Hidden menu for 2011+ "premium" head unit?

[wondras]

Excellent news -- Through Mode is indeed flat in both the front and rear channels!

I did some initial testing with a CZ624U1, using a makeshift line-out converter. Here is a frequency response comparison between the Sedan and Through Mode settings:



With loudness turned off, the response stays the same regardless of volume level.

Through Mode is flat to within 1 dB from 40 Hz to 20 KHz. The actual low-end response is slightly better than what's shown here; the capacitor in my LOC was on the small side, which caused some extra rolloff.

Looks like Sedan gives the fronts a +3 dB boost at 80 Hz, and a -7 dB cut at 250 Hz. The rears have a -9 dB slope from 1 KHz down to 125 Hz, then a quick rolloff below that.

Results for Wagon mode were identical to Sedan, so they are not shown here. (I'm guessing that both settings are there to be consistent with what they've done for other models, even though there are no differences in this case. The DSP chip in this unit can actually be programmed to do time alignment, dynamics compression, etc., but it seems highly unlikely they'd use them.)

Note that you will have quite a bit more bass going to the rears in Through Mode, so you may want to make sure you're not overdriving them, and fade more to the front if necessary.


As for the loudness function, here's what happens at various volume levels when it is enabled:



With the volume set to 12, there is an 11 dB boost to the low bass, and an 8 dB boost to the high treble. The boost decreases as you turn it up, until it is flat by a volume setting of 35. The decrease is slow until you turn it pretty far up, where it falls off more rapidly. This explains why at medium volumes it has so much "boom and sizzle."


The loudness and fixed EQ are both rather heavy-handed, but it's really the combination of the two that makes it so awful. Hopefully these results will be helpful when deciding what adjustments to make.

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[RM_2]

Never in my life would I have thought there would be a frequency response graph on a car forum. This brings me great happiness as an electrical engineering graduate and as an audiophile

[erik11876]

It almost appears as though this should be set at the factory or at the dealership and it never gets done. Weird nonetheless. Thanks to all that figured this out!

[dsn112]

So through mode and loudness off is the way to go

[flyboy1100]

Originally Posted by dsn112

So through mode and loudness off is the way to go

I like loudness on, if I had different speakers with better mids, I would go loudness off.

Through mode for sure

[dsn112]

With everything off the way I have my Lc2i and jL XD amp set it really does sound great on CD and BT audio. Fm still sucks, but I don't care. Aux in which is use most for Sirius sounds ok, can't tell if that's the Sirius quality or the aux in itself.

[flyboy1100]

Originally Posted by dsn112

With everything off the way I have my Lc2i and jL XD amp set it really does sound great on CD and BT audio. Fm still sucks, but I don't care. Aux in which is use most for Sirius sounds ok, can't tell if that's the Sirius quality or the aux in itself.

i would blame Sirius. i have never tried CD, but BT/AUX sound the same on mine, and SAT(i have a forester radio transplanted) depends a lot on the selected station.

[SVXdc]

Originally Posted by wondras

Excellent news -- Through Mode is indeed flat in both the front and rear channels!
...
Here is a frequency response comparison between the Sedan and Through Mode settings:
...

Great job! :beer:

Originally Posted by erik11876

It almost appears as though this [turning off the nasty EQ] should be set at the factory or at the dealership and it never gets done.

Actually, I think the HUs were specifically designed with this feature to A) prevent the rear speakers from rattling the rear doors, and B) protect the rear speakers from getting blown. Subaru models have had this "feature" for several years now. I suspect it's why the OEM under-seat sub's harness was changed so that it taps the front speakers many years ago.

[DarkProphet]

Holy crap guys!!! I'm the OP, and haven't checked this thread in awhile and am so excited to see this. You made my day!!!!!

[mejifair]

So totally awesome. I have upgraded everything but the HU in hopes that there were menu settings. Cannot wait to try this after work!

THANK YOU

[Scoob_Noob]

So before we messed with this, the default settings were Loudness ON and EQ Sedan (or Wagon) correct? It appears that Sedan and Wagon are essentially the same, so one of those was the default value before i changed anything, right?

[redline23]

Yes, Loudness On and Sedan or Wagon depending on the car you have are the default settings.

[dsn112]

So after much tuning with my JL xd400/4 and my audiocontrol lc2i, I am finally happy with what I am getting out of my stock headunit. I have loudness off and through mode set. Even FM mode is dramatically better.

My speakers are basic Kicker KS-60s in all four doors, pioneer tweets and an reaudio 10" in the trunk. I am amping the fronts and the sub, the rears are off the stock deck but I put bass blockers in so they don't distort at all. I tapped the fronts for the lc2i and run the focus towards the fronts +4

[randysubie]

Thanks guys this thing sounds better and keeps a flat curve no matter the volume, but while trying to get the modes i hit a sequence of 6 & text i think and these numbers came up
does anyone know what these are

M 272510v073,

E TEST VER
0,
E MAP TYPE
3,
EEP VER
014001V002,

S FROM VER
C310,
HF PARM
023501V002,
BT FW
BC310 AC310,
BDAD
000704AF64DE,


B 272801V009
I0200 .......

[wondras]

Those are version numbers for various firmware/hardware components in the unit. I'm guessing EEP = EEPROM, HF = Handsfree, BT = Bluetooth, BDAD might be Bluetooth digital audio device or something like that.

AFAIK this display is read-only, so there's nothing you can change. I wonder if there are any Subaru service bulletins that shed any light on the version info, or how to update it.

Originally Posted by randysubie

Thanks guys this thing sounds better and keeps a flat curve no matter the volume, but while trying to get the modes i hit a sequence of 6 & text i think and these numbers came up
does anyone know what these are

M 272510v073,

E TEST VER
0,
E MAP TYPE
3,
EEP VER
014001V002,

S FROM VER
C310,
HF PARM
023501V002,
BT FW
BC310 AC310,
BDAD
000704AF64DE,


B 272801V009
I0200 .......

[wondras]

To help a bit more with system tuning, I measured the effects of the bass/midrange/treble controls. It uses the typical frequencies of 100 Hz / 1 KHz / 10 KHz, with a +-12 dB range, as shown here:




One interesting quirk is that the change is not constant throughout the 0-8 range:



Lower settings are closer together, which is actually pretty nice. A lot of decks go in 2 dB steps, and I often wish that I could make a smaller change.

Another thing to note is that boosted frequencies are limited above a volume setting of 34. For example, at a volume of 35, moving the bass from +7 to +8 makes no difference. At 40, there is no boosting at all. Cuts still apply, though.

[flyboy1100]

How do the numbers look below 25? I think my typical setting is around 12-14, max of probably around 20 since I have an amp

[randysubie]

Originally Posted by wondras

Those are version numbers for various firmware/hardware components in the unit. I'm guessing EEP = EEPROM, HF = Handsfree, BT = Bluetooth, BDAD might be Bluetooth digital audio device or something like that.

AFAIK this display is read-only, so there's nothing you can change. I wonder if there are any Subaru service bulletins that shed any light on the version info, or how to update it.

thanks, yes more information on the version info would be cool

[lymphomaniac]

Here's a bit of a random question: anyone know if it's possible to do some sort of "firmware upgrade" to make the unit display non-English (such as Asian, Greek, or Cyrillic) characters?

[wondras]

Originally Posted by flyboy1100

How do the numbers look below 25? I think my typical setting is around 12-14, max of probably around 20 since I have an amp

With loudness off, the tone controls should be constant across all volumes up to 34. (Presumably it starts limiting the boost above this point to prevent clipping/distortion.)

You might want to try adjusting your amp gain down a bit, though, if you have audible noise/hiss. You may get a bit less noise if your max is more like 25-30.

[flyboy1100]

Originally Posted by wondras

With loudness off, the tone controls should be constant across all volumes up to 34. (Presumably it starts limiting the boost above this point to prevent clipping/distortion.)

You might want to try adjusting your amp gain down a bit, though, if you have audible noise/hiss. You may get a bit less noise if your max is more like 25-30.

I have a bit of white noise, but not enough to bother me. My max listening level is 25, but usually around 8-10 for in town, and 16-20 for the highway(I actually paid attention today, my numbers earlier were guesses)

Gain is set to 45% on my amp, and I still have loudness enabled because the stock speakers don't sound good w/o it, will try again tomorrow I have been driving this car exclusively now for a week and have fully adjusted to the radio. The setup in my other car is much better

[DarkProphet]

Does anyone run an amp off their stock head unit? Just wondering how it sounds now that we can defeat the EQ and Loudness??

Thanks all!

[flyboy1100]

Originally Posted by DarkProphet

Does anyone run an amp off their stock head unit? Just wondering how it sounds now that we can defeat the EQ and Loudness??

Thanks all!

i have an Alpine KTP-445U i run of the stock HU, it sounds so much better especially now that the EQ is disabled

[Krazyjohnny]

I have the stock HU (624U1) in my 2013 WRX Hatch. I am using an Alpine MRX V50 amp bridged to the front Rainbow CSX 265 Components (Thanks phenryiv) and the sub channel goes out to a Nakamichi SP 100 10" sub in an Audio Integrations Perfect fit enclosure. I am using the head unit in "through mode" and with the Loudness on to get what is most appealing to me. I have installed Dynamat Extreme in the the doors on both the outer skin and the inner most skin. I also used the same product in the hatch floor. That alone made a big difference with the stock speakers. Stepping up to the Rainbows kicked it up another notch. The choice of the Rainbows was made for their absolute perfect fit into the front tweeter pod.

[dsn112]

Originally Posted by flyboy1100

I have a bit of white noise, but not enough to bother me. My max listening level is 25, but usually around 8-10 for in town, and 16-20 for the highway(I actually paid attention today, my numbers earlier were guesses)

Gain is set to 45% on my amp, and I still have loudness enabled because the stock speakers don't sound good w/o it, will try again tomorrow I have been driving this car exclusively now for a week and have fully adjusted to the radio. The setup in my other car is much better

It's the alpine, I switched to a JL under the seat and no longer have the white noise. Wonder if it has anything to do with how close the amp is to the headunit