OEM Audio Plus BRZ review

[Fastbrew]

Originally Posted by SilverlightPony

I have a set of plastic trim panel tools, they weren't working. A friend brought over a metal one that got the job done.

Now we have a new problem: I got the system installed, but I'm not getting any sound.I've checked all the connections and everything looks good, but still no luck.

Mind you, I have a Ca-Fi Dashlinq4 head unit rather than the stock HU.

Just to give you a little hope - I sent my Ca-fi down to OEMAudio. They sent it back ready to rock. I installed myself and it worked perfectly with the OEMAudio harness and loopback adapter for the amp in my BRZ. I had some minor issues with getting the ca-fi connected (usb ports, antenna, etc) but that had nothing to do with the reference series from OEMAudio.

The only "mod" I have made is that I drive with my backseats down to hear the sub better

Good luck - I am sure it will all get figured out. OEM has exceptional customer service and a great engineering crew.

[AZFA20]

Originally Posted by Fastbrew

Just to give you a little hope - I sent my Ca-fi down to OEMAudio. They sent it back ready to rock. I installed myself and it worked perfectly with the OEMAudio harness and loopback adapter for the amp in my BRZ. I had some minor issues with getting the ca-fi connected (usb ports, antenna, etc) but that had nothing to do with the reference series from OEMAudio.

The only "mod" I have made is that I drive with my backseats down to hear the sub better

Good luck - I am sure it will all get figured out. OEM has exceptional customer service and a great engineering crew.

So does this mean OEM+ now has a calibration for the Ca-Fi head unit?

[SilverlightPony]

Originally Posted by Fastbrew

Just to give you a little hope - I sent my Ca-fi down to OEMAudio. They sent it back ready to rock. I installed myself and it worked perfectly with the OEMAudio harness and loopback adapter for the amp in my BRZ. I had some minor issues with getting the ca-fi connected (usb ports, antenna, etc) but that had nothing to do with the reference series from OEMAudio.

The only "mod" I have made is that I drive with my backseats down to hear the sub better

Good luck - I am sure it will all get figured out. OEM has exceptional customer service and a great engineering crew.

You're behind on my posts, bro; it's working fine now.

Originally Posted by AZFA20

So does this mean OEM+ now has a calibration for the Ca-Fi head unit?

Yep.

[Fastbrew]

Originally Posted by AZFA20

So does this mean OEM+ now has a calibration for the Ca-Fi head unit?

yep. Sandy did the evaluation about 90 days ago.

I don't think there is much of a change in their device.
He said it's basically the same with better sound.

[SilverlightPony]

So, good news bad news.

Bad news: my crackling problem is back.

Good news: It's still on the right side, even after swapping the right and left tweeters, so the problem's not in the O+ speakers, but in the (factory) wiring. I'll have to take it up to the dealership at some point and get them to look at it.

[oemaudioplus]

Thanks for the update @SilverlightPony. Keep us update on the status of your listening experience. We hate to learn of any artifacts that distract from your audio.

[AZFA20]

Originally Posted by oemaudioplus

Thanks for the update @SilverlightPony. Keep us update on the status of your listening experience. We hate to learn of any artifacts that distract from your audio.

Still love mine every time I get in the car, even after over a year with it and 2 head units later. Now that you have a calibration for the Ca-Fi it may see it's third

[ericmpena]

I finally ironed out all the issues with my OEM Audio. Turns out the person who "installed" the system didn't actually connect the cables correctly. With the help from Daniel at OEM Audio my issue was solved quickly!

Now I see what all the hype is about. This system sounds incredible! Everything is so clear and full. As a profession musician I can say that I've had a decent amount of time spent in the studio and I have a good ear for quality. Let's just say that once I got my system working I sat in my car for another hour just listening to my MP3's and noticing all the fine details that were never noticeable before. I felt like I could close my eyes and feel like I was in the studio where the track was being recorded. It's that damn clean!

My bass preference is set to Full. So far it doesn't disappoint, but a part of me feels like I expect more bass just because I know I have a good sub in the trunk. I'm going to give it a week and see how I end up feeling about the Full setting. If I end up finding that I want a little more kick to my music then I'll switch over to Robust. Plus, I feel more comfortable turning down the bass if it's too much rather than raising the bass levels.

I cannot thank Daniel enough. People don't lie when they say that OEM Audio has the best Customer Service around! Daniel answered nearly every single one of my calls, and nearly every call was a 20 minute detailed conversation where we threw ideas back and forth to resolve my issue. OEM Audio really makes their customers feel priority. With an amazing product + amazing customer service, it's a no brainer to send your business to this company.

Thanks OEM Audio!

[Fastbrew]

Originally Posted by ericmpena

My bass preference is set to Full. So far it doesn't disappoint, but a part of me feels like I expect more bass just because I know I have a good sub in the trunk.

Put your back seats down. That's how I typically ride around so I can hear that sub more clearly. The sound is way richer.

[ericmpena]

I gotta mention also...I love having the extra trunk space now! My previous 8" sub enclosure took up almost a quarter of the trunk space. It was like Tetris trying to fit groceries in the trunk. Today I bought about $150 worth of groceries and I still had about 25% of space still free! It's crazy how much space is saved with the OEM enclosure when compared to other enclosures.

[ericmpena]

Originally Posted by l0aded

Bump. Swapped from Balanced to Robust originally, then swapped from Robust to Full just recently. My memory of Balanced has faded so I can't give an accurate comparison but from Robust to Full I think I made the right decision. On Robust I felt the sound felt slightly artificially boosted and I could hear certain sounds coming from certain directions. On the full it feels more immerse (similar to my memory of the balanced). The bass on full feels slightly lacking at higher speeds when the levels are flat but raising it up 2-3 notches (on the BeSpoke) makes it good for freeway driving.

Props to Daniel and the rest of the OEM Audio+ team for their great customer service and dealing with my indecisive swapping around. The service of swapping is supposedly being discontinued soon btw.

After a week with my system fully functional I'm torn between keeping Full or trying Robust. I think my issue is exactly what you mentioned, at highway speeds the bass feels lacking. I'm sitting in my car parked, rear seat down, and listening to a demo CD Daniel provided me with. It sound unbelievable! Everything is powerful and crisp, but I know that once I'm driving on the highway the bass doesn't push through the road noise.

I'm minutes away from just sending the amp back to get reconfigured, but I wanted to check with you and your experience. After having your system set to Full, how do you feel about the bass while on the highway? Do you still feel it's lacking? I've spent a good amount of time adjusting the eq settings to get a better sound while on the road, but I haven't found anything that works yet.

One thing I haven't tried is driving with my rear seats down to see if that helps. Like you, I'm worried about shipping my amp back, getting it back, and then realizing that I liked my previous configuration better.

So, how much clarity, if any, was lost with Robust? Was the bass overpowering? Did you try turning down the bass with your eq settings?

Thanks for any help!

[l0aded]

Originally Posted by ericmpena

After a week with my system fully functional I'm torn between keeping Full or trying Robust. I think my issue is exactly what you mentioned, at highway speeds the bass feels lacking. I'm sitting in my car parked, rear seat down, and listening to a demo CD Daniel provided me with. It sound unbelievable! Everything is powerful and crisp, but I know that once I'm driving on the highway the bass doesn't push through the road noise.

I'm minutes away from just sending the amp back to get reconfigured, but I wanted to check with you and your experience. After having your system set to Full, how do you feel about the bass while on the highway? Do you still feel it's lacking? I've spent a good amount of time adjusting the eq settings to get a better sound while on the road, but I haven't found anything that works yet.

One thing I haven't tried is driving with my rear seats down to see if that helps. Like you, I'm worried about shipping my amp back, getting it back, and then realizing that I liked my previous configuration better.

So, how much clarity, if any, was lost with Robust? Was the bass overpowering? Did you try turning down the bass with your eq settings?

Thanks for any help!

I think it really depends on the music you listen to and the quality of the files. I have noticed that lower quality tracks that I play via USB are definitely more washed out and sometimes the bass is less pronounced while the lossless cd Daniel gave me sounds amazing. On robust setting I felt like the balance was slightly off because the bass was so overwhelming but on full it can still be a little underwhelming at freeway speeds (again depends on the track sometimes). As for turning the bass down on robust, for some reason I couldn't get it to sound like I wanted with the BeSpoke. To me the balance was more important and with the full profile with a few bass notches up I was happy; I was actually considering going back to the Balanced profile but Daniel talked me into trying Full which I am happy with.

side note: I don't know if you have any sound deadening in your car but I recommend putting some in if you have not before going through the whole process of re-tuning ESPECIALLY if you have exhaust.

[ericmpena]

Originally Posted by l0aded

I think it really depends on the music you listen to and the quality of the files. I have noticed that lower quality tracks that I play via USB are definitely more washed out and sometimes the bass is less pronounced while the lossless cd Daniel gave me sounds amazing. On robust setting I felt like the balance was slightly off because the bass was so overwhelming but on full it can still be a little underwhelming at freeway speeds (again depends on the track sometimes). As for turning the bass down on robust, for some reason I couldn't get it to sound like I wanted with the BeSpoke. To me the balance was more important and with the full profile with a few bass notches up I was happy; I was actually considering going back to the Balanced profile but Daniel talked me into trying Full which I am happy with.

side note: I don't know if you have any sound deadening in your car but I recommend putting some in if you have not before going through the whole process of re-tuning ESPECIALLY if you have exhaust.

Thanks! I have no sound deadening right now. I considered having it done when I had my system installed, but some reviews mentioned that you wouldn't need it since this system tunes out rattles for the most part.

I definitely have a lot less rattles than with my stock system, but it never occurred to me to use sound deadening to get rid of road noise. I'll keep that in mind for the near future.

I wouldn't have thought Robust would change any clarity in the highs and mids. I figured it would just add a little more punch to the sub while everything else stays crisp, but I can see how that could happen.

I'm gonna give Robust a shot and see if it's what I'm looking for. I'll keep the forum updated with my personal experiences with Full and Robust.

[l0aded]

Originally Posted by ericmpena

Thanks! I have no sound deadening right now. I considered having it done when I had my system installed, but some reviews mentioned that you wouldn't need it since this system tunes out rattles for the most part.

I definitely have a lot less rattles than with my stock system, but it never occurred to me to use sound deadening to get rid of road noise. I'll keep that in mind for the near future.

I wouldn't have thought Robust would change any clarity in the highs and mids. I figured it would just add a little more punch to the sub while everything else stays crisp, but I can see how that could happen.

I'm gonna give Robust a shot and see if it's what I'm looking for. I'll keep the forum updated with my personal experiences with Full and Robust.

Sounds good. Keep us posted about how you like it.