Surprisingly did make a difference by transitioning the sound to the front. I pushed it about 75% favoring the front and it does sound a lot better. Still needs a sub though.

 

Just got done changing the ML audio settings and holy crap LOL, OP you rock.

It really does make the system sound so MUCH better, I can't believe it took all this time for someone to figure this out. This is how my settings currently sit with "Surround Off" and it rocks. Now I don't feel like slitting my throat everytime I have to listen to the stock ML system.

 

That's where my fade is. Before I'd get into other cars and wish my Lexus sounded like them,
now it's the opposite. If I'm guessing, the front door speakers are woofers and the rears are probably nothing more then coaxials, so everyone was just under/overpowering the wrong speakers.

 

Do y'all have the ASL on or off? Sometimes it irritates the hell outta me when the sound dips out of nowhere

 

Definitely off, for the same reason you noted.

 

Thanks for the tip!

I'm gonna check my ducts.

 

Tried out adjusting the fade towards the front and sure enough it sounds a hell of a lot better lol........ thanks for the tip, something that has been overlooked by a lot of us I'm sure!

 

I did the same with my ML system and It worked great.

 

So I tried positioning the fader to where you suggested, and it actually sounds somewhat "hollow" to me. It might be because I just upgraded the rear speakers and the fronts are weaker. Instead I placed it where the front of the headrest is in the pic and that improved the sound quite a bit. After I change the front speakers I might try moving it forward again

 

The ML on the ISF is actually quite awesome. But it does require you to get in the audio settings and configure it for what works best for you. I was very disappointed originally with the system until I dove in and started adjusting settings.

Because of the DSP and PRTF ( positional relation transfer function) built in it WILL sound like crap IF you don't center the sound space on your cranium.

So for BEST SOUND TO YOU THE DRIVER, you actually need to position the acoustic center (the cross hair in the fader) not only front to back BUT also left to right. That's what most people don't do and what gives a muddy presentation to the audio. The system is Very bright in midrange less so in treble and lacking bass.

So fix is simple ...
Center acoustic center crosshairs on your head, treble down 1 bar, mid-range down 2, bass up 4-6 ( I use 6 and get no distortion even at "max" volume level.

Set auto volume DSP function to off, this really makes it sound muddy.

Set surround DSP off if you want a two channel audio presentation like the one from a hi-end audio system.

Set surround DSP ON if you want a different presentation that's more airy and well surrounds you in "venue" that the track was recorded in, just like home theater surround. I selected this option because it sounds more alive to me even though the 2 channel presentation mode sound more accurate.

I like this in car audio system just as much as my 2 channel tubed high end system at home, and frankly get MUCH more use out of the car system because of the amount of time spent driving.

The system is good enough that you can EASILY tell the difference between
MP3
ALAC
Hi-Rez FLAC
And DSD

I've played each and every one of these formats in car and my enjoyment of the system only increases as resolution goes up.

Heck, I redecorded my LP vinyl collection in DSD with a KORG mr-1000 and sent that feed via the aux analogue input to the cars sound system and it sounds absolutely amazing.

Awesome AWESOME audio system, you'll just never know if you don't configure it properly.

 

In car DSP and fader




DSP settings




Usb digital and analogue input (Right)<br/>Charger (Left)




Onkyo HD player (IOS)

 

Wow! Thanks for that in depth explanation..... sounds like the system is pretty good if configured properly and you play the right content.

 

Bumped cursor should be these settings

 

Or...<br/><br/>USe these settings for HOT or ZIPPY recorded music (think most popular music songs)<br/><br/>(Use the settings in the pic posted above this one<br/>For natural, acoustic, instrumental, and vocal)

 

Would you say using the bluetooth also weakens the sound quality? I've never used an app like the one you have shown above, does that also make a pretty big difference?