Disappointing Surreal Sound Pro

[MikeTz]

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.

As an Owner of a Plaid... You are right. The sounds are more accurately reproduced in the Air.

 

[Bill55]

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.

Lucid needs to open up the USB ports so we can play other sources that are not compromised by Bluetooth.

 

[digiboxer]

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.

Did you---like me--head to the audio store to buy your first digital system, only to return home with a Linn Sondec turntable? Can't believe I fell for that one...

 

[epradox]

I currently have a model y performance and a model x plaid and both sound systems are a bit bass heavy. model y actually has a pretty good sound system for its price class probably one of the best ive heard in its segment. the sub, though loud, is pretty tight and controlled doesnt sound distorted and bloaty. Model x though has a superior sound stage and clarity but the sub can get bloaty and distorted. cranked up it can bottom out which was surprising to me since i would think it would limit the sub from being able to do that. But i dont think the model x has a great sound system it is comparative class. I heard an s class with its 3d burmeister sound system and that was by far one of the best sound systems ive ever heard. Now i think they have a 4d sound system??

 

[Bunnylebowski]

I heard an s class with its 3d burmeister sound system and that was by far one of the best sound systems ive ever heard. Now i think they have a 4d sound system??

According to Dolby and Mercedes the Maybach should have Atmos soon implemented into the Burmester 4D system with 31 speakers and 8 seat transducers (brown note anyone?), with the S class to follow shortly, or maybe the Maybach already does? I see no mention of the EQS in any of the Dolby press releases though, nor do I see any evidence of Maybach or Mercedes yet delivering an Atmos capable car even though they said Summer 2022. The Burmester system is excellent so whatever format it's compatible with should sound incredible. "3D" uses 15 speakers (3D and 4D are Burmester Mercedes car specifications, I don't know if it applies to Porsche or Bugatti who also use Burmester?). What matters is which format it's recorded/mixed/mastered and then delivered in. As far as I know Lucid is the ONLY car that has been delivered thus far to truly do Atmos. Chinese EV makers Li Auto and Nio have partnered with Dolby to do Atmos also but have not yet delivered a car with it, as far as I know.

The other formats are 360 reality audio which is a Sony format more aimed at headphones (you need headphones that are compatible), which Tidal HiFi and Spotify can do, meanwhile Apple has spatial audio with the AirPods pro and it's compabatible with Atmos, and Apple Music has a large Atmos selection, reportedly more than Tidal, although I haven't been able to compare them myself. You're probably not going to be driving with headphones in though so the ability to play multichannel audio via speakers would be important to those who are into high end audio, and for that Lucid is currently leading the pack.

 

[hmp10]

Did you---like me--head to the audio store to buy your first digital system, only to return home with a Linn Sondec turntable? Can't believe I fell for that one...

I was so excited about the arrival of CD's that I abandoned turntables for good upon the introduction of CD players. I got the first album that was actually digitally recorded instead of remastered from an analog tape: Emmylou Harris' "The Ballad of Sally Rose". If I could have worn out a CD, I would have worn out that one.

 

[Brad Carlson]

I have the Grand Touring and listening to Tidal

 

[Drendino]

I have the Grand Touring and listening to Tidal

I don’t see you on the Grand Touring Tracker. Did you buy your car second hand?

 

[hmp10]

I have the Grand Touring and listening to Tidal

So why does your profile say you have the Touring? You really seem rather confused about the car you say you own.

 

[Brad Carlson]

I’m not confused at all about what car I own. I’ll update my profile. I have the Grand Touring new. I don’t know why you would seize on that to criticize my comments. Stick to the facts. This is not a fan club. It’s a forum about what we like and don’t like about the best EV available. We can have criticisms.

 

[hmp10]

I’m not confused at all about what car I own. I’ll update my profile. I have the Grand Touring new. I don’t know why you would seize on that to criticize my comments. Stick to the facts. This is not a fan club. It’s a forum about what we like and don’t like about the best EV available. We can have criticisms.

If you have read many of my other posts you will see that, while I like my Lucid immensely as a driving machine, it is driving me crazy with recurrent software problems, another serious one of which I had today and posted about.

I have come back at some of your posts because they contain misinformation about more than the car itself. For instance, you were mistaken in your assertions about Dolby Atmos licensing, how Atmos interfaces with the car's audio system, and using equalization with an Atmos system. You were also wrong about your general observation that a speaker with an integrated amplifier must necessarily be inferior to a speaker amplified externally.

In other words, you're holding forth on a topic about which you demonstrably know little. Giving Lucid a pass on things it got wrong (quite a few of which I've posted about copiously) is what makes a fanboy. Pushing back on misinformation about the car does not.

 

[Brad Carlson]

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.

Yes, it drops out too often. You have to go back and press play and it might work or it might not. There’s no haptic response. It’s only visual. It’s not like Sirius XM where it drops out because of trees and comes back. I find that I press all of the buttons more than once. Yes, it’s the best EV, but it has issues.

 

[Brad Carlson]

If you have read many of my other posts you will see that, while I like my Lucid immensely as a driving machine, it is driving me crazy with recurrent software problems, another serious one of which I had today and posted about.

I have come back at some of your posts because they contain misinformation about more than the car itself. For instance, you were mistaken in your assertions about Dolby Atmos licensing, how Atmos interfaces with the car's audio system, and using equalization with an Atmos system. You were also wrong about your general observation that a speaker with an integrated amplifier must necessarily be inferior to a speaker amplified externally.

In other words, you're holding forth on a topic about which you demonstrably know little. Giving Lucid a pass on things it got wrong (quite a few of which I've posted about copiously) is what makes a fanboy. Pushing back on misinformation about the car does not.

Wow. I didn’t say anything about using equalization with an Atmos system. Nor would it matter. I do think that a speaker system with individual amps is inferior to a centralized processor. I’m not holding forth on anything. I’m offering my opinion. I don’t know how that’s misinformation. I’d say you’re the fanboy.

 

[hmp10]

Wow. I didn’t say anything about using equalization with an Atmos system.

After complaining about the sound quality of the Lucid Atmos system, in post #66 on this thread you wrote, "I expect volume, equalizer and balance in a 10 year old Buick." The clear implication of the remark taken in context was that Lucid does not have the audio functionality of a 10-year-old Buick.

Bunnylebowski, who does actually know what he's talking about, responded with, "Sorry man but you don’t know what you’re talking about. You can’t 'balance' ANY Dolby mix, 5.1, 7.1, Atmos, etc. They don’t allow it, it pre-assigns speaker location and balance to that speaker, you can just increase global volume and adjust frequency."

If you think I'm a fanboy, read my posts from today on the thread "Software Bugs".

 

[Brad Carlson]

I wasn’t complaining about Atmos. I was complaining about non-Atmos. Sorry man, you don’t know what you’re
talking about.

 

[Brad Carlson]

Wow. I didn’t say anything about using equalization with an Atmos system. Nor would it matter. I do think that a speaker system with individual amps is inferior to a centralized processor. I’m not holding forth on anything. I’m offering my opinion. I don’t know how that’s misinformation. I’d say you’re the fanboy.

I wasn’t trying to balance a Dolby mix. I was trying to make non-Dolby sound better. I’d like somebody to tell me how to do that.

 

[hydbob]

I wasn’t trying to balance a Dolby mix. I was trying to make non-Dolby sound better. I’d like somebody to tell me how to do that.

Set it to +6, 0, -2

 

[Brad Carlson]

I don’t see you on the Grand Touring Tracker. Did you buy your car second hand?

 

[Brad Carlson]

No, I bought my car new. I’m sorry I didn’t post to the Tracker.

 

[Brad Carlson]

Set it to +6, 0, -2

That’s what I have, almost. Is that the best?