I just got my Air Pure with Surreal Sound Pro yesterday... It is OK, but am somewhat underwhelmed by the sound... I am a music junkie, so it matters... I use mostly Apple Music with "lossless" settings. The volume is capped relatively low, and there much less adjustability on EQ than other cars I have owned with high end systems. Any tips? Is SS Pro a software only upgrade, rather than hardware?
Sound systems are very much a subjective thing. If you are "underwhelmed" chances are you are more accustomed to "BASS!!!!!!!!!!!" which the Lucid, thankfully to me, does not do. The engineers built a system designed to faithfully reproduce music the way the engineer intended. Which is not the way 90-percent of us are accustomed to listening. But for sound snobs, it is "the way." Totally understand if it's not your thing. Many here would agree with you.
Volume is quieter than you are likely used to as well. But it's mostly the math on the slider. I find when I want loud, I have to push the volume slider up higher than I did on other systems. But that, too, is a good thing. It still gets plenty loud. Just not in a way that distorts the speakers.
SSPro is best enjoyed with ATMOS tracks. At the moment, the only way to get those is with a Tidal Hi-Fi subscription. Wireless and even wired CarPlay cannot do ATMOS, even though Apple has the files for many tracks. (Basically, anything they advertise as being available in "Spatial Audio" which is their term for surround in headphones.) Hopefully, Apple will release an update to CarPlay eventually that will enable ATMOS tracks. They have not as yet announced any plans to do this.
If you can't or don't want to listen via Tidal, the second best option is to get a USB stick and put lossless files on it. Plug that in and listen. Much better quality than any streaming service can offer in the Air.
The worst possible way to listen is via Spotify.
When it comes to EQ, my advice? Use your ears. Any "magic" settings you get from someone else on this forum will inevitably be perfect for them and the specific music they like only. A more fine-tuned EQ would be welcomed by many. Fortunately, Lucid can do that with a software update down the road.
I tend to adjust my eq according to what I'm listening to that day. Whether it be jazz, prog rock, or Swedish Death Metal. One eq setting does not fit all.
SSPro, up until recently, was a software-only upgrade. All Airs shipped with the complete hardware, and the software was set to offer Pro as a "free trial" for three months.
More recent cars, however, may have started shipping without certain hardware components. (Fewer speakers. No ATMOS amp). Not sure if that has started yet or is only planned for future cars. The free trial thing was a temporary fix to Lucid having built a LOT of cars that weren't selling a year ago. So they offered fully-speced cars at a cheaper rate, hoping to get some money back via conversions from the trial. Didn't work out so well.
So the short answer is—hard to know. Only Lucid can tell you if the SSPro hardware is in your particular vehicle. You purchased it, so the hardware should be present and the software should be set to turn it on.
Finally, do a search on this forum about the sound system and you will find threads about "tape" that sometimes causes issues for some owners. If your system really is lacking bass completely, or you are getting odd sounds that are similar to a blown speaker, you may be able to get a mobile tech to do a quick fix that will make the system sound a lot better.
lucidowners.com
tidal.com
