Lucid Air Stereo "Surreal Sound" Test Impressions

[Tim-in-CA]

Thanks for the detailed review ... it helps justify my decision to add it to my Pure reservation!!!

 

[copper]

Thanks for the detailed review ... it helps justify my decision to add it to my Pure reservation!!!

Glad to help! Once there are models out without the upgraded system I should test those too. I’m pretty sure you’ll be quite happy with it.

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

Thanks for the very detailed review. I'm looking forward to hearing the system.

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

I thought I'd post this here. Not being able to connect my DAP is clearly disappointing. Lucid please fix this before June. There's no cellular in many parts of the desert.

 

[hydbob]

I thought I'd post this here. Not being able to connect my DAP is clearly disappointing. Lucid please fix this before June. There's no cellular in many parts of the desert.

Alternative is to download a bunch of music onto your phone, unfortunately.

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

Alternative is to download a bunch of music onto your phone, unfortunately.

Most of my music is flac or DSD. I haven't used UAPP in years. I suppose I'll do a test in late May.

 

[Easyrider949]

Great Review! I look forward to your future testing once you get your car. As a music lover, but a novice at the technical side, so this helps me with your PhD knowledge. :>)

 

[copper]

Great Review! I look forward to your future testing once you get your car. As a music lover, but a novice at the technical side, so this helps me with your PhD knowledge. :>)

Glad I could help!

 

[copper]

I thought I'd post this here. Not being able to connect my DAP is clearly disappointing. Lucid please fix this before June. There's no cellular in many parts of the desert.

I really think that was an outlier experience. Unless A&K is using an outdated Bluetooth protocol I think you’d be fine, it just might take some setup.

Which model DAP do you have? I’ve been considering one since this is the first car stereo I’ve had that can come close to my home system, so I may end up getting one.

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

I really think that was an outlier experience. Unless A&K is using an outdated Bluetooth protocol I think you’d be fine, it just might take some setup.

Which model DAP do you have? I’ve been considering one since this is the first car stereo I’ve had that can come close to my home system, so I may end up getting one.

I currently have the SR15. But planning to upgrade. Issue I've run into is my Chord TT2 rapidly drains the battery of any DAP. So I'm looking to get a network streamer first. Maybe an Aurender, any recommendations?

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

I found the track to match my car, sort of...

I'll change the name of my file to Zenith Red

I love the part at 8:02

 

[SaratogaLefty]

I found the track to match my car, sort of...

I'll change the name of my file to Zenith Red

I love the part at 8:02

So I'm having a strange experience with Tidal. Some of the time when its playing a Dolby Atmos recording (white Dolby Atmos lit up) it loses the rear speakers. Tried going to the Settings/Audio and the "Balance" setting is greyed out?? Then when its playing a non-dolby atmos recording rear speakers return and can adjust balance if it want to do so. Anybody else see this happen?

 

[copper]

So I'm having a strange experience with Tidal. Some of the time when its playing a Dolby Atmos recording (white Dolby Atmos lit up) it loses the rear speakers. Tried going to the Settings/Audio and the "Balance" setting is greyed out?? Then when its playing a non-dolby atmos recording rear speakers return and can adjust balance if it want to do so. Anybody else see this happen?

Maybe bandwidth issues when streaming? The Atmos standard may not allow graceful failover from multichannel to 2ch which could cause it to cut out if the current connection can’t carry it.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Among my many hobbies is DIY HiFi. I build speakers and amps for fun and have a passion for really great sounding systems. There's a special kind of joy from listening to music on a system you designed yourself and is really dialed-in for the room. You get to realize the fruits of your hard work in a way that few other hobbies provide.

Ever since Lucid started marketing the Surreal Sound, I knew I had to get a proper test. With that in mind, I met up today with @borski to run some tests on the stereo using a measurement mic and a few reference tracks.

TL;DR: Excellent sound staging if a little bright on the treble, small drop around 130-200hz, great bass extension but needs some oomph. You'll probably want to bump the bass EQ +2 to +4 DB and the treble down -1 to -2 db (if it seems harsh at times, YMMV). Designed for long-listening without fatigue and brings out details you'll love to hear.

The Data

Below is the results of some test loops between 30hz-20khz. I used Room EQ Wizard on my laptop, connected to the Air via bluetooth.

View attachment 1092

Caveats:

• We ran this with both of us in the car, climate control off, but there's some reflections and background noise that make the graph rougher than it will really sound to your ears.
• I was in the passenger seat which is going to have a disadvantage vs. driver for my impressions of music.
• I intentionally did not test Atmos tracks. The goal here was pure 2ch stereo as that is what I know and can test the best.
• [edit] Apparently, to connect a laptop to bluetooth you'll need to have it set up both as a phone and audio device in the Air.

Technical Impressions

• Bass goes a long ways down, but has a -3db of 44hz before it levels off and then stays solid to ~26hz. This means a few of the deeper bass hits lack "oomph" but are not by any means missed.
  • This is something that could be adjusted for in EQ and I'm surprised they let it remain. I would have dropped the mid bass down ~5db and bumped up the absolute bottom to compensate.
  • The sub clearly rolls in at 150hz and has a lot of output. However, it isn't booming which means some tracks can feel light because we're used to overcompensated low-end in car stereos. This means you get a more "real" sound, but can lack a bit of excitement unless you crank it.
• There's a dip after the sub where the mids roll in, rising to a pretty big hump at 700hz before rolling back as you go higher.
  • The midrange is very healthy. Music might seem more "full" than you're used to - that is how it should sound!
  • Lots of car stereos will lack output in several spots of 200hz-2khz range, resulting in entire instruments going missing on tracks (either due to DSP, reflection/cancellation, etc.) The lucid does not have this problem, despite the jagged response due to room modes.
  • The dip on the lucid at 130-200hz isn't that big of a deal as you won't notice it, except with very cello-forward or string-bass compositions.
• The treble is a bit bright and could cause a bit of fatigue on long sessions.
  • That peak at 8khz is pretty noticeable, and some tracks might end up harsh.
  • The treble ends abruptly at ~16khz for some reason. This is probably the DSP as it definitely doesn't look like a natural rolloff on the tweeter. Since I was running pure 2ch output this could be Atmos' fault. It won't mess up your listening.

Impressions with Music

I was very happy with the sound staging and depth of response. Horns, strings, vocals, all excelled. We tested Ce Matin-là by Air for purity of a French horn, then Loyal by Odesza for a more complex arrangement. Both did extremely well with the instruments being very clearly placed with no "fuzz". We also gave Young by Vallis Alps a go for a slower-paced but dynamic track with my favorite combination of vocals and bass of late. The singer's voice was very clear, no ringing or harshness (very hard in a car) and the bass line was tight and didn't suffer from any phase delay or lingering-boom. I should have popped on some Faith No More to get a feel for kick drums. Oh well, next time!

We also tossed on some good orchestral and Jazz tracks (Snarky puppy!). The midrange is really a highlight on this stereo, with every instrument coming alive. The guitar, cello and flute on Morning in Norkia from the anime Last Exile (random track, but absolutely excellent engineering) sounded like they're right in front of you. For fans of live instruments and vocals you'll be very happy. Synths and electronic music also do very well, with swelling sounds getting goosebumps immediately.

However, the system can also be unforgiving. You're going to notice poorly engineered tracks much more readily as you can hear the difference in quality between the live instrument and the synthesized one. Sampled music with hiss/hum or low quality takes will be clear as day. This is common in HiFi, but hearing it in a car is a first. It will bring out imperfections in ways that surprise you, an inadvertent drawback for the level of detail it provides.

That said, the overall experience is really joyful. There were moments that the music just really took over and the world melted away. I've not gotten that in a car before the Lucid!

Areas for Improvement

The system lacks volume in the absolute lowest octaves and getting that bottom end to really hit. This could be compensated with EQ, but I didn't have time test what range the bass EQ will affect (some of them go all the way up to 300-400hz). It doesn't lack for extension, just output, and I don't believe it is from insufficient amplification. A feature I'd love to see from Lucid is the ability to more finely tune the response, or at least some improvement in percussion and sustained bass notes while dialing back the top. An optional 10-band or better EQ would be a nice option for advanced users.

The top end can be a bit bright, especially with cymbal-heavy percussion, but I didn't detect a lot of distortion. Dialing this back a bit to reduce fatigue would help. I don't know what drivers are used, but this is common in titanium and aluminum dome tweeters that can get really tinny without some proper adjustment. I'm wondering if the glass canopy causes a lot of reflections or cancellations, which means they have to boost output to compensate. I've not designed a car stereo however, so I'm sure they've got their reasons why they bumped up the top-end.

(Note on treble: as you age your hearing in the higher range can diminish, which may make you want more treble to compensate. This is completely normal so take the top-end feedback with a grain of salt.)

Fix that extreme low-end: I'm not sure if there are two subs instead of one, but a -3bd of 44hz is pretty high for what the car has. Maybe a shelf biquad with a high Q to raise it a few db?

Final Thoughts

This is absolutely an excellent system. The level of detail in it is top-notch for a car stereo and with a little bit of adjustment you'll get a ton of enjoyment. I'd say this is designed more for extended listening without fatigue instead of thumping along. The end result is you'll find yourself listening to music longer without needing to turn it down, and will notice things that had been missing. It will capture your interest in a way most car stereos do not, akin to sitting in a dedicated listening room with a dialed-in system.

A lot of mass-market car stereos will hit the bass on a track hard. They'll get your blood going, but you also end up turning it down after a bit - there's distortion, ringing, or a "boom" that fatigues you. The Lucid does not suffer from this at all. Instead, it feels like a system that could use a few improvements, but gets so close to the mark that I really can't fault it, which says a lot.

I'm really surprised to get a stereo this good on the first car from a new carmaker. Surreal sound indeed!

Wow, I love this forum more and more. Thanks for doing this test. While I’m not a car audio whiz in terms of understanding their EQs/DSP/speaker placement, I used to be a sound designer/audio engineer in my former life so I do understand the lingo, the physics and your test. I’m curious about the cyclical very steep peaks/valleys in the 250/350/450hz range, it looks to me like what you’d see with phase cancellation or maybe those peaks are resonant frequencies getting hyped by the glass roof? I’d doubt there’s any standing waves because there’s no parallel surfaces in the car, and while the plush carpeting and wool is undoubtedly is gonna gobble up some dBs at certain frequencies I’d expect that more at high frequencies than low. As for punchy kick drum, any Metallica track off And Justice for All should suffice, they cranked the kick beater head frequency at 1.5-2khz, scooped out 200-400hz range to make room for the bottom end of the distorted guitars, then cranked the lows below 150hz to make the bottom punch you in the chest, which seems like it would be tailored for testing the Lucid’s frequency response curve in that range. You speak so much truth when you point out that the hallmark of elite audio systems is that you’ll end up hearing imperfections in things you never noticed before. If you really want to test at 20hz-400hz range out in the Lucid, put on Hans Zimmer’s Thin Red Line score and play the track “Beam” (which your test here has inspired me to do when I get my car delivered this week!). Tidal has the master version of it which is the highest resolution you can get without being in the mix room when they mixed it. Anyway thanks for doing this test, it’s great to have so many knowledgeable people on this forum who go far out of their way to dig into the details of this car.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

I should add this is also why I couldn’t go back to lower quality streaming formats. If you have a good system, you’ll hear aliasing and artifacts in the room reverb on orchestral recordings when there’s a short pause, and it’s like someone smeared mud on a museum painting. Or listen to a recording where a piano note is held for quite some time and you’ll hear the crappy audio compression collapse on the decay of the note if you know what the original recording sounded like. Streaming gave everyone all the music they wanted but gave them just a passable impersonation of it, and you don’t have to be an audiophile to hear the compromise.

 

[copper]

Wow, I love this forum more and more. Thanks for doing this test. While I’m not a car audio whiz in terms of understanding their EQs/DSP/speaker placement, I used to be a sound designer/audio engineer in my former life so I do understand the lingo, the physics and your test. I’m curious about the cyclical very steep peaks/valleys in the 250/350/450hz range, it looks to me like what you’d see with phase cancellation or maybe those peaks are resonant frequencies getting hyped by the glass roof? I’d doubt there’s any standing waves because there’s no parallel surfaces in the car, and while the plush carpeting and wool is undoubtedly is gonna gobble up some dBs at certain frequencies I’d expect that more at high frequencies than low. As for punchy kick drum, any Metallica track off And Justice for All should suffice, they cranked the kick beater head frequency at 1.5-2khz, scooped out 200-400hz range to make room for the bottom end of the distorted guitars, then cranked the lows below 150hz to make the bottom punch you in the chest, which seems like it would be tailored for testing the Lucid’s frequency response curve in that range. You speak so much truth when you point out that the hallmark of elite audio systems is that you’ll end up hearing imperfections in things you never noticed before. If you really want to test at 20hz-400hz range out in the Lucid, put on Hans Zimmer’s Thin Red Line score and play the track “Beam” (which your test here has inspired me to do when I get my car delivered this week!). Tidal has the master version of it which is the highest resolution you can get without being in the mix room when they mixed it. Anyway thanks for doing this test, it’s great to have so many knowledgeable people on this forum who go far out of their way to dig into the details of this car.

Dude! So glad this was helpful.

Agreed about standing waves. That was a big issue in an older car of mine that was way more boxy, so you’re probably spot on about the glass being the culprit here. Thankfully it didn’t really detract from the quality, it just set off my perfectionist impulses for a system design.

I’m about to finish a new stereo at home that should reach all the way to 23hz…I’m absolutely going to try those tracks on it. Didn’t know the details on that Metallica album either - that’s some next level mixing. What are some other faves you’ve got for reference tracks?

Speaking of Hans Zimmer, have you tried the Dune soundtrack? It has some absolutely epic stuff - even the opening is absurdly good and it can really push a system hard.

I should add this is also why I couldn’t go back to lower quality streaming formats. If you have a good system, you’ll hear aliasing and artifacts in the room reverb on orchestral recordings when there’s a short pause, and it’s like someone smeared mud on a museum painting. Or listen to a recording where a piano note is held for quite some time and you’ll hear the crappy audio compression collapse on the decay of the note if you know what the original recording sounded like. Streaming gave everyone all the music they wanted but gave them just a passable impersonation of it, and you don’t have to be an audiophile to hear it.

Oh god compression. Like nails on chalkboard.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Speaking of Hans Zimmer, have you tried the Dune soundtrack? It has some absolutely epic stuff - even the opening is absurdly good and it can really push a system hard.

YES. And then there’s the BladeRunner 2049 score, man I bet that one will KILL In this car. I bet if you can find a good resolution version of Zeppelin’s When the Levee Breaks then Bonham’s kick drum slap echo will reveal some good and (hopefully very little) bad in Lucid’s system.

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

Dude! So glad this was helpful.

Agreed about standing waves. That was a big issue in an older car of mine that was way more boxy, so you’re probably spot on about the glass being the culprit here. Thankfully it didn’t really detract from the quality, it just set off my perfectionist impulses for a system design.

I’m about to finish a new stereo at home that should reach all the way to 23hz…I’m absolutely going to try those tracks on it. Didn’t know the details on that Metallica album either - that’s some next level mixing. What are some other faves you’ve got for reference tracks?

Speaking of Hans Zimmer, have you tried the Dune soundtrack? It has some absolutely epic stuff - even the opening is absurdly good and it can really push a system hard.


Oh god compression. Like nails on chalkboard.

I keep hearing it (Dune Soundtrack) on Cinemagic. I want to watch the old Dune Movie, then watch the new version. 6 hours of my life gone...

I know this is off topic but I am listening to my Oppo BDP-103 directly into my Chord TT2 playing discs and I feel it sounds better than FLAC. Maybe my imagination. Moving server to new house this coming weekend. I am hoping to get a pair of VOCE this year!


I have heard no update on whether they fixed ability for my Astell & Kern to play...

 

[copper]

YES. And then there’s the BladeRunner 2049 score, man I bet that one will KILL In this car. I bet if you can find a good resolution version of Zeppelin’s When the Levee Breaks then Bonham’s kick drum slap echo will reveal some good and (hopefully very little) bad in Lucid’s system.

Dune 2029 is such a good movie and the soundtrack is amazing. You can see Denis and Hans having fun, and also laying the groundwork for Dune next. Just love their work.

I just popped on When the Levee Breake on my main system too. My wife ran in from the other room with “I love this song!” Now I get to hear her sing along with Robert Plant while the cat is on my lap. My day is made

 

[copper]

I keep hearing it (Dune Soundtrack) on Cinemagic. I want to watch the old Dune Movie, then watch the new version. 6 hours of my life gone...


I have heard no update on whether they fixed ability for my Astell & Kern to play...

Six hours of your life given over to enjoyment more like!

For the A&K that’s a total bummer. I can’t fathom why it wouldn’t connect.