[TL/DR This is a long rambling one having to do with something nearly none of you care about]

Hi All, hope you're doing well. It's been said here before but I think the M's equipped with Bose Studio Surround (5.1 decoding, a 14-channel amp and 16 speakers available with the Touring Package), surround sound is simply amazing. Comparing regular (Stereo) music CDs to concert video DVDs in surround is night and day. Stereo CD's (in fact, all stereo sources - FM*, XM, etc.) seem sedate and underwhelming without EQ, (if you apply EQ before burning a CD, you can see the system really comes alive). [* Having spent some time in broadcasting I can attest that radio stations apply significant signal processing to their music, that is why some stations have more 'punch' and sound pretty good in our cars]

I've been on a quest for Surround sources since finding Rush's Moving Pictures Deluxe reissue mixed in surround. OMG. The spacing, the separation; it is a sonic masterpiece.

I should also fessup that I'm a bit old school and do not use a 'smart' phone, so no bluetooth/apple play for me.

So while I wait for all my favorites to be remixed by caring and attentive stewards, I've been looking for alternatives. I think I've found one.

The internet (or at least usenet) is filled with DTS-HD rips of music - mostly enthusiast remixes done using AC3Filter or the like (allows for surround mixing, eq and delay), not full up studio remixing where the artists/engineers are able to move the location of individual tracks. While not quite as amazing as a fully remixed album may be, these surround mixes really bring our car's system to life. It seems clear this system was designed for surround. I guess Japan is done with 2 channel sound.

The process is fairly straight forward using free software. Download the .dtshd files and convert them using AudioMuxer to MKV. Then using AVStoDVD (or whatever DVD mastering tool that supports HD Audio), add the MKV tracks and create a main menu (I did not have success without creating the main menu). Output to DVD (can not use a CD even if it fits - needs to be a DVD for the car to play it). Seems that AC3 (instead of MKV) should also work, but I could not get the car to recognize the disc. DTS-HD -> MKV -> DVD was the path that worked.

Full glorious 5.1 audio with ample sub bottom and crisp highs coming from all the right places. Just turned over 80k and enjoying my car like day one (but now I am looking for one of those 20 cd holders for the sunvisor...)

Thanks for this post! As a fellow digital audio geek, I've been wondering about the 5.1 decoding capabilities of the stock AV unit, and your research here gives a lot of good leads. It sounds like the surround decoding is only present in the DVD unit itself? Wondering if there's a way to utilize the USB interface for surround audio without needing to dust off stacks of DVD-Rs.

Nice! I'll have to give that a try. I like to describe myself as an audio appreciater. Not a musician, nor am I an audiophile, but I can pick out a well designed and balanced system...the stock BOSE surround system works very well for me.


I have also been on a quest for good quality true-ish surround sound ever since I got an Infiniti audio DVD that brought out the sound quality of this system (See this link - 16-speaker-sound-quality-bose-studio-t6 ... l#p6780680)

Although I pride myself in having eclectic taste in music, I haven't been lucky enough to find much of the music that I want to hear in surround sound format. I have even bought some DVDs and audio DVDs online and they don't quite measure up.

So, thank you for the pointers. I'd like to see if I can make good quality copies of the Infiniti DVD I own. Sometimes I'm afraid to use it, lest it gets damaged with no backup.

Craig, how do you like the sound coming from the stock speakers? I hated it and replaced the front ones with some Hertz 6.5/tweeter components and the 3s with 3.5s. I just recently added a 4 channel amp via Audiocontrol LC7. sounds significantly improved.

I can't say the $472 I made as a guitarist in a DC area metal band was worth my hearing loss... Wait, I sure as &^%$ can say that!!

Not only do I have a legit excuse for not hearing my better half telling me to do something, but I can buy relatively cheap speakers now that I can afford the other kinds Yeah, kinda sucks with the ringing all the time, but one gets use to it.

For me, I find the separation and dynamic range to be what I tune in to. I have pretty pronounced loss at different ranges, so speaker bias is more a matter of my ears than the speakers. Back when I was younger I would have tossed the Bose first thing. I actually just opened a box from 90's storage filled with NIB Jensen speakers Foam is shot on nearly all of them (4 pairs too!).

Forcing the system to use the 5.1 amp is so noticeably better cause yeah, the two channel amp is weak for sure and has no eq control.

I'm pretty sure I've got a bad (?) right rear door speaker as I get cracking occasionally at volume - although it may just be interference from the active noise reduction system, which I believe uses those speakers as well. Did you work on the rear door speakers? Is there anything special about them?

I did not work on the rear speakers, but I don't think there's anything special about them. they are 6.5s if I recall correctly. and I think they are 2 ohm bose junk, but you can replace them with regular 4 ohm speakers. they will just not be as efficient.