Is Surreal Sound Pro worth the cost?

[EVCar]

Thanks @borski I appreciate your efforts and broadening my outlook!!! Sorry, I have a deep seated, unrealistic, negative reaction for Tidal that is similar to my uncontrollable dislike for THE DAMN PIRELLI POS TIRES (rant over). The MQA codec was invented back when people had slow internet connections and was a compression/file size compromise. MQA is now antiquated as gigabit fiber is commonplace.

When I mentioned to the engineers at PS Audio that my new Lucid did Atmos music on Tidal, there was a lot of head scratching.

Great company you're with. I've bought a couple of CDs, from them. Good stuff.

 

[GoFast]

USB doesn’t do Atmos.

Try putting this on a USB stick with 2.1.2/2.1.3

Catch A Corner | IAA

Catch A Corner by Cinque (pronounced "Cheen-kwe") features a who's who of jazz and R&B/funk musicians: Steve Gadd on drums, Joey DeFrancesco on Hammond B3 organ, Peter Cardinali on bass, Robi Botos on piano and Fender Rhodes, and Johnny Johnson on tenor, alto, soprano and baritone saxes. The...

immersiveaudioalbum.com

 

[borski]

Try putting this on a USB stick with 2.1.2/2.1.3

Catch A Corner | IAA

Catch A Corner by Cinque (pronounced "Cheen-kwe") features a who's who of jazz and R&B/funk musicians: Steve Gadd on drums, Joey DeFrancesco on Hammond B3 organ, Peter Cardinali on bass, Robi Botos on piano and Fender Rhodes, and Johnny Johnson on tenor, alto, soprano and baritone saxes. The...

immersiveaudioalbum.com

Wait does it do Atmos now?

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

Try putting this on a USB stick with 2.1.2/2.1.3

Catch A Corner | IAA

Catch A Corner by Cinque (pronounced "Cheen-kwe") features a who's who of jazz and R&B/funk musicians: Steve Gadd on drums, Joey DeFrancesco on Hammond B3 organ, Peter Cardinali on bass, Robi Botos on piano and Fender Rhodes, and Johnny Johnson on tenor, alto, soprano and baritone saxes. The...

immersiveaudioalbum.com

You sold me on the Hammond B3!

 

[GoFast]

Wait does it do Atmos now?

Maybe

 

[stratus]

Maybe

Seriously or sarcasm?

 

[GoFast]

Seriously or sarcasm?

Seriously.

 

[stratus]

Seriously.

Ohhh, I am going to have to get on this ASAP.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Thanks @borski I appreciate your efforts and broadening my outlook!!! Sorry, I have a deep seated, unrealistic, negative reaction for Tidal that is similar to my uncontrollable dislike for THE DAMN PIRELLI POS TIRES (rant over). The MQA codec was invented back when people had slow internet connections and was a compression/file size compromise. MQA is now antiquated as gigabit fiber is commonplace.

When I mentioned to the engineers at PS Audio that my new Lucid did Atmos music on Tidal, there was a lot of head scratching. Why? As you know, Dolby Atmos was invented for home theater and films, and simply adds height channels.

I just played a few FLAC tracks recorded from vinyl, tube phono preamp, over the Lucid USB. I am even more elated. Before playing FLAC tracks over USB on the Lucid, I also thought the bass was weak. IT IS NOT. The other source material was crap.

IMHO, the Lucid sound system has the SAME problem as high resolution home and studio set ups. With true high resolution playback, crap sounds like crap. I have helped many friends and customers set up their first high resolution sound system, even ones costing modest amounts (under $5K) but choosing great revealing components. A very common complaint is that their former favorite music now sounds like shit on this new "high res" system. They are not thrilled that MP3s are now unlistenable. As luxury cars get better and better systems, source material is and will continue to be critical.

When I was young, the Beach Boys 8 track tape always sounded GREAT in the cheap player bolted to the transmission tunnel of my Firebird, with Layfette speakers bolted under the parcel shelf.

Ah I didn’t see this post before. For Atmos, what impresses me most is new mixes of older tracks that have been done for the format of prior recordings with the artist blessing. Having a true center and dedicated LFE channel plus being able to spread room reverb to height and surrounds creates a remarkable mix and creative opportunities. Having come from the film sound world yeah it was originally just an upgrade from 5.1, but I’m very much enjoying what Atmos is doing for music lately. Even cantankerous golden ears mixer Bob Clearmountain agrees (though he’s skeptical it will see mass adoption, but hey I think the car is the place to show off what Atmos can do!).
As for Tidal MQA, it does sound better than the best that Spotify can offer, so for those who don’t have a big FLAC/24bit/96khz library to put on a USB, it does the job. But yes I agree the USB audio on the car is extraordinary and superior quality to everything else, like it’s very obvious when you’ve heard it. I only wish the interface for playing the USB tracks wasn’t so clunky. Also Atmos in Tidal is not MQA, it’s Dolby Digital + 760kbps mp4 which is the standard codec for Atmos. My friend who’s an audio engineer who mixes in and records in Atmos format regularly said he felt Tidal was still out in front of all of the other options for Atmos.

 

[Sheena]

IMO the SSP is outstanding when the car is at rest, but the engine whine during motion makes it not worth the extra cost.
The sound dampening folks may want to take inspiration from attached picture when upgrading design.
Found that song when searching power ballads

 

[stratus]

IMO the SSP is outstanding when the car is at rest, but the engine whine during motion makes it not worth the extra cost.
The sound dampening folks may want to take inspiration from attached picture when upgrading design.
Found that song when searching power ballads

I must respectfully, but enthusiastically , disagree with you on this point. With appropriate volume adjustments, especially in Atmos, the system is quite good at masking any motor whine, which in my opinion is not particularly intrusive.
SSP is one of the very best aspects of the whole car; I just love it, both while sitting I’m my garage and while driving. It is an absolute must have to round out the experience.

 

[scal_air]

Just curious... If the trial has expired, are you still able to pay to reactivate SS Pro? Is it $4K?

 

[Amster]

Just curious... If the trial has expired, are you still able to pay to reactivate SS Pro? Is it $4K?

I think so. I did last year. If you log into your account, click Upgrades. It will list it if it's available.

 

[elin]

Just curious... If the trial has expired, are you still able to pay to reactivate SS Pro? Is it $4K?

I upgraded with the price of $2900 a month or two ago. It was $4000 before, not sure if they lowered the price permanently, or it was temporary.

 

[Sam6062]

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 agree, trust your ears. It came standard with the GT back in 2022. My old ears cannot tell the difference. Atmos in general is supposed to sound better though. I am seeing a post that says “Surreal Sound Basic is now excellent” .

 

[borski]

I agree, trust your ears. It came standard with the GT back in 2022. My old ears cannot tell the difference. Atmos in general is supposed to sound better though. I am seeing a post that says “Surreal Sound Basic is now excellent” .

At the end of the day, it’s all just taste.

SS Pro is objectively superior in that it has more speakers, distributed throughout the cabin, which means fuller sound, even without Atmos.

With Atmos, you get the benefit of atmospheric effects, but you would need to be playing Atmos-mixed tracks.

If my mom were buying an Air, she would have less than zero need for SS Pro. She absolutely would not be able to tell the difference.

I’m annoyingly attuned to audio because I used to write, track, edit, and mix it, which means I can hear things others don’t. It’s a curse more than it’s a benefit lol

 

[SaratogaLefty]

Oh WOW!!! That is definitely an "Ageist" posting!! Shame on you!! When I meet your mother I'll be sure to let her know what her son thinks about her!!

 

[borski]

Oh WOW!!! That is definitely an "Ageist" posting!! Shame on you!! When I meet your mother I'll be sure to let her know what her son thinks about her!!

What?

 

[xponents]

Oh WOW!!! That is definitely an "Ageist" posting!! Shame on you!! When I meet your mother I'll be sure to let her know what her son thinks about her!!

He... didn't say anything about age? Have you considered that some people just don't use audio in a car that much? Therefore, audio would not be as much of a priority to her since she might not CARE about it and can't tell the difference. For example, if you just listen to podcasts, all you need is base SS as SSP would be overkill for listening to that.

 

[borski]

Oh WOW!!! That is definitely an "Ageist" posting!! Shame on you!! When I meet your mother I'll be sure to let her know what her son thinks about her!!

Just to be clear: my mother listens to Ukrainian radio in NYC and occasionally FM radio stations, which is an improvement from many years of baby shark with the grandkids.

I am 100% certain none of those would be noticeably different with SS Pro.

P.S. It’s my dad that’s losing his hearing. My mom hears fine.