Mercedes-Benz Signature Sound DVD

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Yes, do that. And see if it has a Mercedes part number. Then we can just order it from Mercedes Benz. I wonder if owning a Mercedes Benz gets you in the door on this one?
 
Yes, do that. And see if it has a Mercedes part number. Then we can just order it from Mercedes Benz. I wonder if owning a Mercedes Benz gets you in the door on this one?

FYI - The ebay auction lists a catalog number of OPDV-8681



 
Just arrived today...I will post more comments/thoughts later. For now all I can tell you is that so far it sounds quite good to me and my very simple system tells me that the signal is coming through the HDMI cable as DTS 5.1 sound. More thoughts to come.
 
Just arrived today...I will post more comments/thoughts later. For now all I can tell you is that so far it sounds quite good to me and my very simple system tells me that the signal is coming through the HDMI cable as DTS 5.1 sound. More thoughts to come.

Keep us posted. We're counting on you! :)
 
OK, quickly scanned through some of the tracks and played others in their entirety. According to my Oppo DV-980H, the bitrate on the pop/rock tracks is 57-58 and on the classical tracks it is 63-65. In general, the disc is a bit loud...compression, I suppose. There were some notable elements of discrete channels, but nothing over the top. For some of the songs, the surround channels seemed to be used as filler only...for other songs, some discrete elements were quite noticeable. The disc sounds good, but not great. I would give it about a 6-7, average, depending on the track in question. I think some of you will want this disc simply to have it in the collection, but I wouldn't go spending too much to get it. I'll try to write more, but I'd like to hear what others think as well...perhaps my hearing is off, one never knows.
 
So I know that the Ford/Lincoln/Mercury had the Quadrasonic 8 option. I am also pretty sure that Rolls Royce had a Q8 option in those days as well. And now Mercedes-Benz offers surround. Are these the only exmples of stock surround systems being offered as an option?
 
So I know that the Ford/Lincoln/Mercury had the Quadrasonic 8 option. I am also pretty sure that Rolls Royce had a Q8 option in those days as well. And now Mercedes-Benz offers surround. Are these the only exmples of stock surround systems being offered as an option?

Acura's have had DVD-A since 2004. There are many examples on the sampler discs given away with the Acura's in the DVD-A Demo Disc Gallery thread.

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...Audio-Demo-Promo-Sampler-Gallery-(with-scans)
 
I think I like this disc alot !!!
This disc is discrete 5.1.....

and creedence is a new mix...bass guitar and vocal isolated in the centre speaker and band left and right and ambient in rears with a touch of rythm guitar and organ...ok the rears on this one aren't anything to write home about...but the rear channels in all the other rock tracks are good...

The Lady Gaga is really good !!!..It may in fact be the highlight of this disc...the backing vocals are spread nicely in the rears...

And The Fine Young Cannibals - she drives me crazy is good...!!!...

and so is Yes owner of a lonely heart ...nice in 5.1

as is tears for fears shout...

and Alex Max Band...Tonight.... is really really really good!!!

an hours worth 62.13 to be exact of great pop/rock stuff and then an hours worth (67.59) of classical from pentatone,naxos& others

in short a no brainer...just get one....
 
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I think I like this disc alot !!!
This disc is discrete 5.1.....

and creedence is a new mix...bass guitar and vocal isolated in the centre speaker and band left and right and ambient in rears with a touch of rythm guitar and organ...ok the rears on this one aren't anything to write home about...
...
in short a no brainer...just get one....

A nice dvd in 5.1 with a free mercedes benz. Not bad for a commercial! :)

Any info on who mixed these 5.1 tracks?
 
A nice dvd in 5.1 with a free mercedes benz. Not bad for a commercial! :)

Any info on who mixed these 5.1 tracks?
http://www.aes.org/events/132/specialevents/?ID=3150
A mediaHYPERIUM Production Mixed and Mastered at Skywalker Sound

http://mediahyperium.com/news.php


The compilation of tracks has been put together exclusively for Mercedes-Benz Signature Sound with the guidance of two individuals to whom excellence comes as second nature: Grammy® Award winners Herbert Waltl (mediaHYPERIUM) and Leslie Ann Jones (Skywalker Sound).

Together, they have created surround sound mixes which have been customised especially for the acoustic environment of the SL and are perfectly adapted to the positions of the driver and passengers.

http://mb.mercedes-benz.com/en/article/2198/Nikka+Costa:+Natural+Woman

Another conscious choice was the one made by professor Herbert Waltl as he chose one of the tracks on Nikka’s current album PRO*WOHA for a very special project. The selected hit, Chase The Thrill, made it onto the new Mercedes-Benz Signature Sound DVD, a medium mixed especially for the new SL Roadster’s compact space and bespoke sound system. Waltl – a two-times Grammy winner, surround sound expert and DVD production pioneer in his own right – booked into George Lucas’ Skywalker Studio to realise this tricky challenge with impressive results. Due to its multi-layered versatility Chase The Thrill proved to be perfect for the full-on sound exploration, states Waltl. Besides many international stars, the DVD (shipped with every new vehicle) also features a full hour of classical music, tweaked to match Waltl’s signature SL Roadster sound aesthetics. His reworked PRO*WOHA outtake certainly whet our cultural appetite for further examples of Nikka Costa’s genius. But, while we are on the topic – what does PRO*WOHA actually stand for?

It is a kind of slang and difficult to explain. PRO means professional and WOHA is just an expression like “Wow!”

http://cdn.womensaudiomission.org/MIX20120601.pdf


you are going to mix
for an 80-speaker discrete
playback system
in a custom venue, you
want to mix on site.
And if you want to tailor
tracks for playback
in the new Mercedes SL Roadster, to demonstrate real
surround for all positions in the car, you might just want
to bring the car to your studio. That’s what happened recently
up at Skywalker Sound, where producer Herbert
Waltl, engineer Leslie Ann Jones and assistant Dann
Thompson pulled a prototype Mercedes into the scoring
stage and mixed licensed songs, from the Pro Tools sessions,
for the auto environment.
“Sitting in a car should be one of the best places to enjoy surround audio,” says Waltl, of mediaHYPERIUM. “But
acoustics and speaker placement in cars are so different from any other listening space that a mix made for a home entertainment
system would never sound the same without taking into consideration the tuning processes car audio systems
are delivering today. In surround modes, presets take control over what audio information the many installed speakers
receive, and the music is getting lost in the process, as is the intent of the music makers. Music is human; and there is a
true artistic element in surround productions. Creative decisions should not be left to algorithms of presets.”
“The record companies delivered us Pro Tools sessions at high sample rates with much of the original documentation,”
Jones explains. “We would then begin to compare the source tracks to the finished version. We would go back and
forth, from the control room to the car and back, until we got something that really made a musical statement in the car.
Then Michael Romanowski brought a portable mastering setup out to Skywalker and mastered in our control room so
that he too had access to the car for playback. We constantly sent DVD-V image files to the sound experts from Daimler´s
R&D group in Germany so they could listen and comment as well. It was hard work even given the excellent acoustic
parameters of the car, but ultimately it was a total blast!”
The Mercedes Benz Signature Sound DVD comprises a pop and classical music program; the production concept
behind it is a unique innovation, which has been developed and produced exclusively for Mercedes-Benz.
 
I think I like this disc alot !!!
This disc is discrete 5.1.....

and creedence is a new mix...bass guitar and vocal isolated in the centre speaker and band left and right and ambient in rears with a touch of rythm guitar and organ...ok the rears on this one aren't anything to write home about...but the rear channels in all the other rock tracks are good...

The Lady Gaga is really good !!!..It may in fact be the highlight of this disc...the backing vocals are spread nicely in the rears...

And The Fine Young Cannibals - she drives me crazy is good...!!!...

and so is Yes owner of a lonely heart ...nice in 5.1

as is tears for fears shout...

and Alex Max Band...Tonight.... is really really really good!!!

an hours worth 62.13 to be exact of great pop/rock stuff and then an hours worth (67.59) of classical from pentatone,naxos& others

in short a no brainer...just get one....

Great to hear that you are enjoying this disc so much! Clearly, my opinion is somewhat different, but I agree that some of the tracks are great fun (Owner Of The Lonely Heart and the Lady Gaga tracks for example) whereas others left me scratching my head (Fine Young Cannibals). I agree that, at the right price, this disc is a bargain and yeah, everyone should probably try to get a copy for their collection.
 
Allrighty then, I finally had the time to give this disc a close listen tonight. I broke the songs into three categories: Great Sound = very nice 5.1 mix, OK Sound = interesting tracks that didn't work for me (either had an odd use of surround [in my opinion] or sometimes just sounded ambient), and Filler (those tracks that had little to no appeal to me - some are tracks that I have no interest in and one sounds better on the blu-ray release). The one track I could really place in a category was the CCR-Have You Ever Seen The Rain?; I really enjoy this song, but I really felt it had simply been spread across the front three channels with minimal use of the surrounds if at all...sounds good, but I didn't feel like it belonged. In any case, here goes:

Great Sound:
1. Seal - Amazing (not my favorite Seal song, but it is well done)
2. Foreigner - Cold As Ice (caveat, I prefer the dvda or sacd version)
3. Lady Gaga - Poker Face (very fun!)
4. James Blunt - You're Beautiful (don't really like the song, but it did sound great)
5. The Doobie Brothers - Long Train Runnin' (again, caveat, I prefer the dvda or sacd version)
6. Yes - Owner Of A Lonely Heart (also very fun!)
7. Tears For Fears - Shout (great stuff here!)

OK Sound:
1. Sheryl Crow - Everyday Is A Winding Road (ok, but could have done more)
2. Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy (I still don't get this one...just sounds weird to me)
3. Alanis Morissette - Ironic (never liked this song much and this version didn't change my mind; again, could have done more)
4. Alex Max Band - Tonight (never heard this before...and hope I don't again ;), but really sounded ok to me...probably easier to appreciate if you can make it past the first minute...I could not)

Filler:
1. Jason Derulo - In My Head (see Alex Max Band)
2. Nikka Costa - Chase The Thrill (I though this track could have been great, but all I felt I was hearing was ambient filler in the surrounds)
3. Sting - Every Breath You Take (this track is taken from the live with the Royal Philharmonic blu-ray...I simply thought the blu-ray was much better)

So, that's it. I was reading the case while listening and noted that the notes state that "they have created surround sound mixes which have been customised especially for the acoustic environment of the SL and are perfectly adapted to the positions of the driver and passengers". Obviously, I did not sit in such a position in said vehicle and hence my experience was likely affected...but, sitting in my sweet spot, I heard what I described above.

Guess all I have to do now is save up for a Benz ;)

Hope this helps, I would recommend picking this up and I would change my overall rating from 6-7 to an 8 for the pop/rock portion of the dvd.

Cheers! GabeL
 
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