I'll start by saying this is my first Acura/ import I've ever owned so I'm slowly trying to learn. I have an 08 tl w/ navi, I noticed if I turn Dolby on and change the fade settings to the rear the rear speakers sound really distorted, you can't make out any words it's just muffled. I took it to the dealership and they kept it for 2 days then called and said its "normal" for my vehicle. Does anyone else experience this issue? Any info would help. Thanks.

 

What source are you playing? I read somewhere that if you have Dolby on a compressed source (XM, MP3s, etc.) it may sound distorted. Do you get the same sound out of a CD?

 

I've never tried it with a CD. I mainly just use XM, aux, and the radio and it does it with all three.

 

My guess is that our stereos only use dolby noise reduction for the cassette, but I am not sure.

 

That's what the dealership said but I didn't have the greatest confidence in them and I don't understand why they would only make the Dolby work with a cassette in a 2008 vehicle, who even has cassettes?

 

That's what Dolby Noise Reduction is: A system that improves dynamic range by reducing the tape hiss that's inherent with the use of analog magnetic tape. Dolby "B" and "C" noise reduction are the most common in consumer applications, though Dolby C is considerably less common than Dolby B and most of the time if you see "Dolby" without further specification it refers to Dolby B (except in some movie ads, but those are referring to a different system). The TL has Dolby B NR for use with the tape player. The way it works is by compressing the dynamic range during recording and expanding it during playback. Dolby B has pretty much been standard on just about every tape deck, and on most playback devices other than the very cheapest of Walkman-type players, since the mid-1970s.

You're probably confusing the word "Dolby" with either Dolby ProLogic or Dolby Digital. Dolby ProLogic is essentially a way of encoding four-channel surround-sound for use on compatible systems; incompatible systems play the recording as ordinary two-channel stereo. It was most commonly used in VCR applications. A later version, Dolby ProLogic II, can simulate five-channel surround-sound from any stereo recording; in a sense, this is similar in concept to the hideous "fake stereo" Capitol Records was notorious for using in the early- to mid-1960s, especially on Beatles albums, although ProLogic II does a better job of "faking it" than Capitol Records did.

The name Dolby Digital is most commonly used in the consumer context to refer to a method of compressing the multichannel soundtrack for inclusion on a video DVD. This allows the storage of both the multichannel audio and the video within the format's space constraints (as use of uncompressed multichannel audio often wouldn't be feasible given the length of a movie). Dolby Digital is irrelevant in the context of the Acura TL because the TL's stereo does not play video DVDs.

If you look again, you'll notice that the Dolby NR symbol on your TL's stereo appears only on the tape player door. That's a further indication (if one is needed) that it's only for use with the tape player.