Disappointing Surreal Sound Pro

[Bunnylebowski]

I guess I'm confused or I missed it on one of your earlier posts. Your details indicate you are a Lucid Air Touring buyer but to my knowledge no Touring models have been delivered?? So where/how are you listening to the Air's sound system? And as others have asked, what source are you using for your listening on your Touring vehicle?

Yeah I was a little confused too as he said there’s two chargers for iPhones. If you had the car, you’d know there’s only one but it can charge through many cases. Maybe he took a test drive and didn’t like the audio system? And also thinks for some reason the speakers are all active Bose instead of passive whatever brand? I actually have no idea what the speakers are. Interestingly though active speakers with their own amplifier tend to have a more accurate frequency response as the amp is designed for that specific speaker. If Lucid did that it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, but I’m not sure how you’d do that in a car as it would add a LOT of weight (21 amps, not 2-3!). I think when he says “maybe” he doesn’t know what he’s talking about it’s more like “definitely”.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Somebody can tell me I’m wrong, but I think the speakers are Bose with self-contained amplifier. You have to have a true amplifier system with good speakers and software processing to have good music quality and bass.

Meyer Archeron, Genelec, Focal and Mackie all prove that statement very incorrect. In fact most good subwoofers are self-powered.

 

[hmp10]

If you [Brad Carlson] had the car . . . .

I think that's the operative statement here.

 

[hmp10]

Well, tell me the audio is better than your last car.

That's exactly what I'm telling you. And my two most recent sedans were a 2015 Tesla Model S (with the audio upgrade option offered at the time) and a 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid with their newest -- and standard -- premium sound system. The Lucid's system noticeably betters the Plaid's system.

 

[hmp10]

Regarding how different people perceive audio systems, I think there is a difference between objective accuracy (measurements tracking the fidelity to the original source) and subjective accuracy (what people think the music should sound like).

We live with this divide in our household routinely. From my college years and into young adulthood I was an amateur audiophile. I read all the audio press of the era and stretched to buy the best sound reproduction equipment available.

My partner spent that period of his life during the communist era in Poland, where he and his friends had no access to good audio systems. They could occasionally go to live concerts, and they tried to recreate the experience on home systems on which -- based on how my partner and his friends listen to music today -- they apparently cranked up the bass to levels of high distortion.

As we now do most of our listening to music in our cars, we have reached a compromise. I do not touch the equalizer controls in the Model S Plaid which he drives most often and in which he cranks up the bass to levels that give me a headache. He does not touch the equalizer controls that I keep set to center in the Lucid Air that I drive most often.

He feels music sounds better in the Plaid. I find the music in the Air to be much more accurately reproduced.

In an era of Bluetooth streaming and earbuds, I wonder if many people even know what truly accurate music reproduction sounds like.

P.S. I know I'm right.

 

[joec]

In an era of Bluetooth streaming and earbuds, I wonder if many people even know what truly accurate music reproduction sounds like.

Oh, I am quite certain you are right. This is a bit of a tilting at windmills argument. Those of us like you, Bunny, and I who prefer accuracy above all and want to hear recordings as they were intended to be heard are not going to get very far. There’s no convincing folks who have grown to love that overdriven bass, and that’s fine. I just don’t like when they suggest the system in the Air is somehow inferior.

Nothing wrong with preferring Dominos. But don’t try to convince me it’s better pizza than you get from a restaurant in Naples.

 

[hydbob]

Oh, I am quite certain you are right. This is a bit of a tilting at windmills argument. Those of us like you, Bunny, and I who prefer accuracy above all and want to hear recordings as they were intended to be heard are not going to get very far. There’s no convincing folks who have grown to love that overdriven bass, and that’s fine. I just don’t like when they suggest the system in the Air is somehow inferior.

Nothing wrong with preferring Dominos. But don’t try to convince me it’s better pizza than you get from a restaurant in Naples.

But, it is because they deliver it to my door...pizza I can eat > pizza I cannot!

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Regarding how different people perceive audio systems, I think there is a difference between objective accuracy (measurements tracking the fidelity to the original source) and subjective accuracy (what people think the music should sound like).

We live with this divide in our household routinely. From my college years and into young adulthood I was an amateur audiophile. I read all the audio press of the era and stretched to buy the best sound reproduction equipment available.

My partner spent that period of his life during the communist era in Poland, where he and his friends had no access to good audio systems. They could occasionally go to live concerts, and they tried to recreate the experience on home systems on which -- based on how my partner and his friends listen to music today -- they apparently cranked up the bass to levels of high distortion.

As we now do most of our listening to music in our cars, we have reached a compromise. I do not touch the equalizer controls in the Model S Plaid which he drives most often and in which he cranks up the bass to levels that give me a headache. He does not touch the equalizer controls that I keep set to center in the Lucid Air that I drive most often.

He feels music sounds better in the Plaid. I find the music in the Air to be much more accurately reproduced.

In an era of Bluetooth streaming and earbuds, I wonder if many people even know what truly accurate music reproduction sounds like.

P.S. I know I'm right.

Yeah I’ve gone down the magnetic ribbon speaker McIntosh silver MIT cable route, finally decided I was fine with definitive technologies tower speaker 5.1 system, all in with the amp for about $5k. The audiophile route does sound better but not THAT much better to justify the extra $20k+ it will cost you. The Lucid sounds better than my home theater, and by “better” I mean both superior accuracy and depth of sound stage. I’ve also sat in the back seat and the speakers are not “weak”, in fact for the Atmos mix of The Last Jedi the reverb from the orchestra is appropriately spread across the read surrounds.

I bet the Model S plaid sounds great too, but it’s just incorrect regardless of preference to state the Lucid’s system is anything other than excellent, and if it isn’t it’s not due to the speakers/amps/DSP/capabilities but rather to issues with streaming formats, not being able to use USB/CarPlay and Bluetooth audio. THAT is something Lucid can and should improve on. There’s nothing wrong with the audio system itself at all.

 

[Zenithredgt60]

Putting Barney aside - I just have terrible streaming in the car. Tidal doesn’t work well. Are others having this problem. Has anyone added Sirius XM is that possible.

 

[Drendino]

Nothing wrong with preferring Dominos. But don’t try to convince me it’s better pizza than you get from a restaurant in Naples.

Truer words have never been spoken on this forum! I’m pretty sure the anti Lucid sound system people put pineapple on their pizza!

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Putting Barney aside - I just have terrible streaming in the car. Tidal doesn’t work well. Are others having this problem. Has anyone added Sirius XM is that possible.

Tidal on the car is intermittently frustrating for me. It doesn’t drop out too often for me, but it’s more that it’s slow to respond to ANY input of any kind, and it’s unpredictable which track it’s going to start playing when I get the car. It should just pick up on whatever playlist you left on when you exited the car, but it can’t do it for some reason. Instead it seems to sometimes restart the same song, but then does a Tidal algorithm playlist based on that song rather than your own tracks/playlist. There definitely is no set-it/forget-it to Tidal app in the car, you have to fuss with it too much. CarPlay would solve that of course.

 

[Tesla2.0]

Truer words have never been spoken on this forum! I’m pretty sure the anti Lucid sound system people put pineapple on their pizza!

I happen to like pineapple in pizza, fried rice, salad and everything.

 

[Drendino]

I happen to like pineapple in pizza, fried rice, salad and everything.

I love fried rice and salad, but I may need to unfollow you since you are a pineapple on pizza guy. I feel let down.

 

[hydbob]

I love fried rice and salad, but I may need to unfollow you since you are a pineapple on pizza guy. I feel let down.

Pineapple on pizza is great, but chicken tikka masala on pizza is even better

 

[abbas2099]

Tidal on the car is intermittently frustrating for me. It doesn’t drop out too often for me, but it’s more that it’s slow to respond to ANY input of any kind, and it’s unpredictable which track it’s going to start playing when I get the car. It should just pick up on whatever playlist you left on when you exited the car, but it can’t do it for some reason. Instead it seems to sometimes restart the same song, but then does a Tidal algorithm playlist based on that song rather than your own tracks/playlist. There definitely is no set-it/forget-it to Tidal app in the car, you have to fuss with it too much. CarPlay would solve that of course.

Totally agree with you.. that is my exact sentiment! Also when i get Tidal to work, about 20 min later, it just stops playing where i have to bounce back and forth between the inputs to try to get it back.. sometimes it comes back, other times it doesn’t. Spotify and Bluetooth work but they stop working sometimes too… they just dont sound as well hence why I keep going back to it.

So hard to jump out of the car to reset it when you are in the middle of the highway on an hour drive.

 

[Drendino]

Pineapple on pizza is great, but chicken tikka masala on pizza is even better

Blasphemy!

 

[digiboxer]

And Mr Rogers was one heck of a musician. The tunes were jazzy and complex, while still being completely accessible to children. You actually learned a bit about melody and chord structure while you were learning to be kind.

The Barney era was just crap. The worst possible dumbed down music for morons. No effort put into the writing at all.

Fred was a big jazz fan. If you remember there was always a very cool piano trio playing thru the credits at the end of each show.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Sorry but I just HAVE to say something. If you have Tidal HiFi, put on the Atmos mix of Prince’s When Doves Cry. They obviously had a crapload of fun with this mix. It does what Atmos was designed to do. The sound localization is incredible, something you can’t do in 5.1. They made a “bed” of his background vocals but made an “object” of the forward vocals, and there are moments when it sounds like he’s 3 inches from your face, then will fade into the back for musical parts, with the keys and guitars flying around your head. The depth of stage is infinite, the mix is a goddamn masterpiece. You can’t hear that on a home system unless you’re set up for 7.1.4 or better, and even then you probably have fewer speakers, so this car may well be the best listening environment outside of the studio it was mixed in (best experience while not driving so minimal exterior NVH). So no the Surreal Sound Pro is NOT disappointing.

 

[SaratogaLefty]

Sorry but I just HAVE to say something. If you have Tidal HiFi, put on the Atmos mix of Prince’s When Doves Cry. They obviously had a crapload of fun with this mix. It does what Atmos was designed to do. The sound localization is incredible, something you can’t do in 5.1. They made a “bed” of his background vocals but made an “object” of the forward vocals, and there are moments when it sounds like he’s 3 inches from your face, then will fade into the back for musical parts, with the keys and guitars flying around your head. The depth of stage is infinite, the mix is a goddamn masterpiece. You can’t hear that on a home system unless you’re set up for 7.1.4 or better, and even then you probably have fewer speakers, so this car may well be the best listening environment outside of the studio it was mixed in (best experience while not driving so minimal exterior NVH). So no the Surreal Sound Pro is NOT disappointing.

I heard that song on the freeway yesterday. Still sounded fantastic even with some road noise.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Lucid should set up their test drive cars correctly with Tidal HiFi/Atmos and just play that track. I think they’ll have far less potential customers underwhelmed with the audio system.