In defense of EPS

[dparm]

It seems like there are a lot of members who think the Enhanced Premium Stereo (EPS) is a crap system from Harmon, especially in a luxury car. Even with flat-response EQ settings dialed in people seem dissatisfied with the upgrade and feel it was wasted money.

I admit I was sort of on-board with that group of people. I've got a pretty discerning ear and some pro audio equipment at home, and the EPS just wasn't impressing me much. Heck, my old Audi S4's Bang & Olufsen system seemed miles ahead by comparison. Yes, the true soundtrack is the glorious S65 motor, but I still like listening to music in the car, even if it isn't an ideal environment.



My music was mostly coming from an iPod connected via the USB port. The files were mostly 256kbps VBR AACs, and a handful of lossless. I do still have a few CDs in the car, too. I knew that the AAC files were not ideal, but in a noisy environment like a car the difference between lossless and a higher-bitrate AAC is hard to notice. There was also the space consideration: an 8GB iPod Nano with tons of lossless files would not give me much to listen to. I certainly wasn't going to run out and buy an iPod Classic just for a very miniscule improvement in audio quality in a car I don't even drive that much.

I was well aware of the "loudness war" and declining quality of professional music mixing but I hadn't taken a critical look at the dynamic range of the music already in my library. After using a tool to analyze some of my frequently listened-to music, and consulting a database for others, I was appalled to see that most of it had very poor dynamic range. I made it a point to acquire versions of those albums with better mixing (either through sites like HDTracks, or by buying a certain CD release). I was very impressed with the overall sonic experience when listening on my JBL Professional monitors at home, but I worried that I might not have the same experience in the car. I converted the songs to 16-bit/48kHz Apple lossless files and put them on my iPod.

The difference was quite clear in the car and these tracks breathed new life into the EPS. The first album I checked out was Halestorm's "The Strange Case Of...". My original copy was showing an average dynamic range of only about 5dB, but the new version from HDTracks was nearly 10dB. The original copy was indeed very loud; during guitar-heavy passages, it was hard to discern the fine details and the drums and vocals got lost. In HDTracks' release, the imaging was miles and miles ahead. I could pick out where the instruments were located and could clearly make out Lzzy Grant's voice. The EPS was punchier and more enveloping, sounding like a true premium stereo.

Another rock album I snagged from HDTracks was Van Halen's "Van Halen" (1978). The original CD release actually wasn't too bad, with a dynamic range of about 8dB (some tracks peaked as high as 10dB). But the HDTracks release averaged around 12dB, with one track getting as high as 14dB. It wasn't as night-and-day like Halestorm, but the EPS provided a fuller sound with extra detail in the guitar solos. Eddie's voice did "pop" a bit more, and Alex's drum hits really "hit". I'm not sure that album was really worth the money, but nonetheless it did bring more life to the EPS.

The album that really floored me was Michael Jackson's "Thriller". The CD copy I had was an old one that had excellent mastering to begin with (Quincy Jones was the producer). It sounded really good already, but after seeing the even better dynamic range available, I bought the HDTracks release. Again, not a night-and-day difference, but "Billie Jean" did have some additional detail in the bass line. "Beat It" had a great full sound with fantastic imaging that put me right there with Michael. One track in particular, "Human Nature", was quite enjoyable thanks to the EPS. The subtle bass detail from the subwoofers was just remarkable.

I'll probably try and get my hands on vinyl copies of some of my CDs since they have some of the best mastering available. It looks like Coldplay and Paramore have released vinyl albums, so maybe I can buy those and make lossless rips @ 16/48.



So to those of you who are dissatisfied with your EPS, maybe it's just the quality of the music you have. The EPS can produce some great sound, but only if you feed it the right content to begin with. You can't simply put crap in and expect anything other than crap to come out, so take a good hard look at your library.

Are there better OEM stereos out there? Yes.
Could BMW and Harmon have done better? Yes.
Could the average person improve it with some simple speaker & amp upgrades? Yes.

Obviously I can't do anything about #1 and #2, and I have no desire to undertake #3. So I've learned to make the most of what I have. Sorry for the long post, but I felt it was worth writing in defense of the EPS and quality music production.