Burmester Bass Problem
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2020 G63, 2021 E450 All-Terrain Wagon
Burmester Bass Problem
Has anyone had any issues with the bass in the Burmester system? Whenever I play bass heavy rap in the car and turn up the bass to setting 7/8, I hear vibrations coming from the speaker above the COMAND unit. Car is a year old and has less than 5K miles on it, so I don't know what's up. I'll try and take a video, but in the meantime, is this a problem that has affected anyone else? It's hard to tell where exactly the vibrations are coming from, but it's definitely coming from somewhere the COMAND unit. Once I shift the music towards the back of the car, the annoying vibrating noise goes away.
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2020 G63, 2021 E450 All-Terrain Wagon
Figured out the noise is coming from either behind the COMAND screen, or the top subwoofer. Does anyone know how to pop the grill covering the speaker above the COMAND unit? I want to check myself to see if there is loose plastic or something...
Seems odd since any song is causing the speaker to rattle/buzz.
Does no one else have issues with the standard Burmester? On this W222 and my W205, Burmester is the biggest let down on this car by far...
Seems odd since any song is causing the speaker to rattle/buzz.
Does no one else have issues with the standard Burmester? On this W222 and my W205, Burmester is the biggest let down on this car by far...
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From: United Kingdom
Porsche Taycan, Range Rover AB, Range Rover SVR, S Class, Mclaren 570s, Urus Hybrid (soon), M3, RS6
Do you guys have Burmester 3D? Which speaker are you talking about? The two subwoofers in the front or the roof speaker? Do you guys have any pictures? I absolutely love my Burmester with some added 3D bits. A way to improve Burmester is to add the 3D Subwoofer and the two speakers that are on the middle of the roof.
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From: Traverse City, Michigan
2023 AMG SL55,2015 S550 4MATIC, 2023 BMW X5
- The in-door speakers are too small to produce the dynamics of my musical taste (classic rock, 80's metal). Additional bands of equalization might help.
- The surround sound mode over-compresses frequency response - further muddling the sound.
- The base response problem the OP has is less of an issue for me.
UrBusted - I read through your posts and am tempted to upgrade the base Burmester system as you did - contemplating this...
John
Last edited by jrpisha; Jul 30, 2015 at 11:27 AM.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jun 2009
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2020 G63, 2021 E450 All-Terrain Wagon
The standard Burmester is the biggest disappointment on my 2015 S550. In my opinion,
UrBusted - I read through your posts and am tempted to upgrade the base Burmester system as you did - contemplating this...
John
- The in-door speakers are too small to produce the dynamics of my musical taste (classic rock, 80's metal). Additional bands of equalization might help.
- The surround sound mode over-compresses frequency response - further muddling the sound.
- The base response problem the OP has is less of an issue for me.
UrBusted - I read through your posts and am tempted to upgrade the base Burmester system as you did - contemplating this...
John
The noise I have must be coming from one of the regular subwoofers near the COMAND screen because I do not have the 3D surround system either.
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Joined: Aug 2015
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w222 s550 4matic
just scanned through this thread quick.. i just picked up my '15 w222 palladium silver and with heavy bass in rap songs i hear a vibration loud one actually coming from the undercarriage front of the vehicle. anyone have this issue??
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From: Florida
Too many german broads
Old thread I know..but the standard burmester in the w213 sounds way better, no distortion at high volume on any source. Standard burmester in the w222 has some serious issues. Anyone have a solution?
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From: United Kingdom
Porsche Taycan, Range Rover AB, Range Rover SVR, S Class, Mclaren 570s, Urus Hybrid (soon), M3, RS6
Theres a subwoofer there. Do you have the frontbass or burmester system?? Maybe try moving the sound more to the back in increments and seeing if that fixes it.
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From: Florida
Too many german broads
I love the speaker system, it's mostly playing at high volumes and I never have any distortion. Can you explain some more?? Maybe you can compare it to a car that your dealer has in stock.
Theres a subwoofer there. Do you have the frontbass or burmester system?? Maybe try moving the sound more to the back in increments and seeing if that fixes it.
Theres a subwoofer there. Do you have the frontbass or burmester system?? Maybe try moving the sound more to the back in increments and seeing if that fixes it.
The volume control is also not equal from the steering wheel compared to the console. The console jumps the volume louder with little movement while the steering wheel takes many clicks.
Any suggestions? Car is under warranty but I never bring it up because i assume they'll just blow it off staying its normal. I will check a dealer car for comparison.
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From: Rhode Island
2014 E350 Sport (sold), 2015 S550 Sport (sold), 2018 S560 Sport (sold), 2018 GLE43, 2014 E550
So when using BT audio ( iphone with spotify at highest quality and music stored on phone) the sound is highly distorted, muffled with no balance of bass. I have moved the setting from front to all, etc and no difference. It seems to only sound OK at medium level but there is no PUNCH. No real difference when using USB.. There should not be a huge variance of quality anyway if using BT or USB. It is actually pretty sad, I expected so much better..
The volume control is also not equal from the steering wheel compared to the console. The console jumps the volume louder with little movement while the steering wheel takes many clicks.
Any suggestions? Car is under warranty but I never bring it up because i assume they'll just blow it off staying its normal. I will check a dealer car for comparison.
The volume control is also not equal from the steering wheel compared to the console. The console jumps the volume louder with little movement while the steering wheel takes many clicks.
Any suggestions? Car is under warranty but I never bring it up because i assume they'll just blow it off staying its normal. I will check a dealer car for comparison.
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From: Birmingham, AL
2019 S560, 2022 Audi S8
Figured out the noise is coming from either behind the COMAND screen, or the top subwoofer. Does anyone know how to pop the grill covering the speaker above the COMAND unit? I want to check myself to see if there is loose plastic or something...
Seems odd since any song is causing the speaker to rattle/buzz.
Does no one else have issues with the standard Burmester? On this W222 and my W205, Burmester is the biggest let down on this car by far...
Seems odd since any song is causing the speaker to rattle/buzz.
Does no one else have issues with the standard Burmester? On this W222 and my W205, Burmester is the biggest let down on this car by far...
Senior Member
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2015 S550, 2017 GLS450
If the volume on my phone is on anything but max, its choppy sometimes (via spotify, online or offline). Then I just adjust the volume in the cabin and I'm good. So phone volume is 100% and cabin volume is 0-100% and I have no problems. Coming from Burmester 3d vehicle.
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From: Rhode Island
2014 E350 Sport (sold), 2015 S550 Sport (sold), 2018 S560 Sport (sold), 2018 GLE43, 2014 E550
CD's and thumb drives sound best (larger audio files I assume)! Downloaded Spotify second, streaming is third.
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Joined: Feb 2017
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From: Rhode Island
2014 E350 Sport (sold), 2015 S550 Sport (sold), 2018 S560 Sport (sold), 2018 GLE43, 2014 E550
CD's and thumb drives sound best (larger audio files I assume)! Downloaded Spotify second, streaming is third. I have not tried my phone hard wired yet but I assume thats either first or second best depending on stream or audio download.
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2015 S550, 2017 GLS450
I ask because most music sources are crap with high levels of compression and loss. My entire music library is in mp3 format, and I chose mp3 because it is universal. I use LAME encoder (the best MP3 encoder on the planet) at V2 setting (also called alt-preset-standard in the old days) and it is essentially transparent and will pass a double blinded ABX test 50:50.
V1 or V0 can be used but this is excess and differences may be heard by the 1% super-human ears and definitely not in a car. These mp3s are indistinguishable from the source audio CD on the highest end equipment by all but the weirdest ears.
Sirius XM or Pandora or other sources stream total crap in sound quality.
It's noticeable in my Mercedes. On my home audio system, it is almost painful to listen to.
http://wiki.hydrogenaud.io/index.php?title=LAME
If you're bluetoothing your tunes from your iPhone, you have three steps of loss. First, your source material from Pandora or Spotify etc probably is highly compressed. The standard Spotify streams at 160kbps but this is fixed and not variable bit rate. This is inferior to a LAME encoded variable bit rate mp3 running at 128kbps. The high end streaming from Spotify is pristine at 320kbps and will give you transparent sound. Second you're using your iPhone as the DAC (not the best DAC out there). Third, you're losing data again from the blutooth conversion. Get your favorite tunes loaded onto a USB drive on high quality mp3 format. Plug it into the USB port in your right arm console.
V1 or V0 can be used but this is excess and differences may be heard by the 1% super-human ears and definitely not in a car. These mp3s are indistinguishable from the source audio CD on the highest end equipment by all but the weirdest ears.
Sirius XM or Pandora or other sources stream total crap in sound quality.
It's noticeable in my Mercedes. On my home audio system, it is almost painful to listen to.
http://wiki.hydrogenaud.io/index.php?title=LAME
If you're bluetoothing your tunes from your iPhone, you have three steps of loss. First, your source material from Pandora or Spotify etc probably is highly compressed. The standard Spotify streams at 160kbps but this is fixed and not variable bit rate. This is inferior to a LAME encoded variable bit rate mp3 running at 128kbps. The high end streaming from Spotify is pristine at 320kbps and will give you transparent sound. Second you're using your iPhone as the DAC (not the best DAC out there). Third, you're losing data again from the blutooth conversion. Get your favorite tunes loaded onto a USB drive on high quality mp3 format. Plug it into the USB port in your right arm console.
Last edited by bkdc; Aug 14, 2019 at 08:27 PM.
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2014 S550 AMG, 2017 XT5
I ask because most music sources are crap with high levels of compression and loss. My entire music library is in mp3 format, and I chose mp3 because it is universal. I use LAME encoder (the best MP3 encoder on the planet) at V2 setting (also called alt-preset-standard in the old days) and it is essentially transparent and will pass a double blinded ABX test 50:50.
V1 or V0 can be used but this is excess and differences may be heard by the 1% super-human ears and definitely not in a car. These mp3s are indistinguishable from the source audio CD on the highest end equipment by all but the weirdest ears.
Sirius XM or Pandora or other sources stream total crap in sound quality.
It's noticeable in my Mercedes. On my home audio system, it is almost painful to listen to.
http://wiki.hydrogenaud.io/index.php?title=LAME
If you're bluetoothing your tunes from your iPhone, you have three steps of loss. First, your source material from Pandora or Spotify etc probably is highly compressed. The standard Spotify streams at 160kbps but this is fixed and not variable bit rate. This is inferior to a LAME encoded variable bit rate mp3 running at 128kbps. The high end streaming from Spotify is pristine at 320kbps and will give you transparent sound. Second you're using your iPhone as the DAC (not the best DAC out there). Third, you're losing data again from the blutooth conversion. Get your favorite tunes loaded onto a USB drive on high quality mp3 format. Plug it into the USB port in your right arm console.
V1 or V0 can be used but this is excess and differences may be heard by the 1% super-human ears and definitely not in a car. These mp3s are indistinguishable from the source audio CD on the highest end equipment by all but the weirdest ears.
Sirius XM or Pandora or other sources stream total crap in sound quality.
It's noticeable in my Mercedes. On my home audio system, it is almost painful to listen to.
http://wiki.hydrogenaud.io/index.php?title=LAME
If you're bluetoothing your tunes from your iPhone, you have three steps of loss. First, your source material from Pandora or Spotify etc probably is highly compressed. The standard Spotify streams at 160kbps but this is fixed and not variable bit rate. This is inferior to a LAME encoded variable bit rate mp3 running at 128kbps. The high end streaming from Spotify is pristine at 320kbps and will give you transparent sound. Second you're using your iPhone as the DAC (not the best DAC out there). Third, you're losing data again from the blutooth conversion. Get your favorite tunes loaded onto a USB drive on high quality mp3 format. Plug it into the USB port in your right arm console.
I have tried 3 ways and do not notice a difference. The sound is amazing to me with Burmester 3D. Downloaded songs onto iPhone, SD Card and Transferred to hard drive in car. All 3 sound the same, excellent quality, even with Bluetooth pairing of iPhone. I no longer listen to music on XM or the Radio if I can avoid it.
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A car
There is no subwoofer on the standard Burmester stereo system if I recall correctly. It's the other reason I balked after I heard how terrible that system was.
The 3D version though is fantastic!
For further clarity, it is my understanding there is something called "FrontBass" on the standard Burmester system which is a woofer only in the front footwells. There is no sub.
The 3D version though is fantastic!
For further clarity, it is my understanding there is something called "FrontBass" on the standard Burmester system which is a woofer only in the front footwells. There is no sub.
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Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 559
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From: Rhode Island
2014 E350 Sport (sold), 2015 S550 Sport (sold), 2018 S560 Sport (sold), 2018 GLE43, 2014 E550
Keep in mind that bass, treble, mid settings are unique between radio, bluetooth, external audio sources (IE: cranking bass to 10 on bluetooth does not impact the radio bass setting). Maybe the car you heard had settings cranked up? If not, I would go to MB for feedback.
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From: Florida
Too many german broads
Keep in mind that bass, treble, mid settings are unique between radio, bluetooth, external audio sources (IE: cranking bass to 10 on bluetooth does not impact the radio bass setting). Maybe the car you heard had settings cranked up? If not, I would go to MB for feedback.
Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 120
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The standard Burmester is the biggest disappointment on my 2015 S550. In my opinion,
UrBusted - I read through your posts and am tempted to upgrade the base Burmester system as you did - contemplating this...
John
- The in-door speakers are too small to produce the dynamics of my musical taste (classic rock, 80's metal). Additional bands of equalization might help.
- The surround sound mode over-compresses frequency response - further muddling the sound.
- The base response problem the OP has is less of an issue for me.
UrBusted - I read through your posts and am tempted to upgrade the base Burmester system as you did - contemplating this...
John
