I wanted to query all the audiophiles out there to see what the recommended settings should be for the equalizer....

 

There is no right or even best answer to you query. It's largely a matter of personal preferences, which may in part be age-related as we lose our ability to hear high and low notes as we get older, as well as the type of music you prefer — one's preferred settings for acid rock may be different from those for Chopin, for example — and your preferred volume level. One thing you don't want to do is push all the controls to the highest setting, which is just plain stupid (it's something I frequently see in rental cars).

 

Just listen to your setup and decide which area needs a boost to your ears, and adjust accordingly. For me, I adjusted both bass and treble notches slightly up.

 

I'm at 9 bass and 0 and 0 on the others, I like bass.

 

-2,0,2

I think that the car is overbassed and fluffy down low, to boot. I wish that the treble was tighter and the midrange had more presence. But for a stock radio, it's actually remarkably good.

 

Agree with several posters >> Totally up to your preference and also depends on the music which is playing.

4-0-2 and I have the fader at -3 rear as I find too much front on the enhanced system.

 

7 - 3 - 7 is burmesters recommendation. sounds the best.

 

I am 2-1-2 but far from an audiophile Also, do you put the Surround feature on? That doesn't sound good to me .. Is it just me?

 

Can you point me to this recommendation? Ive never heard of it before. Thanks.


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I can't imagine how anyone could listen to the bass at 7. Especially when listening to music produced in the era of the iPhone and ipod.

 

Keeping the focus in the front will give a nice boost as well. I might have someone in the back seats once a month at most.

 

 

 

This is cool thread because I often play with the controls and it's interesting to see what folks on the forum are using.

Here's my view on music these days. The producers are making music for small earphones (such as those that come with the iPhone). As a result, bass and treble are already aggressively increased in order to accommodate the weak listening platform. That's why I'm perplexed by Burmester suggesting to boost the low and highs by so much. But, once one gets used to listening to overstressed music, it's hard to go back to "normal". Indeed, I found the bass to be too strong but also without good focus. Consequently, I turned it down to -2 in order to mitigate the "fluff". Coincidentally, like you and probably because the bass is so prevalent in the car, I turned the treble up to +2 in order to offer better balance within the car.

Now that said, I take issue with the dissent on the surround. It offers an improved soundstage. However, I do set the "focus" to front instead of all. Indeed, I've never listened to a bank behind me. ;-)

 

For sure, this thread shows just how subjective music enjoyment is. As it should be.
I agree with nycebo that the bass is a bit muddy. I've got the 3D Burmester that has the subwoofer in back, and I'm sure how you set up the music depends a lot on your car's system. I feel the positive side of the bass in this car is there is pretty decent articulation (you can here the changes in music pitch in the bass) rather than having the one note sound you get with horrible bass. It has pretty good slam too, for a car stereo. Even when I don't play at high-ish volumes there are songs that can jolt me. This system also goes pretty low. So all that is good.
But the downside is the bass is a little bloated or rounded off. And that sort of drives me nuts. I was relatively unhappy with that until I spent time on a long drive back from Boston playing with the sound settings. I'm happy with things set at 4-7-7. I would bet that would not be anywhere close to good for some folks, particularly in systems that don't have the sub.

Personally, I think the surround is fun and I use it quite often. I'm not so sure I would characterize it so much as 'improving the soundstage' as filling the car with sound. Music is coming from everywhere. It seems like you lose lots of the imaging you get in pure mode. But I do like it. Its a LOT like the old Bose 901 speakers. They didn't sound like live music but I always loved them.

I saw somebody else mention turning off the seat imaging (or whatever MB calls it). I've never tried it! Glad to hear that suggestion. Too easy to get in a rut.

 

I'm in the "over-bassed" camp as well. 0, +2, +2 are my preferred settings. Otherwise I leave the sound centered and with surround on. Burmester surround is much better IMO than the HK Logic 7 from the W212. I'm listening mostly to my own media or classic rock (which might indicate "mature" hearing) on Sirus XM. However, enhanced bass seems to be the trend, does it not? Doesn't the 3D version have a speaker up front essentially intended to boost the bass sounds?

 

The major difference, bass-wise is the subwoofer in the trunk. I believe both Burmester systems have bass/mid-bass speakers in the footwells. In the Burmester this is as low as it goes. In the 3D-Burmester the subwoofer takes you down lower. There are probably some other DSP pet tricks that can be done to enhance things as much as possible with limitations of both systems.
The bass in the back isn't too distracting coming from the rear. Actually, as it is set for me I don't notice a spatial difference. Things seem pretty coherent.

I agree with nycebo's and your point about how things are mixed these days. But I gotta say I've developed a liking for dubstep music where deep bass is an important aspect and it is pretty satisfying in that way.

 

+11, +11, +11

 

For now I'm going with 712 with the surround off, at first I thought the surround sounded good, it really does not, it changes the way the stereo music was meant to be heard. The sound is much more realistic with it off. I also leave the speed adjusted volume off, gotta turn it up a bit louder without it but that's ok. The stock sound system is not bad but I've heard better. I use to have a VW Golf SEL with the Fender and that sounded better, just heard that system again yesterday as I was riding with a friend who just bought a brand new Golf Wagon, wish the benz sounded as good as that sound system. In both my Cabriolet and the Wagon there was no upgrade available, so it what it is. I can't remember if the Sedan offers the 3d system, I think it does?

 

Yes, the W213 Sedan offers the 3D High End Burmester.
My controls only go up to 10. Some people (Spinal Tap fans) can crank it up to 11.

 

I wish there was a way to store settings for the different music sources. When I play back from USB I usually want more bass and treble, but then going back to XM I need to turn those down. And radio, well, who listens to that anymore?

But not just the equalizer, I'd like to set the source volume levels too. FLAC's are much more quiet than XM for me. I don't have the time to re-rip everything all over with different settings.

 

The prior generations Benz used to do that!

 

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