Gen 2 Audio Issues: balance/fade is off / imbalanced

[tay]

I didnt see the notes yet, the technician who came out last month, acknowledged the in-house design (3P in Gen1) was not great, and they were hoping to improve through software, but ultimately need to get back to 3P (I had a quad R1T launch edition and that thing CRANKED)

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[kyledmb]

I didnt see the notes yet, the technician who came out last month, acknowledged the in-house design (3P in Gen1) was not great, and they were hoping to improve through software, but ultimately need to get back to 3P (I had a quad R1T launch edition and that thing CRANKED)

I had a Gen1 with the in-house Rivian Elevation and I can say that they did make significant improvements to the sound over my 19 months of ownership. My Gen2 premium audio is embarrassingly bad.

Those high b-pillar speakers? I put my ear right to them and I don't hear a thing coming from them.

 

[tay]

same...i get almost NOTHING from the in door speakers, and the front channel speaker practically blowing itself out, and this is with mixer settings adjusted

 

[kyledmb]

I am anxiously awaiting reviews of this new update for Gen2 audio. Anyone that has the update test this out?

 

[tay]

I am anxiously awaiting reviews of this new update for Gen2 audio. Anyone that has the update test this out?

we just got the update notification today. will let you know !

 

[kyledmb]

Got the update, reset my EQ, made some adjustments, and had a long listen. To me, the soundstage feels more balanced. Low end is cleaned up a bit. Still some clipping in the mid bass frequencies, but not as bad as before.

General impression: Sound is improved, but still a long way to go to be considered the immersive, full dynamic range sound that I would expect from upgraded premium audio in a $100k+ vehicle.

 

[Jivian]

Got the update, reset my EQ, made some adjustments, and had a long listen. To me, the soundstage feels more balanced. Low end is cleaned up a bit. Still some clipping in the mid bass frequencies, but not as bad as before.

General impression: Sound is improved, but still a long way to go to be considered the immersive, full dynamic range sound that I would expect from upgraded premium audio in a $100k+ vehicle.

Without changing my EQ, there was definitely a low end boost and it now sounds like I actually have a subwoofer. Overall, definitely an improvement in the system.

As far as soundstage, I don't think it was that much of an improvement as most of the mid range still seems to be coming from the dash area. I didn't get my head too close, but I still hear very little from the door speakers and I think this is the problem. The way the speakers are arranged, the left channel in the dash is essentially positioned to the right of my left ear. To me, that's why the sound stage is lacking. For stereo imaging, you really need the left coming from the left and the right from the right. Without the door speakers contributing significantly, you're getting most of the sound from the right when sitting in the driver's seat.

All this being said, the system is sounding pretty good and I think it's now justified being called premium audio. My wife and older son could hear the bass from inside the house when the vehicle was in our driveway. My highschool self would call that success for a car audio system!

 

[ggood]

just updated 2025.06.30 agreed here on the Premium now sounding "premium" vs what it was . we have a Gen1 Merdian which imo is the best sounding factory auto system i have experienced.

i posted on this before but after a few tweaks our initial issues are near all gone.

first was the sound stage always coming from the right side and little to no sound from left channels. overcompensating the balance/fade dot to over my head helped but a work around
mobile tech was out for spare tire install and he agreed first saying the amp needs replacement. he had one in truck by chance! but first he did a 12v battery disconnect and resets and the left channel came alive.

yesterdays update took it all a big step further. much closer to the Meridian and today im going to play with EQ to dial it in.

yes on first listen i did hear some high midrange 250-4k clipping but the imaging and depth/presence was greatly improved. especially on live recordings. for both Tidal and Apple. To me Tidal still is better than most Atmos recordings.......but they all differ regardless of system hard/software.

it is much better!

 

[Jivian]

first was the sound stage always coming from the right side and little to no sound from left channels. overcompensating the balance/fade dot to over my head helped but a work around
mobile tech was out for spare tire install and he agreed first saying the amp needs replacement. he had one in truck by chance! but first he did a 12v battery disconnect and resets and the left channel came alive.

Are you saying you get significant sound out of the driver door by "left channel came alive"? I'm trying to understand if I have an issue that can be fixed like yours.

 

[ggood]

Yes
The left front door and rear door were barely working
Barely snd the smaller speakers not at sll

tech pulled fully passenger seat back and accessed the 12 v connections and disconnected then waited a few min
He then did some timed resets while tracking signals on laptop diagnostics and the drivers side all worked.
seemed like a relay on that left channel amp had not accepted soft or hard main resets

you might try a hard reset - hazard and steering wheel followed by infotainment reset
This update may have code that initiates the amp reboot …

 

[Jivian]

Yes
The left front door and rear door were barely working
Barely snd the smaller speakers not at sll

tech pulled fully passenger seat back and accessed the 12 v connections and disconnected then waited a few min
He then did some timed resets while tracking signals on laptop diagnostics and the drivers side all worked.
seemed like a relay on that left channel amp had not accepted soft or hard main resets

you might try a hard reset - hazard and steering wheel followed by infotainment reset
This update may have code that initiates the amp reboot …

I tried a hard and then soft reset and it didn't change anything so I scheduled a service appointment.

In the meantime, I took a video where first put my phone near the bottom speaker in the rear left door which sounds about how'd I expect. I then put the phone next to the tweeter in the rear left door, also fine. Next, I put the phone next to the bottom speaker in the front door-- only low end and no midrange like the bottom speaker in the back door.

Can anyone with Gen 2 premium audio confirm if this seems wrong? Btw, right side is similar.

Video:
Sound Issue

 

[Jivian]

Pinging this thread to see if any other Gen 2 premium audio folks can take a look at the video above (1 post earlier)and tell me if they experience the same or different from the front door speakers.

 

[Woo]

Pinging this thread to see if any other Gen 2 premium audio folks can take a look at the video above (1 post earlier)and tell me if they experience the same or different from the front door speakers.

Hey there. Sorry for the delay. I took my R1T in for some Tonneau work today and had put in a ticket earlier for this issue. Or at least the original issue which was audio seems to have the soundstage set to the right when I'm driving. Happened with several different songs and genre and switched seats a few times and when you sit in the passenger seat you get balanced sound and then from the drivers seat, soundstage is definitely far right.

Now, before I took it in, I knew they would want to listen to it so I spent some time in my driveway listening to tracks that would demonstrate this problem the best. Swapping seats and all of that.

I think I figured out something and there are a couple of things going on.

1. I think my left front dash speaker may be wired out of phase. If it was, it could definitely be doing weird imaging things if the passenger speaker was in phase.
2. It seems the cabin was designed to have a very specific acoustic response. This may be from the Meridian days or something but I'm sitting in the passenger seat, marveling at how balanced the sound is and leaned forward and the soundstage shifted to the left side. Driver's side. Whoa... what??

So if the cabin has very specific acoustic performance parameters because Meridian was in some way involved in the shaping on the Gen 1. (big assumption, I know) It could be that the Gen2 system (clearly) doesn't have the processing software to make use of that in the same way and couple that with what may be a speaker wired in reverse, you'd end up with a soundstage that really moves around when the listener's position does.

Even if the speaker is correctly connected, the fact that the sound stage moved more dramatically and differently than you'd think when I moved forward, then we know it's a software/cabin interaction.

Test idea: This song may not be your cup of tea but if you listen to Give It Up by KC and the Sunshine band, you will suddenly notice the soundstage is properly enveloping. This is not an Atmos track but it almost sounds like it. At least the intro does. Full rich sound coming from both sides. Just great. Then when the vocals come in, you can tell they are right biased.

All of this tells me that whenever a recording is trying to create a phantom center (which is what almost ALL music does) from a right side and a left side, the Rivian system seems to put the music in the center and the right but not the left. It's almost as if it is trying to convert the music to a surround format.

Regarding the low frequencies in the front. I think their plan is to treat the front speakers as if they were two full range speakers (left and right) and so for that you'd need a tweeter, some mids, and a woofer. I expect that's why the door is only doing low frequencies. They are making the biggest speaker in the front produce the lowest sounds (outside of the sub).

I didn't get a chance to see if the passenger door acted the same way. Does your passenger door act the same as the driver's 2nd row speaker or the driver's front speaker?

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