me to better understand the costs associated with the items, haha.

I've always wondered what the systems sound like in cars that I consider out of my reach. I feel like, for the E classes price range, the HK system, as you said, is acceptable. To me, I thought it was unacceptable in its last iteration, so the latest was much better. I don't believe I have ever heard the Q50 system. The closet would be the M35 car, and it was ok.