2019+ Acura RDX: ELS 3D Studio 5.1 Surround Audio System

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jwckauman said:
Today is BIG day. Today I finally get my new 2023 Acura TLX Advance package (Metalic silver w/ ebony interior). The car just came in to the dealership yesterday (I pre-ordered it and it was transferred from another location) and I'm picking it up today. My previous car is a 2011 TSX, and I adore the DVD-AUDIO sound system, but now that is my daughter's car (which means I can still go back and drive it). So now I have to start figuring out how to play high-quality and multi-channel music in this new car with ELS STUDIO 3D® Premium Audio System. Thankful that @JonUrban has already done the real work to help the rest of us get to listening much quicker and with less frustration. I've read through the instructions before, but now I need to really dig into to this post and get myself setup to enjoy surround sound in my new car. I'll post how things are going as I make progress. My first assignment is to figure out which USB drive I need to have. I generally shoot for the fastest option with the most storage, but maybe that isnt the best option. i'll start reading and post any questions/findings. Wish me luck!
Click to expand...

Congrats and good luck.

Try one of these, whatever size you like. The work great and don't heat up.
You can get them at Amazon and Best Buy, etc. You know the drill

https://www.samsung.com/us/computin...table-ssd-t7-usb-3-2-1tb--gray--mu-pc1t0t-am/
 
I got my car! I tried the instructions on the AcuraZine site, but wondered if i could just get by without using the foobar steps. I have an application called DVD-AUDIO EXTRACTOR, that i used to use for creating DVD-AUDIO files, and extracted an album to FLAC files (multi-channel). But the car couldn't read them. So i went back and did the Foobar steps, and then the car could play the files!!! I'm so excited to try this out for multiple albums. Just need the time to convert all my multichannel media! Thank you @JonUrban. I'm also working on purchasing one of those Samsung drives. I'm assuming any size will work?
 
Anyone know of a way to do a multichannel test in an Acura ELS 3D audio system? is there any multichannel test media out there for download? or purchase? My new TLX Advance has 17 speakers, so i'm curious which speakers are being used for each of the 5.1 channels.
 
Elad said:
So far I listened to Rumors, Hotel California and Abraxas converted from Flac5.1 to Wav and it sounds good. I did find I had to adjust the backs up a little but I was definitely listening to surround. Did it sound as good as my TL with DVD A ? No it didn't I don't believe anything could come close to being that immersive from what I recalled, did I like what I heard yes I did.
Click to expand...
Just seeing this response. I appreciate the feedback! So much of this is subjective, but as I've settled in with the system I agree that there are some elements with the TLX that are lacking in comparison to the TL experience. It's possible the added power and stronger subwoofer blinded me a bit. Overall, though, I'm really pleased with the the audio from the TLX. There were a lot of times with the TL that I wanted a little more "oomph" - which could be lacking. I don't find that to be the case with the TLX. At the same time, I miss the clarity of the separation I had with the TL - especially from the rear speakers. The fader function on the TLX is not as effective as the separate controls with the TL.
 
I just got my new 2023 A-Spec RDX this weekend. I know it is going to take hundreds of hours to rip my dvd-a s to flash drives. I have been using DVD audio extractor for a long time on a very old Mac using VMWare fusion to make it like a PC. The only thing I can successfully do now is 24/48 WAV in that scenario. I have 3 good questions.
1) is Foobar for MAC able to rip DVD-A to 5.1 FLACs? (is there an appropriate plug in or way I can do this on a MAC?
2) if I have to go the PC route, I am wondering how much $ would it be to get a PC just for this purpose? (I think I can get a laptop for about $300 these days - is that right?) (is it all free ware or is there some software I need to buy too?)
3) I am currently finding if the car is on Apple Car play - it won't go to USB. So, my current fix is to turn the phone off and the USB drive pops up right away. Is there a better solution?
any help - greatly appreciated.
 
Hi Bender. I can help with a few

3) The Apple Car Play has to be off to use the USB. It's an architecture thing and there is no way around it. You have to pick one of the other.

The 24/48 wav files will work fine in 5.1, but if you tag them with graphics in mp3tag or some other program, the car will not show the graphics. That only works with flac files.

I don't know about MACs, but with a PC you don't need a monster. A laptop will do. Just use DVD Audio Extractor and Foobar. I created a detailed instruction post over in the Acura forum that still should be valid. Check out post 22 in this thread for a link to that post
 
thank you Jon, I may search out a laptop to do this.

Curious will this also work with blu-ray, or is that another step?
It currently takes me about 38 minutes to convert a disc for car use as a 24/48 wav using my current method. I am hoping if I get something more current, this might be less time...
 
For Bluray you need MakeMKV. Check that thread over at AcuraZine. I am pretty sure I covered everything about that as well. It's been a while.

One thing we found out is that the 2023's do not need zero compression, so that saves you a step. But you might have to verify that with your car as well
 
JonUrban said:
ACURA/ELS 3D Studio Audio System
REVISED 3-25-2022​

ELS 3D System in 2019-2021 Acura Models:
  • WILL PLAY STEREO: [16/44, 24/44, 24/48, 24/96 .flac and .wav files]
    WILL NOT PLAY STEREO: [24/192 .flac or .wav]

  • WILL PLAY PROPERLY IN 5.1: [5.1 24/48 .wav files], [5.1 24/48 .flac files with ZERO compression]
    WILL NOT PLAY PROPERLY IN 5.1: [5.1 24/96 .wav files], [5.1 .flac files with > ZERO compression)], [DTS encoded .wav files]
ELS 3D System in 2022+ Acura Models:
  • WILL PLAY ALL FLAC AND WAV FILES: Regardless of sample rate and compression level, and number of channels (up to 5.1)

As most of you all know, since Acura first introduced the ELS Surround sound 5.1 system in 2004 with the Acura TL sedan, that I have been a big supporter of, and owner of, the Acura surround sound capability in select models of their cars. There have been 3 versions of Acura ELS systems available since that first TL system in 2004. Below is the official breakdown of the three variations. All support 5.1 surround sound:

  • ELS Surround was the first generation system that supported DVD-A and DTS CDs. [2004-2014*]
  • ELS Studio was next generation which did not support DVD-A but did support DTS encoded CDs [2014*-2018+]
  • ELS Studio 3D is the current generation which will evolve to support more high definition digital file formats. This system does not include a disc player. [2019- ]
* - This date varies depending on model generation changes​

Upon the system's debut, only Acura's with the "Technology Package" had the DVD-A capable ELS systems that played true HiRez surround from DVD-A's. Between then and 2013, the ELS Surround systems were included with many different Acura models, including the MDX, TL/TLX, RDX, and TSX. In 2014, many models were updated technically and mechanically, but downgraded audio-wise as the DVD-Audio player was replaced with a CD player. Fortunately for surround fans this system retained the ability to play 5.1 DTS-CD's and the ELS engineering standards set forth with the original systems. With the proper sourced DTS CD this second generation ELS system sounded pretty damn good, but it would have been even better had it also played native SACD discs, including the 5.1 layers, but since these are basically Panasonic Systems, that was not going to happen. The saving grace for surround fans was that at LEAST the car retained a discrete way to properly play back 5.1 audio via the DTS CD.

The DTS-CD systems met with mixed reviews. Owners who had invested in DVD-A discs for their cars were upset. Sure, there was some 5.1 material that when put to DTS-CD made the system sound pretty good, but it never sounded as good, to me, as the older DVD-A systems. Worse, the Sirius XM and stereo iPod/Radio sounded hollow when compared to a good 5.1 source.

So when the new ELS Studio 3D system was announced a while back, I was very interested to see if it would support 5.1 HiRez playback. Rumors abounded, and back and forth it went from yes to no to yes to maybe to yes and but.... When the car finally arrived at my local Acura dealer I arrived with a USB stick with 5.1 24/96 .flac and .wav files, and the car instantly rejected the .flac files, but did play the .wav files - but something did not sound right. I was not sure I was hearing discrete playback, as I was certain that I was hearing rear channel information in the fronts.

To be sure, I went back (what a pain I was to the salesman) armed with test files that had tones and individual channel identification, both with 24/48 and 24/96 files in both .flac and .wav. What I found was that the .flac's would not play, and the 24/96 files were indeed compromised in that the rear channel info was indeed coming from the front speakers! However, the 24/48 5.1 wav files played perfectly and sounded great. That was enough for me to bite the bullet, annoy my wife (not really), and trade in my 2 year old DTS-CD modelRDX (that I never warmed up to) for a new 2019 RDX. Talk about buying an expensive media player!

Once I took delivery of the car, I tried EVERYTHING I could try to get .flac's to play. If you look at the ELS Facebook Page you will see me going back and forth with their people who kept telling me that .flac files would play. Others over there verified that they would not play. They tried to be helpful but they just did not give us the exact specifications needed to create the proper .flac file.

Thanks to our great QQ membership base, I was given enough info to be dangerous, and finally with their help and my stumbling and experimenting I found that yes, a 24/48 5.1 .flac file would indeed play, and sound great, if it was created with ZERO COMPRESSION!!!

So, now I am happy, and hopefully others will be too. I know that many of you cannot afford a car like this, so I don't want to come off as some asshole bragging about what I have, so please don't take it that way. There were many years in my life when I could not afford a used car, let alone a new one. The last thing I want to do is "brag".

So the bottom line is this: The car audio sounds INCREDIBLE with proper 5.1 files on a USB stick or drive. There are many controls in the system for the driver to tailor the sound the way they want it, so this particular ELS system is a freaking winner all the way!

The one caveat is this: It is not "gapless" playback, which means that if you take an album like the Beatles "Love" or Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", convert your DVD-A or BluRay to files and set them up on your stick, the system will pause a moment between tracks thus breaking the flow of continuous playback of multiple tracks. With normal song files, you will not notice this. With an album like DSOTM, it's a bit jarring.

Whether ELS software updates can remedy this situation remains to be seen. So far there has been no word spoken about gapless playback, but the car does accept "over the air" updates, so maybe this is something that can be resolved.

Also as of now, the system will not read a .cue file created for a large .flac file to simulate gapless playback. When I inquired about this feature to the ELS people on their FB page (who have been very helpful by the way), I was informed that this was a function of the head unit software which they do not create or modify. So for now this is not a possibility.

Anyway, here's a look at the system from inside my car (I have the all black interior):

The speaker layout from Acura promotional material (NOTE: Image belongs to Acura/Panasonic ELS Premium Audio):

View attachment 33812

Here's what they look like in the car. These are the back speakers in the ceiling and in the back deck:

View attachment 33808

The back door speaker:

View attachment 33809

The front passenger speakers (I had to lighten the lower area because my camera sucks):

View attachment 33810

Here is the speaker above the front passenger seat:

View attachment 33811


The LFE Subwoofer is on the passenger side of the back storage area. It's hard to judge the size from this picture, but it does the job.

View attachment 34620

The center speaker is in the center of the dash, behind the display screen. It does a great job of spreading the audio across the windshield and back at the listener.
Volume for the center speaker can be controlled from within the system settings.

View attachment 34621


These are all really nice speakers. They sound great and reproduce the audio exceptionally well. I do not know the spec's of each speaker, but they do not sound like cheap paper cone deals. They move a lot of sound and support the 700+ watts dispersed by the ELS Amplifiers.
Click to expand...
Renting 2019 MDX A-Spec. Brought along the flash drive I use in my TLX ‘21 with 48/24 FLAC files and no data detected. Any ideas?
 
Just popping in to say THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to this thread... most of all, Jon.
An over-excited 18-year-old decided to run a red light and my 2012 TL decided to teach his Jeep a lesson. (Fortunately, everyone walked away without a scratch. :) ) Unfortunately, my TL was a total loss, so I find myself hunting for a 2021 TLX Advance. It's so hard to find any non-marketing details on the ELS system elsewhere, and this forum has been a great help. I'm starting the library conversion to 24/48 FLAC0 tomorrow, in anticipation!
 
Can anyone confirm if the 2019 Acura TLX will play 5.1 files via USB, following the specs laid out at the start of this post? I was considering a 2019 TLX instead of a 2021 (bad time to have a car loan) and that would be a dealbreaker. My concern is that I believe the 2019 TLX has a disc player.
Any 2019 TLX owners out there?
 
Proraso said:
Can anyone confirm if the 2019 Acura TLX will play 5.1 files via USB, following the specs laid out at the start of this post? I was considering a 2019 TLX instead of a 2021 (bad time to have a car loan) and that would be a dealbreaker. My concern is that I believe the 2019 TLX has a disc player.
Any 2019 TLX owners out there?
Click to expand...
I’m 99% sure that all of the Acura models with a disc drive DO NOT support 5.1 playback via USB. The first model to do so was the 2019 RDX which was the first model year of the new generation.
 
JonUrban said:
Yeah. Thanks for the input, but I queried them about that a while ago on their FB page. Apparently it's not controlled by ELS. Here's the back and forth:

View attachment 34618
Click to expand...
Hi Jon! Thanks for all the helpful info from the past few years. I am in the market for a new Acura with the ELS Studio 3D system. I have 1.5 TB worth of 5.1 flac files on a 2 TB flash drive that I can take with me to test out at the dealership, but my wife's 2019 Acura RDX with that system recognizes that my flash drive is plugged in, but will not open it. Not sure if that is because it is formatted as exFAT (since I work between my MacBook and Windows laptop I needed to use a formatting that both can read and write to) or do I need to format another flash drive as FAT32? Reformatting to what is needed will help greatly help and save me some embarrasment before I go car shopping :ROFLMAO: .

I may consider some other higher end car manufacturers, like Lexus, Mercedes, etc., as I'm more interested in a car that sounds really great with my 5.1 files, (but not sure what their limitations would be with formatting.) It would be even better if I could find a system in a luxury hybrid or better yet fully electric car that would play back Atmos files as well as 5.1 flac files. Any expertise here would be greatly appreciated!
 
LennonCobain said:
I’m 99% sure that all of the Acura models with a disc drive DO NOT support 5.1 playback via USB. The first model to do so was the 2019 RDX which was the first model year of the new generation.
Click to expand...
Actually, the “ELS Studio” models (with DTS-CD playback) will als play 5.1 AAC (.m4a) files off a USB stick.

I stopped burning DTS CD-Rs years ago, this is much more convenient.
 
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