Is Surreal Sound Pro worth the cost?

[Amster]

My original GT had Surreal Sound Pro included by default. I'm ordering a replacement one tomorrow since my first was totalled in an accident a couple weeks ago. Now it is a $4000 option and I'm not sure if I need it. When I was in the car I was listening to Spotify or SiriusXM. Does the upgraded sound system make a difference for either one?

 

[borski]

My original GT had Surreal Sound Pro included by default. I'm ordering a replacement one tomorrow since my first was totalled in an accident a couple weeks ago. Now it is a $4000 option and I'm not sure if I need it. When I was in the car I was listening to Spotify or SiriusXM. Does the upgraded sound system make a difference for either one?

You should ask if it will come with a 90-day trial either way. If it does, use that and then buy it if you miss it.

In general, Spotify and Sirius will not use the Atmos speakers to full effect, but there are still more speakers and thus higher quality output; trust your ears, as they're the only ones that matter.

 

[xponents]

Are you paying full price for it or insurance?
In my opinion, please take it with a grain of salt as I do not own a car, SSP is worth it simply for how well thought and engineered it was, while DDP is.... not worth it. You get a car to drive it. If you want to increase range, use ACC which is included standard.
This is likely to be a controversial opinion, so please remember its what I think.

Also I dont want to downgrade you, but have you considered a touring?

 

[Impatient7536]

not sure how true this is, but i was told that DDP and SSP prices will be going up, beyond the current 10k and 4k price. maybe ask about what the pricing will be after the 90 day trial.

 

[Drendino]

In my opinion, the answer is “yes”. I know there are not too many options for Dolby Atmos yet, but it sounds sooo good! If you are never going to use it, I suppose you can skip it. However, if you love good audio, it can be a blissful listening experience.

 

[Stevepatek]

SSP is terrific , one of the best auto sound systems I’ve heard. Caveat is, I listen to Tidal mostly.

 

[MHDave]

What would help on answering this question would be the ability to enable/disable SSP on cars with SSP. Listen to some of your favorites with and without SSP enabled. Then you could answer this question.

 

[HariK]

You should ask if it will come with a 90-day trial either way. If it does, use that and then buy it if you miss it.

In general, Spotify and Sirius will not use the Atmos speakers to full effect, but there are still more speakers and thus higher quality output; trust your ears, as they're the only ones that matter.

I don't think SSp is worth the extra cost but I got it for directional alerts just in case.

 

[Neurio]

Listen to this playlist and tell me Atmos isn't worth it (note: you need a sound system that can play Atmos to fully appreciate this, obviously):

https://tidal.com/playlist/5a3290cf-c993-467b-af33-e7dd72da4a92

 

[HariK]

I enjoyed the quiet ride 1000 miles to LA Temecula and back to Fremont actually. Besides I am not certain if the frequency range I can hear is better than Bluetooth to the car from YouTube music lol! That said I have 2 7.1 audio systems and 5 AV receivers and a sound bar.

 

[Cosmo Cruz]

I used to be an audiophile...the whole 9 yards = dedicated listening room with acoustic-engineered "treatments", obscenely expensive custom gear, magic wire, test pressing vinyl & half-speed masters, tube amps....the tone arm & cartridge alone were N of $10k ... everything vibration damped, star grounding on a dedicated circuit... When Sony introduced the SCD-1 I jumped on it.

What I found was ... I liked the vinyl more. Sounds crazy I know, but everyone I tested A/B agreed within 30 seconds of listening.

Of course tubes and vinyl are not "high-fidelity" compared to digital (and digital keeps getting better )... that's not the point of music. The point of music is emotion.

So I go out of my way to buy cars with premium audio systems = Mark Levinson in the Lexus; Bang & Olufsen in Mercedes... Dynaudio and Bowers & Wilkins in Volvo.

The audio system in the Lucid is simply outstanding. If you are an emotional person ... $20 / month for therapy any time you need it

is a heck of a bargain.

game
set
match

 

[stratus]

Emphatic yes.

 

[pjdcorp]

Listen to this playlist and tell me Atmos isn't worth it (note: you need a sound system that can play Atmos to fully appreciate this, obviously):

https://tidal.com/playlist/5a3290cf-c993-467b-af33-e7dd72da4a92

Great playlist !!!

 

[stratus]

Listen to this playlist and tell me Atmos isn't worth it (note: you need a sound system that can play Atmos to fully appreciate this, obviously):

https://tidal.com/playlist/5a3290cf-c993-467b-af33-e7dd72da4a92

Thanks for posting this. Brought several over to my playlist.

 

[DreamTour]

Atmos is a novel listening experience. The sound image has depth to it that stereo does not. For stereo, the image gives you direction but not depth. I think some of the masters where they have a moving sound object (or play from behind for no apparent reason) are a bit tacky, but some others masters to a really good job of it. For example if you are listening to a jazz trio / quartet you can actually hear them as if they were on stage and pick out where they are sitting.

That said, Atmos is in its infancy and i do think sound engineers have a lot to learn to get the most out of it. While Stereo is really well understood and the sound "well balanced" sometimes unnatural things can happen with atmos imo where the bass imagine isn't tight and it seems like it's nowhere on the sound stage whereas its better blended in a stereo track.

I actually found that the weirdest tracks to listen to are those i knew well from stereo masters. My expectation of the experience doesn't match with the output and it throws me off at first.

My POV - if you are looking for something new - go for SSP. If you want tried and true go stereo.

FWIW i did an aftermarket upgrade to the Atmos system, about to put another chunk into it upgrading the midbass.

 

[Magellanic]

Question --- if Im just using Spotify would there be a difference in the number of speakers active with SSP vs non-SSP?

 

[xponents]

Question --- if Im just using Spotify would there be a difference in the number of speakers active with SSP vs non-SSP?

Not speakers, they just wouldnt run in Atmos.

 

[Magellanic]

Thanks - my SSP trial expired while I was out of town and I now can’t tell if there’s any diff between before and after - I use Spotify not Tidal. I guess the fact I can’t tell means something - though I thought I noticed the sound seemed “smaller” post

 

[Amster]

Question --- if Im just using Spotify would there be a difference in the number of speakers active with SSP vs non-SSP?

I was told that if you have SS Pro there are 21 speakers, in SS there are 12. If you can't tell a difference before and after, then there's definitely no reason to pay for the upgrade.

 

[Magellanic]

Yes I think its a good case study for implied value... thanks