85mm,

I agree with you. I think the iPOD sounds pretty good in the GL. Again, considering the source of the music, it's not that bad for casual listening as you are driving along. MPEG is what it is, music with small files, the compression algorithms do a good job. Engineers and physicists are smart people!

Gordon

 

Any diagrams of how to move it to a clearer spot for signal?

 

You are talking about a major project...I am sure you have to get at it from inside and that would mean taking the head liner down and what else is only conjecture. I am sure MB placed the antenna in the best possible location to get the best possible signal.

Don't let a few dropouts or the quality get to you. I think the music I get is fine for traveling at 80mph with wind noise and other noises you get inside a car. If better quality is your concern, get some DVD audio disks and play them in your DVD player or use the CD player. I buy into gordo's rationale and take car audio for what it is...a compromise. If you want better quality go to a audio mod shop and totally customize your sound system. Just my 2 cents...:-)

 

Gordon, in my case I am comparing the GL sound system to my wife's Honda Odyssey (i.e. a $30,000+ car versus a $60,000+ car). I am completely serious when I say the GL sound system is not any better/slightly inferior to hers (in all fairness she does have the Touring model which has the upgraded system). I am also comparing the GL sound system to other cars I have ridden in (Lexus, BMW, etc.) and feel it is just not that good. I paid for the upgraded system in my GL and my guess is that the regular GL system is probably just as good. I completely agree that the speakers in the GL are not going to sound as good as my Paradigm's at home and nor would I expect them to. And yes I remember the days of installing a set of 6X9's in the rear deck of my car and do appreciate the modern car's conviences but expect a whole lot more with the price tag on these vehicles. I am not trying to be argumentative, but as an audiophile, you really think the sound system in the GL is good?

 

Yeh . I know all about the " golden ear " audiophile world where half million dollar 10 watt mono amps designed to produce a sound pressure level barely above a whisper , sitting one foot away in the perfect nearfield spot of a set of vintage 60s Quad screens , playing a Fritz Reiner Chicago Symphony LP pressed nearly 50 years ago ....and swearing that if you close your eyes you are standing right next to the conductor at the moment the recording was made ... hearing the breathing of the violinists ....:OTOH, I've witnessed some of these phenomena and it IS spooky . There is audio and atmospheric room info in the grooves of well made older LPs that will probably never be fully extracted , as the audiophile market has gone more digital as the " old guys " in the hobby fade away . After all, the sampling rate of audio info in an analog LP is in the "gajillions".

 

Beancounter,

Thanks for your response. I am not trying to argue either. I just trying to help define the complaints relative to the fact that we are all listening in a truck.

Example of defining the complaints: you say the GL sound system is "not any better/slightly inferior to the Honda" minivan. So it's the same (= not any better)? Or what to you hear that makes it "slightly" inferior? To shear slight differences is to say that you have done real comparisons with the bass and treble equalized and the sound pressure levels exactly the same, etc., etc.. Removed all the variables.

I actually think that the bass and treble control and the balance and fade control (joystick) in the GL is quite effective.

In terms of being an audiophile and commenting on whether the sound in the Gl is good or not, I can't do that, because what is my reference. It is what it is for a truck.

I can get adequate bass and I can turn up the treble to get enough crispness in the high end to satisfy me. I works and it sounds OK over engine noise and road noise.

I think all vehicle stereo systems are going to be "just OK" for what they are designed for.

Thanks again.

Gordon

 

DVD player? Is the CD player also a DVD player, or are you talking about taking the NAV DVD out and using that? I don't have RSE.

As for aftermarket, I have gone that route. It's a nightmare of transient teenagers whose only qualification is knowing the difference between wire cutters and electrical tape. This is true whether I've gone to the big names or specialty custom shops. And then you lose COMAND functions on top of that. No, thank you. Not again.

 

I understand your LOL but from my experience with the SIRIUS reception vs. the GL reception, the GL is as good as the S was. I am sure MB used the best position for all the antennas ( TeleAid/telephone and SIRIUS) they could find. Why wouldn't they? I don't really understand your dissatisfaction...sure occasionally I lose signal but the listening quality is fine.

I thought you had the RSE.

 

I just listened to the iPod using Loudness, and I thought it sounded fantastic. I suppose that a purist might find it unnatural, but to me it was very punchy but crisp at the same time.

 

Is that a setting in the iPod itself? I am going to download some new songs tomorrow and want to try the loudness setting.

 

I have heard that XM and Sirius will be merging in the near future. Which receiver will be the winner?

 

Jack, on your iPod go to Main Menu-->Settings-->EQ-->Loudness

 

Thanks, just did that. When I record the songs I want with that setting I assume that will be the playback setting in the car when I play it there, correct?

 

Disclaimer - I am not an audiophile by any means.

Gordon - what I meant by fidelity was "equal dynamic range or volume" as you put it so succinctly.

 

I just tried adjusting the EQ on my ipod including the Loudness setting and am still get poor sound. Again, I'm no audiophile. I did notice that the sound quality difference between the cd changer and ipod is most noticeable for rap songs which I gather most of you won't lose sleep over.

Example 1. I downloaded Kanye West's new album from itunes and also burned it on a cd. I played 'good life' and it sounds great on the cd changer. From the ipod it really sounds muffled like it can't play the vocals, rythm and bass in the right balance.

Example 2. I downloaded a bunch of Eagles songs from itunes and also burned them on a cd. It actually sounds just fine out of the ipod, but when I play the cd, the cd output just has more punch to it.

In both cases, it's just not a volume issue. It's as if the ipod aux kit is muffling the music and throwing the balance off. When I shuffled through various types of music, the ipod was actually just fine except for pop or rap songs. I'll compare some Coltrane next but I'm thinking there will be a significant difference.

 

Weird. I set my EQ to loudness this AM but didn't notice any difference. Need to muck with it more I guess.

 

BINGO............

 

I'm a little new to iTunes and iPod, but I think that the settings in the EQ function on the iPod affect playback only. iTunes is probably where you adjust the recording quality. I've always only used the default settings to record into iTunes.

 

That's odd, for me there was a night and day difference. Maybe differences in the source music change the effect of the loudness setting?

 

Time to get a new iPod for car. YAY..........

 

This has been a good discussion on audio and I have enjoyed the thread. Thanks.

I wanted to add something, so maybe we can all listen for the same thing. Pardon me if this is common knowledge to everyone, but I thought from the way the thread was going I would add this information.

The history of the "loudness" control has nothing to do with gain or volume. There used to be a switch on amplifiers called "Loudness." You don't see it too often anymore. Here was the point.

Lets say you are listening to music at home at a relatively high volume and the music sounds really good to you. But then you realize you are disturbing someone in the next room and you turn down the volume/gain by half. This lower volume causes you loose more bass response then you do midrange or treble response and your music is going to sound different. Because it takes more power to drive the woofer, to move the cones, to move the air that makes the bass. So that is when you would engage the loudness switch. It would "roll-in" extra bass frequencies to make up for the removal of power from the woofers. It was a pretty rough estimate at correction but that was the concept. If you had loudness engaged when you were listening at regular volumes the bass would be too much and sound "boomy."

I am not sure how Apple implements "loudness" with the iPOD but I'll bet the concept is the same. It is probably increasing the bass response slightly. It actually seems weird to me that the iPOD would even have the control since the small amplifier is really designed to drive little ear buds.

Anyway, in the GL try to listen for an increase in bass when you engage the loudness on the iPOD. I will fool around with this for my own test although I hate playing with the menu and submenus in the iPOD.

Thanks for the discussion.

Gordon

 

No, I didn't get the RSE, and I can't listen to live news on a CD or a DVD unfortunately, which is what I primarily use the sat radio for. The source of my dissatisfaction stems from a long term relationship with XM in several vehicles, which drops out maybe 5% of the time that Sirius drops out. Honestly, it's about that much. And as for why I think MB didn't necessarily put the antenna where it'd get the best reception is because I think they put it where it'd get good GPS reception and telephone transciever operations for everyone, rather than including a different antenna in a different location for Sirius. I think the engineers were looking at the larger world market for placement rather than the smaller American market. IMHO. And also my reception is okay, but very often on what I'd consider open road under clear skies, there's a distinct compressed quality to the voice I hear, as if the signal is weak. It makes me almost afraid to go the music channels sometimes.

 

Hey, I understand. I am just not very particular when it comes to music quality. I have never had XM so can't make the comparison. I hope the merger (if it ever comes off) will solve that problem.

But as far as dropouts, they just do not occur very often, nor did they on the trip from Denver.

 

I have Sirius in my C55, which btw the antenna is located on top of the trunk. Same poor reception, so I'm convince moving the antenna will improve the reception.

This is one big reason why I have hesitated activating it on the GL.

Maybe it's not Sirius but the actual antenna, which I believed is made by a Chrysler subsidiary company, Mopar? (I read that some where)

It's bad enough the reception drops so easy, but it's also very annoying the song title/artist is also lost and goes back to the station name when the signal is returned.

 

Wow, you all are serious about your tunes. IMHO Sirius does drop more than XM. I have had several rental 350Zs (w/ Sirius) with the antenna right on top of the roof and going under bypasses and trees it would always drop out. At home in my G35 I have XM and hardly experience any drops under bypasses and none under trees. And on it I have the antenna mounted on the back edge of the trunk.