2019 Acura RDX - USB 5.1? VERIFIED!!

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Thank you for the post!!

Could someone a lot more tech head than me explain the term "MOST bus"?

(I am happy to know there is a 24/48 5.1 system out there. If anyone gets a good chance to listen to this, please give me your take. I am not in the market for a new car now, but in a few years, I may be seeking a used 2018 RDX. :)
See here;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOST_Bus
 
Thank you LennonCobain. Wikipedia...who knew??? (I should have assumed they would have that one. I had never heard anything like it before, so I actually thought it was rarely used short hand tech phrase, or a typo). I now know MOST bus. The FAT 32 is good to know as well. Though I guess if this is an automaker standard, the 5.1 aspects are still not standard. So simply formatting my 5.1 FLACs to 24/48 still won't play in a new Honda Accord.
 
Excellent news (see below). 5.1 playback is not limited to the ELS Studio 3D system in the higher trim models.
12DCDD27-B4D5-40D0-A0F1-4CD70D25DE3F.jpeg
 
This post from Acura (in front of the Capitol Records building) has me hopeful that perhaps there will be new audio releases (digital multichannel) coming soon.
View attachment 33382
Perhaps another Demo Disc like previous Acura versions...OR who knows maybe the ES mixed appetite for destruction might be a choice...
 
Ooooh, interesting... That would indeed be cool. I thought the new ones didn't have disc capabilities? Maybe downloads?! :eek: I wonder what the postage and packaging charges are to get one sent over to the UK? :unsure:
 
Cool! Sounds a bit Mission Impossible - 'this USB stick will self destruct in 5 seconds" but surely gotta be 5.1 on a platform promoting ELS 3D studio?!
 
UPDATE:

I have had my car for a few days and am planning an in-depth review. I don't want to start it until I clear some things up with ELS themselves.

Just a quick note or two: It sounds freaking amazing. Best ELS playback yet. It does not play 5.1 .flac files as of today. It likes 24/48 5.1 .wav files, which unfortunately cannot be tagged. The playback is NOT gapless, so DSOTM and LOVE get broken between songs for a split second or so. ELS says that while it accepts a 24/96 5.1 .wav file, the system is downsampling it to 24/48, so to save space on a USB stick you may as well downsample yourself before you make your stick.

I will have pictures and stuff when I get everything sorted out. The car itself is amazing, the first new car I've had that I actually had to read the manual!

Anyway, the 5.1 is real, discrete, and sounds great. Now they just have to fix a few things and it will be perfect. Fix .flac compatibility, fix gapless playback. Nothing critical, but things worth fixing IMHO.
 
Very much looking forward to more details. Curious about things like playlists, etc.

FLAC playback (or lack there of) is disappointing. Maybe the system is particular about the compression level used?

WAV files can supposedly be tagged using certain software. I’ve not tried it myself.
 
UPDATE:

I have had my car for a few days and am planning an in-depth review. I don't want to start it until I clear some things up with ELS themselves.

Just a quick note or two: It sounds freaking amazing. Best ELS playback yet. It does not play 5.1 .flac files as of today. It likes 24/48 5.1 .wav files, which unfortunately cannot be tagged. The playback is NOT gapless, so DSOTM and LOVE get broken between songs for a split second or so. ELS says that while it accepts a 24/96 5.1 .wav file, the system is downsampling it to 24/48, so to save space on a USB stick you may as well downsample yourself before you make your stick.

I will have pictures and stuff when I get everything sorted out. The car itself is amazing, the first new car I've had that I actually had to read the manual!

Anyway, the 5.1 is real, discrete, and sounds great. Now they just have to fix a few things and it will be perfect. Fix .flac compatibility, fix gapless playback. Nothing critical, but things worth fixing IMHO.

So glad to hear that the speakers sound good(y)
 
Jon,

Glad you are enjoying the car - does the new RDX have the capability to do over-the-air SW updates like Teslas?

Yes. I also has an AT&T Hotspot for the car. Free for first 3 Months, then $10 or $20 a month after that if you want it. Otherwise, it can link to your phone's hotspot to get the updates for the NAV and the other electronics.
 
Important news for members testing the car. I have discovered why I was so confused the first time I tried a USB in a dealer demo.

The 5.1 files MUST BE 24/48 to play properly. If you use a 24/96 5.1 .wav file, it will play alright, but it will sound like crap. Why? Because in the system as the files are downsampled the rear channels are merged with the fronts!! I put a bunch of files on a USB stick and could not figure out why some sounded good and others not so much. Then "Year of the Cat" came on and that tune starts out totally in the rears for the first minute or two. But the piano was coming from the front of my car! I thought maybe I saved it as a 4CH file, not a 6CH file, and that was the issue, but I checked that file in Sound Forge and it was a 6CH file with empty center and LFE channels. Then I saw that it was 24/96.

I then created the two attached files and proved it beyond a shadow of a doubt. If anyone tries the car, or gets one, download this little zip file. It contains 2 wav files, one 24/96 the other 24/48. It's got a dude identifying each channel with his voice. The rest is self explanatory.

HERE IS THE ZIP FILE (Right Click and 'Save Link As')
 
The playback is NOT gapless, so DSOTM and LOVE get broken between songs for a split second or so. ELS says that while it accepts a 24/96 5.1 .wav file, the system is downsampling it to 24/48, so to save space on a USB stick you may as well downsample yourself before you make your stick.

Do you know what filesystems are acceptable? It's fairly easy with SoX to simultaneously merge multiple FLACs into a single WAV while also downrezzing. The catch is that the resulting files may still be bigger than 2GB, which will mess you up if the USB stick needs to be formatted as FAT32 (which is common).

Fix .flac compatibility, fix gapless playback. Nothing critical, but things worth fixing IMHO.

Here's hoping they aren't limitations of the chip(s).

When I get a chance, I'll see if I can put together a Windows script together for you or anyone else who needs it. I've got one that works under Linux, but I know that only helps weirdos like me.
 
Jon, which Acura RDX 2019 trim level did you get?

If I understand correctly 24/48 wav files as flac is not accepted.
What a pain. Does this mean you are redoing all your music into 24/48 wav so that you can actually play them.

I got the A-Spec trim level. I was going to get the Advance model, but I hated the wheels and the chrome trim. Both have the 3D audio system.

Right now my USB stick for the car is 24/48 .wav, mostly Steely Dan 5.1's and Donald Fagen 5.1's on it. Those albums sound amazing in the car. No tagging for now, so it's just generic info on the screen, but I'm not watching the screen (one would hope!)
 
I know it's probably hard to compare, but would you say equal or better than the same DVD-As in your previous Acuras?

I would definitely be considering one of these but my 2-year-old Tesla Model 3 reservation finally got activated and I bit the bullet and got the 3. Great car for driving and my first EV experience.

But soundwise it's OK. There is something called "Immersive" sound that can be turned up to high for streaming music, but I wish Mr. Musk was a true 5.1 aficionado...

Maybe I can talk my wife into an RDX in a year or two. Or maybe Acura will add the USB 5.1 to all their models.
 
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