Here's a repost of what I said at 11:42A yesterday:
Please note, that I am not saying you should have the SPEED VOL screen on the head unit or else yours is broken. Also note that I am saying that if you're not getting any adjustment to speed then you might have something wrong. Then read further ahead in that day I ask a question of are we lucky that our speed volumn (in our Amp/DSPs) is working or are we lucky because we got systems where they included a speed volumn in our Amp/DSPs.

 

Evidently the HU is programmable as to which features it display on it's screens. (I even have a display to adjust the volumn on the NAV. BUT I HAVE NO NAV...wierd eh?) This was just an oversight by the factory. The NAV adjustment and SPEED VOL should not be enabled on the HU when installed with the HK system that includes speed volumn in the Amp/DSP. Evidently the factory figured out that the SPEED VOL screen should be disabled and started doing so. I wonder if they removed the NAV volumn from it too for non-NAV cars....

 

The HK system is a bit unusual in how it works to adjust properly and to get used to. I too had a hard time turning away from my previously prefered rear-biased sound stage, that does not work very well for the HK.
The rears speakers in the MINI HK are dual voice coil single cone one way speakers. They are driven in a different way, depending on the DSP settings: they can be driven either as sub-woofers, or as broadbands. Either way to drive them is a compromise, but the broadband probably more so than the sub-woofer drive. That's why the more you shift the sound stage to the back, the more you get compromised sound. If you are in a DSP mode that drives them as subwoofers, you have a second effect, in that the more you shift to the back, the more bass-heavy the sound will become - a lot of users have complained of this. The solution IMHO is to: a) not shift the sound stage back. I found the best sound with a centered F/R fade, or at the most one or 2 notches towards R. b) I mostly use MINI HK or Electronic DSP settings. Electronic drives the rear speakers as woofers, MINI HK as broadband. c) turn down base a few notches from center.
I love the HK stereo, and think it is the best stock option car stereo I have ever heard. BTW, I also found the sound improves when the windows and sunroof are open!
I will miss the HK when I will sell my MCS soon.

 

Just past the setting for "Electronic" and "Mini H/K" and "Spatial" is a setting called Driver. It has On and Off for settings. That is the speed sensitive volume control. It only works when the HU is in the MINI H/K setting. At least according the the manual.

 

"Spatial" does not have a "Driver" setting available. Only modes that support the "Driver" function are "MINI H/K", "Electronic" and "Instrumental".

"Spatial" moves the sound stage to the back for a more conventional 4 speaker cabin sound.

 

Really!?
I don't remember ever reading or hearing that before.
My understanding of the "driver on" mode is that it shifts the sound stage so that the speakers nearer the driver (driver door) are de-emphasised ... makes the sound come more from the center of the car ...

 

Yeah, that is the same understanding I have about the "Driver" setting. Also for it to work the front passenger seat has to be empty...why is that?

 

Have you tested that?
I have tried in the past with a passenger and driver mode turns on/off just the same. I think it is another "feature" which made it to the manual but not to the car - a bit like the fact that the driver mode was originally claimed to be "one touch" (which I guess it is, so long as you don't count all the menu presses to get to where the one touch selection is).

Theoretically the sound level and delay "distortions" needed to achieve the driver mode bias will make the sound very odd when sitting in the passenger seat. Practically it does not seem too bad - perhaps because with the MINI being a small car, the "distortions" are not too extreme.

 

Peeblecrusher, "Driver" mode is not the speed sensitive volumn control. And as cooper4us state, there's only three of the five modes that this is available in: "MINI H/K", "Electronic" and "Instrumental"

Drive mode lessens the volumn on the passenger side of the car as well as electronically delays the signal by x.x milliseconds so the left and right audio hits the driver at the same time at the same volumn level.

Driver mode will work with any number of passengers in the car. The passengers just won't be able to enjoy the music as well as you. To tell you the truth, only audiophiles sitting in the passenger seat might hear the difference. I can drive around all day long with my wife in the passeneger sear and she cannot notice any difference in sound quality between the two
modes. Why? Because she's not an audiophile.

For Driver mode to work well for me I have to balance to the left by three notches. Maybe this is because my right ear hears better than my left ear.

 

I was under the impression that the 'driver' mode only worked when there was no one in the passenger seat... something about a sensor in the seat that overrides the setting?

 

Trust me, no sensor is there in my car. I was letting a friend sit in the driver's seat to hear the difference. So I sat in the passenger seat and turned on and off the driver mode so they could hear it. Sure enough, it worked without a problem. Exactly where did you read (or who told you) that there was a sensor in the seat? Also, logically thinking, if there was a sensor, then "driver mode" should turn it self on and off automatically not requiring a "driver mode" setting on the HU.

 

I thought I had read it in the HK manual that came with the Owner's Manual. I don't have it handy to look it up now; I'll try to remember to check for it later.

 

Okay, I found it:

page 15 of the 2003 HK Owner's Manual says,
Dominic, if you tested the Driver function while your stereo was in a mode other than the three mentioned, you wouldn't have heard a difference. Either that or you are correct in thinking that the 'sensor' never made it into production...

 

First off, as I and cooper4us have already stated, only three of the five modes has driver mode available as an option: "MINI H/K", "Electronic" and "Instrumental". On my HU, it doesn't allow me to turn on the "driver" function when the other two modes are selected. Not sure about yours, but that's how mine works.


You quoted from the manual: "The Driver function can be activated via the Harmon Kardon system. The Driver function amplifies the acoustic pattern near the steering wheel."

This confirms what I was stating. That the sound is made more acoustically accurate, as if you sat equi-distant between two speakers. This does not mean that it will vary your volumn depending upon speed.

Driver mode will not adjust the acoustic pattern effectively for any of the other passengers in the car. Just for the driver. The other passengers more than likely won't notice anything wrong, unless they're audiophiles. My wife is quite happy to rock out to the stereo as a passenger when I have driver mode on. She can't tell the difference. But I can hear the difference even when she's in the car.

 

No need to be so huffy. Sorry, I missed the post where you stated that it only works in the three modes, and I didn't go back and reread the whole thread when I posted last night. Hence my statement:Secondly:
I wasn't implying anything of the sort. We had moved the discussion to whether or not the 'Driver' mode only worked when there were no passengers in the car, or so I had thought. I said that I thought it did so because I had seen it in the manual. I posted what I found about it above:
Hence, the answer, according to the manual, is that the Driver mode only works when only the driver is sitting in the car. When there are passengers, it reverts to 'normal' accoustical settings. It has absolutely nothing to do with speed variable volume, and I never said it did!

 

SCoop,
Well done for finding the appropriate section in the manual. Sadly the manual is incorrect - the HK system is unaffected by the presence of a passenger.
Of course, the manual is incorrect in other places too (eg: the perennial newbie discussion about auto-up windows). Disclaimers "subject to change without notice" etc, etc.

 

Ok, since everyone now seems to be on the same page in regards to the different functions of the HK stereo, how about discussing "optimal" settings for different types of music?

I listen mostly to Jazz (In all forms, classic, contemporary, Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, etc) and Pop-Rock.

In terms of the different HK DSP modes and Bass/Trable/Fader/Blance adjustments, which setting suggestion you all think would work best with this type of music?

 

I'm no audiophile, so my simple answer is 'whichever sounds the best to you.' Try 'em all and see which one you like best...

 

I just wish the H/k would give me a little more volume. I was listening to AC/DC the other day and I just kept spinning the ****. My system is not very loud at all. Will I get better perfomance by choosing a different setting. Not sure what it is set too because I never paid too much attention. I do not think I have the driver centric option on.

Do any of you ever max out the volume?

 

Yes.
First make sure bass and treble are not set above center because they limit the maximum volume.
Second try the different modes. They emphasise the music differently and use the speakers differently so you will find some modes better suit different music. I prefer the "surrounding" modes like spatial and festival.


When I was testing HK last year with the windows open I could easily run it to full volume. These days with the HK being driven from an aftermarket HU I think I have more volume available, and I never go all the way to max, even at 70mph with the windows down ...

 

Me huffy? No. Misunderstood? Yes.

I never said you did. I took the quote from the manual you quoted, which if read incorrectly, could give the impression to people that this "amplification" was the speed sensitive control. This line is what probably confused pebblecrusher or the person who told pebblecrusher.

 

With the following settings, on a recording with a normal sound level, will make you ears "hurt":

Mode: Electronic
Bass: Three clicks left of center
Treble: Center
Fader: Three clicks left of center
Balance: center
Driver: off

Yes I max out my volumn all of the time. I have found on some older CDs that their recording "level" is very low and I cannot get them "up to volumn".