Harman Kardon Boomy Bass

[Buz]

I just picked up a 2021 Ram limited with the HK system and found the same boomy bass. I kind of describe it as a constant drone. It is very apparent when listening to radio, rock and pop. Once you hear it its impossible to not hear it. If your one who doesnt notice it, or your system doesnt do it, i envy you. What i dont understand is why they didnt program more sound equalization options. They could have easily done a 5 or 7 band Eq and included a host of preset EQ curves which could cater to various music styles. I was surprised when i went to the audio settings on the big 12" screen only to find bass, mid and treble. Maybe in a dream world Ram could add this and offer updates. I will try the sub disconnect. Hopefully it will fix the problem. Sounds like there is no update for a 2021. As another stated above if it works i will be happy and sad at the same time.

Disconnect your sub. 100% improvement and still the best stock system I've ever had.
I'm convinced the EQ is a 3 band for the simple reason of safety. Meddling with a 7 band EQ while driving is dangerous no matter how you slice it.
One of my friends has a high end Jaguar with the Meridian system and it only has Bass, Treble and Sub adjustments. I believe it's for the same reason.
Without tactile sliders, it's very dangerous having to look at the display for each adjustment increment.

 

[petezapie]

Disconnect your sub. 100% improvement and still the best stock system I've ever had.
I'm convinced the EQ is a 3 band for the simple reason of safety. Meddling with a 7 band EQ while driving is dangerous no matter how you slice it.
One of my friends has a high end Jaguar with the Meridian system and it only has Bass, Treble and Sub adjustments. I believe it's for the same reason.
Without tactile sliders, it's very dangerous having to look at the display for each adjustment increment.

thanks for the comments, cant wait to disconnect it and be free of the constant droning. The safety thing makes sense but it would be easy for them to turn them off when the vehicle is moving and just leave presets, programmed or canned, available when driving. We have a massive 12" screen, why not use it.

 

[Buz]

thanks for the comments, cant wait to disconnect it and be free of the constant droning. The safety thing makes sense but it would be easy for them to turn them off when the vehicle is moving and just leave presets, programmed or canned, available when driving.

You will be happy with the improved sound minus the sub. The door speakers have enough bass to give you a good clean balanced sound.
Great idea about the EQ! Too bad it's not a reality.

 

[Silent Bob]

thanks for the comments, cant wait to disconnect it and be free of the constant droning. The safety thing makes sense but it would be easy for them to turn them off when the vehicle is moving and just leave presets, programmed or canned, available when driving. We have a massive 12" screen, why not use it.

My thoughts exactly. It should have a 10 or 12 band EQ that you can not adjust when the vehicle is moving. This would be no different than other functions already working that way.

 

[petezapie]

My thoughts exactly. It should have a 10 or 12 band EQ that you can not adjust when the vehicle is moving. This would be no different than other functions already working that way.

And presets you can program and name. Just unplugged the sub, so glad the annoying bass droning is gone

 

[beanz690]

I agree. Since the update the HK has improved.

Could you share which update version improved you audio? I have the boomy subwoofer and would like to talk to my dealer about it.

 

[Hrspwr88]

Could you share which update version improved you audio? I have the boomy subwoofer and would like to talk to my dealer about it.

I'll get back to you with the current version I have.

 

[Hrspwr88]

19.43.1a software version
Eq version 4.1

 

[Scap]

19.43.1a software version
Eq version 4.1

If you don't mind, how do you access this information?
I just clicked everything I could think of on my screen, and wasn't able to find this information.

 

[Sascwatch]

If you don't mind, how do you access this information?
I just clicked everything I could think of on my screen, and wasn't able to find this information.

Using the bottom two icons on your touch screen, I don’t remember if you just press or hold them.

 

[Scap]

Using the bottom two icons on your touch screen, I don’t remember if you just press or hold them.

I had just found the thread explaining this.
You hold them for a few seconds and the screen changes.

For anyone interested my 01/21 build has 20.37.13 software and EQ versio 4.1

 

[Buz]

I had just found the thread explaining this.
You hold them for a few seconds and the screen changes.

For anyone interested my 01/21 build has 20.37.13 software and EQ versio 4.1

And do you find your sub is too boomy at normal EQ settings?

 

[Scap]

And do you find your sub is too boomy at normal EQ settings?

At first, I did. But I think I'm used to it now.
I was listening to Pandora this weekend, and Children of Bodom "Are you dead yet?" (2005) came on. It was amazing how good it sounded. Running the EQ at 5,4,6 and the volume between 7 and 10, the bass was nice and tight, and I could physically feel the bass notes. I can't go any louder than 10, so seeing people say they go up to 30 makes me cringe.

This song came out in '05, so I don't know how it was mixed. I've read that some stuff that is newer and/or remastered may sound different.

At this time, I'm pleased with the sub with the genre of music I prefer.

The other song I want to try out is Dethklok "Laser Cannon Deth Sentence". If that one makes me bleed from every orifice, I'm good to go.

 

[Thumbs5th]

Bass is part of sound quality. If I measured the response in this system it would look nasty, guaranteed. I'm not looking for loud bass, which this system in my truck has way too much of around 90-120Hz... (boomy bass)... it's probably boosted 20-25dB... and obnoxious to say the least. If it was boosted that much around 30-35Hz, that would be okay and expected in a quality system (similar to a house curve). I'm looking for quality smooth bass, quality mids, quality highs, all of which a system that cost this much should have. And I know Harman very very well (we deal with these guys with equipment reviews and news articles frequently), and they make some serious high-end audio equipment (Lexicon, JBL Synthesis, etc). They apparently had a malfunction in developing this system, or a glitch that hasn't been fixed in all of the units yet. At some point in time I'll let my dealer see it they can flash it with an update, despite Ramcare telling me there are no updates available for my truck. Maybe I'll get lucky, as I really don't feel like going thru the hassles of another 4-5 day aftermarket install, which is why I got the HK system, thinking it would be better than the Alpine (and it should be).

I keep thinking the same thing, glad to read someone else has already said it all. Maybe they will give us a better EQ system- something with 5 bands of bass control.

 

[NewLove]

How do you find out software version?..


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[Didz]

I picked up my car on Thursday, I did notice that the bass was a bit too much so I adjusted to +1 with the mids at +2 and Treble at +3. However I depend on Spotify a lot and noticed the bass varies from song to song. I listen to everything so I dont really have a specific music or song preference but here is just a little example of how it is in my truck:

Fukk Sleep by ASAP Rocky has a nice thump to it.
La Calin by Serhat Durmus makes me feel like my tooth fillings are going to fall out
When it Rain it Pours by Luke Combs has a crisp bass thump

Ofcourse I had my Cheesy and cliche few minutes listening to Truck yeah by Tim McGraw and that was pretty good on the speakers as well. One more thing, dont get duped by the f**kers that call their albums 8D music!! I did and it drove me mad, the vocals just move around the car clockwise and thats it. Bastards got my hopes up!!

As for the house music I listen to, some of it is good and some of them sound like the bass has given up hope on life!! I am just happy I upgraded from the six speaker audio system in my Sierra.

 

[Sascwatch]

While applying sound deadening to my truck I decided it would be a good idea to sound deaden the flimsy sub box, this was a big mistake. The sound deadening material reduced the subs output by a large amount and cause it to lose a lot of frequency response.

This is a common practice in the car audio world, but the sub box in our trucks is a highly engineered piece of equipment that shouldn’t be modified I suppose. Maybe some poly fill will deepen the bass a bit? I’m not sure but the sound deadener I applied is coming off as soon as I find the time.

On a side note the four bolts that hold the sub in my truck weren’t much more than hand tight, I applied loctite when I reinstalled them. Rear panel behind the seats has no factory sound deadener except for a thin carpeted cardboard.

 

[Timeless]

I find about -2/-3 bass works best for me...everything else dead even.

 

[Genxeration]

I was hoping the H/K in the 2021 I just ordered will sound much better than the 2019 I had. My wife's Jeep GC that she just bought has the H/K audio upgrade and it sounds so much better. The bass is tight and precise, not boomy at all. It's a huge improvement over the Alpine in her 2014 Grand Cherokee (which sounds pretty good). It's frustrating that they missed the mark on the best audio for our Rams. I guess if it sounds too bad I'll disconnect the factory sub and upgrade to a JL Audio stealth box.

 

[NewLove]

Is there an easier way to disconnect the sub other than taking out the back bench?.


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