[lord_Matty]

I have just ordered a Cooper D and i upgraded to the 'hi-fi' system as the one i tested with boost was rubbish. I have searched and didn't find an answer, and apologise if this has already been covered.

Could someone please tell me the differences between them all and also.... have i just wasted £325 or is it worth it?

Thanks in advance

Matty

[berty]

Quote: Originally Posted by lord_Matty (original)

I have just ordered a Cooper D and i upgraded to the 'hi-fi' system as the one i tested with boost was rubbish. I have searched and didn't find an answer, and apologise if this has already been covered.

Could someone please tell me the differences between them all and also.... have i just wasted £325 or is it worth it?

Thanks in advance

Matty

The hifi has 10 speakers & an amplifier. its alot better than the boost, but dont expect brilliant sound quality

[astilla]

Quote: Originally Posted by lord_Matty (original)

have i just wasted £325 or is it worth it?

I have the HiFi in my '08 'S' and I like it personally - I also thought the standard boost was rubbish. There have been many threads on here with varying opinions so the only opinion you can really trust is your own. Many like it, some don't. Sorry but I don't have links to the other threads to hand.

Andrew

[rogan200]

Quote: Originally Posted by lord_Matty (original)

I have just ordered a Cooper D and i upgraded to the 'hi-fi' system as the one i tested with boost was rubbish. I have searched and didn't find an answer, and apologise if this has already been covered.

Could someone please tell me the differences between them all and also.... have i just wasted £325 or is it worth it?

Thanks in advance

Matty

I had a listen to a car at the dealership with hi-fi before ordering my JCW and it was pretty poor to be honest. It is better than boost but I think it says a lot that my dealer told me to go aftermarket if I had the option. At anything other than low volumes, the sound quality disappears with the Hi-Fi system.

When my car comes i'll be going to see mikeythemini for a proper audio system upgrade. See here for details of what he does: http://www.mini2.com/forum/2nd-gen-i...es-nudity.html. Looks a bit OTT but i think that is what it takes to get great sound quality in an r56. Mikeythemini is a sponsor of mini2, and his website gives details of his upgrade: NewMINIStuff.com.

Id say listen to the Hi-Fi if at all possible and then decide if its not too late!

[dlpruk]

You've only wasted £325 if you end up replacing it with a full-blown aftermarket system. (I spent that too and think it was good value.)

[lord_Matty]

Thanks for the response, it sounds like I have made a good decision. Im not into 'modding' cars on any level, so I should be happy with the result

im also very drunk right now after a night out, so if thsi makes no sense im sure you will understand ...... Matty

[neilians]

I have the HiFi speaker system & I'm happy with it now, but took a fair bit of tweaking over a few weeks to get it to my liking.

Ian

[theminiv]

Something to remember, I used to have the HK system in my old one, that was excellent. DSP processing etc. When you use MP3 discs, the MP3's basically have some of the data chopped off. I noticed this in my 1 series, if you put a normal bought CD in the player, the sound is amazing. Put an MP3 disc, and it sounds drab. I havent tried in my mini yet with boost, because I havent had it lol! But if its anything like my Prof CD in the 1 series, Bass up to max, and treble up 4.

I know it sounds very boy racer, but this is the best frequency to get the nicest sound out of things. !

[scillyisles]

I have the HiFi system in my Cooper D and for the money I think it is very good value.

[berty]

Quote: Originally Posted by theminiv (original)

Something to remember, I used to have the HK system in my old one, that was excellent. DSP processing etc. When you use MP3 discs, the MP3's basically have some of the data chopped off. I noticed this in my 1 series, if you put a normal bought CD in the player, the sound is amazing. Put an MP3 disc, and it sounds drab. I havent tried in my mini yet with boost, because I havent had it lol! But if its anything like my Prof CD in the 1 series, Bass up to max, and treble up 4.

I know it sounds very boy racer, but this is the best frequency to get the nicest sound out of things. !

Totally agree with you ive got the hifi & when you play mp3 you do need to turn the bass up

[berty]

If you are used to a standard car stereo you will think the hifi system sounds really good, but on the other hand if you are used to upgrading to say alpine or kenwood head units & upgraging your speakers to high wattage ones you will think it's rubbish. Im used to upgrading to alpine quality & have to say i am dissapointed with the sound quality. Bmw should be able to provide some decent speakers & amp for £320. I know i could got down to my nearest hifi dealer & get a good setup for that. It's just when you add on labour charges is when the price gets high. Bmw should provide better quality speakers when the car is built .

[spiney]

Quote: Originally Posted by theminiv (original)

Something to remember, I used to have the HK system in my old one, that was excellent. DSP processing etc. When you use MP3 discs, the MP3's basically have some of the data chopped off. I noticed this in my 1 series, if you put a normal bought CD in the player, the sound is amazing. Put an MP3 disc, and it sounds drab.

Don't ever test stereos or any audio equipment using MP3 files. MP3 performs the miracles of compression that it does (10x smaller than CD files at 128kbps) by throwing away information from the audio. The actual algorithm is very complicated, but it does things like limiting the bandwidth to more closely match average human hearing, removing quiet frequencies that would be masked by louder ones at the same time, etc. This is why cymbals sound "splashy", bass and treble are lacking, and as theminiv says, it "sounds drab".

MP3 CDs are convenient when you don't want to carry all your CDs with you, but they are not for serious listening. I use an iPod in my car with the HiFi system, which by default also uses a form of compression. For my favourite stuff that I want to sound good though, I rip the CDs into Apple Lossless format, which does some compression (only 2x smaller than CD) but it does not lose any information. It's like using ZIP to compress the music, once you unzip it you get back exactly what went in.

[theminiv]

Quote: Originally Posted by spiney (original)

Don't ever test stereos or any audio equipment using MP3 files. MP3 performs the miracles of compression that it does (10x smaller than CD files at 128kbps) by throwing away information from the audio. The actual algorithm is very complicated, but it does things like limiting the bandwidth to more closely match average human hearing, removing quiet frequencies that would be masked by louder ones at the same time, etc. This is why cymbals sound "splashy", bass and treble are lacking, and as theminiv says, it "sounds drab".

MP3 CDs are convenient when you don't want to carry all your CDs with you, but they are not for serious listening. I use an iPod in my car with the HiFi system, which by default also uses a form of compression. For my favourite stuff that I want to sound good though, I rip the CDs into Apple Lossless format, which does some compressions (only 2x smaller than CD) but it does not lose any information. It's like using ZIP to compress the music, once you unzip it you get back exactly what went in.

Good info, point here tho, when using an ipod, you can use the ipods built in DSP for EQ, this will replace some of the lost sound by virtually enhancing it. Something which the HK system used to have in the mini, but the boost wont.

The best way to simulate this is to up the bass and the treble a little, the difference will be noticable!

[berty]

Quote: Originally Posted by theminiv (original)

Good info, point here tho, when using an ipod, you can use the ipods built in DSP for EQ, this will replace some of the lost sound by virtually enhancing it. Something which the HK system used to have in the mini, but the boost wont.

The best way to simulate this is to up the bass and the treble a little, the difference will be noticable!

whats the dsp for EQ & how do you set it?

[theminiv]

Quote: Originally Posted by berty (original)

whats the dsp for EQ & how do you set it?

the ipod has dsp built in I think, the equalizer settings are in the settings in the ipod?

[spiney]

Quote: Originally Posted by theminiv (original)

the ipod has dsp built in I think, the equalizer settings are in the settings in the ipod?

Any amount of clever DSP tricks can't put back what got ripped out and thrown away by the compression algorithms. You can make an educated guess at what used to be there, but you can never recreate it exactly after lossy compression like MP3.

Imagine taking a da Vinci painting, tearing it up into one inch squares, throwing every other one of them away, and then trying to fix the painting by getting an art student to fill in the gaps. It doesn't matter how good the art student is, it won't be the same painting afterwards!

[theminiv]

Quote: Originally Posted by spiney (original)

Any amount of clever DSP tricks can't put back what got ripped out and thrown away by the compression algorithms. You can make an educated guess at what used to be there, but you can never recreate it exactly after lossy compression like MP3.

Imagine taking a da Vinci painting, tearing it up into one inch squares, throwing every other one of them away, and then trying to fix the painting by getting an art student to fill in the gaps. It doesn't matter how good the art student is, it won't be the same painting afterwards!

lol, dont wanna start an argument. I am quite aware of the algorithms etc that the MP3 uses. - I also know you cant bring them back from nothing. But DSP enhances, and gives the untrained ear the deception that it sounds as good as a master does. At the end of the day, its not a studio or PA system, its a car.

DSP enhances, which is all that is needed.

[spiney]

Quote: Originally Posted by theminiv (original)

lol, dont wanna start an argument. I am quite aware of the algorithms etc that the MP3 uses. - I also know you cant bring them back from nothing. But DSP enhances, and gives the untrained ear the deception that it sounds as good as a master does. At the end of the day, its not a studio or PA system, its a car.

DSP enhances, which is all that is needed.

And I don't want to continue an argument... I just wanted to be sure that it was clear to all that there is no recovery possible from a compressed audio file, but as you say you can use the DSP to convince yourself that it's happening. I thought it was important to educate the people viewing the thread on the compromises of MP3 files. I have the HiFi, and I think it's OK, but as you say "it's a car". I'm not convinced that the people posting bad things about it on other threads aren't using MP3 to judge it, which is just unfair unless you know the details.

This has been an interesting discussion!

[KenL]

I agree totally with spiney - excellent info there :-)

On the iPod, I have one - not used it with my car. I have to say though, that using any of the EQ functions makes it sound distorted through my earphones.

[SteveM3]

While some of the early mp3 coders were naff they have been improving all the time. I have used several different types of music and compared the original CD versus variable rate mp3 and iPod. The CD is best ( no surprise ) but the mp3 isn't far behind and doesn't need any artificial boosting compared to the CD on my aftermarket stereo. My stereo uses DSP to compensate for the interior of the Mini. The iPod was frankly rubbish, sounded like a wet cloth had been hung over the speakers. The problem is I have an old Mini iPod and it uses an analogue output at it's base connector. If you want quality with an iPod use a newer (5th generation and later?) version as they have digital output which a few Alpine head units decode. Then in theory you'll get all the benefits of Apples Lossless coding with the great convenience that is iPod. Mini have made the stereo so hard to upgrade on R56/Clubman that for 90% of the people I'd say go ahead with the hi-fi. At least they have given us something back with options like basic bluetooth making adding USB easy.