2016 bass too heavy

My 2012 came with some bass so strong that some media caused ear convulsions, something that seems specific to me. (This is one reason I can't do subwoofers.) All the settings were at their default neutrals, so I had to turn the bass way down.

You have a newer design, but someone may have rolled over the same issue.

 

I have a 2017 and I’ve not felt anything like that.


iPhone ?

 

I have an inherited inner-ear issue that mostly manifests as heightened susceptibility to motion sickness, but sometimes produces other problems too. Such as these inner-ear convulsions, which are sometimes triggered even by excessive booming subwoofers in cars stopped near me at stop lights.

Some people may also get this condition from ear injuries. But the great majority of people don't have it.

The bass on my 2012 Prius audio system triggered this issue while still at its default settings. My base 2010 did not.

 

I replaced my speakers to get more Bass. Lol preference i guess

 

That was my first reaction. Commonly when someone complains about the OEM sound system it's because of a lack of bass.
BUT...
I don't know here?
The OP has done "light modification" -insulation of the doors and trunk.
So I guess my question would be, was the Bass the same or unacceptable BEFORE The modifications?

Also seems strange that the problem is "Song Dependent", that is evidently adjustments can be made that help with a single song, but the next song may manifest the problem?
Again USUALLY if you make satisfactory adjustments, they're satisfactory for the majority of everything you play. Unless your playlist is REALLY extreme.


And finally, The effect of making my head feel underwater?
Not sure you might not just need a good antihistamine.

Good Luck, I'll follow this thread out of curiosity.

 

I buy a 3t to have a better sound.

Bass notes are not as good as the OEM unit with Alpine type S speaker of my Toyota Echo sedan.

Barely have a driver seat massage from the bass notes at low volume setup (100bd or less) compare to my former car

Bass notes quality also depend of the origin of the music. Some radio station has better bass than other. Music played directly from an auxiliary hard unit has better sound than from bluetooth. Low bass music will give you low bass sound even with a sub-woofer unless you play with setup every time.

3t has a little difficulty to play Db drag music than the Echo. Echo could make your ear bleeding even at very low volume,

 

the speakers are terrible. Those who replaced them know they are paper thin, probably worth less than $10 to produce. Bass is the only thing they are good at. But when you want good vocals or good treble, you need to turn it up which the bass overpowers. Which is why many have replaced. My infinity reference speakers are now a good balance of bass and treble, and vocals sound excellent.

 

in the old days you needed 2-3 different size speakers .

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wikihow.com/Install-Tweeters%3famp=1

If your sound was loud enough And you didn’t want to spend any money you would just leave well enough alone and add what you were missing (tweeters) in place 2 of the existing speakers .
If you’re not an audiophile and just want less muffled sound...

on a very old suburban we wired in a couple cheap tweeters in the rear and left the rest in place, instead of the muffled sound we were hearing
things sounded brighter and sharper, we would just adjust the forward rear dial to get the sound we wanted (tone dial on the radio was all but useless)

To do it correctly you would want a crossover, none of this is expensive for diy it’s just time consuming to get the speakers mounted
(and you need to take care the wiring is sound and protected so it doesn’t become intermittent)

 

are you a fan of clearer treble and better vocals? then you want to swap speakers. The stock head unit has horrible sound tuning, cause either you turn up/down treble or bass. That is all you get. A new head unit will help you customize your sound to find tune things better. I would recommend a new head unit for 2019 and before to add in android auto/apple carplay since that is such a powerful integration capability i really enjoyed. For 2020 beyond, it's hard to justify since stock comes with it.

 

if you are an audiophile you have to decide if it’s worth cludgy (at best)
integration, potential loss of features and $$$ to fix the issue for better sound.


My experience is that aftermarket sound systems no matter how cheap or expensive

1. Are completely unreliable compared to OEM requiring much more attention and a tinkering attitude even with very expensive countermeasures against coorsion and loose connections

2. Become obsolete more quickly with even less update capability than OEM (if that can be believed)


I personally would never touch aftermarket audio gear (beyond speakers) ever again (too much wasted time)
but there are people who will trade annual maintenance to have better sound.


The only exception to the above appears to be the new systems that bypass the OEM temporarily taking over the screen adding a completely independent audio system that integrates to your phone.

then your onboard systems stay unaffected and intact switchable at will