SilverJ

I was really excited when I got my TL abut the DVD-A audio as well as the bluetooth phone ability. But heres the reality about the DVD-A--
Most of the discs I tried sound really clear...but not that mind blowing. Ones that are mind blowing? Linkin Park Reanimation and some of the tracks on the TL demo disc.
The DVD-A selection is a joke. It seems to be less than 1% of available artists.
I would have preferred more effort put into making CD's sound better and IPOD/MP3 player integration. IPODs and portable mp3 players are HUGE--- Why could'nt Acura see that?
As far as the bluetooth phone...Verizon is the best cell phone carrier..by far in the tri state area. And as of this writing they dont even have a bluetooth phone and the V710 is not going to support all the features the TL offers...
Oh well...just a rant. Other than these issues I love the actual car lookswise and drivewise.

EmuMessenger

Wow, your commentary is disapppointing. To me, there are quite a few selections on DVD-A that are very good. Do not forget, the system will also play DTS CD's.

As for the mobile phone thing, Verizon is terrible, IMO. ATTWS/Cingular have the best devices and excellent signal quality. By year end, no one will be able to touch ATTWS/Cingular in the PA/NJ/NY area.

Time to leave Verizon!

Good luck.

6spdzoomzoom

verizon is considerd one of the worst carriers in my area. I know DVD-A hasn't caught on yet but its much better compared to a year ago. Remember a few years back folks were on the fence about divix vs DVD.

Shinj1EVA

i have Sprint, and all i can say is.. CDMA is a POS.. switching to a GSM network soon.

SilverJ

There are a few selections that are good on DVD-A--agreed...however there a few HUNDRED THOUSAND good selections on CD...thats my issue.
I had cingular before...its horrible where I live. Verizon is the best...by far.
Thank god for the six speed....

smoore

I too am disappointed in the DVD Audio selection but I have a number of discs that I am very happy with. I think Acura is trying to push the market toward DVD Audio. I suspect other auto manufacturers may well move in the same direction. At the moment there are only two formats for higher definition music, namely DVD Audio and Sony/Phillips SACD. Acura decided to choose one over the other. A couple of years ago, when this car was in development, it looked like Sony was poised to lose another format war. SACD has come on stronger since then and it appears DVD Audio has weakened. Hopefully, the records companies that support DVD Audio will see the auto market as one worth exploiting and start producing a wider variety of DVD Audio discs.

I live in Canada and Rogers has bluetooth phones. I have an S/E T616 and I couldln't be happier with HFL. I was blown away the first time I realized that it had call waiting capabilities. I use the HFL all the time. Again I think Acura is a little ahead of the curve. I suspect that in a few years most cars will be using bluetooth and handsfree car kits will disappear.

Teh Jatt

DVD-A AND BLUETOOTH are useless to me... cuz I'm with nextel and I only listen to hip-hop/rap, and indian music which dont come in DVD-A

jjsC5

While it may be dissapointing, someone had to lead the charge. Thank Acura for that.

Things should be getting better soon. Many cars are now becoming available with Bluetooth, and the new Cadillac STS is available with DVD-A. I expect in a year both bluetooth and DVD-A will be much more widely available.

Stewie

I agree that DVD-A is virtually useless to me because the selection is so poor and they don't blow me away anyway. I would MUCH MUCH MUCH rather have had iPod integration instead of DVD-A but c'est la vie.

I had Verizon and dumped it in favor of a Sony Ericsson T637 with Cingular and I couldn't be happier. Bluetooth works perfectly and the only downside is quicker battery drain in the phone.

As for coverage no company is perfect so its just a matter of where you live and travel. I'm told that Cingular uses ATTW service where they have a better signal, so that helps me at work and when I travel.

Thorin78

I agree with comment about DVD-A. But you have think of the fact that Acura is the FIRST manufacturer that's included it as a standard. Technology will grow and better things will come along. If you had an HDTV a while back, you couldn't view any channels in HDTV. Why? because no station had moved to the standard. Look at the available channels now. The numbers are much greater. We're early adopters of this standard. or at least I am.

Bluetooth is just a communication standard that will become popular as time goes by as well. I personally have a SE Z600 phone that's on T-mobile. Acura included this option because it's convenient for the drivers to talk on the phone w/o hooking up an ear piece or having to buy one of those speaker phone devices for the car.

I think both options are great.

Did you ask yourself why you would pay $10 a month for XM radio when you could just listen to your cds or ipods in the car.

BMW offers Sirius radio installed with their cars, it's only recently that the ipod adapter was offered to the BMW. We can be very sure that there's an ipod solution that's going to be offered to the Acuras. In a recent online survey I remember being asked about HDD based music players installed in the car that could get files from a computer wirelessly. Hey you never know what's around the corner.

CeeBee

I concur that the selection is limited however Luther Vandorss's "Dance With My Father" album is outstanding on DVD-A! I have a few others but that is by the best one for me! Keep the faith

ticomba74

DVD-A selction is really limited. Best Buy has a section for them but most of the selections remind me of the first few months of the CD days (i.e., a lot of classical and lounge music). Seal's latest sounds awesome on the system (and the disc set also has 3 music videos on it). Both B&N and Best Buy will place new releases in DVD-A in the regular catalogs with CDs, so searching may result in more options than you thought.

As for Bluetooth, I have Sprint down here in S. FL. Sprint's phones suck and won't have a BT phone fopr a few more months, but I am looking forward to that option.


Anthracite/Camel w/Navi

Hawhyen51

Gotta agree about the limited selection on DVD-A. Y'all gotta give it some time, after all it is a fairly new format. You still got your CDs, right?

Bluetooth is great. Hands free conversation! Nuff' said....

IPOD/MP3 integration would be fantastic.... question of when?

And finally, waht's that cassette deck doing there?

vtechbrain

Got to acoustic sounds, plenty of DVD's there. Its a new format so we'll see what shakes. Frankly the format is so superior to CD its frightening. I just bought the latest Santana DVD and its so good it almost makes me want to toss my home stereo! Regardless of the wave, Mp3's suck in comparison to CD, comparing them to DVD-A is simply nonsensical. its fine for little walkabouts but they would be a disgrace in such an excellent stereo as the TL'S. As for bluetooth my, Sprint/ sony works fantastically well.

markjrenna

Totally disagree!

DVD-A is a feature, not a necessity, an up an coming technology. Would you rather Acura adopt this technology in the 2008 model? Its not like your TL doesn't play CD's, tapes, AM/FM, and oh yeah XM!

Bluetooth is another up and coming technology, a feature. Again, would you rather Acura adopt this feature in 2008??? Advice - Choose your service provider and your phone wisely. I have T Mobile and a Sony Ericsson T610. Bluetooth is AWESOME!!! I use it everyday!

Go here to see the list of compatible phones with your TL:
http://www.handsfreelink.com/phones.html
Click on the HandsFreeLink

Pot80h

When I went to change phones with AT&T, their Bluetooth selection was next to nothing (only 1 GSM). So I bought a Sony Z600 off network, and I love it. My PDA has Bluetooth too, so I can keep all my contacts up to date without having to enter them multiple places, and I can access the internet through my cellphone. I'm also going to ask Santa for a Bluetooth headset for when I drive our truck.

As for DVD-A, I'm not planning to replace any CD's I already have. But if there's a new one I like, I might try it. Of course, that means I'll have to upgrade the home theatre to DVD-A. What I DO like is that I can burn a shitload of CD tracks onto a DVD disk and get tons more music for road trips.

AH, Ipod integration! A friend just bought one for his BMW 3series convertible. But BMW tells him that their new integration won't work if you have the CD multichanger, Nav system or satellite radio!! He's more than a little ticked!

mobilezen

Verizon is the best provider in PA. T-Mobile/Cingular/AT&T are ok. Everywhere else, T-Mobile reigns supreme.

rets

IMO, DVD-a isn't any good to me so far. But combo of Bluetooth and HFL is one of the best features for me...

We should have Bluetooth/Navi/Dvd-a/Audio/Vedio subforum.

niarbdab

Queen's Night at the Opera is fantastic. I just can't listen to it for very long because my radio is defective.

The sound is remarkable, though. It's got me hooked with as little exposure as I've had.

neuronbob

I partially agree with you, SilverJ, about DVD-A. I virtually never use the feature because of XM Radio and my iPod. I think there should have been some form of MP3/iPod integration. Oh, well! The DVD-A selection is very thin for the music I like, so I only have a few.

As for Verizon, they have the best coverage nationwide. On my continuing trip, I am able to get service anywhere, anytime. Driving between Limon,CO and Colorado Springs, CO (e.g. "Middle of Nowhere" plateau), I was able to converse with my mother with virtually no signal loss, on Verizon's digital network (my roaming signal was not on). I decided to just use an earphone and wait patiently for the V710. We simply don't know what features on the TL it will support until someone has one in their hands, which appears to be today or tomorrow if we believe Radio Shack. Bottom line--I haven't used BT either, but plan to when the opportunity arises, and it promises to be an awesome experience. Whether it is or not, you'll definitely hear about it from me.

Stewie

I just can't listen to it because its Queen's "Night at the Opera"

Zed's TL

If all they have is Queen, I'm listening to am.

lindros2

I agree with this - it's a great technology demonstration (and something I use every day), but I can clearly live without DVD-Audio (since most of my favorite artists are on Sony labels -- which use SA-CD for hi-def), and although Bluetooth is innovative and helpful, my AT&T GSM is ABYSMAL. T-Mobile is better but I have to wait until October to switch (f'ing cell carriers).

My Verizon service is great, and unless I want to get scammed into the overpriced, overweight, feature-crippled, much-delayed V710, I could care less...

I would have much preferred them offer Sirius (choice of satellite providers) and MP3 CD capabilities.

William_B

Wow, if you didn't like the features to begin with, then you shouldn't have bought the car. Either that, or realise that you would not use these features and discount them in the sales pitch/price negotiations part of your purchase.

So your wireless carrier doesn't have a bluetooth phone. Easy answer, switch your carrier.

The DVD-A system plays CD's just as well as it plays DVD-A's.

Just my rebuttal to your rant :P.

oblio98

There is good news coming this fall in the DVD-A area. As many of you have noticed, the recent months have had little or no DVD-A release activity, even though many titles had been announced.

The problem is not with the format or the players, but with the publishers. The music publishers are claiming that since the DVD-A (and SACD for that matter) have multiple playable tracks on them (i.e. stereo, hi rez surround, DTS, etc), that they should get paid FOR EACH TRACK!! To be, this is a load of bull, but to the publishers, it's improtant enough that they have sued for royalties on previously released product.

This has virtually put a stop to all of the "good stuff", and is why the classical and jazz stuff still trickles out.

Starting this fall, 5 major labels will be introducing what is called the "DualDisc", basically a CD on one side and a DVD on the other. These were test marketed earlier this year in Boston and Seattle. All of the test market companies except Sony put redbook CD on one side and DVD-A on the other. Sony, being the market bearer of SACD, put DVD-Video on the DVD side.

To read about DualDisc, check out this article:
http://www.highfidelityreview.com/ne...umber=12004614

At any rate, since these labels are gearing up for this major push, I would expect that the publishers will be dealt with and we will begin to see a lot more titles, many of them that were scheduled to be released a while ago.

There is an interesting interview with Elliot Scheiner on the Crutchfiled web site, where he talks of more discs that he is doing, as well as getting more players into cars.

http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/IS..._scheiner.html

I think, in the long run, you will all be pleased with your DVD-A player compatibility, although it is pretyy thin right now.

Jon Urban
www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums

¿GotJazz?

As I posted a long time ago, I predict that DVD-A will be a dead format within the next few years (probably less than 10). There's no significant audible advantage over CDs as far as sound quality is concerned - mostly gimmicktry.

From what I've heard, most of the record labels don't know how to record DVD-A properly. The recordings tend to be more of a "let's stick you in the middle of the band" sound, where instruments have been remixed into seperate channels. It's just a gimmick. Does that reproduce a realistic sound stage for you? Not unless your a member OF that band.

Proper DVD-A records should capture ambient sounds that would naturally occur around you in the real audio setting, improving upon the stereo soundstage, and enhancing the sense of realism. In a live concert, this would include audience sounds that are occuring behind you and to your sides.

That's what happens in surround sound recordings in movies - an airplane flies over your head in the video, and the sound comes from the rear to the front to match and enhance the viedo effect (remember the beginning of the Star Wars movies with the spaceship flying overhead?).

What is happening with a lot of the DVD-A audio I have heard would be the equivilent of having each character in a movie talking out of a seperate speaker while they all are appearing simultaneously on the screen. Not very realistic.

So, for me, DVD-A has been a waste.

Bluetooth, on the other hand, has the potential to be great. I used it daily with my T610 on T-Mobile. There are some implementation problems that I'm trying to get resolved through Acura & Johnson Controls (the manufacturer of the HFL system in the Acura). If my new V710 works better, Bluetooth will be one of my favorite features of the 04TL.

msisaac

I would agree that, for the most part, DVD-A in a car is a worthless feature. Even though i love the TL sound system, when you're traveling at 70 mph, with wind and road noise, do you really get the full effect of that 5.1 surround? When I'm travelling at full speed, I can't hear any difference between regular CDs and DVD-As. I'm sure most will say that I just don't have a good ear for sound, but I'm willing to bet that the majority of people would say the exact same thing. This is probably why DVD-A hasn't caught on more rapidly. Everyone has their huge CD collections with great sound, so they don't see the point in starting all over with something that barely sounds better outside of a listening booth. The sound gains going from tapes, 8 tracks, and LPs to CDs was huge. Tape hiss, needle noise, etc. were a thing of the past. The minimal gain in sound quality is lost because of the vehicle's noise, the noise of the trucks and other cars passing or getting passed, construction zones, etc. Don't get me wrong...I'm glad that the sound engineers are looking for the next level in sound quality, but I don't really see the point outside of a quiet home atmosphere. Plus, it does seem premature to have it, since there are so few releases out there right now. Maybe if Acura had held off a little, waited for the DVD-A medium to catch on a little better, then they could have gone for a premium sound system that supports it.

As for Bluetooth, I don't think that is useless at all. It's a fantastic feature. The problem is that there needs to be one single standard for BT...get rid of this crap of headset profiles and handsfree profiles. Some phones work with headsets, but not handsfree...some vice versa...What the hell is that? Set one damn BT standard that everything can use. It would simplify things for the OEMs. Acura could simply put a BT chip in the car and it would work with any phone that has a BT chip in it. This is the main problem with BT, IMO. However, when you do find a phone that works with the TL, it's the best feature. Handsfree calling and answering calls. Placing calls without having to take your eyes off the road to look at a small, cramped dialpad, and not having to use the shoulder-to-ear method of holding the phone up while you are also trying to drive and change lanes is great. I think that this should be MANDATORY as a safety feature. Of course, I'm all for completely outlawing cell phone calling while driving. I think that that is the safest course. But, if you can't outlaw it, then this should be the ONLY alternative.

Matt

oblio98

I don't know why you guys are complaining about DVD-A capability in the TL. Heck, if you don't like it, you don't have to use it! It is, after all, a CD player too!

Heck, there are many features in cars that people don't use................

like TURN SIGNALS!!!

PA-TL

My .02c

DVD-A is awesome, the sound, harmonics and instrumentation is far better than any DVD. The section is lousy, but that's not Acura's fault. You will find more and more DVD-A's over time.

Likewise for Bluetooth. I have a Nokia 6820 w/ AT&T and it's wonderful. I have some voice rec issues, but no bluetooth connectivity issues.

gigi

Here is another great use for the audio system. You can put up to 7 CDs on to 1 DVD-R using Wavelab. So you can have up to 42 CDs ready to play anytime.

msisaac

I agree with GotJazz...DVD-A will go the way of the MiniDisc (unfortunately...I loved the minidisc idea...I still have my Sony MiniDisc walkman/recorder with 5 rewriteable minidiscs.)

I think that the gain in sound quality is so small over CDs that most people wouldn't justify the cost and time of completely rebuilding their audio collection. It's the same thing that is happening with the computing market. In the old days of computers, each new processor/memory upgrade showed significant improvements over previous models, so people wanted to upgrade. Computers have gotten to the point where they are fast enough for almost any application. Most people are happy with their current systems and don't see a need to upgrade. Same thing with CDs. Most people are happy with the sound quality and see no need to upgrade to DVD-A.

Although, I think the biggest killer of DVD-A is going to be mp3s (or any other form of downloaded music). People can hop on Kazaa or whatever P2P client they choose and get whatever song they want. I actually see this as eventually killing CDs as well, although that won't happen for a long time. People will eventually have a wireless connection from their computer to their car stereo and they will be able to simply download hundreds of mp3s to their onboard computer and take their entire selection with them without ever having to burn another audio CD. (Hhhmmm...that gives me an idea to hook up a wireless computer in my TL and do exactly that...I'd have my PC, my Mac, and now my TL all hooked up to my home network...). No more bothering with the 6 disc changer...

DVD-A is worthless for probably 95% of the population. This is just my opinion...no need to jump on my case...I may have overlooked some extremely important aspect of DVD-A...If I have, let me know and maybe I can be persuaded over to the DVD-A camp...

Matt

stranger

If you have a DVD writer, burn your own DVD-A. If you are using nextel as I do, switch to other cell companies. They may be useless to you, but it does not mean they are useless to others

Lastdra900n

verison is the best here too..

and more importantly everyone check out linkin park right NOW

kosh2258

Back when CD's first hit the market the selection was pretty thin too. The introduction of any new format is a push/pull sort of thing.

To make it profitable to manufacture DVD-A and SACD's there has to be demand. To have demand there has to be hardware to play them being purchased by enough people.

While MP3 is a big thing, it's also a big part of the reason why DVD-A and SACD isn't progressing faster. MP3 is bleeding potential buyers from the market for both CD's and DVD-A and SACD. I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing, just a fact.

Played on a good home system, the difference in quality between CD's and DVD-A/SACD is substantial and very obvious. It's less so on the TL system. It sounds great for the typical OEM sound system, but still not in the same league as a good home system.

criss

vtechbrain

Those of you that say that DVDA is no big advance compared to CD are either tone deaf or have just listened to a single bad one. Listen to the REM greatest hits on CD and DVD back to back. after that small learning expirience you will become much better informed. As to the longevity of the format only time will tell.

rsxbond

Bluetooth is awesome! It's so much more safer and convenient when your driving to talk on the phone now. All my friends love it. It's one of the best features of the TL in my opinion. I'll never be able to drive another car w/out BT.

Eiffel

It is quite unfortunate that there are so many "CD only" generation people out there. Not to blame them, as most do not know what they are missing in their lossy music. CD's truncate the music from the original master recordings. Worse yet, since CD's are already sterile in sound, a little further compression and degradation using MP3 at the sake of convenience only widen this gap. DVD-Audio and SACD are merely restoring what was lost from LP to CD. DVD-Audio and SACD "are" the effort to making better CD's.

The dual-disc DVD will allow it to be played on a straight CD player and will also allow for DVD-Video concert/artist footage on DVD players. It is even supported by Sony meaning SACD could be the next "Betamax" of the high resolution tug-of-war. Note: Sony has been know to flip-flop their stategies and is considred to be the "Microsoft" of this market.

Eventually, maybe with blue laser medium, we will be able to have lossless high resolution video and audio together. We have our sound quality back, now we need to wait for the hardware and memory to store multiple selections on portable devices.

I do agree that Acura should have allowed MP3's to be played or IPODS to be easily hooked-up, but the music "quality" folks appear to have under-estimated the number of "CD only" generation listeners buying this car.

One other thing, is it possible the reason some cannot hear the difference between CD and DVD-audio sound is that 500 watt systems playing heavy bass music have taken a toll on their ear drums?

SilverJ

DVD-A would be great if there was a good selection. I definitely hear the difference on *some* DVD-A's...but its such a ridiculously small selection. I pray it becomes more mainstream. Bluetooth is useful I suppose but Im just pissed because Verizon is the best cell carrier for where I drive and they dont seem to give a crap about bluetooth.

Scuba629

has it been said the v710 isnt going to support all the TLs features?