Disappointed in B&O Unleashed

[JayceeP]

People complaining might just need to adjust their settings. Turn on CarPlay and through Apple Music play either Sofi Needs a Ladder by Deadmau5 or Beautiful Mistakes by Maroon 5 and crank it. The sound is incredible.

If your volume is up and you press your ear into the head rest, you can definitely hear it and you can even feel a tiny bit of bass. You can also play with “Stereo” or “Surround” in the sound settings as well.

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[Pioneer74]

People complaining might just need to adjust their settings. Turn on CarPlay and through Apple Music play either Sofi Needs a Ladder by Deadmau5 or Beautiful Mistakes by Maroon 5 and crank it. The sound is incredible.

There isn't a sound system on the planet that makes either of those selections sound incredible.

I fixed my issues with the Leashed system. I drove the Edge to work.

 

[JayceeP]

There isn't a sound system on the planet that makes either of those selections sound incredible.

I fixed my issues with the Leashed system. I drove the Edge to work.

I will share your concerns with my 4 year old.

 

[jcaspar]

The volume on mine varies significantly depending on source. CarPlay seems to be the biggest issue. At 30 it is still not really loud. With my USB drive, 15 is equivalent to 30 with CarPlay (phone volume all the way up). USB drive also sounds much better than lossless CarPlay.

 

[JayceeP]

The volume on mine varies significantly depending on source. CarPlay seems to be the biggest issue. At 30 it is still not really loud. With my USB drive, 15 is equivalent to 30 with CarPlay (phone volume all the way up). USB drive also sounds much better than lossless CarPlay.

Weird. I find CarPlay and FM radio the best. Sirius XM stations definitely don’t sound as good for me and are more tinny/faint.

 

[SonnyDigs]

Weird. I find CarPlay and FM radio the best. Sirius XM stations definitely don’t sound as good for me and are more tinny/faint.

Puzzles me why a paid music service can't produce the quality of at least FM Radio.
Nether Sirius or Spotify can do it.

 

[powerboost]

Puzzles me why a paid music service can't produce the quality of at least FM Radio.
Nether Sirius or Spotify can do it.

Isn't Spotify "premium" supposed to be larger music files than the regular Spotify? Imagine Dragons Thunder sounds impressive in my unleashed Lariat Powerboost.

 

[powerboost]

I just got my truck a couple of weeks ago after a long wait… I’m a self proclaimed audiophile and have been VERY impressed with the unleashed system considering that it’s a factory offering. Like others have said, the center channel is a bit overbearing in surround mode and it helps to fade the sound a couple of “steps” towards the rear.

I’m not sure what service you all are using for music but as has been said SiriusXM sound quality is awful/circa prehistoric times and FM radio isn’t far ahead….

Try spotify premium with the free trial… you’ll never turn back. Ensure that in settings you do the following and I’m sure all of your worries about the potential of the unleashed system will melt away along with your inner ear.

1) Go to Settings -> Playback -> Volume Level -> Select LOUD
2) Go to Settings -> Audio Quality -> Select VERY HIGH for Wifi, Cellular, and Download (Auto is ok for streaming as well but it often will limit itself to High)

If you have Amazon Prime, Amazon Music is also a solid option but doesn’t deliver the consistent quality that Spotify offers. If you can afford a new truck and are complaining about the system’s quality give it a shot. Spend the $10/month on Spotify and thank me later.

Old guy here confused....These settings are on the truck center display or in my Iphone 10? Just clarifying. Thanks! Does seem like the volume is much lower when Spotify from Iphone 10 is source over FM HD radio.

 

[Bigtwin]

I’ve compared both B&O systems With same source and same music. I have the 8 speaker and I think it has more punch. The unleashed was midrange heavy to my ears.

 

[diesel97]

Old guy here confused....These settings are on the truck center display or in my Iphone 10? Just clarifying. Thanks! Does seem like the volume is much lower when Spotify from Iphone 10 is source over FM HD radio.

I believe these are on the phone app settings

 

[jcaspar]

Weird. I find CarPlay and FM radio the best. Sirius XM stations definitely don’t sound as good for me and are more tinny/faint.

Agree that CarPlay is better then Sirius but not nearly as good as playing directly from a USB drive.

 

[SonnyDigs]

Isn't Spotify "premium" supposed to be larger music files than the regular Spotify? Imagine Dragons Thunder sounds impressive in my unleashed Lariat Powerboost.

Yes a huge library for premium account.
But see nothing indicating it's a premium account.
Other than the unlimited music collection.
Still haven't tested the Android Auto with the USB cable.
I have a month to decide if I keep it.
I have Sirius so may drop one of them then, undecided.

 

[aaexpert]

Very disappointed in sound quality it lacks power like the previous Sony system. Not even close to the new Ram sound system. Any thoughts on a fix?

Umm people..... The OP question is not about which APP or Source sounds better nor are these in any way a solution to the question. The fact is the UNLEASHED SOUND SYSTEM is a suck system in comparison to many other manufactures and it has almost the same sound output/performance as the NON Unleashed !
Using an RTA and REW (go google what these are if you dont know) the numbers dont lie!! Using audio test equipment reads Pink noise to determine how an entire system sounds from A-Z(which is not subjective). So stop trying to say some band aid to this system like using Spotify or a radios menu feature like Surround on/off is the solution. Its not!
The only solution is to install aftermarket audio and try to swallow how this system is poorly named and under delivers.

 

[bgator]

Puzzles me why a paid music service can't produce the quality of at least FM Radio.
Nether Sirius or Spotify can do it.

Sirius uses satellites to broadcast signals to terrestrial receivers. The satellites orbit far above the earth, on the order of thousands of miles. The satellites can't transmit with the same bandwidth or power of FM radio or other systems located on earth and perhaps only a few miles away from your car's radio.

If you were to stream Sirius on the mobile app, which is not going through the satellites, connected to your car's radio via a lightning or USB cable the sound quality would be much better.

Spotify has good sound quality depending on your subscription level. But don't expect great sound quality, for example, if you're using Bluetooth to stream from your phone to the car's radio because the Bluetooth connection is likely reducing the quality of the Spotify audio.

There are lots of variables in play, and it's not necessarily the source from Sirius (well, it is in the case of satellite radio), Spotify, Tidal or whatever that's the weak link in sound quality.

 

[jcaspar]

I found out the problem of why my CarPlay volume was so low! It was because Sound Check under Settings -> Music was on. (see picture below) This reduces the sound level of songs to make them all of similar volume. Turning it off results in a significant increase in volume for CarPlay., similar to playing off my USB drive. Quality of the sound still goes to the USB played songs.

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