Logic 7 In-Car DVD Surround Music System

[fredblue]

Harman Kardon has a Logic 7 Surround music DVD-based system for Mercedes, BMW, Land Rover, etc.. Just wondering if any QQ-ers have any experience of this system?

Also has anybody here tried out any of their sampler demo discs? H/K have released a few over the years.

Just in case they're news to anyone/everyone here, I've bought a few today and will report back here on contents and mix quality when they arrive

 

[leevitalone1]

Pretty sure it's a proprietary system for Harmon. It's in the new BMW. To me Harmon is like any over rated-over priced stuff- and it is way over priced.
Sob's coulda put just a dvd-a sacd-bd player in the damm car!

 

[LizardKing]

From the Interweb:

http://www.automotive.harmankardon.com/en/innovations/logic7.aspx

Logic 7 processing: a milestone in audio technology
Logic 7® multichannel surround-sound technology has set a new standard for acoustic precision and authenticity, contributing to a completely new surround-sound experience in automobiles. Originally developed over the course of many years for professional recording studios by a team of Lexicon engineers under the leadership of acoustics guru David Griesinger, Logic 7 processing has been the first choice of discerning music lovers for their homes since the introduction of the Harman Kardon AVR 7000 audio/video receiver in 2000. Logic 7 processing became available for cars in 2001. This unique technology has become indispensable, particularly in the automotive industry, because it delivers authentic, three-dimensional listening pleasure to all seats in every car.

Always using the original recording as its benchmark, Logic 7 technology uses a sophisticated matrix and specially developed digital algorithms to transform normal two-channel stereo recordings into realistic, atmospheric multichannel surround sound. Instruments and voices are reproduced with an impressive sharpness, body and localizability, allowing even the finest details to be heard.

How does it work? Music is faithfully recorded in the sound studio on, for example, 48 tracks and is then reduced to two tracks on a normal stereo CD. Some information, but by no means all of it, is lost. Though normally imperceptible, stereo recordings still contain a great deal of spatial information from the original recording. This information is interpreted by the Logic 7 multi-channel surround-sound technology and distributed through the various channels of the Harman Kardon sound system, which has been specially tailored to the specific car model. The result is absolutely faithful to the original: The sound is distributed solely on the basis of the original intentions of the musical recording, without any artificial effects. All the system does is to reproduce the sounds that were already there.

The perceived sound source is moved away from the individual speakers, giving the impression of being in a much larger space. This opens up the soundstage and results in 360-degree sound for every passenger, no matter where he or she is sitting. An optimal result, despite the difficult acoustic conditions found in cars, is achieved.

Of course, this requires an understanding of the “secret” codes of sound engineers. And members of HARMAN, which includes Harman Kardon, Inc., have this understanding thanks to the full-process competence that comes from having a single source.

 

[fredblue]

Thanks guys

From what I can gather these H/K systems also play 5.1 DVD-A and DVD-V.. so I'm hopeful these demo DVD-V's are genuine 5.1 mixes.

Quite what's on the discs is a bit of a mystery at this stage, no info given.

Only one of the discs has appeared on a file sharing site at some stage and that upload has a tracklist, which reads like a compendium of old DTS Entertainment surround mixes.. which while nothing new at least gives me hope these discs will be the real deal.

Either way I'll update here with what they're all about as soon as they start arriving and I've had a chance to try them out.

 

[inquadwetrust]

My most recent car has been a 350 AMG class Mercedes Benz which has the above mentioned system. Logic 7 is pretty average with most content but my, load up a DVDA and the system springs to life (making sure Logic 7 is turned off). You can make adjustments for trim but only in a joystick style fashion. I tended to generally push the centering of the surround to +3 into the rear. The surround layer of any disc is the default playback. A large centre speaker sits in the console and then the left and rights mid range are embedded in the roof posts left and right at their bases. At your feet in each door is a larger left/right with full range capabilities, the rears - to be honest I haven't checked where they sit but it sounds like just behind the rear seats/doors. Stand out playbacks are the DVDA of Sabbath's Paranoid from the original Q4. Extraordinary deep response yet blistering highs throughout. It seems flatter when I listen at home - of course match those incendiary album tracks with the winding roads in the Sierra Foothills and you have something pretty special happening. The recent DVDA of the The Yes Album makes the centre sing so bright and fine, you end up getting a little lost into that alone. My favourite playbacks are generally DVDA transfers of Q8 material that seems to befit Californian highways and byways, Miller's The Joker or Cooper's Billion Dollar Babies or some Edgar Winter, take your pick. DTSCD playback is just as easy, Beck Bogart and Appice's rendition of Superstition is very crankable and so satisfying. The steering wheel has buttons which allow me to change track easily, the system I have used has a six disc capacity which means a fair amount of driving to listening ratio. Be warned that certain discs will play but stop after each track meaning you have to manually advance them, a minor gripe but considering I felt Led Zeppelin's How The West Was Won was made for this vehicle it makes for sluggish listening having to advance each track.

Possibly a strange place to mention it but it is nice to be back in the land of Quad. A enforced hiatus has surprisingly lead me to an entirely new life in California.

 

[fredblue]

Thanks IQWT! I wondered where you'd got to. Good luck on your new life in sunny California! :sun

 

[Time Lord]

I have an ML63 and my wife has a CLS 350 both with the Merc version of the HK system. It plays DVDA and DVDV brilliantly, as has been pointed out turn off the logic 7. My wife doesn't particularly like surround music but does enjoy giving Rumours a spin.The setup in the ML63 is particularly pleasing to listen to ? speaker size and placement are sonically better.
Unless BMW have changed in the last 18 months their HK systems do not play DVDA or DVDV, their logic 7 is a crappy faux surround field and best listened to on mute. It cost BMW a sale when I looked into this very carefully about 18 months ago. Trying to find out information on the web was very difficult and even from the dealers they had no way of clarifying this area. I had to lend them a disc to check the compatability.
I don't know about the samplers except for the special edition Mercedes SL disc that has been discussed elsewhere, I found it interesting but patchy, then I had to give it back to the dealer after a week.

 

[quadtrade]

I would bet the products used to make it, make some difference. The LOGIC 7 in the old Lexicon preamps, which cost 1500 or more and very high end and can be bought for a song on ebay, it was very good. These preamps can be had for 150 bucks.