Bass, Treble etc..

Neil Francis

Active Member
Jan 28, 2019
81
46
Cambridgeshire
I've just recieved my Leon Cupra and the standard sound system sounds ok but can't seem to find where you'd change the treble and bass? I can see equalizer but no clue what any of it means!

What settings have you got it on?
 

Mr Pig

Active Member
Jun 17, 2015
2,614
906
My son cracks up at 'smiley faced' faders/mixers. He sees them all the time and it's a sign that the person responsible doesn't know what they're doing. Yes, it sounds initially impressive but over time it's not good. Try setting the faders exactly the opposite and live with that for a while to see what I mean.
 

Jazzjames

Active Member
Sep 13, 2018
160
68
Germany
My son cracks up at 'smiley faced' faders/mixers. He sees them all the time and it's a sign that the person responsible doesn't know what they're doing. Yes, it sounds initially impressive but over time it's not good. Try setting the faders exactly the opposite and live with that for a while to see what I mean.

Why exactly does your son ‘crack up’? Sweeping statements like “it’s a sign that the person responsible doesn’t know what they’re doing” are clearly not helpful.

We are more sensitive to sounds in the middle of the frequency range and less sensitive to really high and low sounds. That’s called the Equal Loudness Curve.

The Equal Loudness Curve is dependent on volume. At low volume, lows and highs need to be at a significantly higher volume in relation to the mids to sound flat/equal.

As you turn the volume up, the difference in volume (lows/highs vs mids) required to achieve equal loudness is reduced. In other words, as the volume increases, the smile curve could be flattened out to maintain the same apparent spectral balance.

So, at moderate volume, the smile curve can help the listener perceive the mix as more balanced/full.

Best listen to some music that is representative of music you typically want to listen to in the car, at the volume you normally listen to music, and drive down roads you typically drive on to account for road surface, tyre, and wind noise. Adjust to taste.

In my Leon 5 door with Seat Sound I have ended up with a slight smiley curve which works just fine for me. Your experience may vary.
 
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Neil Francis

Active Member
Jan 28, 2019
81
46
Cambridgeshire
Why exactly does your son ‘crack up’? Sweeping statements like “it’s a sign that the person responsible doesn’t know what they’re doing” are clearly not helpful.

We are more sensitive to sounds in the middle of the frequency range and less sensitive to really high and low sounds. That’s called the Equal Loudness Curve.

The Equal Loudness Curve is dependent on volume. At low volume, lows and highs need to be at a significantly higher volume in relation to the mids to sound flat/equal.

As you turn the volume up, the difference in volume (lows/highs vs mids) required to achieve equal loudness is reduced. In other words, as the volume increases, the smile curve could be flattened out to maintain the same apparent spectral balance.

So, at moderate volume, the smile curve can help the listener perceive the mix as more balanced/full.

Best listen to some music that is representative of music you typically want to listen to in the car, at the volume you normally listen to music, and drive down roads you typically drive on to account for road surface, tyre, and wind noise. Adjust to taste.

In my Leon 5 door with Seat Sound I have ended up with a slight smiley curve which works just fine for me. Your experience may vary.

Thank you that’s appreciated, I’ll give it ago.
 
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Brooster89

Active Member
Oct 13, 2018
161
65
I normally go for the smiley face but I have Beats and with the subwoofer (only at 3) I find I can't increase the far left (bass) slider as I start to hear the speakers struggle with certain tracks.
 

Redline

Active Member
Nov 3, 2016
169
30
First i want to say that i am Hi-Fi enthusiast and i have spent enough time training my ears over the years setting up and picking different audio components for home, portable and cars.
I also want to say that sound is very subjective but the objective part of it is what makes the real difference. "i am happy enough with the way this sounds" is the most common thing you hear and to make a long story short: Most people have no idea with good sound is.

With that said the sound in the CUPRA (SEAT SOUND) is not good.
The first reason is actually not the sound system but the sound isolation, the car is just loud as hell and that already ruins the sound independent of how good or bad the sound system in it is. So before you go and spend more money on better speakers start by isolating your car. I have not done this because i am lazy in the way that i don't like ripping a car open and you need to do that to get to the spots where you need to apply the sound isolation. If someone has a friendly method and a tutorial on how to do this without breaking half the car when putting it back together i would be happy to take a look and maybe try it myself.

So let's turn off the engine and sit in a quite parking: The sound is now already x10 better and it didn't cost anything. Practical? No. As it's a car and not a portable music room but let's take it from here.

1. Source:
  • Radio
  • Bluetooth
  • CD
  • SD card
  • AUX

The source matters. If your source is **** everything will be ****.
Without getting into details try using the best source you can, i use the newest bluetooth standard via google auto because i use spotify.
Can i put FLAC files on an SD card and listen to those? I probably can if the headunit actually supports FLAC. Will i do this? No, because i like changing tracks or style very often. I won't be cruising with a 256GB SD card full of FLAC. Mainly because it won't matter as i didn't isolate the car.
I used APPLE CAR PLAY before and i believe there was a tad better sound on that.


2.EQ

Everyone has different ears and everyone likes different sound. Again, at some point this is objective as we have sound engineers building sound systems to sound the best. So there is a scientific definition of what good sound is and what bad sound is. This however goes out through the window once you have listened to the "white apple earbuds" most your life and think they sound great or good enough.
Use the EQ to change the sound to your liking. Smiley or stairway etc doesn't matter as EQ is personal. If your ears are half deaf to lower frequencies raise the bass, if you are sensitive to highs, lower those. The goal is to get a balanced personal sound YOU like.
When i was a teen every friend had their BASS so loud i couldn't even ride with them listening to music so i started messing with their EQ and they all thanked me and said they didn't believe it can sound so much better!


3. Speakers

The speakers that come with the SEAT SOUND pack are good enough. You can always buy better speakers but that's pointless unless you isolate the car.


Solution? I crank up the volume to night club levels when i actually want to enjoy the sound because at lower volumes the loudness of this car makes the sound **** anyway. I drive short distances mostly so i found myself just listening to the exhaust instead because i don't want to **** up my ears to get the sound system to cover the road noise.


4. Rattles and **** in the boot.

If you have rattles or other noises that will ruin the sound. My boot is full of stuff and a stroller so that affects the sub performance.

I am actually very disappointing with the level of isolation this car came with. The 2017 300 model i drove was quieter.
Maybe i should just buy insulation and isolate this car.
 

Jazzjames

Active Member
Sep 13, 2018
160
68
Germany
I normally go for the smiley face but I have Beats and with the subwoofer (only at 3) I find I can't increase the far left (bass) slider as I start to hear the speakers struggle with certain tracks.

Sub frequencies are demanding frequencies for many speakers. Try leaving the sub bass in the neutral position, but make a little bump slightly higher up the freq range.
 

Wastedagen

Active Member
Aug 3, 2017
478
101
Milton keynes
Sub frequencies are demanding frequencies for many speakers. Try leaving the sub bass in the neutral position, but make a little bump slightly higher up the freq range.
Yes true also. That's why I have installed 2 underseat subs for the bass. Leaving the sub bass equaliser setting at midway stops the door speakers popping too at increased volumes... Basically treating the door speakers as mid-range and tweeters as um tweeters.

But that said I just got of topic.

In the beginning I always made the traditional smiley face or V shape and went from there....
 

Mr Pig

Active Member
Jun 17, 2015
2,614
906
Why exactly does your son ‘crack up’?

He's a sound tech and often finds himself in venues where the guy on the sliders doesn't know what he's doing. And he sees the smiley face often. I admit, I used to do it in the car myself.
 

Dannnnn

Active Member
Dec 9, 2018
440
200
Hampshire
Coming from a BMW with the top spec Individual Audio upgrade (18 speakers, 825w) to the standard Seat package is a massive difference.

However do I car?
Nope. I knew the quality would be no where near what I had and I spend 90% of time with the radio on so it doesn't actually matter.
 

Neil Francis

Active Member
Jan 28, 2019
81
46
Cambridgeshire
Ive has a play and seems decent enough for me, it isn’t seat sound as it wasn’t an option it’s whatever comes as standard on 2019 Cupra. Tbh it’s the same if not better than what I had in my 66 gti so I’m happy.
 

S4BiT

Active Member
Dec 8, 2018
163
115
Ive done the isolation myself and the SEAT SOUND system is miles better now !
Source really matters, at least in our country the sound with the radio on is crap, but over the BT it sound really great.
 

LouG

Active Member
Dec 1, 2017
1,319
481
Nelson, New Zealand
My son cracks up at 'smiley faced' faders/mixers. He sees them all the time and it's a sign that the person responsible doesn't know what they're doing. Yes, it sounds initially impressive but over time it's not good. Try setting the faders exactly the opposite and live with that for a while to see what I mean.
I followed a few tutorials on setting up equalisers, and that was what worked for my hearing. I did try alternatives and pre sets.
I may not know what I'm doing, but I like the sound. Nice tight bass, clear treble, good mid.

PS. No car is audiophile friendly, especially on our chip seal roads. But SEAT Sound is the best I've had. The cars with better systems don't interest me. After all, I bought a car, not a sound studio.
 
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kazand

Is powered by Medtronics
Jun 6, 2010
4,138
73
Brum
After working in a steel works etc my hearing is fubar'd anyway, ( lack of high range or so I'm told) so I just set the equaliser so A. I can hear it and B. I like the sound.
 
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