Customer Ratings & Reviews

Likely the Best Auto-Tune on the Market

If you must have an auto-tune, this is the one to have. You may need to spend some time over on diyma forum to get the exact sound you want but for most users, this thing makes whatever components you have sound amazing right out of the box. I have this in a 2012 Ford SCREW (factory head unit) with Imagine Dynamic 2-way front and JL W1s all pushed by a JL HD900. The MS8 powers a pair of full range Kickers in the rear w/plenty of volume. It's a little bulky but I managed to fit it behind the rear seat row as long as you find the perfect spot.

The Bads:
1) You have to set all your crossover points everytime you calibrate the system. It does have memory for EQ/sound settings but does not remember your crossover points. If you right them down, not really a big deal but reassigning your channels over and over gets old.
2) Anytime you want to change a crossover, you have to go through the entire setup/calibration again. I had this dream I would leave the listening/calibration headphones at home but you better carry them with you for awhile.
3) It's tough to get that sound that's perfect for you. I listen to mostly metal and I like an emphasized bass kick. To get more bass, you basically have to trick the auto-calibrate by turning the gain way down on your sub while calibrating, then turning it back up when finished. Finding that perfect sound will have you sitting in your driver's seat, looking left and right for a few hours because you really need to do this gain manipulation also for your mids and sometimes highs. As mentioned above, diyma forum provides good tips on achieving the perfect sound.
4) Rumored airplane noise. I have not experienced it and it seems rare, but the mere possibility this thing could freak and blow all my speakers terrifies me. Search MS8 airplane noise and decide for yourself. Mine has worked like a champ with no issues but it does make me hesitant to purchase those $1300 mids I've had my eye on.
5) Battery was dead on the remote when I got it. Only cost me 2 bucks.

The Goods:
1) Automatic Time Allignment, Volume Leveling, Sound Staging. The sound stage was a bit off center but this can be corrected with a slightly different "look to side mirror" technique. Takes practice and lots of tries but you'll get there. This thing produces crystal clear sound, amazing imaging, and it's a good bet that you'll hear things you've never heard in songs you've listened to for years.

2) The 31-band EQ is nice to compensate for lack of midbass the auto-tune gives you. Or maybe I should say, you can make it sound however you want regardless of the tune with a little tinkering on the EQ.

3) Independent subwoofer control. I like the fact that you can adjust the subs independently. The control actually boosts all frequencies below 100Hz so it will phase into your midbass drivers seamlessly.

4) You still have a simple bass and treble adjustment just like your OEM head unit with the addition of a midbass level if you don't want to go full out with the 31 band EQ.

5) It's an amp too! As mentioned above, it pushes my rear filler speakers just fine which is nice because I'm using all my HD900 channels. It's nice that you can mix and match between what you want it to power and your amps to power.

In short, it's a great unit and I plan on keeping it until it dies. The autocalibrate has it's issues, but no way could I make my system sound as good as the MS8 does for me. The MS8 gives you the ability to keep all the fancy features of your OEM HU and produces the sound quality of an aftermarket HU. Best of both worlds! At a price less than what good head units cost, it's a good buy.

MAJICAL.

Sonic Electronix. What will I do without you guys when it comes to car audio systems? Sonic electronix had the best price for the MS8 in the whole world and they delivered.
Now anyone who is familiar with the 2011 Infiniti FX35 will agree with me that this is a great vehicle. But all of the greatness was taken out on the supposedly premium Boss audio system which has no bass or highs. But I bought it anyways, knowing that I can upgrade the system myself.
The quest for the upgrade has seen me through trials of almost every brand of audio components in the market until I finally settled for the JBL power series speakers on 4 doors, with highs set on 0. A pair of Polk Audio tweeters in factory location,a pair of factory speakers in the rear, front and center. Topped off with a 12" Rockford Fosgate P1 (ported box) series all powered by a JBL GTO 3055 5 CHANNEL AMP and the Ms8. Great sounding system but I know that my HU is not feeding the system with all the needed signals. My HU is not designed for aftermarket replacement, moreso it controls a lot of other functions in the vehicle and it also looks great. The JBL Ms8 came as an answer from above to keep my HU and also boost it's power.
For the installation, I made sure that I took it to a pro shop that is familiar with the system. Other shops haven't even heard about the MS8 and I did not want any guess work done on the installation.
After installation was complete, I almost had the installer take out the MS8 because of the horrible sound that I was hearing. There was a horrible hiss-like noise in the background and the music was all muffled up.
I got home and did some tweaking. Some adjustment on my amp's input took care of the hiss-like noise, I left the settings of the MS8 at the factory default, and did some more tweakings on both my HU and my amp.
Next day I turned on the system and boy! I was blown away by the sound that I was hearing.
I felt like I was suspended in a vast expanse of space, engulfed in an invisible blanket of music that seems to be emanating from every conceivable angle.The feeling was celestial.
It seems to get even better as the day goes by.Sort of like it's ''breaking in''. I wanted bass and I got so much bass that I'm not even sure of what to do with all of it. Bass from my HU, bass from my amp and bass from the Ms8 screen controls.

PROS:
The MS8 eliminated the high pitched, ear irritating highs from my system. You can disable logic 7 and or processing to hear your music as raw as it comes. My bassy songs are richer and more defined. I definitely have more power in my system because now my volume controls only goes half way to get to my comfort level compared to my pre-MS8 set up where I had to go all the way to get there.

CONS:
The MS8 is not as easy to install as JBL claimed. It took all day. There are some bass notes that are still not there yet. The system sounds great sometimes than at other times. I find myself doing a lot of tweaking. But whatever way it sounds, it's still an improvement over my pre-MS8 set-up. Thumbs up JBL.

MS8 in 2010 Camaro

This unit was installed into a 2010 Camaro with Boston Acoustics after it got a 4ch amp, Kappa Perfects in front, and Polk Dxi690s in the rear, plus a mono amp w/ 2 8" Kicker L7s. Originally it was running off of a 4ch LOC tapped in after the factory amp for signal. Sounded TERRIBLE.
After testing we came to the conclusion the only way to get decent sound was going to be a new headunit or a sound processor, we opted for the sound processor.
Install was straight forward, and the 8 channels of inputs/ outputs was wonderful (really nice to sum the split rear treb/bass channels from the factory amp).
Tuning was a bear, though. Upon first installation we had 2 channels from the front speakers that were low level, sending signal for the front 2 channels of the 4 ch, which then went to a crossover and then the components. A curious issue arose, where on certain songs with certain notes the tweets would sound "crinkly." This went away with sound processing turned off, and moved from left to right depending on seating position selected.
After trying LOTS of stuff, it was finally decided to run 4 channels for the front, 2 for the tweets, powered from the MS8's internal amp, and 2 for the midbass drivers, low level into the 4 ch.
In the end this is what solved the problem.. the MS8 didn't like what the crossover was doing originally when it did its "listening".. but it liked being able to control the tweets and midbass separately.

All that fooling around aside, the end result was amazing. The car was a pleasure to listen to, and the Ms8 really kept the "brightness" of the Kappa Perfect's tweeters in check. The owner said it was driving around in a concert hall, and the system maintained clarity, even under very high volumes.

The MS8 is no toy, and takes lots of time and know-how to install and tune to get the most out of it. But when set up properly it is an excellent component to add into a system to help with SQ. Especially useful as a signal summing device when integrating with a factory signal source.

Also noteable, it's very useful for high end European cars with fiberoptic amplifier systems from the factory. When replacing the factory headunit in these the factory amp needs to go and you're left with a plethora of speakers to drive. The MS8 can be great for not just driving these many, many speakers, but allowing them to sound great at the same time, instead of just "getting them working" by driving a few off of the after market deck's power.

If you have the money, its worth it

Having had the MS-8 for a couple of months now, I cannot speak of it highly enough. All of the issues that had plagued my system previously have disappeared. As for the sound stage, I was blown away by how much it was improved. I actually feel a little lost now because I don’t really need to buy anything more to improve the stereo.

The only minor issues are that at times, the center of the sound stage seems to move slightly as you are playing music (but you have to push it pretty hard for this to occur and it is barely noticeable). Also, if you like the center to be in front of you and not in the center of the car, then there seems to be a slight drop in the quality of the stage itself as you move it across. However, having now gotten used to the stage being in the center, this is no longer an issue.

Overall, a great fix for the person who is tired of trying to endlessly fix the issues with your stereo.

great!

I added this to my sound system in my car and it made such an improvement. I have 4 hertz speakers and 2 12" dc audio level 4's all being powered by memphis audio amps. It made it much clearer and overally more balanced. it comes with a wireless remote, a mini screen for your dashboard, and headphones with a built in microphone. during the setup, you use the microphone on the headphones to tune and direct the sound waves.
pros:
increased clarity
balances the sound good
you can set where you want the sound to be aimed at anywhere in the car

cons:
a bit expensive (but worth it)
setup can be tricky if you aren't too techy with sound and if you dont know your crossovers

Excellent Interface with Factory Head Unit

JBL MS-8 serves as an excellent interface between after market amplifiers and a car's factory head unit. I had it installed in a 2012 Prius V with package 3 (navigation). It allowed me to add a Kicker 5 channel amp and high end speakers (Morel 6" woofer in front doors, Morel 6" coax's in rear, BG Planar Ribbon Tweeters in dash, 10" sub in rear) and still retain all the functions of the touch screen and navigation. The sophisticated eq with pink noise assures that you are hearing the complete range of frequencies. You can fine tune your system after installation with the enclosed remote and screen.

Great job. JBL MS-8

I got this unit few days ago and installed it in my car. Using original factory HU, speaker and wiring. After go through all the setting and calibration. When test and play first song, the sound so surprised. I can't imagine the SQ so good play in factory system. It go for who maintian the factory car setting and don't want to put an amp in.

JBL MS-8

I've been in car stereo since the early 80's so I've been around a while. I've competed in SPL and DB drag, but I'm getting into more of a laid back sound in my older years. Although I still love base from time to time it has it's place and I didn't see it necessary to put 6000+ watts in the family Explorer. I'm running Focal AS165's in the front and had a nice set of MB Quarts PVM216 in the rear. First off let me say that it's best to use matching speakers with the product, I believe it sets the time correction based of of what it hears first and the Quarts has a different sound characteristic than that of the Focal. At first I was getting intermodular distortion from the Quarts after initial and subsequent setups. It sounded like the Quartts were blown, but I noticed when I defeated the processor (MS-8) , the sound cleared up. I decided to install and second set of Focals in the rear, removing the MB Quarts. I initially did not go through the setup procedure again and after installation of the new speakers it sounded great. I then decided to do a factory reset and start with the calibration again. I must say, it's a very simple product to use and the results from a flat or so called flat or neutral(non-processor enabled) system is amazing. The front staging is very apparent. it adds depth and realism, even to poorly encoded mp.3's. I find myself purchasing FLAC audio files now to get the the best reproduction possible. Overall if you don't have the months or weeks required to tune a Bit-1, this is definitely the way to go. I'm quite pleased with my results. I would recommend JBL working of some additional features in the software, but it does what it does well, and if your not a control freak and need to wade through a lot of tuning minutiae, then I highly recommend this product.

Awesome Sound

Since my stock stereo is part of the climate control, replacing the deck was not an option. I also wanted to keep the stock appearance of the interior. I was doing research on replacement speakers and stumbled upon the JBL MS-8. It was pricey, but after reading several raving reviews I decided buy it. I had it professionally installed which ran about $200, but the sound quality is simply spectacular. I love the way my car sounds. It has greatly improved my mood with my daily commute.

The best car audio component I have ever purchased!

I bought a 2013 Ford Focus ST and was terribly disappointed with the sound of the "Premium" Sony 10 speaker sound system. It was muddy but harsh and the droning dirty bass cut out quickly. It would also dial back the volume quite a bit and screw up the sound horribly . . . Calling this system "Premium" is like calling a fart aromatic.

The JBL MS-8 cleans the sound right up and sends a perfect signal directly to my Polk MM6501 components and my home-built sub box with a 10" Rockford sub driven by an old 720 watt amp. Now the sound is amazing! I have never heard details in my music like this and it is almost infinitely customizable! Pure crystal clear musical bliss at any volume!

The only downside is that to make adjustments while driving takes attention off the road, and I am unable to set the default home screen to recall my favorite configurations.

Passive Transition

Highly recommended for anyone interested in SQ. If you do not have one, there are elements of your music that you are not hearing. It keeps your front stage ahead of the base. It cleans and blends the base and fills the cabin in a non directional way. Caught it on sale they sent me a dud, sent it back and got the money and bought a new one. Easy install if this is your skill set. Easily the best component, game changer I have ever purchased. I am sure it helps that I went from Polk db 6.5 components to JBL 650 csi components as well. Rear deck has a couple of Polk 6x9 coaxials for filler plus 2 cvx 12s.

Not worth it at all

It simply didnt work in my car. Even the JBL tecnichian tried to make it work, but it didnt. The reason JBL gave to its bad functionality is that my speakers were not the cars custom. Anyways I didnt like the fact that you have to change the volume trought its remote control instead of the original car system. Its SUPER ULTRA MEGA hard to install.

My favourite tech purchase of 2011.

I have now owned the MS-8 for six months. Six months of wedded bliss.

I am thoroughly pleased with the MS-8 and consider it a genuine value for money at sonic's pricing.

The installation is foolproof. The calibration is effortless. It takes only a few minutes with the headset on before you're in autosound heaven. In my case (2011 Ford F150 with Image Dynamics components) the automatic phase/time alignment/eq curves work beautifully and I have never needed to tweak the settings aside from turning up the gain on my subwoofer amplifier. The ability to focus the sound field for the driver, passenger, front seats, or all seats is sweet. I drive alone most of the time so I run the driver position which provides a very enveloping sound. It is truly remarkable to hear certain sounds behind your head, on the 'stage' in front of you, etc, in a car environment.
When I have others with me I switch to 'front' or 'all' and while it loses focus... it is a compromise to try to please all seating positions... the listening experience is still pleasant. I'd say 80% of what it is when riding solo.

The LCD and remote control are handy if you want to change something on the fly. You have instant access to all the DSP modes, eq settings, etc from the comfort of your seat. No need to get access to the unit itself!

The MS-8 is all you need to tie everything together between your attractive multi-function factory stereo and your good quality aftermarket speakers and amplifiers. In my opinion the MS-8's built in amplifiers are adequate only for tweeters and rear-fill.

Ghosts

Bought this and tweaked on it till I got frustrated. I took to two big time audiophile competition guys. Both had worked with this unit and could not make it do it's thing. Returned to Sonic and now have store credits. That is okay because I shop with Sonic a lot. I am in the process of buying Audison Bit Ten. My ears are better than this unit. That is sad.
Unfortunately I can not recommend.

Easy to Install...A pain to tune.....

I purchased this unit over 6 months ago. Installation took about 5 hours (had to rip out the seats, hack into the factory wiring harness and then solder everything back up, in's and out's. That was the easy part. Then setting up the unit was really easy too. But to get the best sound....it's hard!! I had to borrow a 31 Band RTA and analyze the car and then tweak each frequency out just to get it to sound "good." If I would not have then it would have sounded better with the stock unit. The simulated surround sound works okay, sometimes you hear things and it's like "WOW!" But it doesn't happen a lot. I put this in a Prius w/ JBL premium sound; so it sounds great- now that it's tuned. However I defiantly would not rate the sound as excellent. Over all the unit works well- great idea...just a royal pain to get each frequency tuned out. BTW I am an avid audio enthusiast. So I may be more picky than some.

I found my new supplier for electronics !

I ordered a JBL MS8 digital sound processor for my car and the first one arrived damaged. I called and spoke with the helpful staff who immediately sent me a replacement processor which I received the next day. They also made the return of the damaged unit very simple and painless. This was the first time I had ever ordered from Sonic Electronics and it won't be the last. The prices are great and they stand behind their products 100%. What else can a consumer ask for.

As for the processor. I cannot stress enough how this unit transformed my OEM stereo system into the best sounding car audio setup I have ever heard. JBL really outdid themselves with the MS8.

Good Unit

When I got unit it was easy to install. Started to do setup and had serious operator error. Got frustrated and took to friend whom has done installs for many years. He got it going in no time and made me look absolutely stupid. After doing all the tweeking it is absolutely rocking!!! I would definitely recommend to anyone wanting great SQ!!!!! If you can afford the price it is worth every penny.

Excellent once you set it up properly.

The MS8 has allowed me to undo the sub-par processing put in to place by my factory sound system and replace it with great, properly imaged sound.

The Logic 7 processing provided by the MS8 shifts the sound image from the bottom of your door panels, to the top of your good. Vocals have never sounded clearer, even on factory speakers.

I had some difficulty installing this product, and found that I needed to convert my factory amplified signal to low level inputs via line output converter in order to remove an annoying speaker pop on start up and shut down. Other users with the Sony system in their Ford vehicles may benefit from this information. Make sure to tune the line out converter such that the output voltage is around 2.8v at max volume, otherwise you will clip the inputs of the MS8 and lose a significant range of volume control. On my car, I used inputs from the front tweeters, and front woofers to provide full-range signal. You will have to research where to obtain full range signal for the MS8 on your vehicle.

Compatibility with factory Bluetooth leaves something to be desired, as processing must be disabled in order to remove an echo heard by the other party. There is a somewhat obscure software update that JBL provides to map the "mute" button on the MS8 remote to processing disable. While not an automatic option, it is a serviceable workaround.

Integration with other factory features such as audio attenuation in reverse with parking distance sensors and navigation voice seem to work great.

Ram 2500

Easy to hook up and fit right under my driver seat. system sounds great clean and clear!!