[makkan00]

Most of you know me from my previous retrofits / sound installations on my car and many other cars. I have done few installations to name and examples are here;
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=741385
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=837089
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=802157
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1088665

Background:
Since, I moved from E9x to F1x and this time I thought I would leave sound system standard. I use second car as my daily which has upgraded double din navigation and a dedicated sub. So each time when I get into F10, it sounds dull compared to my second car. I resisted as much as I could but audio bug hit me again and I was back to drawing board choosing my drivers/ amps. I decided to treat myself on my birthday by gifting myself decent sound system. Plan was to get everything ready and install it a day before my birthday.

Drivers / DSP / Amps:
I must say that I am big fan of JL Audio, JBL MS-8, Focals and Morels. All these names are well known in audio industry.
I wanted a bit different approach this time. I wanted drivers which are plug and play. After comparing MB Quartz, Gladen, Focal and few other kits which are plug and play for bmw, I selected Gladen. Rationale was a good dedicated review written by German company who highlighted that Gladen kit was best value for money when they compare Gladen VS MQ Quartz VS ION bmw 3 way drivers.
Gladen has extreme kit out for a while where mids are 3ohms and underseat subs are 2ohms. So, I bought Gladen Extreme this time and their Quadlock.
Next, which DSP to choose? I have had enough experience with MS-8 and how it sounded amazing. All my friends were impressed with MS-8 sound in my E91 and in Rudz E92 (with that super kit). Sound staging and beats are perfect and spot on!
I was tempted to try different DSP this time. I looked at Mosconi 6-8 DSP, Zapco Z8, Audison Bit one and few others to name. I also compared their specifications and software to see what I could do with them.
After brainstorming for few days I finalized Audison bit one as it gets excellent reviews. Other reason was that I had tweaked few Audison bit ten (bit one’s brother) for forum members and results were excellent. My initial thoughts were that it was nowhere near to MS-8 in terms of Sound quality but its mile ahead if you want SPL. I will write my final words on MS-8 VS Audison Bit one at the end of this article.
When it comes to choosing amplifier, I wanted to stick with JL 600/6 but giving 100 Watts to underseats was not adequate for excellent sound system. Other option was to have Mosconi 120.4 with DSP but then I wanted dedicated DSP then what mosconi 120.4 offered.
So search was on to try different amp. I wanted one amp to power fronts, rears and underseats. Then I came across Hertz HDP5 which is 5 channel amp. Four channels power four drivers and one channel is for sub. That is not a problem and I decided to run underseats in series and as one sub. The only drawback was to time align both subs at a single channel. Frequencies lower than 50hz are more ‘felt’ than ‘heard’ so this amp looked ‘built for purpose’ in my case.
So, I gathered all these items over time. One thing is for sure that audio upgrade is expensive game and if you do it over time then you can manage it better.
So first was Gladen extreme kit. Those new shiny subs get delivered and sitting at my place but I could not install them. Next was getting HDP 5 and lastly it was DSP. I was still not sure to spend extra money on Audison Bit one where I knew that MS-8 is more than adequate for my needs. Reluctantly, I pulled the trigger and opted for Audison bit one. One may argue that why not Audison bit ten as it has 5 channel output and it was adequate for my needs. My response is that I wanted something future poof if I wish to expand components in my sound system such as central speaker or boot sub. Other benefit is that DRC (remote control of Bit one) comes with Audison bit one complimentary whereas its add-on with bit-ten.

Needless to say that I had to order Quadlock, amp wirings, RCA wires, fuses and sound insulation.

So the kit consist of
1- Gladen Extreme kit
2- Audison Bit one
3- Hertz HDP5

Installation Day:
I started at 10 am. Mind you by this time boot trims were off as I had done it a night before. After inspecting the boot I found some space on the passenger side rear. That was adequate to accommodate amplifier however fitting DSP was a challenge.
I found some space on the passenger side rear quarter panel. A piece of wood was stuck to that quarter panel and DSP fitted. Amplifier was fitted where bmw fits OEM amplifier and similar to bit one, it was fitted on wood.
I must say that Audison and Hertz belong to same group and what a BITCH to fit wiring to these devices. I hate to say this but reality is that they make all the connector so difficult that wires come out of them easily. Just to give you example, Amplifier power wires was fitted 4-5 times and each time I moved the amp, they came out. It happened to Bit one wiring as well.
Anyway here is logistics of sounds system
HU coded to hi-fi --> 4 channels Quadlock --> Audison Bit one --> 5 channel RCA --> Hertz HDP5 --> 4 Channels running fronts and rears / 5 channel running underseats in mono mode.

Rear Speakers are from L7 sound system and they are getting 75W @ 4 ohms
Front components are Gladen extreme and they are getting 85-90W @ 3 ohms
Underseats are 2 ohms and mono channel can only take 2 ohm minimum. So I had to install them in series to get final impedance of 4 ohm and they are getting 380W (190W / each).

As you can see that each driver is getting more than what they should but as far as drivers are getting clean power and with the right crossover, they can take more power. Also having that extra watts give you headroom.

By the time I installed all the drivers and set gains with O-scope, it was 7pm. So 10 am- 7 pm and I could not tune the system and install the boot trims. Spending another 90 minutes in the car tweaking the sound system led to excellent results.
So to sum up the end result, it is awesome sound system. Very much like BMW individual sound system with excellent clarity and does not bottom out as BMW individual sound system does. Yes, Bit one is impressive to get ‘loud’ sound and keeps the sound stage at the top of dashboard.
With the correct crossovers and DSP you can set the sound system in a way that sound appears to come from the top of dashboard and not from the doors. Yes, I achieved that with Bit one.

























Now coming back to my earlier argument....MS-8 vs Bit-one.
My response is still same that
-IF your priority is SQ then there is nothing better than MS-8 (properly tuned). It highlights the beats which you never heard and other sound systems fail to reproduce. And with its central speakers giving you vocals and rears giving you ambiance, its a winner. It also comes with remote so passengers can play with it.
-IF your priority is SPL then Bit one is brilliant. It also gives you more flexibility where you can overlap the frequencies to augment certain frequencies.

Over all I am happy to say that this sound system exceeded my expectations and louder than my previous sound systems. Shame that I will miss SQ of MS-8.
Few comments for each audio component
1- Audison Bit one. Excellent, clear, loud and user friendly software. However power connector pins are fiddly and wires come out of those very easily.
2- Hertz HDP5. Crystal clear sound and loud! Very heavy amp and bigger than XD600/6 but does the job what it says on the box. Again wiring connections are fiddly. Setting gains and crossover (though I used active crossovers) are confusing.
3- Gladen Extreme. I have installed Morels, Focals, MB quartz, rainbow and alpine drivers. For bmw there is nothing better value for money than Gladen Extreme. I have earthquakes in my E91 having 200W fed to single earthquake (400W to both). I must say that Gladen subs are producing more bass than earthquakes at 190W and they are better at producing midbass. My only gripe is that Gladen tweeters are not as precise as Morel tweeters are and not sharp as Focals are. But they are best value for money.

I hope you enjoyed reading this!

[lsturbointeg]

What's the purpose of the Audison bit one? I've done systems before but this is clearly new. Does this have anything to do with keeping the factory head unit? I was leaning towards the MB QUARTZ but the Gladen Extreme sparks me some interest! Can these be ran off the factory amp or will I have to run an external amp? Appreciate this thread!

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

What's the purpose of the Audison bit one? I've done systems before but this is clearly new. Does this have anything to do with keeping the factory head unit? I was leaning towards the MB QUARTZ but the Gladen Extreme sparks me some interest! Can these be ran off the factory amp or will I have to run an external amp? Appreciate this thread!

Hi
Purpose of Audison bit one is having a DSP which uses active cross overs (controlled digitally). It take the signals from HU (in analogue form) and converts them to digital.
Now you have control over the sounds when its in digital form such as xovers, equilisation etc, and then its converted to analogue form again to go into amps.

It gives you clarity and better crossover cut off points.

Re; Gladen, they recommend you not to run it with standard radio. As standard HU has front speakers and under seats connected in parallel.
If you connect it directly, front gladen mids may stop working.

And finally there is no point of adding them if you cannot amp them. Without amp, they will not give you any good sound.

Thanks.

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by makkan00

Hi
Purpose of Audison bit one is having a DSP which uses active cross overs (controlled digitally). It take the signals from HU (in analogue form) and converts them to digital.
Now you have control over the sounds when its in digital form such as xovers, equilisation etc, and then its converted to analogue form again to go into amps.

It gives you clarity and better crossover cut off points.

Re; Gladen, they recommend you not to run it with standard radio. As standard HU has front speakers and under seats connected in parallel.
If you connect it directly, front gladen mids may stop working.

And finally there is no point of adding them if you cannot amp them. Without amp, they will not give you any good sound.

Thanks.

Thanks for the info! Since I don't have EQ settings on my HU the only adjustment I have is bass/treble/fader controls. Does this basically eliminate the need for the audison? or the adjustment done physically on the audison itself like buttons and knobs? Really wanna do the system but So Many other upgrades I wanna do as well. So I'm not sure if I wanna go all out on my system or just stick with a basic plug n play to save money.

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

Thanks for the info! Since I don't have EQ settings on my HU the only adjustment I have is bass/treble/fader controls. Does this basically eliminate the need for the audison? or the adjustment done physically on the audison itself like buttons and knobs? Really wanna do the system but So Many other upgrades I wanna do as well. So I'm not sure if I wanna go all out on my system or just stick with a basic plug n play to save money.

Audison gives you much more than bass and treble only which is not a lot.
You do not get physical buttons but you have DRC (remote of audison bit one) and it allows you to save 4 settings of DSP.
So lets say you set tuning 'a' with heavy equalization so it sounds good on low volume.
And you set tuning 'b' with minimal equalization so you can crank the system to max volume.

It also allows you to adjust time alignment so sound from all the drivers reach to you at the same time.

Audison is for more advanced users and if you have not used / installed it in the past, then avoid it.

You can buy some plug and play system, but you will have to code your CIC to hi-fi so amplifiers with differential balanced input can take the signals.

Hope that helps.

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by makkan00

Audison gives you much more than bass and treble only which is not a lot.
You do not get physical buttons but you have DRC (remote of audison bit one) and it allows you to save 4 settings of DSP.
So lets say you set tuning 'a' with heavy equalization so it sounds good on low volume.
And you set tuning 'b' with minimal equalization so you can crank the system to max volume.

It also allows you to adjust time alignment so sound from all the drivers reach to you at the same time.

Audison is for more advanced users and if you have not used / installed it in the past, then avoid it.

You can buy some plug and play system, but you will have to code your CIC to hi-fi so amplifiers with differential balanced input can take the signals.

Hope that helps.

i know this is from earlier this year but really interested in going with the Gladen Extreme as you're the only F10 i know that did it. my only question is what did you use to connect the Audison? i know the MS8 is plug n play but is the Audison the same way or did you have to get a special connector for that? appreciate your feedback!

[Nelson@BimmerTech]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

i know this is from earlier this year but really interested in going with the Gladen Extreme as you're the only F10 i know that did it. my only question is what did you use to connect the Audison? i know the MS8 is plug n play but is the Audison the same way or did you have to get a special connector for that? appreciate your feedback!

MS8 is not Plug and Play. He had his idrive headunit coded to hifi and ran a new harness from there to the Audison bitone.

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by Nelson@BimmerTech

MS8 is not Plug and Play. He had his idrive headunit coded to hifi and ran a new harness from there to the Audison bitone.

Ah shoot I realized I forgot to say technique harness to the MS-8 lol! Trying to figure out Nelson if your amp is enough to power the gladen's?

[Nelson@BimmerTech]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

Ah shoot I realized I forgot to say technique harness to the MS-8 lol! Trying to figure out Nelson if your amp is enough to power the gladen's?

Is plenty of power specially when you compared it to a MS8. We've sold over 150 amps and haven't had a single customer complain about lack of power.

If you really want to get the most of out the amp you should purchase the Gladen Extreme version. Underseat midbass are 2 ohms. With our amp they will be getting 70 watts of 55.