Standard 159 ICE - disappointed until...

...I had a play with the 7 band EQ. Not bad when you take some time setting it up. I don't know why they bothered with the preset EQ's though, they're all a bit crappy sounding IMHO! Anyway, I'm glad I went for the bigger engine instead of the Bose (& other toys)! Oh, and the B & M is fantastic!

Nice to hear you got it sorted

Cheers

EQ's can be fun to play with must get an Audio Control for my car.

can you set your own preset up? i've had a play in mine and as far as i could see all i could do was scroll through the standard settings, of which i don't really like any!

Yes, you can. Scroll through to "User Preset EQ", hold down the Up arrow for a second or two and you'll be able to set it up.

Originally Posted by CHRIS159

...I had a play with the 7 band EQ. Not bad when you take some time setting it up. I don't know why they bothered with the preset EQ's though, they're all a bit crappy sounding IMHO! Anyway, I'm glad I went for the bigger engine instead of the Bose (& other toys)! Oh, and the B & M is fantastic!

Chris, I agree...I am pleasently supprised with mine, once you have a play with it its OK as bog standard goes. It looses a bit in the middle everything becomes a bit muffled up but highs are good and the bass is bass so can't complain really.

The B&M is ace, can't stop playing with it I am calling people I haven't spoke to for years just to use it, I am amazed how well it works at any speed and road surface. She gets the names mixed up sometimes but that could be my scouse accent!!!

Yeah the presets were all set up by the RNID.

Originally Posted by cj romeo

Yeah the presets were all set up by the RNID.

They aren't that good!

It still lacks a bit of bass but I've managed to get rid of that horrible mid range (2500Hz is the real problem for some reason). I work in the HiFi industry so I like to think of myself as an absolute 100% expert when it comes to these things
Anyway, I've just about settled on the following if anyone wants to try it. From left to right on the eq bar from 'flat':

64Hz +2, 160Hz 0, 400Hz +1, 1000Hz +2, 2500Hz -2, 6250Hz +1, 16kHz +2. Loudness OFF, Bass 0, Treble 0, Balance & Fader Centre.

A simple explaination for those who want to get their own sound is that 64Hz is how deep the bass goes, 160 is how punchy it is, 400 - 2500 is mid range so you'll notice a difference in 'vocal' sounds, leaving 6250 & 16 as your high end, symbols etc.
You'll find that you will have to adjust the bass and possibly treble up a bit for Radio but the above seems to work well for CD & B & M.

Hope this is of use

I sat in the car last night for half an hour setting up the user EQ presets, thought I had it just right then went for a drive and everything sounded diferent at speed, not quite right. I ended up blasting down the M62 for 5 miles while I set up the EQ again on the move.

I must say I was a bit miffed by the mid stuff all being a bit samey and uninteresting, however the discovery of the user EQ has solved all that it now sounds fantastic, lots of punch, clarity in the mid range and good highs and it gets better the louder you have it. I am really impressed.

My settings:

64Hz +1, 160Hz -1, 400Hz -1, 1000Hz +2, 2500Hz -, 6250Hz +1, 16kHz -. Loudness OFF, Bass 1, Treble 3, Balance & Fader Centre.

I think I may have set my EQ with the Bass & Treble already adjusted...I may set them to flat and try Chris159's settings to see if there is still more improvement.

I will report back later.

Remember, the thing about hifi is that everyone has their own preference - there is no right or wrong sound... apart from the standard presets which are god awful!

I have set my user preset to Chris159's settings as well, so far they do seem much better that the bog standard settings, will try it over the next few days.

Thanks for the work Chris i'd have not known where to start

BTW the radio has a separate USER EQ memory.
So you need to adjust both of them, which may be
why the radio sounds different.

So it's not just a case of whacking everything up to the top?

(c) Tom Cruise, Risky Business, 1983

Originally Posted by Nev

BTW the radio has a separate USER EQ memory.
So you need to adjust both of them, which may be
why the radio sounds different.

Yeh, you're right Nev. Radio is usually quite compressed so you'll probably find that boosting the bass & treble a bit (after the initial settings as above) will help to compensate.

Right. I'm now using the Chris159 settings and I like them.
I was using the EQ Rock setting before and I prefer this.
Thanks for the advice Chris!

I have now gone with Chris159's settings with a little tweak on one of the frequencies can't remember which ...I have also set my Bass to +1 and my treble to +2 this seems to work for me

I think it is not only the individual ear but the genre of what you listen too has a huge influence as well, I like a broad range of music but always come back to Soul/Jazz/R&B as my main material.

Have now set up my FM as well, that is brilliant, lots of brownie points to whoever thought of that feature

Never checked if AM & FM can be set seperately?

Originally Posted by tourney

I have now gone with Chris159's settings with a little tweak on one of the frequencies can't remember which ...I have also set my Bass to +1 and my treble to +2 this seems to work for me

I think it is not only the individual ear but the genre of what you listen too has a huge influence as well, I like a broad range of music but always come back to Soul/Jazz/R&B as my main material.

Have now set up my FM as well, that is brilliant, lots of brownie points to whoever thought of that feature

Never checked if AM & FM can be set seperately?

I have found that I've had to tweak the bass & treble slightly with B & M MP3 music. I'm using 320kbps on all but there is still quite a variation between albums annoyingly!

Originally Posted by CHRIS159

I have found that I've had to tweak the bass & treble slightly with B & M MP3 music. I'm using 320kbps on all but there is still quite a variation between albums annoyingly!

I think it can also depend on the source you are recieving or ripping! It's like the old CDs some had exceptional reproduction others (Cheaper "Now 252" and best of compilations) tend to be prety poor

I have some reference tracks, stuff I know is good and set everything up using them. I just accept the bad ones when they occasionaly turn up

By the way more brownie points for the ICE man...the EQ is customisable on both FM and AM No more living in a tin can with 5 live, they now have tone and body etc.

Originally Posted by CHRIS159