Acura isn't the only automotive company that has abandoned the disc format...as much as I hate it...the disc medium is going away..most people keep their cars for 4 or more years...the disc medium could be gone before that and DVD-A's have been gone for a long long time...if you want to play discrete multichannel...the Range Rovers have the ability...and you don't have to go to the the top of the line to get one...HomerJAU had some posts on here about their multichannel features..
2019 Acura RDX - USB 5.1? VERIFIED!!
- Thread starter JonUrban
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Acura isn't the only automotive company that has abandoned the disc format...as much as I hate it...the disc medium is going away..most people keep their cars for 4 or more years...the disc medium could be gone before that and DVD-A's have been gone for a long long time...if you want to play discrete multichannel...the Range Rovers have the ability...and you don't have to go to the the top of the line to get one...HomerJAU had some posts on here about their multichannel features..
Just to say again..yes I know that ES wasn't very active the last decade...there is a reason for that...he's 70 now and he opted to do something else with his life in his 60's..because he has a family and an actual life..something that SW doesn't have..so for you to say that the 40 year old SW outdid the 60 year old ES...that is certainly true...that is what I meant by "what have you done for me lately"..not about the Acura system...but when you say he should have fought to do 5.1 USB flac..I'm calling bullshit...you have no idea what he did or didn't do..you weren't there..you don't know what his contract/arrangement is with acura about ELS..
Are Range Rovers the only other vehicles (besides older Acura’s) that play discrete multichannel?
Wow. Okay. Reset. Me too, I’m somewhere in between. My frustration likely stems from the fact that this surround audio world (mixing thru distribution) came to Elliott too late in life. Like all of us, you want to do other things. Alas for our hobby.
SIDEBAR: How SW or ES decide to live their lives should be outside the scope of the music. If you were not aware, SW made the decision to forego having a family. That should not be a sleight in any way. It was fortunate for us that he decided to be 24/7 music with his life otherwise several dozen items I cherish would not exist.
Plus it also fell to a lesser priority because the marketeers pointed out that they don’t begin to understand what all this handwringing is about. Go with the widest demographic possible i.e. the general public who have no awareness or passion for surround, “hey more USB ports!”.
Music is personal and portable with vehicles being a sweet exception. So here we are.
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SIDEBAR: How SW or ES decide to live their lives should be outside the scope of the music. If you were not aware, SW made the decision to forego having a family. That should not be a sleight in any way. It was fortunate for us that he decided to be 24/7 music with his life otherwise several dozen items I cherish would not exist.
Plus it also fell to a lesser priority because the marketeers pointed out that they don’t begin to understand what all this handwringing is about. Go with the widest demographic possible i.e. the general public who have no awareness or passion for surround, “hey more USB ports!”.
Music is personal and portable with vehicles being a sweet exception. So here we are.
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He is now retired correct?So much for Elliot being a big surround supporter. That's why I put SW way above him. He had the DVD-A in these cars with his name on them, he had the opportunity to insist that the newer Acura's continued to play the discs he produced, and then here in the final product for the next generation cars they have given up on discrete multichannel altogether when all it required was the electronics to play back a .flac file from a USB stick.
Missed opportunity and a very big letdown by ELS. And to add salt to the wound, why post those pictures of the audio screen showing DVD-A 5.1 Audio and a title that was a 5.1 DVD-Audio track?
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Where did I say I expected a DVD-Audio disc player in the new ELS system? They don't even have one in the current ELS system. Do a search and you will find numerous posts I've made about disc players disappearing from cars. That's not the issue.
The issue is simple. The promo video shows an ELS system playing a 5.1 surround DVD-A track from a USB stick. That's the issue.
END. Arguing is stupid on the internet.
The issue is simple. The promo video shows an ELS system playing a 5.1 surround DVD-A track from a USB stick. That's the issue.
END. Arguing is stupid on the internet.
Let me point something out to you..I WAS aware of SW's decision...that is why I mentioned it..he has been very open about it...that's why it's not a "sleight"..it was used as a comparison..in a time management sense..directly related to productivity..or in ES's case..a lack of productivity because he made a decision(the opposite of SW)to spend more time with his family...than working on music...
Thanks, I’m glad to know you’re aware of his decision. Since Elliot isn’t a member of several bands/projects as Steven has been much of this time I’d say it’s a draw and thus irrelevant. That’s why it read like a sleight in this context. (I.e. “That’s all he has...”)
If this has become a race, competition or tote board (for something as subjective as music) I’ve lost the plot altogether. My current beef is with Acura.
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Actually I don't have a beef with anybody...not even Acura...but I can understand why Jon is upset...he has a vested interest in Acura..as he has purchased quite a few of them and I still don't understand why they would put that DVD-A title on the screen in that vehicle...I only entered the fray when it was suggested that ES didn't do this or do that...when there is no way of knowing what went on behind the scenes... I don't like people to assume things like that..especially a guy that has done what ES has done for our hobby...if it was someone saying those same things about SW I would defend him as well...so I'm going to quietly retreat from this part of the discussion...I hope Jon isn't angry at me...I'm certainly not angry at anything he said
No harm, no fowl. Moving on.
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........I hope Jon isn't angry at me...I'm certainly not angry at anything he said
No way, I'm not mad at you at all. In fact, to let out my aggression, I think I'll go ahead and finally ban Snood! :yikes
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Better yet, Jon, you can stuff Snood in the trunk of your Accura and transport him to the Staten Island landfill site where he can commiserate with the seagulls including the legendary Jonathan Livingston:yikes
https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/kid...g-kidnapper-holding-gun-his-hand-32765112.jpg
I thank Elliot Scheiner for his past work and specifically for getting surround sound audio into cars.
I thank Steven Wilson for his past, present, and future work in surround sound because I continuously have great new mixes to play in my car and on my home system.
Finally, I thank Jon Urban for hosting this amazing forum to sound off about my obsession! (Oh yeah, and for banning Snood too!) :banana:
I thank Steven Wilson for his past, present, and future work in surround sound because I continuously have great new mixes to play in my car and on my home system.
Finally, I thank Jon Urban for hosting this amazing forum to sound off about my obsession! (Oh yeah, and for banning Snood too!)
:banana:
I've got no dog in this fight--buying or leasing an Acura is above my pay grade, and I defy anyone, including Elliot Scheiner, to design a surround system that will make my '92 Volvo 240 Wagon sound good. So I don't know why I got started reading this thread. (Maybe it was because I recently heard an underwriting spot for "ELS Studio Premium Audio" at the start of one of my NPR podcasts and thought, "Cool! Dude is still in the game at 70!")
Anyway, it's been fascinating--and slightly appalling--to hear what's happened, especially since both Acura and Panasonic's websites tout Scheiner as someone who "is widely recognized as a leader in surround sound recording/mixing" and quote him as saying that "With ELS Studio® we can finally capture and reproduce music the way we hear it in the studio."
But while I don't want to get all Pollyanna-ish about it, like Ryan I see this thread as evidence of what a great place this forum is. Smart people get impassioned, the discussion wanders a bit, good points and counter-points are raised, and just when you think it's starting to turn a little testy, reason and calm prevail. Love it!
Now, if somebody wants to drop by and take me for a spin in their late-model ELS-equipped Acura, I'll put on my driving clothes.
Anyway, it's been fascinating--and slightly appalling--to hear what's happened, especially since both Acura and Panasonic's websites tout Scheiner as someone who "is widely recognized as a leader in surround sound recording/mixing" and quote him as saying that "With ELS Studio® we can finally capture and reproduce music the way we hear it in the studio."
But while I don't want to get all Pollyanna-ish about it, like Ryan I see this thread as evidence of what a great place this forum is. Smart people get impassioned, the discussion wanders a bit, good points and counter-points are raised, and just when you think it's starting to turn a little testy, reason and calm prevail. Love it!
Now, if somebody wants to drop by and take me for a spin in their late-model ELS-equipped Acura, I'll put on my driving clothes.
No! Jon still like Snood! :sun
All these Ban Snood posts by Jon have underlying meaning Snood just knows it.......
Most put post numbers and dates posted together match with letters and break the Jon Urban Code:bounce :xp:
Before Snood gets Banned - it On!!!! Jon!!!:banana:
Snood no scream for help in 5.1 So me thinks Jon would not like that idea
Or would he? hmmmm:yikes
Clint asked me to post on my Land Rover Meridian Surround System tests;
I’ll post what I found, I never went back to trial the exact model of vehicle but the one I tested played all my test FLACs correctly including pure quad (4 channel, no additional silent channels), 5.0, 5.1 at all sample rates and bit depths.
I wasn’t doing any sound quality test just purely ‘can it play MCH FLAC?’
The dealership is supposed to call me when they have a vehicle/model I wanted but not heard from them yet. That was going to be a listening quality test.
Also: All Land Rovers and Jaguars have the Meridian Surround System option. I ‘m tossing up between a LR Evoque or Jag E-Pace (both small luxury crossovers)
I doubt it plays DVD-A discs but I’m not interested in disc playback, even at home. FLAC only for audio, MKV for video.
EDIT: After the test run using a small USB drive (16GB) I bought a couple of 128GB USB 3.0 mini thumb drives and whacked 44 hires MCH FLAC albums on there for my next tests. The system has 2 USB ports so I can have around 90 albums online at anytime. The dealership is very close. I'll pay them another visit over the weekend and try the 128GB drive and report back with more detail. http://www.meridian-audio.info/public/meridian-evoque-ds[3791].pdf
I’ll post what I found, I never went back to trial the exact model of vehicle but the one I tested played all my test FLACs correctly including pure quad (4 channel, no additional silent channels), 5.0, 5.1 at all sample rates and bit depths.
I wasn’t doing any sound quality test just purely ‘can it play MCH FLAC?’
The dealership is supposed to call me when they have a vehicle/model I wanted but not heard from them yet. That was going to be a listening quality test.
Also: All Land Rovers and Jaguars have the Meridian Surround System option. I ‘m tossing up between a LR Evoque or Jag E-Pace (both small luxury crossovers)
I doubt it plays DVD-A discs but I’m not interested in disc playback, even at home. FLAC only for audio, MKV for video.
EDIT: After the test run using a small USB drive (16GB) I bought a couple of 128GB USB 3.0 mini thumb drives and whacked 44 hires MCH FLAC albums on there for my next tests. The system has 2 USB ports so I can have around 90 albums online at anytime. The dealership is very close. I'll pay them another visit over the weekend and try the 128GB drive and report back with more detail. http://www.meridian-audio.info/public/meridian-evoque-ds[3791].pdf
I have the Range Rover Velar / Jaguar F-Pace at the top of my next vehicle list now that the 2019 RDX fell out of contention. Hopefully the Meridian surround system is available in both.
sarasota2k4
Active Member
Heading over to a friend of mine's house this weekend that has a 2017 Range Rover Longwheel Base (LWB) Supercharged with the upgraded Meridian Surround Sound System. I'm going to bring a 32GB USB stick with some of my favorite 5.1 flac files to give it a listen. Granted - this vehicle is waaaaay out of my price range ($120K+), but I'm definitely interested in hearing and seeing how the USB playback goes. Like Jon, very disappointed Acura could not find a way to support discrete 5.1 playback via USB on the new ELS "3D" system. They most definitely should not have used a "marketing" photo of a DVD-A song being played back via USB if the system doesn't support "discrete" playback; so misleading.
UPDATE: I'm not too optimistic the FLAC playback will work, since the Meridian specs for the Jaguar state the following:
"• iPod, USB, Bluetooth support – AAC, MP3 and WMA connection via USB" <- No mention of FLAC
