Is the AUX input missing bass?
 

Hello,

2009 MCCS, base sound system. Wired up a H/K Drive+Play ipod adapter to the aux, played a tune... and I was like :eek2: where did the bass go?

Is it me or the system is not doing some sound enhancement to the AUX signal when compared to its own ipod or cd or even radio playback?

and yes I played w/ the audio settings of course.

I'm not sure what the H/K Drive+play adapter is hooked up to Aux. What it do on my 2007 HiFi system is connect my iPod using a bottom dock (not headphone)connector wire to the Aux jack and there's plenty of bass. Rembember what your EQ setting is on the iPod, because even though my dock connector ignores the volume setting on the iPod is does transmit the EQ setting to the Mini stereo system. FYI I use "Dance". I turn my Bass setting up one tick and my treble down one tick.

Don't know about the H/K, but plenty of bass comes through the AUX in the HIFI.

Never a problem with my xm roady hooked up to the aux port.

+1 on the iPod bottom-dock :thumbsup: ... I have one of these and love it; much better sound and less hum through the stereo.
If you add a small USB car charger with a short USB "A-B cable", your iPod will even charge itself while driving --

I have one of these H/K Drive and Play systems in MY BMW and it works fine. but it uses the FM adapter.


As for in my MINI I have had a number of different items but not the Drive & Play hooked up and found no lack of base.

One thing to check is the base setting for the aux input. Each input can have different base and treble setting. So set the stereo to the AUX input and then press the note button and check the bass setting if it is turned down there is you problem.

Or it may be a problem with the drive an play output. If you do not have it permanently mounted try it in another car.

Is it just the bass? Is the overall volume less when you crank it up? I had that problem with my external aftermarket Sirius radio receiver hooked up via aux to my standard stereo. I guess it sent out a "weak" signal to the aux. A Boostaroo helped, but was a clumsy solution. Otherwise, my iPOD and carpc have no issues hooked into the aux line.

So, I've tried it out a little more, and right now it might have solved itself, but I'm unsure:
I went for lunch with someone for a drive, car started up with Aux already in-place. Music starts, my passenger agrees bass is totally not there. I switch to tuner, bass is present. Back to Aux, and it seems to be back.

I now:
made the aux-vol to +5 (or the max)
I've set the EQ on the ipod to bass booster

I think the bass is back, I need to double check. Still a few odd issues:

the drive + play is plugged in via the 12V, no hard-wiring yet -- when the car turns off, the unit still gets power, and the ipod keeps playing! in my older car, the power shutoff would cause the h/k to stop the music. this might be this mysterious "things stay turned on for 30 minutes" I've heard about. My V1 (wired up above the rear-view mirror) also stays on.

seems like the bass may work it self out. anyway, you have it plugged into the cig lighter? at least in my MC, the cig lighter shuts off with the ignition. alot of the other electronic fuses including the radio don't though. there is that 30 minutes lingering and also turns on when the car doors are unlocked.

For sure, the V1 stays on. OTOH actually I correct myself, what happened is that the IPOD stayed playing from its battery -- the H/K drive+play *was* off (screen off, controller not on).

And, I think I'm finding out that the 'bass' issue seems to be a cable/ipod issue; I took the ipod home, plugged to the aux interface for my bang-and-olufsen and it started playing distorted, or only one channel, etc.

*Finally*, I read enough to realize that a 3rd gen ipod is just not going to work properly w/ the ipod interface of the car, nor will it charge from usb, so I'm going to use a mini I have lying around and probably forget the H/K after all. I have good playlists I like to cycle through randomly anyways.

Also, know that sound settings are unique to a key/fob.

Just my observation on this (since I've owned my MCSC for 2 weeks now).... there is a definite frequency flattening playing my ipod through the Aux port. Wish the USB interface could transmit data directly from the ipod/iphone. I notice better dynamic range playing MP3s directly off of a flash drive, but the best sound comes from MP3 CD. I haven't actually measured (too damned cheap to pay $25 for a iPhone spectrum analyzer,) but with appropriate leveling I would rank sound quality in the order of CD, USB Flash, Aux port.

Did you guys remember to change the treble and bass settings for the AUX setting. The settings on our '07 are independent of each other, so when I plugged in the ipod for the first time, it sounded flat until I modified the stock default settings for the bass and treble. It was set at 0 across the board. Maybe that's the issue. You can change sound quality for CD, AUX and Radio separately. Pretty redundant feature from MINI if you ask me.

Thanks!!! I was wondering why my music was so flat. Completely forgot about the EQ on the iphone.

Music sounds good again!!!:thumbsup: