Update; I now have an album as a 5.1FLAC.rar file that is now on my USB stick in a folder. I wonder if this will "work".

 

5.1 = 5 Audio Channels + 1 sub woofer channel.

So much like when music first went from mono to stereo...a producer with the original recoding tracks mixes it so that different parts of the music comes out of different speakers. (Front-Left, Front-Right, Rear-Left, Rear-Right, Center-Channel, Sub Woofer)

The way I've seen it done most often is like this as an example:
- Center Channel (behind the Infotainment screen) has mostly vocals and a lower level of all the other music
- Front left has mostly lead guitar and some lower level of the other music
- Front right has mostly rythm guitar and some lower level of other music
- Rear speakers has mostly drums and backup vocals... etc etc etc

 

Now I am converting the RAR to a FLAC. Why the hell did it download as a RAR instead of a FLAC? I don't know. I hate this and it sucks. Shoulda put a CD player in the damn thing or just not even advertised 5.1 ELS because what, maybe 1% of customers will muck with this!?

 

@unobtainium Yeah, even worse, there seems to be VERY limited availability of 5.1 tracks.

A very generous member here has posted some for download at times. They do sound incredible! But who wants to listen to the same songs over and over again to enjoy the 5.1?

 

Yes, but those all timed out. I'm not bitter or irritated though, that person did something for free of their own volition---they shouldn't have had to. Acura should support their own stuff. Acura needs a 5.1 FLAC file portal for owners, or to change their ways to support common media. This is wayyyyy too niche, IMO.

 

FLAC files are like MP3 files (but higher quality). Acura cannot provide them, you need to get your own music.

.RAR file is like a .zip file. You can download a free tool called 7-Zip that can "unzip" the rar file to get at the FLAC file that is inside.

 

im using a browser based "easyzip.com" its taking a minute, lol

 

I suppose you might say the "Easy Button" is called the FM-Radio. There is also Sirius-XM radio now-days. Some might even consider this forum (and the instructions and knowledge within it) an Easy-Button.

If you ever made a mix-tape, it's similar to that. No, no tape-players in car for about 20 years now. You are even a few years late in being able to get a CD-Player (however, both our old 2014-MDX and the wife's current 2020-Audi have them). Now-days, many people use digital-music-players or their phones.

Yeah, you are right though ... this actually takes some effort. I think it's worth it. Some that aren't so-into music these-days might not think so.

Yeah, I've got some Metallica in the car, but it's just stereo-MP3. In my Audi's Bang & Olufsen 700-watt sound-system it uses a DSP-circuit to convert stereo-tracks into pseudo-surround-sound and it then plays on all-or-most of the car's speakers. Crank-it-up and with the sub-woofer and all ... I think it sounds pretty good. Properly created FLAC files sound as perfect as the CD or Master-Recording they were ripped from. They can be 2-channel (stereo) or 6-channel (5.1 Surround Sound, ie. Dolby-Digital, DTS, etc.)

Put these files on your USB-stick and see how they sound.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...fd?usp=sharing

If you click Download All, it will zip-them-up into a single package for easy download. Windows has a built-in un-zipper (or un-compressor). The files you play in the vehicle must be the un-zipped ones (or the files in their original form).

 

Be sure to give them you credit-card number while you wait.

Cool screen-name by-the-way. Maybe upload an Avatar later.

 

The content-creators that own the music (and take the time/effort/money to have their music remixed from original masters) is how most of the real 5.1 surround-sound music is created. You can buy some here, and many other places on the Internet.

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-rdx-.../#post16781421

While Acura was one of the first to support it years ago, now-days ... all premium cars support it. Personally, I think Acura should stick to trying to build better vehicles. And cars in general are only a small portion of sound systems that can play it properly. Any decent home-audio system should be able to also.

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-rdx-.../#post16779599

Since it sounds like you don't like downloading/copying files ... I wonder if you might be happier with a Music service Subscription on your smart-phone. Only thing is, I think discussion here revealed that either the smartphones (or maybe it was the Acura vehicle itself) doesn't fully support passing all 5.1 or 6-channels to the ELS audio-system, so you end-up with mostly just stereo-tracks.

 

Thanks a ton! I see they are mp3, will this sound "just as good" as 5.1 FLAC? I mean, do I need to be some sort of savant to detect it? Also, should I turn on or off the "surround sound" which I understand is for non-5.1 to make it sound "surround-y"?

 

I'm good with XM and Pandora, I just want to see what this ELS is about, and if I can slap a few of my favorite stuff onto a USB...cool!

I did download Rammstein In Amerika as a 5.1 FLAC file (whole album), and am currently converting the RAR to a FLAC. Annoying, dunno why it downloaded as RAR

 

ugh. It said it was free...and I'm still waiting. Any other way to convert a RAR to a FLAC?

 

Okay, downloaded another free converter and it whipped it right over!

Now I have a decent selection to see what it's all about. You rock, thanks!!! Also just got back from having all the glass tinted, PPF applied, and windshield and pano roof protection applied.

 

All the FLAC files in that folder are 5.1 surround (aka 6-channels ... 5 channels + 1 sub-woofer channel = 6 )

Yes, there is also a few stereo (which means 2.0 channels) MP3's in there. You can turn-on the artificial surround-sound for those if you want.

 

Is there a reason we aren't just using YouTube's 5.1 stuff to stream this, btw?
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...OEc6ZEjcF8ABT_

 

I say ‘NO’ to the surround switch…

 

winRar for windows is the best.

 

Because no surround streaming works in the car, only off a USB.

 

is this failing unique to Acura?

 

Nobody has that.

 

Not to mention that the THEORETICAL bandwidth of bluetooth 5.0 is 2mb/s. The bitrate of a 5.1 FLAC is like 7 mb/s. So even if the technology could stream it from your phone, you certainly couldnt do it wirelessly.

 

Geez guys, what's with all of the negative crap? Listen, I can't legally post up tons of 5.1 music, I only was making stuff available for a short time so you guys could check out the system in the car. I can't be a source for everyone, it's just not the way things should be.

For those that missed it, here are the 4 Pink Floyd tunes again, but just as the last time, this link will only work for a few days. Please don't PM me asking for stuff because that's not what I'm about. Sorry to disappoint you

https://mega.nz/folder/DFJhDSDD#2864-ABTvoqTyFG2eSsmnQ

 

all of my Rammstein is 5.1, but none of it sounded like "Money" that you provided me. Can 5.1...not be surround? Whats the deal there? It sounded good, but not that level.

 

thankyou! I totally respect that. If its not to much to ask...how can I be my own source for this? It feels so cumbersome combing iffy sites online. Is there a legit and centralized "place" to buy this stuff?

 

It really depends on the producer, and the options they have with the original recording material. From the artwork in those flac's it looks like Floydd recorded this with advanced mixing in mind. "Quadrophone!"

Some mixes can be done drastically for effect, other subtly.

For example I have a couple Nine Inch Nails albums in 5.1. I imagine that Trent Reznor probably originally recorded on 12 tracks or more, the effect is great...but its also more subtle than whomever mixed this Guns and Roses song:

Here you can listen to 1 file with the 5.1 mix and then on file for each channel.

• The center channel has NO GUITAR at all. Its just vocals drums and bass.
• Front left is mostly rythm guitar, some lower-volume vocals and drums and bass
• Front right mostly lead guitar
• The drums are in all channels, but i think there is no bass in the rears.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Au6M7Lym4OiBqYEN...6GwzA?e=6lHZp2

 

Link above was wrong:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Au6M7Lym4OiBqYEV...A_itw?e=FA9gog

 

So what you're telling me is that all 5.1 songs ARE 5.1, I may just be too dense about the ears to "get that", as their "5.1-ness" can vary, but yes, they are indeed 6 channel. Correct?

 

@oblio98 While I don't currently own an RDX (hopefully this will change soon!) I sincerely appreciate the samples you have provided for the group. Above and beyond is the only way I can think of describing this! I was blown away by how the ELS system sounded playing the 5.1 samples! I truly appreciate the opportunity to have been able to experience the 5.1 sound in the RDX. I feel badly that you even needed to make the comments above. Again, thank you very much.

 

Not sure why the negativity is happening. Acura cut the CD player/hard drive and we're finding ways to circumvent that as a community.

The new guy is just getting used to the newer Acura platforms, I guess.

 

5.1 mixes vary. A lot. Money is a natural to throw the Ching Ching around the cabin, and it is recorded very well. There are many more recordings that are more subtle but very distinct . Then there are the upmixes that are pretty bad. Can hardly tell they are 5.1.
It depends much on the person who mixes it. Some people are known for their great mixing from the original tapes, depending on how they were recorded originally. Steve Wilson is one of those chaps. But who wants to trace down the mixer dude? Just know that there is a difference between good and bad mixing, and you get to hear all the intricacies in the cabin. The better the system, the more you can hear the differences in good and bad recordings, that is a fact.

 

^^Yep, this 100%!

 

He is the only one with the negativity, no one else is. I also have a TLX Tech and I just want to thank oblio98 again for what he has done for us. For me, it just makes this very good car even better!

 

...and I discovered this morning that my converstion tool allows you to do stuff not good, like push the "resolution" down, or so forth. I re-converted all my stuff making SURE to select 5.1 96/24 when available. It also filled up that USB stick more.

 

it is the best if you record at the same bit rate as the source, like 96 or 48. If you are ripping a CD, you only get 14, so set your conversion s/w to 14/24.
Yes, of course it is going to fill up the stick more. if the source is 14, and you record at 48, your will just waste 3/4 of the samples and not make the music any clearer...

 

I've been doing that thing. Results are better. Im learning!

 

Depends on the final mix of the track. Who did it, did they do a good job, did they have a good (multi track) master recording? Pretty sure I already explained this once.

For example, I have a FLAC of David Essex - Rock On (from a [2 channel Stereo] Audio-CD) . But the 5.1/6ch FLAC that I uploaded is a totally different experience and the best version I've ever heard. But that wasn't created from the Audio-CD. It was re-mixed from the master-recording, and was likely originally distributed on an optical media that supports multi-channel recordings like SACD, DVD, or Blu-Ray.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...z8yKJVX43MPPfd

 

Not sure what that means exactly, but you never really do that.

You can not make a FLAC-file 5.1 channels, 96kHz or 24bit if it wasn't already (or at least that level of quality originally). At least in the beginning, you should just be downloading FLAC files and just playing them (not messing with them or converting them). Hopefully you have a backup of the original files.

 

I do try to get FLAC 5.1
The converter maybe put them as something lesser. I made sure they are now for sure 5.1/96/24. I had to download Flac 5.1 compressed as RAR and convert it to FLAC. Now Rammstein sounds awesome that this is sorted!

 

1. Good.
2. That I believe. So, not sure I understands the point of that.
3. ZIP and RAR are just containers. You are not "converting" anything. You are simply opening the container to reveal the contents inside (in this case, the individual files) .