Can I verify that Surreal Sound Pro was installed

[Psikorski]

We have not been impressed with the sound in our Touring. I have verified SS Pro is on our Purchase Agreement and included in our purchase price. I have contacted Customer Care twice regarding my question and have not received a response to my question. On the window sticker it shows AM/FM Radio (HD), there is nothing related to SS Pro. Has anyone else had this issue or know how we can verify what was built in the car?

We ordered our car early on and took delivery in Feb. 2023.

 

[hydbob]

What are you using as your source for music?

 

[Psikorski]

We are using SiriusXM and Pandora, but tried using TIDAL at the studio when we picked up the car. Our Delivery Associate also tried to show us Dolby but if I remember correctly he couldn’t find a song that would provide Dolby sound. I had a trial acct with Tidal but canceled it since we had other sources and didn’t think it was that great.

That said, I would have thought we would have seen something on the sticker. It did show other options with the costs associated, but no anything about SS Pro.

 

[hydbob]

Using anything but Tidal HiFI Plus or a USB with lossless FLAC files, will make the system sound pedestrian even with SS Pro. As to whether or not it actually has SSPro, you'd need to consult with your SA/DA or service center there.

 

[Sheena]

So I have a similar question. Did not order or pay for SS Pro but it appeared as an option on my window sticker.
Have had car only ~ 8 days and thus within 3 month trial. I do not have any sound coming out of window frame speakers in front (2 on each side) with any music format I have tried, noting I have not tried tidal. I can't tell if those speakers are simply not working or only active with uncompressed high end music sources. I did ask Lucid customer service this and have yet to get a reply. I also know from previous posts that a woofer exists under floor of front and I cannot appreciate any sound/vibration from there. As of now, using same HD FM station my wife's Lexus RX 350 sounds better and can pull in more stations. I also noted for AM weak station a helicopter-in- the- background like sound which is wacky. I'm hoping there is a fix and awaiting an answer about those pillar speakers that look cool, but currently non-functional.

 

[HariK]

SSp is supposed to include directional alert. Have someone walk around the car and see if the speakers follow. I have not tried it though,

 

[Neurio]

The key is to use Tidal and make sure you have HiFi selected as the music quality under the Tidal settings.

Once you've done that, play this track to test out the sound system.

https://tidal.com/track/243820594

 

[Bunnylebowski]

So I have a similar question. Did not order or pay for SS Pro but it appeared as an option on my window sticker.
Have had car only ~ 8 days and thus within 3 month trial. I do not have any sound coming out of window frame speakers in front (2 on each side) with any music format I have tried, noting I have not tried tidal. I can't tell if those speakers are simply not working or only active with uncompressed high end music sources. I did ask Lucid customer service this and have yet to get a reply. I also know from previous posts that a woofer exists under floor of front and I cannot appreciate any sound/vibration from there. As of now, using same HD FM station my wife's Lexus RX 350 sounds better and can pull in more stations. I also noted for AM weak station a helicopter-in- the- background like sound which is wacky. I'm hoping there is a fix and awaiting an answer about those pillar speakers that look cool, but currently non-functional.

Yeah those A pillar speakers are used as the height channels for Dolby Atmos tracks, they’re only active when signal is being sent to them purposefully (the track was mixed sending certain things to the heigh channels). Only Tidal HiFI Plus can play back Dolby Atmos tracks. CarPlay cannot play Atmos tracks yet in any car. Native Apple Music app can in the new Mercedes but most cars don’t have native Apple Music app or Atmos yet. Apple Music
uses a pretty good compression codec, almost as good as Tidal for non-Atmos tracks, you just have to make sure you have that turned on on your phone if you’re using that (Audio Quality under music needs to be set to Lossless and also Lossless for all streaming). Spotify premium is ok, but honestly the car’s high fidelity reveals the inadequacies of lossy compression regular Spotify uses, and I don’t think Premium sounds that good either. USB media files as long as they’re in the correct format sound great.

I do hope Lucid trains all their studio staff to correctly demonstrate SSPro Dolby Atmos in Tidal and explain to customers that to get the most out of it you need to have the right source material. Otherwise most people are going to just play tracks over Bluetooth or CarPlay Spotify regular quality and be underwhelmed. This is not a new issue, it’s been a continuous re-education campaign needed since day 1 the car was released haha.

 

[MorganB]

I do hope Lucid trains all their studio staff to correctly demonstrate SSPro Dolby Atmos in Tidal and explain to customers that to get the most out of it you need to have the right source material. Otherwise most people are going to just play tracks over Bluetooth or CarPlay Spotify regular quality and be underwhelmed. This is not a new issue, it’s been a continuous re-education campaign needed since day 1 the car was released haha.

This 100%. Most people don't understand the nuances of source material. The plus of the Lucid sound system is it really really shines when fed the proper source. The downside is due to its accuracy it shows all the shortcoming of something like XM or Pandora. Delivery team and studio personnel need to be able to educate the buyers or future buyers on the topic. My delivery person had no idea how to get an ATMOS track to play when I took delivery.

 

[Wait4Perfection]

Back to the OP's question, is there anyway to definitively check to see if SSP is active? My ears aren't reliable

 

[stratus]

Back to the OP's question, is there anyway to definitively check to see if SSP is active? My ears aren't reliable

If you are in Tidal and play an Atmos track, you will know. An easy one to test with is Take on Me by a-ha. About half way through the song the sound spins all around the car like a propeller. It’s impossible to miss it. When Doves Cry is also a good test track for Atmos.
If you are not testing in Atmos tracks through the native Tidal app you will not be able to determine whether or not you have SSP.

Here is a link

https://tidal.com/track/234727627

 

[Wait4Perfection]

If you are in Tidal and play an Atmos track, you will know. An easy one to test with is Take on Me by Ah-ha. About half way through the song the sound spins all around the car like a propeller. It’s impossible to miss it. When Doves Cry is also a good test track for Atmos.
If you are not testing in Atmos tracks through the native Tidal app you will not be able to determine whether or not you have SSP.

So aside from playing music, there is no visual indicator in the pilot panel settings that SSP is active/available?

 

[stratus]

So aside from playing music, there is no visual indicator in the pilot panel settings that SSP is active/available?

I do not think there is a visual indicator.
I imagine service could look at your car and tell whether or not it’s activated.
In my opinion, the sound in Atmos ( with some tracks) is so distinctive that it could potentially be used as a soft confirmation that you have SSP.

 

[Rogue]

Seeking clarification. Even if you select Dolby Atmos on your device with Bluetooth, this does not mean Dolby Atmos playing in the car. I tried to tell the difference, if any, just now. There appears to be a difference, but it may be in my head.

If you can only get it via the car, that would be annoying...

There was a unique Dolby Atmos symbol versus the other one. This would also confirm or deny OPs question.

 

[stratus]

Seeking clarification. Even if you select Dolby Atmos on your device with Bluetooth, this does not mean Dolby Atmos playing in the car. I tried to tell the difference, if any, just now. There appears to be a difference, but it may be in my head.

If you can only get it via the car, that would be annoying...

There was a unique Dolby Atmos symbol versus the other one. This would also confirm or deny OPs question.

Correct, you can only play Dolby Atmos through the native Tidal app in the car. . The difference should be striking, not subtle, when playing true Atmos versus regularly encoded tracks.

 

[Rogue]

Correct, you can only play Dolby Atmos through the native Tidal app in the car. . The difference should be striking, not subtle, when playing true Atmos versus regularly encoded tracks.

Also true then for the Master quality? Native app only?

Good to know I wasn't imagining the difference. A real shame though that I haven't known for almost six months of ownership...

 

[stratus]

Also true then for the Master quality? Native app only?

Good to know I wasn't imagining the difference. A real shame though that I haven't known for almost six months of ownership...

Sorry for your frustration !!
I think you can play master quality via Carplay and Bluetooth but the sound will theoretically be somewhat degraded versus the native Tidal app. I use CarPlay a lot to play music and lossless files from Apple Music actually sound great through my wired CarPlay connection. I haven’t use the wireless CarPlay connection. In all honesty, I think it would be very difficult to discern a difference in quality between Tidal master, and Apple Music lossless via CarPlay, with a wired connection. It may even be difficult to discern wirelessly.
Lately I have tended to use Tidal mostly (but not exclusively )when I’m playing Dolby Atmos, and Apple CarPlay with Apple Music for most other listening experiences.
It seems that through CarPlay, when using Apple Music, the sound is a bit louder than it is with Tidal, but I may be just imagining that.

 

[Bus Driver]

Yeah those A pillar speakers are used as the height channels for Dolby Atmos tracks, they’re only active when signal is being sent to them purposefully (the track was mixed sending certain things to the heigh channels). Only Tidal HiFI Plus can play back Dolby Atmos tracks. CarPlay cannot play Atmos tracks yet in any car. Native Apple Music app can in the new Mercedes but most cars don’t have native Apple Music app or Atmos yet. Apple Music
uses a pretty good compression codec, almost as good as Tidal for non-Atmos tracks, you just have to make sure you have that turned on on your phone if you’re using that (Audio Quality under music needs to be set to Lossless and also Lossless for all streaming). Spotify premium is ok, but honestly the car’s high fidelity reveals the inadequacies of lossy compression regular Spotify uses, and I don’t think Premium sounds that good either. USB media files as long as they’re in the correct format sound great.

I do hope Lucid trains all their studio staff to correctly demonstrate SSPro Dolby Atmos in Tidal and explain to customers that to get the most out of it you need to have the right source material. Otherwise most people are going to just play tracks over Bluetooth or CarPlay Spotify regular quality and be underwhelmed. This is not a new issue, it’s been a continuous re-education campaign needed since day 1 the car was released haha.

You’re still educating me, @Bunnylebowski. I’m afraid I’m slightly handicapped however. Over the course of my near 30-year career, I’ve suffered an appreciable amount of hearing loss, especially in my left ear. I’m doubting I have enough audio acuity left to appreciate Dolby Atmos in full.

 

[Demosthenes]

So the native Amazon music playing an atmos track isn’t actually atmos?

 

[PaulC]

I had a similar issue. Paid for SSPro on my purchase agreement, but Mulroney didn't include SSPro on label and I only heard sound from front speaker, not surround. Mobile tech came to home and verified that sound only from front speaker, howver although I had the balance set in the middle he noted that surround speakers came on when he positioned balance further to rear. Also verified that my car had SSPro amplifier installed. He advised to use Tidal and put in search bar for Dolby Atmos and I heard the difference in both surround and directional music, so maybe you can troubleshoot by first trying to position balance directionally to see if you can activate positional speakers? I've found the surround sound to be very accurate and satisfying.
Also see FAQ and Forum for suggestions for setting Bass, etc. Will be interested in learning of your experience.