Rivian‘s Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid said Tuesday that the company is working on audio tuning changes after several owners of first and second-generation R1 vehicles complained about the sound quality.
Bensaid wrote that “there are Audio tuning changes that are in the works,” as a reply on a Reddit post that flagged the “mediocre” quality of the sound when playing music versus how “exceptional” it sounds when watching videos, as an example.
The issue has been pointed out several times by different Rivian owners over the last few years.
Nearly a year ago, Rivian announced it was partnering with Apple Music to integrate its “premium, immersive Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos.”
By then, the company made Apple Music available “in all of Rivian‘s electric vehicles for drivers with an Apple Music subscription.”
Rivian owners with second generation vehicles could also select Rivian Premium Audio, “a Rivian-designed sound system, which enables Apple Music’s Spatial Audio thanks to Dolby Atmos.”
Rivian vehicles were standardly equipped with the Meridian audio system until 2023, when the brand switched to an in-house solution.
Last year, Reddit user ‘sg3707’ highlighted the difference between a first-gen R1T pickup with Meridian audio and a second-gen R1S with Premium Audio, sparking debate over whether the sound quality could be attributed to a software issue.
“For those who haven’t heard the R1T Meridian after the Apple update, let me tell you, that one rocks compared to this mess,” they pointed out.
“The sound level jumps wildly between Dolby and normal tracks. Music pauses suddenly for no reason. The app itself lags some times,” the Rivian owner noted.
He added that “such poor quality in a premium product should be raised as a serious issue” and encouraged “everyone unhappy with their audio to raise the issue on social media and the service portal.”
Over the weekend, another Reddit user pointed out that, after the latest update (2025.22), some of the issues previously noted “appeared” to have been fixed by Rivian.
According to ‘Ballresin’, who owns a gen 2 R1S, the update “appears to have fixed the volume of Spacial Audio (Dolby Atmos) tracks, so they now play at the same volume as non-Atmos tracks.”
The most recent software update includes the integration of Google Maps into its Navigation system.
Earlier this month, Wassym Bensaid also replied to a post on Reddit that mentioned that their vehicle was automatically setting the seat heater versus the ventilation, even with higher temperatures outside.
“This is being addressed as part of a larger improvement coming in the summer,” the executive wrote.
Rivian has recently started to upgrade its charging network to support native NACS (North American Charging Standard) connectors as part of its adoption of Tesla’s charging standard.
