Mercedes-Benz brought the seventh iteration of the S-Class to the United States in 2021 and this time it comes with an optional 4D Burmester sound system with 31 speakers and 1,750 watts of power output. This innovation isn’t surprising because the S-class has been known throughout history to be one of the first to introduce new technology to the market. For example, the 1991 S-Class introduced stability control technology which is now law in most countries.
Our main question is whether or not these impressive stats are enough to substantiate whether or not this optional Mercedes S-Class Burmester sound system is worth the hype. During our testing, Charlie played high-quality music as part of our protocol to compare and detail the pros and cons of this audio system.
What We Found from the Mercedes-Benz Burmester 4D Audio System
The Mercedes-Benz Burmester system has a new big infotainment screen allowing the driver to choose how to play their music through inputs like AM/FM/XM radio, radio streaming, USB-C, wireless CarPlay, and Android Auto capability. One of the party pieces of the Burmester system is the tweeters roll in and out as they activate or deactivate with the power cycling on and off. Many of the buttons on the steering wheel to control the infotainment and other functions are touch-sensitive for a futuristic effect.
Final overall thoughts for the Mercedes S-class Burmester system are unsurprisingly positive. Burmester makes some of the best sound systems and Mercedes-Benz makes some of the best luxury limousines. This S-tier system is plenty satisfactory for the premium to be paid of well over $100,000 in some trims. This isn’t necessarily Charlie’s favorite sound system due to it being more artificial than others, however, it certainly is up there with the Volvo XC90 Bowers and Wilkins system.
How We Test the Mercedes-Benz Burmester Audio System:
We take audio systems seriously here at Daily Motor. That’s why we take every vehicle, from a Mercedes-Benz S-Class Burmester sound system to supercars like the McLaren 570S, and put them through our rigorous audio-system testing. We use the same lossless, uncompressed WAV audio files on a USB drive plugged into the audio system so that every radio we test starts from the same baseline. To provide a realistic example for the Kia Sportage sound system experience, we record with high-quality binaural microphones. We test every system with their sound settings set to their factory defaults, because that’s how the radio’s engineers designed it to sound, but we test all the sound settings on many different genres of music before shooting the reviews. After demonstrating the Kia Sportage audio system settings, adjustments, inputs, speaker locations, and Android Auto and/or Apple CarPlay functionality, we head out on the road to listen to our sample tracks at highway speeds. Most cars can sound great while stationary, but road, wind, and engine noise can deteriorate music fidelity. At the end of the Kia Sportage audio system test, we give an objective rating based on audio quality and overall system usage as well as a subjective rating factoring in vehicle attributes and price.
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