Sounds Good To Me

[Bonobojones]

I know this being the internet and all, the best way to get engagement is to post some derogatory opinion about how the sound system is literally a piece of shit or how I sat in a Cybertruck and now I'm going to sell my R1T because stereo....... but, stick with me here, let's just bypass the outrage machine for a couple minutes and allow for a bit of enjoyment. In the 18 months I've owned my truck, I've loved the sound. (Meridian R1T) The spotify account I use in my truck just sent me my most listened to songs for the past year, and I realized they mainly had one thing in common, they sound really good on the system, that's why I kept re-listening. Its a mix of a lot of genres and styles that I listen to, but they all have solid production value and a lot of elements that reward listening on good audio equipment. From barebones acoustic guitar and voice, echoing psychedelia, to a swirling dance-pop ballad, the system delivers what I need to hear more often than not (I also included the simple Kenny Beats produced Smino track that was the first song I tested out on delivery day on this list just as a reminder of how this truck won me over instantly, and remembering the WTF expression from the delivery team that this was this first song this middle aged surf bro dad played). I live just a quick drive from Southern Big Sur where like 95% of car commercials are filmed and many of these listens were built up on HWY 1 so I think that also had something to do with the overall vibe and sound of all these! (Accompanying photo has nothing to do with topic but it is a Santa Lucia campout that could be the album cover to this compilation!)

Anyway, I dumped my tracks onto a spotify playlist, so maybe you can hear for yourself what I'm talking about. And if you've found some songs that really shine on your system, please share on this thread. And thanks Rivian audio team for the time and care you put into the sound system, I for one have truly appreciated it.

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[COdogman]

It sounds plenty good to me as well! and I can’t honestly imagine making final decisions about which vehicle I buy or sell based on the sound system. I doubt there is a vehicle in this price range that has a bad system…

 

[Lrak1973]

Could not agree more about the sound system. I have loved it. Of course, my 2005 Highlander Hybrid that I had before the R1S still had a tape deck, so the bar may have been set low...

 

[Donald Stanfield]

The Audi I had previously has a slightly better sound system but the Rivian's is pretty good

 

[VSG]

I don't share your taste in music, but I would write a similar review.

And a RTT with auto-leveling is absolutely awesome. Even one morning like your first picture is great, but when you can pitch your tent almost anywhere you can see that sort of thing almost every morning. That picture makes me want to just jump back in my R1T and go.

 

[Zoidz]

I'll say right up front that I am not an "audiophile". Let me ramble for a couple of sentences to get to my point. I enjoy listening to music, I started playing piano, guitar and sax in elementary school, and I still play in a band today. I listen to ALL genres, from classical to big band to hard rock to Lady Gaga pop, and everything in between. I go to live performances of all genres, from Willie Nelson Outlaw Festival to the Philadephia Orchestra. I mention all this not to "be an expert" but rather to make a generalized observation regarding peoples' audio preferences.

IMO the Rivian audio system was engineered to be "neutral". To reproduce music without adding "color" to it, and I appreciate that. The issue is that it seems these days people have "more is better" preferences, which frequently means bass that is boosted 5x to 20x beyond the original mix. The original purpose of a graphic equalizer was to compensate for variations in the liestening environment. Today, most people use EQ to boost a frequency band beyond what is "natural". The Rivian system sounds pretty good if you want true reproduction across all genres. It's weak if you are expecting over emphasized, over boosted, over processed audio.

 

[VSG]

I'll say right up front that I am not an "audiophile". Let me ramble for a couple of sentences to get to my point. I enjoy listening to music, I started playing piano, guitar and sax in elementary school, and I still play in a band today. I listen to ALL genres, from classical to big band to hard rock to Lady Gaga pop, and everything in between. I go to live performances of all genres, from Willie Nelson Outlaw Festival to the Philadephia Orchestra. I mention all this not to "be an expert" but rather to make a generalized observation regarding peoples' audio preferences.

IMO the Rivian audio system was engineered to be "neutral". To reproduce music without adding "color" to it, and I appreciate that. The issue is that it seems these days people have "more is better" preferences, which frequently means bass that is boosted 5x to 20x beyond the original mix. The original purpose of a graphic equalizer was to compensate for variations in the liestening environment. Today, most people use EQ to boost a frequency band beyond what is "natural". The Rivian system sounds pretty good if you want true reproduction across all genres. It's weak if you are expecting over emphasized, over boosted, over processed audio.

Well said.

 

[Semibruce]

I went into the Spotify settings and changed the quality from Auto to High. (The settings page clearly wasn't optimized for the large display and the dropdown with options was oddly in the lower right corner.) If I recall, it didn't sound better at first, but did after choosing a new playlist.

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