Sound system sounds bad

[Richcolorado]

I'd like the ability to save customized EQ settings.... maybe in a future OTA update?

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[GaryGR]

I am into Dream Theater, Devin Townsend, Pyramaze, Animals as Leaders, Vai etc. I scoop the mids down and put the trebles up a bit and then boost the bass. I am not an audiophile by any means, I do play guitar and love the beefy 1978 Van Halen brown sound.

Ah, okay, your EQ settings are similar to mine then. Our musical tastes are similar, so it's not surprising. My current favorites are (aside from Dream Theater and Fates Warning) Haken, Soen, Cellar Darling, Pain of Salvation. Completely outside the prog metal/rock genre, I've also been listening to Ren. I actually think the Meridian system sounds pretty good, though it could use a stronger sub in the R1S (it's a bit better in the R1T).

 

[jemkewl]

I have worked in the professional audio field my entire life. This includes designing and tuning a huge variety of systems from recording studios, to amphitheaters to the largest stadiums and for some pretty famous acts. I have also been deeply involved in the development of DSP audio products of the highest quality. So while I am learning so much on the forum from all of you with a lot more knowledge than me in so many topics, this is one area that I am pretty familiar with.

I do agree that the system is pretty mid-fi at best. I have an R1-S with the post-Meridian sound system. I will say that it would be very hard for a non audio company like Rivian to be able to do all that Meridian can do due to both expertise and years of experience. I have only had my Rivian for a month now and to be honest I have not taken a deep dive into making it sound better. I am just enjoying the other stuff that is new to me too much so far!

I read a lot of good input in this thread. It is true that the source you start with matters an awful lot. So, yes Tidal probably sounds better than the others and by all means set Spotify to the highest quality available as long as you can support that bandwidth. At home I listen to Tidal or Qobuz for streaming.

As far as equalizing, I do have to imagine that they spent some time on setting up the DSP to an average good setting for many source types. As an example of why that matters, setting up for speech intelligibility is quite different from music. And even music genres vary a huge amount. One of my projects was for Red Rocks Amphitheater. I gathered frequency and volume level data for every concert over 4-5 years with one second data. Each genre is quite different and I can usually tell you what type of music it was just by looking at a nights overall frequency response. And the folks doing the sound know what curves work for each type of music and act.

Not only does the genre matter, but even more important is that we all have different taste.
And there is no correct or incorrect taste. When I set up a system, I first set it up using acoustical test equipment including a pink noise generator and an RTA along with other equipment not relevant here. Depending upon the application I might go with setting up to be flat to 4.000 Hz and the drop off from there at about 6 dB/octave. But it is important to remember that that is simply a starting point, and usually does not sound that great anyway. In the end I do it by ear to my own taste. That is what most pros do. I have done that for very famous bands and venues and it tends to work the best. So please do not use test equipment and then feel that what it showed you is the "correct" and best setting and then don't change it. Accuracy is not as important as your own pleasure. So, when setting up a recording studio for the first time you go for very accurate sound as you need to know what is being recorded. But for playback systems (including your Rivian) set it to what sounds best to you. Really... that is what matters! I agree that setting the sound back from the center sounded better to me and that the 3D sounds a bit wonky. But that is my opinion and I vary that depending upon what I am listening to. So, you only have a few things that you can adjust so just play around with it and go with what you enjoy the sound of. Don't feel a need to go with someone else's favorite unless you really like it. I would assume that the engineers who designed the system got it right as far as flatness and such so just adjust to your taste from that starting point and enjoy the sound. Also if there anomalies in the DSP they will fix that in time. And.. I agree that the bass in pretty lacking. Just cranking up the lowest frequencies on the EQ may not be the answer to that but may help somewhat.

Sounds like you have access to equipment then?
Show us an RTA of test tones or songs on a studio system and then the same of the R1S with different sources? Please turn off any DSP in the Rivian (e.g. 3D sound, dynamic, etc.)

I'm thinking Rivian must have changes between the different R1S and R1T models based on my experiences with the models.

 

[LL75]

is there a way to "like" or "love" the song when you are playing on Tidal? And it will move to your "like" list? I don't see it on the Rivian interface except for the phone and web player.

 

[BadKarma!]

We don't use Tidal, just spotify. is that custom setting gonna work with spotify?

So I am clear, what level of subscription to both Spotify and Tidal are people using?

 

[LL75]

So I am clear, what level of subscription to both Spotify and Tidal are people using?

Hifi of Tidal. Spotify only have one option.

 

[Gassious]

I made some measurements a couple months ago which I posted another site.


"I had some free time today and was finally able to get some sound measurements in my R1S.

I have the Rivian Elevations system not the Meridian. The input source was via Bluetooth from laptop so not the best sound reproduction but it does give you some idea of sound characteristics in the various positions throughout the cabin. Needless to say, I will be doing some tuning with the system's EQ. However, there is such of lack of mid and high frequencies in the third row that the only way to improve it would be to add extra speakers.

Testing equipment and conditions:
Enclosed Garage
All windows and doors in Rivian closed
HVAC off
Test run with me sitting in passenger seat except when testing the passenger seat location when I sat in Driver's (interestingly BT would not stay connected unless I sat in the vehicle)
Sweeps were run with EQ flat, 3D Surround Sound Enhanced, Dynamic Sound Adjustment High (this setting did not matter as expected)

Microphone: miniDSP UMIK-2 USB Reference Measurement Microphone (UMIK-2) on tripod
Measure Program: REW V5.20.13 (REW room acoustics and audio device measurement and analysis software)
Sound Sweep: 20 to 20,000 Hz
Sound Level: -12.00dBFS
Sample Rate: 44.1 kHZ

First row:

Second Row:

Third Row:

All Rows:

I had my driver's B-pillar speaker replaced for "buzzing" heard mid to high frequency notes especially classical music. Both the removed speaker and its replacement were Meridian which did not fix the issue. The technician and I both agreed that it is likely a cross over issue which can hopefully be fix with an update.

There really needs to be an aftermarket solution for an audio upgrade using Hertz or Focal speakers and amps/processors. I'd gladly pay for better sound.

 

[RexRemus]

So picked mine up yesterday and I can agree that in the default tuning (with 3d processing off - I find things to be insanely weird with it on) is definitely... ok...

Background: I went to college for sound engineering (for 1.5 years and then I was working full time for one of the largest audio production shops in Chicago for the next 2.5 years doing all the big city festivals, navy pier, aragon, Riv, rosemont (allstate), united center, etc), and I have done studio recording for most of my teenage and adult life. I don't claim to be "a professional" but I certainly feel I'm a bit more qualified to critically listen than your average joe off the street.

There are just weird... holes in this sound system. It's hollow... in many places. And while I've only had mine for <24hrs so I haven't dug into it a ton to tweak anything, I found the graphic EQ to not always respond as expected... Honestly as some others have mentioned it almost feels like a phasing issue somewhere, I just can't imagine any modern drivers - even the cheapest garbage off aliexpress or wish... having such... hollow sounding gaps. Like we're at a point where even bad "anything" is pretty good these days, you'd need to actively TRY to make it horrible. But a phase issue could maybe explain it.

For anyone who has been brave enough to explore the panels and such - are the speaker lugs keyed? Like positive/negative lugs unique shape/size? Meaning would it be impossible for a factory worker to have installed them backwards or are they the same where you could reverse the wiring?

I'm not ready to tear into anything just yet, but I'm tempted to have a look around at some point. This might also explain why some people are like "it's great" and some are like "it sounds bad no matter what I do" - if you got the monday morning or friday afternoon shift who wired half the system out of phase nothing you can do from the dash is gonna make it sound good.

Also, general observation... the sub is sorta slow and sloppy on first blush. It makes noise, and can thump a bit, but it's not great it seems.

Anyway, my $0.02. I genuinely think something is physically "wrong" because the lower and upper mids have a very hollow, almost notched, sound to me. Information is missing. And the EQ seems to do further weird things that alter the sound, but don't seem to "fix" what I'd expect (which further makes me think phasing because EQ itself can introduce phasing and you'd get bizarre interactions trying to EQ two things on the same source that are out of phase - add in 3-4 random speakers out of phase with the other 15 or whatever... yeah, I dunno)

 

[defcon888]

Ah, okay, your EQ settings are similar to mine then. Our musical tastes are similar, so it's not surprising. My current favorites are (aside from Dream Theater and Fates Warning) Haken, Soen, Cellar Darling, Pain of Salvation. Completely outside the prog metal/rock genre, I've also been listening to Ren. I actually think the Meridian system sounds pretty good, though it could use a stronger sub in the R1S (it's a bit better in the R1T).

Here are my settings. I started with the "ROCK" setting and tweaked the highs a bit and the bass. I also use ENAHNCED......to me it fills up sound. Going to try listening to Devin Townsend "Transcendence" on my drive home. His music is very spacial and atomspheric.

 

[MidnightRivian]

I have worked in the professional audio field my entire life. This includes designing and tuning a huge variety of systems from recording studios, to amphitheaters to the largest stadiums and for some pretty famous acts. I have also been deeply involved in the development of DSP audio products of the highest quality. So while I am learning so much on the forum from all of you with a lot more knowledge than me in so many topics, this is one area that I am pretty familiar with.

I do agree that the system is pretty mid-fi at best. I have an R1-S with the post-Meridian sound system. I will say that it would be very hard for a non audio company like Rivian to be able to do all that Meridian can do due to both expertise and years of experience. I have only had my Rivian for a month now and to be honest I have not taken a deep dive into making it sound better. I am just enjoying the other stuff that is new to me too much so far!

I read a lot of good input in this thread. It is true that the source you start with matters an awful lot. So, yes Tidal probably sounds better than the others and by all means set Spotify to the highest quality available as long as you can support that bandwidth. At home I listen to Tidal or Qobuz for streaming.

As far as equalizing, I do have to imagine that they spent some time on setting up the DSP to an average good setting for many source types. As an example of why that matters, setting up for speech intelligibility is quite different from music. And even music genres vary a huge amount. One of my projects was for Red Rocks Amphitheater. I gathered frequency and volume level data for every concert over 4-5 years with one second data. Each genre is quite different and I can usually tell you what type of music it was just by looking at a nights overall frequency response. And the folks doing the sound know what curves work for each type of music and act.

Not only does the genre matter, but even more important is that we all have different taste.
And there is no correct or incorrect taste. When I set up a system, I first set it up using acoustical test equipment including a pink noise generator and an RTA along with other equipment not relevant here. Depending upon the application I might go with setting up to be flat to 4.000 Hz and the drop off from there at about 6 dB/octave. But it is important to remember that that is simply a starting point, and usually does not sound that great anyway. In the end I do it by ear to my own taste. That is what most pros do. I have done that for very famous bands and venues and it tends to work the best. So please do not use test equipment and then feel that what it showed you is the "correct" and best setting and then don't change it. Accuracy is not as important as your own pleasure. So, when setting up a recording studio for the first time you go for very accurate sound as you need to know what is being recorded. But for playback systems (including your Rivian) set it to what sounds best to you. Really... that is what matters! I agree that setting the sound back from the center sounded better to me and that the 3D sounds a bit wonky. But that is my opinion and I vary that depending upon what I am listening to. So, you only have a few things that you can adjust so just play around with it and go with what you enjoy the sound of. Don't feel a need to go with someone else's favorite unless you really like it. I would assume that the engineers who designed the system got it right as far as flatness and such so just adjust to your taste from that starting point and enjoy the sound. Also if there anomalies in the DSP they will fix that in time. And.. I agree that the bass in pretty lacking. Just cranking up the lowest frequencies on the EQ may not be the answer to that but may help somewhat.

RTA + EQ

 

[Southern R1S]

Here are my settings. I started with the "ROCK" setting and tweaked the highs a bit and the bass. I also use ENAHNCED......to me it fills up sound. Going to try listening to Devin Townsend "Transcendence" on my drive home. His music is very spacial and atomspheric.

RTA + EQ

Just FYI -- the "Custom" settings pictured above (63, 125, 250, 500, 1k, 2k, 4k, 8k, 16k) are 100% identical to the pre-configured "Hip Hop" EQ setting so no need to start with "Rock" and manually adjust from there.

May save some time for anyone who is interested in trying those settings.

 

[TomInPDX]

Another thing to improve audio for Spotify users:
- Go into the Setting page in the Spotify app (it's a profile button in the upper right)
- If you have any music playing swipe away the applet to the right (IMPORTANT)
- Now you can change the streaming quality to Very High

If you skip step 2, you can't see the section to change the streaming quality. The default is Auto and it's usually very bad.

Great suggestion! That really helped. Thanks.

 

[Prime]

So picked mine up yesterday and I can agree that in the default tuning (with 3d processing off - I find things to be insanely weird with it on) is definitely... ok...

Background: I went to college for sound engineering (for 1.5 years and then I was working full time for one of the largest audio production shops in Chicago for the next 2.5 years doing all the big city festivals, navy pier, aragon, Riv, rosemont (allstate), united center, etc), and I have done studio recording for most of my teenage and adult life. I don't claim to be "a professional" but I certainly feel I'm a bit more qualified to critically listen than your average joe off the street.

There are just weird... holes in this sound system. It's hollow... in many places. And while I've only had mine for <24hrs so I haven't dug into it a ton to tweak anything, I found the graphic EQ to not always respond as expected... Honestly as some others have mentioned it almost feels like a phasing issue somewhere, I just can't imagine any modern drivers - even the cheapest garbage off aliexpress or wish... having such... hollow sounding gaps. Like we're at a point where even bad "anything" is pretty good these days, you'd need to actively TRY to make it horrible. But a phase issue could maybe explain it.

For anyone who has been brave enough to explore the panels and such - are the speaker lugs keyed? Like positive/negative lugs unique shape/size? Meaning would it be impossible for a factory worker to have installed them backwards or are they the same where you could reverse the wiring?

I'm not ready to tear into anything just yet, but I'm tempted to have a look around at some point. This might also explain why some people are like "it's great" and some are like "it sounds bad no matter what I do" - if you got the monday morning or friday afternoon shift who wired half the system out of phase nothing you can do from the dash is gonna make it sound good.

Also, general observation... the sub is sorta slow and sloppy on first blush. It makes noise, and can thump a bit, but it's not great it seems.

Anyway, my $0.02. I genuinely think something is physically "wrong" because the lower and upper mids have a very hollow, almost notched, sound to me. Information is missing. And the EQ seems to do further weird things that alter the sound, but don't seem to "fix" what I'd expect (which further makes me think phasing because EQ itself can introduce phasing and you'd get bizarre interactions trying to EQ two things on the same source that are out of phase - add in 3-4 random speakers out of phase with the other 15 or whatever... yeah, I dunno)

I’m glad someone else is sensing this hollow out of phase like audio coming from the speakers. I thought I was going crazy because like you said, even the cheapest audio systems don’t have these notable frequency issues. I haven’t measured anything but it just definitely sounds off, I’d also like to know if maybe things were incorrectly wired from factory if there are terminals for anyone that’s tried altering the system.

 

[irvineboy]

What is the difference in 63, 125, 250, 500, 1k, 2k, 4K and 8k in the settings?

I’m not even sure I I got the meridian or the house speaker but default settings sound pretty weak. Speaker cover doesn’t say “Meridian” so I’m assuming I got the inferior house speaker.

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