R1T vs. R1S Meridian Stereo Quality?

[Jayhawkeye]

As a new R1S owner since mid-March, we've been less than impressed with the Meridan audio quality. I've mentioned it in a few other threads, but it literally feels like the vocals are only coming from the speakers on the dash, and everything is projecting out vs. immersing you in the audio throughout the cabin.

We've had some camera software issues and ended up taking the S into the shop late last week. We received a loaner R1T and immediately noticed the sound quality is MUCH better and what someone 'normal' would expect (we are not audiophiles).

Questions:
1. Is the audio between the two vehicle supposed to be drastically different?
2. Has anyone else experienced what I referenced above, where the vocals are not all around, rather coming from one place?

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[COdogman]

Because the cab is smaller and most of the speakers are closer to the occupants it should sound different, but that doesn't mean the S shouldn't sound good as well. Assume you have played with different music modes and the balance/ fade settings?

 

[Jayhawkeye]

Because the cab is smaller and most of the speakers are closer to the occupants it should sound different, but that doesn't mean the S shouldn't sound good as well. Assume you have played with different music modes and the balance/ fade settings?

Yep, i've messed around with a ton of different things. It's almost like zero vocals come from any of the speakers other than the dash in the S, but the T experience is one of being immersed where we can hear the vocals out of multiple speakers. in the S, the door speakers have zero vocals and just a mid-range thumping.

I realize each song is different, but I played the same song in both vehicles with dramatic audio experiences.

 

[COdogman]

Yep, i've messed around with a ton of different things. It's almost like zero vocals come from any of the speakers other than the dash in the S, but the T experience is one of being immersed where we can hear the vocals out of multiple speakers. in the S, the door speakers have zero vocals and just a mid-range thumping.

I realize each song is different, but I played the same song in both vehicles with dramatic audio experiences.

That sucks. I haven't heard a stereo in the S yet but I would think it should sound fairly close to the T. Maybe there is something wrong with your system. Might be worth adding a ticket for that too.

 

[Jayhawkeye]

^^^ Exactly what I did

Since they are going to have our S for 6 business days (plus two weekends) to fix the camera issue, I added this to the ticket for them to look at.

 

[SoCal Rob]

^^^ Exactly what I did

Since they are going to have our S for 6 business days (plus two weekends) to fix the camera issue, I added this to the ticket for them to look at.

It seems like there may be an audio hardware issue. Hopefully they’ll find it and resolve it. If they say it’s normal then I’d ask to try playing the same music in an R1S they have at the SC and yours to verify. If it sounds noticeably different and the settings on both R1S systems match then I think that would make it easier to show that there’s something wrong with yours.

 

[Tony R1S]

Oh that's interesting observation. I realized that might explain why sound was almost inaudible when I faded the sound to the rear (kids were watching a movie on an tablet I was streaming on Bluetooth). I thought it was just awesome sound isolation, but I never tried sitting in the rear seats to see how it sounds. I'll try this and update.

 

[dleepnw]

ive heard others mention that the sound in the R1T is better than the R1S with the Meridian system. not sure what explains it. you'd think Meridian would have adjusted the system to be specific for each vehicle since the cabin space/dimensions are different.

it would be interesting if you could hear the Meridian system on another R1S to isolate if its just an issue with your vehicle or not.

 

[Prime]

As a new R1S owner since mid-March, we've been less than impressed with the Meridan audio quality. I've mentioned it in a few other threads, but it literally feels like the vocals are only coming from the speakers on the dash, and everything is projecting out vs. immersing you in the audio throughout the cabin.

We've had some camera software issues and ended up taking the S into the shop late last week. We received a loaner R1T and immediately noticed the sound quality is MUCH better and what someone 'normal' would expect (we are not audiophiles).

Questions:
1. Is the audio between the two vehicle supposed to be drastically different?
2. Has anyone else experienced what I referenced above, where the vocals are not all around, rather coming from one place?

Interesting observation, a few reviewers I follow noted the opposite, that the R1S sounded better than the T. Something I noticed about my system on the T, when I turned off the surround enhancement in the audio settings, the sound quality was much improved to my ears. Turning that feature off reduces the sound coming out of the not so good speakers near the grab handles in the ceiling, which appear to just add some background synthesized audio using DSP, an attempt at a holographic effect.

 

[JayinNJ]

Are you sure you have the Meridian system?

 

[electruck]

It took quite a bit of tuning to get my R1S to sound decent. One of the things I had to do was use the fader to center the audio over the back of the second row seats instead of over the front row. I need to have a better listen from the second row but initial impression was it wasn't detrimental and from the front seats it certainly sounds much better, not so much like all the speakers are in the windshield.

 

[Jayhawkeye]

Are you sure you have the Meridian system?

Yup, built pre-transition to in-house, plus has the Meridian logos on the covers.

 

[Tony R1S]

Okay, so just did a quick test sitting in the middle seats and playing with the fader/surround settings. I can confirm that default audio settings for the fader tends to favor vocals towards the front. So I agree with the comment that you want to shift the fader slightly to the back to have more balanced vocals throughout the cabin. There are so many speakers I almost lost count, but I think I found 15 of them. They all seem to be working , but most of the little ones up near the roof barely audible unless you turn on the surround setting. So you're right, many of the speakers are just filler for the higher frequency/spatial audio, and majority of the midrange is coming out the dash. I don't really like the surround mode, so I turn it down/off sometimes. The sub is actually decent and pumps out some good lows at moderate volume.. As for overall sound quality, I"ll hold back my thoughts on it because I don't trust my ears anymore Also, your note about the R1T sounding better may be due to the smaller cabin affect on acoustics.

 

[SeaGeo]

I'll echo folks. Do not push the fader to the front, and you may want to slide it back a bit.

I had my mine toward the front in my r1t for a while and after resetting the default it's pretty obvious that this basically kills all base.

 

[rivianUGA]

Yup, built pre-transition to in-house, plus has the Meridian logos on the covers.

do you guys know approx what VIN numbers they switched from meridian to the in-house ones?

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