nathanjbrown

I've been meaning to post this for quite some time: I've owned a 2014 Q5 TDI PP with B&O for about 18 months. I remember reading on these forums - prior to my purchase - that some people have been dissatisfied with the B&O system. I, however, have found it to be very good (no earth shattering bass, but balanced and clear). But then, a couple of months ago, I was sitting in the Q5 messing with the audio settings and I decided to enable B&O's DSP settings (I can't remember what they're called, but one of them is supposed to focus all the sound on the driver). The moment I enabled their DSP, the quality of the audio dropped off considerably. Quite frankly, it went from sounding great to awful. Bass went away almost entirely and the clarity that was once there gave way to muddy/muted mids and highs. I tested all of the different B&O DSP settings and they all sounded horrible. So I turned off DSP and everything returned to normal.

I'm actually quite stunned. This isn't a small difference I'm talking about. It's a major blunder on B&O's part. Trust me: this isn't subjective.

Or...my B&O system is defective. Any other thoughts on this? I don't remember reading anything about poor DSP settings.

ex-quattro PETE

Essentially, any sort of DSP just adds coloring/reverb/delay, some more intrusive than others. It's all gimmicks that take you further and further away from pure sound. For best quality/clarity and critical listening, you want to stay way from them all.

TJay74

I do like Pete said, I didn't like the DSP settings either. I just messed with the balance and fader until I got the sound I wanted, I did use the surround effect and like how it sounds. Still very clear and responsive in sound.

jhumph88

I've managed to get some pretty impressive sound out of mine, but I'm constantly fiddling with it. I also don't feel like it gets loud enough. I find the best sound is with DSP set to the front, but bass/treble/fader depend on the song

Mrclopec

It's also worth mentioning that if you are playing music from a mobile device such as an iPhone, then the iphone also has its own eq and sound check settings which which may need to be turned off before the B&O system even tries to adjust it too. Having the iPhone tune the sound and then having the car try and retune what was already tuned can make the sound quality pretty bad.

subterFUSE

A good DSP can work wonders for car audio, and is in fact essential to attaining the results expected for competition-level systems. I couldn't imagine having a car stereo without one. A car is an extremely difficult place to reproduce music accurately, but a DSP can help equalize speakers and time align them to fix imaging, staging and even phase coherence.

The problem is that the DSPs you find in OEM systems are, as you said, gimmicky. These OEM DSP settings do little else than add reverb effects to simulate a concert hall sound, or raise/lower volume on certain speakers.

USAVAGEU

How did you "disable" the dsp? Aren't all the settings run through the digital amp/processor?
I know you can shut off the noise compensation circuit, but I don't see how you can avoid DSP

subterFUSE

You can't really disable the DSP, but you can put it into a mode that uses less of it. Sound Focus ALL setting would be the least processed of the settings. But it still processes the sound quite a bit, just not as badly as the other modes.


In the case of someone replacing the entire stereo system with aftermarket gear, a mObridge preamp can be used to bypass the B&O processor/amplifier while giving an optical digital output.

nathanjbrown

I'm tempted to record and upload (video/audio) what I'm experiencing. As ridiculous as that sounds, I'm willing to bet you'd hear the difference. It's that significant. I'm beginning to wonder if my system is defective. Again, it sounds great with DSP "off" and terrible with ANY of the B&O "special sauce" settings engaged.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Much appreciated!

USAVAGEU

I actually dont think the cabin of the Q5 is quiet enough to really get the benefit of a high quality stereo. And when you add the fact that most people are listening to downloaded MP3 files, you'll never have it dialed in for all your music. Some are bass heavy, some sizzle with treble.
I sure wish the bass and treble controls were more accessible!