[paul1]

hi all,

i'm planning to upgrade beats audio, as it's not performing good.

i have face lift version (already with sliders) , so they changed audio - CD drive now is gone, little more loudly, but also more crappy sound.

speakers stayed the same (i'm comparing audio that was till 2020.07 production +- ) but they changed the amp under the seat.
before that it was "Dynaudio" - Alpine (was going also to Golf 7 ), and now we have smaller Panasonic amp.
and it's now not fiber optic, but like via "LAN" data is transferred.

when you push more loud, system starts cutting sound (seems reaching the maximum), but speakers i hear still can deliver more.
also there is about -8db lower signal in back doors (yes, same as users were complaining previous ..) . and if you push more back , you could get it, but then front starts cutting sound.

so i want to improve middle range by changing amp.

so basically thinking about getting high output from amp, get it to another amp. and put it over original, as there is some space
and there is some good slim 4/8 channels amps on the market for such upgrades ..

so it's like something to make a extender for this connector...

i have read the post about DSP, but ( @vib1288 ) has different version of audio, not beats.
https://www.tarracoforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=328&start=90

ANY ideas ?

who did anything on that , or it's thinking about it ?

i have already an additional normal subwoofer in the trunk, but without normal middle, that's not good.

 

[vib1288]

From what I have learnt during the progress on my car, Capturing high Level output from a factory amped car (like yours) is not straight forward. In addition, the DSP already done by the factory system is going to be very hard to tune out.

I think you will need something like this to convert the High level to low level and then a DSP to adjust the sound.

https://www.audiocontrol.com/car-audio/factory-system-upgrade/

https://www.audiocontrol.com/car-audio/digital-signal-processors/

At the end of the day, it is not going to be a 'cheap' exercise...

 

[paul1]

i know.
that's why i'm little afraid, that some EQ parameters are set in amp/head unit, and what i can expect is boost some +5 / + 10db .
in total new system sounds good if you get all EQ to top, but then when you get to some bass track, then it's too much.

they something did wrong changing system , they got +3 / +5db total in system but did something with EQ, as with Panasonic amp system sound different versus was with Alpine/Dyanaudio.

and what was new to sales people, that it was new thing to them that this Beats stuff changed just in the middle of the year
for sure, they selling car, not audio 99% it's ok

i'm only interested now, if head unit did not changed, maybe i can try tu get signals from head unit ?
off course i have no CD player , but maybe it's worth to try remove head unit somehow and to check available connections .. ?

as today i know already more then seat service , and they can't help, even understanding that i got different system versus i have ordered.
as SEAT just changed production ...

 

[paul1]

@vib1288
yeh, now i looked at the head unit, and i see connector is not using 8 pins, as i guess according to size it should be speakers connectors for standard audio (4 speakers)

means i could take a signal from there , if to say, that sound distortion is from Panasonic "beats" amp ,than it would help. but if it's coming from head unit, then for sure it's no diff to use high output from head unit or from amp.

 

[vib1288]

Firstly have to figure out if the DSP is coming from the headunit or BEATS amp.

If it is coming from the beats amp, then taking the signal from the HU will be of benefit.

I would also use a multimeter to check if these are live. Maybe the factory disabled these outputs as it has a beats option.

If you do use these as inputs, then you are going to have to patch in the speakers from the new amp to the factory speakers. The easiest place to do this would be from the beats amp under the seat.

Would be interested to know, which block on the plug (white, blue or green) is the low level output to the Beats amp.

 

[paul1]

hi,
i checked with multimeter, they are dead zero seems disabled.
yeah, now im in decision of dsp, helix or audison.
audison has amp with dsp and de-eq option automatic in setup, but in web they have more complains.
so in upcomind days ill decide . as under drivers seat there is only 4,5 cm height available (electic seat).

and the beats amp communicates via some data lan cable, so seems no low level signal. but that i will still double chek with seat dealer.

 

[paul1]

if anybody will be interested.
use google translate to english.
<FACEBOOK id="2660943737507572" type="post" user="1646085442326745">https://www.facebook.com/1646085442326745/posts/2660943737507572/?d=n</FACEBOOK>
seat tarraco beats upgrade
used dsp 6ch amp.
according to picture should be Gladen pico 6/8 oem-dsp.
as they changed speakers its 4ohm.

 

[Evisims]

I have (will have in a few weeks...) a Tarraco that has the Beats audio installed.
I also think about upgrading.
I have contacted Seat and they told me that the signal is sent to the amp through Ethernet (was MOST150 until YM2020).
Audiotec Fischer (Brax/Helix/Match) is working on a solution to get the audio signal to an optical in for an aftermarket DSP (as they have the SDMI25 for MOST25). Should be available sometime in Q2. Would avoid to have to play around with the high level outputs.

If you do that, keep posting here...

On my side, if I do it, I'll post as well. But I think I am not gowing towards the low budget option...

 

[Evisims]

I had an audio upgrade done. Just picked up the car last Saturday. But as I wrote in my latest post, I did not go the cheap route...

Plastic subwoofer has been replaced by a couple 10 inches in a real sealed box.
All 4 doors + trunk have been sound proofed
Front speakers have been replaced. I switched from the original 2 ways to a 3 ways (mids and tweeters are now in the A-pillars)
Back speakers have been replaced
A new Amp + DSP has been added as well as a new amp dedicated to subwoofers
Central speaker at the front is not used

The only thing is that the MOST integration unit promised by Audiotec Fischer is not yet available so we had to take the signal that comes out of the factory Beats amp. It was a pain to equalize the input to have a proper response, but I still have an option to stream directly to the DSP, without going through the Head Unit (that way, quality is better, but I lose the comfort of driving everything from the Head Unit/steering wheel...). Maybe when the Audiotec Fischer unit will be available, I'll integrate the DSP on MOST...

Difference is just unbelievable !! Highs are back and not harsh, lows are now here. Sound is cristal clear compared as before, stage is finally here as well. I had a 4h drive back home and that drive was one of the most pleasant I ever had (probably the most in fact !!)

I have the FR 2021 model with the sport seats, so headrest is integrated in the seat. My daughters used to have their tablets attached to the front seats in my old car, but this was not possible with these new seats. I asked the guy to see if he could build something for the tablet and he did. Now, I have a tailor made tablet holder on/in both front seats !!

 

[marxius]

And how big of an investment it was?

 

[Evisims]

around 9k€ including taxes.

So about the price you would pay for a so called high-end premium audio in a car. That's about the price of the B&O for Audi, the Burmester for Mercedes or the Bower & Wilkins for BMW... But this is waaaay better.

But as I said, this is definitely not the cheap route...

 

[Kammykazi]

And could you share some pics of the new speaker/ tablet holder setup please?

 

[marxius]

To be honest, i am kind of dissapointed in Beats Audi.
Worse than previous cars i have had&#8230; thinking of an upgrade myself.

Front speakers and maybe a additional woofer.

 

[Evisims]

And could you share some pics of the new speaker/ tablet holder setup please?

Hi sorry... I haven't been around for a while...

Sure I can post pictures... Here they are.

Build by X-Dream car audio in Germany : https://www.xdreamcaraudio.de/

trunk

the 2 10' subwoofers are in the sealed box in front o the amps

A-Pillars

For the tablets, we reused part of the Vogels TMS 1020 I was using in my old car https://www.vogels.com/en-us/c/tms-1020-tablet-car-pack

Tablet holder rear view

Tablet holder front view