soloist3

I had a question about the stock stereo, I have a 2008 non-ML IS350, I notice that the gain seems pretty low on the stereo. Perhaps it's the stock amp itself, but I regularly have to set my volume control between 40-58 to get decent sounding volume out of the speakers. I am really not used to having a setup that is so quiet. All of my cars out of the early to late 90's would get sufficiently loud, loud enough to even start to distort the speakers if I wasn't careful with the controls. Is there any way of turning up the gain a little on the head unit or amp?

Last question, I have been looking for an answer to this for some time now, hoping this attempt gets me somewhere. I am interested in being able to play DVD audio and possibly video in my IS, some people have told me that I can swap the CD changer with the ML DVD changer and provided I plug the video connector in to the screen portion, I can gain this ability. The thought of putting on a movie, if only for the audio on long trips sounds nice.

jbone29

iTrader: (2)

That's odd, on my radio 40 is about as loud as I will go. It's very loud in my car. Do you have your speakers adjusted correctly? By that I mean you don't have the settings all in the rear or something?

soloist3

Fade/balance are right in the middle, DSP is off, ASL is off (I assume that this is a compressor). One thing I noticed when fading the sound to the rear (I just tried this) was that I don't hear a sub at all. I suppose that means that my sub isn't working, unless it's extremely quiet, which seems very unlikely. EQ is set almost flat, 2 notches down on Bass, Mids in the middle, Treble 2 notches above center.

Keo

iTrader: (9)

I don't know about you but 40-58 volume level is pretty loud. We have so many speakers around the car. I set all my boss,mid,treb, to 3 sometimes the bass is so loud I set back to 1-2 and that's at about level 35 or so. The stock system is good enough. Either your speaker is malfunctioning or you have a higher tolerance in sound that will shake the roof off lol.

Tro209

Lol same here. 48 is about loud enough for me to barely listen to it comfortably and 56 to 58 is where I usually have mine set to.

If my music is anywhere below 46-48 it seems too quiet to me. Like quiet to where i cant enjoy the sound at all. I mean maybe if i have my wondows rolled up and its 3 a.m. then sure, thats good enough. But definetly not in the day with my windows rolled down as I Cruise around town. However I do feel like Ever since my ML subwoofer blew on me I feel like it's not as loud of a system anymore so that may have something to do with it. But even when it worked I thought it was "okay for a stock system ". Only slightly louder (if any louder at all) than my Harmon Kardon system in my 03 330i.

The only real plus to this system has been that it doesn't distort like the HK did.

mrjazz

I noted low volume on my stock stereo. when I boosted the treble and bass higher into the "+" area I noted a big increase in volume. give it a try

soloist3

Yeah, I have always been about cutting eq to shape the sound, rather than boosting. I got a little bit of gain out of my MP3 and phone by boosting the EQ there, and honestly, If I boost the bass anywhere above -2 in the car, it's too much. Though in reality, if I also boost treble and mids, and turn down the master volume, I imagine I can get another 3db or more out of it, which would be PLENTY. I guess I am just not used to having to boost eq, I always think of boosting eq as an easy way of introducing more distortion and possibly even clipping. Though again, I am likely just overestimating the amount of headroom and gain available in the stock system, I am sure that the designers didn't allow as much boost (in db) as I am thinking. I have been in the professional audio realm too long

I think the big question for me is figuring out if my sub is working, as when I faded the sound to the rear channel speakers I heard little to no bass/sub-bass.

Oh and, does anyone know about installing an ML DVD changer, anyway of gaining DVD playback?

tomiv9

When I fade all the way rear I also notice very little bass. Hmmm. Guess its normal?

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

You should be able to easily tell if the sub is no longer functioning. It is quite noticeable, if listening to the right music.

srt1

Check all of your gains. Then move them front to back and left to right. You should be able to find where the prob lies. I hate my stock stereo and only set it around 38, which sounds terrible considering I'm use to 2-3k watt stereos.