thisisnotdave

I just got a TLX tech loaner while my '13 TL is being serviced and I was surprised at how limp the ELS system is in the new car.

Has anyone has the same experience? With the bass and sub cranked up full blast I'm barely getting a bass response at all.

I'm thinking of getting the TLX when my lease is up, but this is a serious deal breaker. (nevermind all the DVD audio discs I bought for the TL are useless now)

What gives?!

CPR

Depends on the music that you listen to; I was in the same boat, & upgraded to a TLX/SH-AWD/Tech, from a TL/SH-AWD/Tech/DVD/A
Bummed out that all my DVD/A discs are useless, BUT, I've discovered that some of the DTS/5.1 creations are SUPERB
Steely Dan/Gaucho
Eagles/Hell Freezes Over
Jethro Tull/Aqualung/burned from a Blu-Ray/Audio
Pink Floyd/DSOTM/4.0 Quad version
Pink Floyd/Wish You Were Here/Burned from a Blu-Ray/Audio
Many more; too numerous to name
Also, my IPod, BT/Audio,& HDD have "faux" surround, which obviously, is not as good, as DTS, but still sounds very good
On the DTS/Gaucho, I swear there are nuances, that I never heard before, on DVD/Audio
Happy Road Trips!

9SpeedTran

One thing people don't tend to factor in is that a new audio system has speakers that need to be broken in. Listen at healthy volume for 100 hours and then do a comparison. In my TLX Tech SHAWD, the bass is quite full, especially on CD/HDD.

thisisnotdave

This loaner has about 6000 miles on it so I think the speakers should be broken in by now. I remember the day I test drove the 4G, I was shocked at how powerful the bass was, comparatively speaking this is incredibly underwhelming. I'm going to burn a CD and test it out but that would be pretty disappointing if there is a significant difference between that and USB.

I like the car and would consider grabbing one after my lease runs up, but this is a deal breaker...

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

The only tangible difference between the two systems on paper is the lack of ability to play DVD-A.

dio

I agree with CPR you have to factor in the quality of the source, the better the source the better the sound. The ELS system on the out going TL did seem to have better bottom end. The new ELS/DTS has great mid and very detailed highs the bass is a little lacking.

Drop a CD in the drive and you will see that the quality of this system is up there with any OEM including the outgoing TL, tweak it a little and fine tune it to your taste.
I have always found that XM is pathetic there music is at 128k and has no life. Bluetooth is always also lacking and depending at what transfer size you rip music the worst it will sound.
Again the best sound will come from a CD you'll even notice the difference once you rip it into the hard drive it won't sound as detailed as the actual CD.

Stew4HD

And, the quietness of the TLX's cabin just adds to the sound quality. I do not find the TLX ELS system to be worse then the TL's, at all. I have found nothing spec-wise that that is different either. .. other than the DVD-A loss which seems only a few of us seem to care much about.

*shrug*

mapleloaf

My findings as well, although I came from a TSX ELS, but similar. The HD sound is excellent. A DTS disk is superb. I purchased a Police DTS disk and there are several songs on there that are absolutely stunning in terms of the surround sound quality. The bass sounds exactly as it should, but then I don't listen to crap….whoops…I meant rap.

a77

The TLX's bottom end is definitely very dry and it needs to be played very loud to come alive. And there's a very fine line between that and too loud and starting to sound ragged at mid/high frequencies. Needs a loudness for lower volume listening perhaps. And probably a bigger amp. FM and XM sound rubbish - partly as it is rubbish to begin with and partly as Hondas/Acura fm/xm chipsets are crap. My other half's old PT Loser's FM sounded way better. Bluetooth can sound good though.

CheeseyPoofs McNut

Hey ML - where did you find the Police DTS disc?

Frankly I would like to try some surround sound music in my TLX but I'm confused as to what I need to buy and where to look for it?

I presume this will work??
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Every-Breath-You-Take-The-Classics-DTS-5-1-by-The-Police-CD-2000-/281725008661?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41981e7b15

thisisnotdave

There must be something wrong with the TLX I drove or my ears. I was getting almost nothing out of the sub with bass and sub-woofer settings cranked all the way up. In my TL even with the volume at 10 - 20% of max I get thick bass that you can feel in the seat. With the TLX at 50% volume I got nothing.

I didn't get a chance to try any DTS disks, but it doesn't really matter. I've committed to paying $20 a month for Tidal and I'm not spending another dime on music otherwise.

CPR

FYI: Tidal is NEVER going to sound like a 5.1 DTS disc
You're comparing 2CH, to 5CH, & a subwoofer
Obviously, the discs are limited, in variety, but there's NO comparison sonically!
2 completely different musical sources

mapleloaf

[QUOTE=CheeseyPoofs McNut;15477142]Hey ML - where did you find the Police DTS disc?

Frankly I would like to try some surround sound music in my TLX but I'm confused as to what I need to buy and where to look for it?

That's exactly the CD I purchased on Amazon. I paid 24 Canadian, so the price seems right. Excellent CD. There is the odd store that may carry a few DTS CDs, but online seems to be the best place to find them. Perhaps using downloaded software to make one's own is the best way to go.

Stew4HD

[QUOTE=mapleloaf;15477997]It is getting harder and harder to find DTS-CDs. eBay has some as does Amazon.

Steely Dan's Gaucho on DTS-CD is very well mixed to take advantage of the surround sound. You'll clearly hear the backing vocals in the rear speakers, especially on the song 'Babylon Sisters".

CheeseyPoofs McNut

[QUOTE=mapleloaf;15477997]Thanks - just bought that one. I love the old Police stuff and I'm guessing their style of music will lend itself well to the surround sound. I've got a bunch of concert DVD's - might have to look at transferring them over to CD's some day.

[QUOTE=Stew4HD;15478069]Thanks - Found Gaucho DTS on ebay and just bought that one too. As a side note I've got 7th row seats to see them in July. Really looking forward to it.

Stew4HD

[QUOTE=CheeseyPoofs McNut;15478077]I am not quite as impressed with The Police mix.

Another one, if you can find it is Toy Matinee. It's an absolute treasure. Let me know if you don't find it.

CPR

If you can find it, buy the Eagles/Hell Freezes Over
great dynamic range, & vocal harmonies
Sounds awesome in the TLX/ELS
If you don't mind paying above retail, & want Sealed/brand new DTS discs, try 5.1 Marketing & Sales; they have just about every DTS disc, & lots of DVD/Audios
www.5.1.com
ENJOY!

Stew4HD

^ Absolutely!

CheeseyPoofs McNut

Thanks for that - "over retail" is an understatement! It looks like some of those (the EC disc) are available on eBay but as you say - 5.1 is selling unopened new product.

I wonder how the Herb Alpert disc sounds - may have to check that one out - curious that they classify it as Classic Rock! The Santana disc looks tempting too!!

Stew4HD

I have that Santana Abraxas DTS-CD. It's quite good.

thisisnotdave

Well, Tidal is losslessly compressed whereas DTS is lossy. And you're right its not an apples to apples comparison, but Tidal sounds great in my TL, definitely better than Pandora or Songza do. The difference in dynamic range and clarity are very noticeable.

But this post wasn't intended tout the virtues of streaming music. The TLX's bass was awful, like something I'd expect out of a base civic. If it's a defect of that particular car (unlikely) then it's one thing. But if you're telling that only way I can the get most of out this car's sound system in 2015 is by using CD's then Acura fucked up big time.

CheeseyPoofs McNut

I guess it's all relative but the bass in my TLX is far from awful. I put some Soul Coughing (they play alternative rock with a *real* upright bass - ) on my iPod and it was thumping pretty good.

iPod via the USB port is my preferred audio source and I have no complaints at all. The one caveat I have is I'm a classic rock/Jazz/Smooth Jazz kinda guy - I've never tried any genre.

Stryfe

I'm going to be honest with you...I really like my TLX, but one of the issues that frustrates me the most is the lack of bass coming from the system. I tried turning of ANC and everything. Bass on Max, Sub on Max and it's just ho-hum. Its not that much different then my pioneer head unit in my old vehicle. I'm very underwhelmed.

I've come to terms that i'm going to have to re-rip all my music in my iPod to 320kbps just to get a little thump which is going to take forever. And strangely for me the best source is bluetooth. I have turn my phone all the way up though. Even the cd's I ripped to the HD are not cutting it and I have it set for high quality rip. I wish there was a way to get more EQ settings, but it looks like i'm stuck.

I was able to get a little more bass with my phones EQ settings it's gotten better, but far off from what I expected. It's like I don't even have a sub.

CheeseyPoofs McNut

Ah ha - that's the key. I've got my iPod EQ settings tweaked which is why it sounds better than the CD's I play.

It makes perfect sense now - in order to get the best sound you need to come in from an external audio source that allows you to perform EQ before the sound is sent to the car.

gptlxdrvr

+1 on lossless, tweaking your phone's EQ, and ANC off for better bass. I'm coming off a stock '08 TL, so the ELS is to me is very, very good. However, I agree that the bass is the one chink in the armor. I wonder if all the soundproofing Acura did on the TLX to make the cabin so quiet affects the bass quality. It's almost like an 8" sub just isn't enough. I'd love to hear the system with a 10" or 12" sub.

Tony Gard

It appears that DVD-A playback capacity has been restored as an option for the 2016 ILX and RDX. If true this is good news. One hopes this is the case for the new TLX.

It is baffling that Acura removed the real guts of the ELS system in 2015, which had been so positively reviewed in previous years. Hyping the speakers without the DVD-A player in the 205 TLX is equivalent to snookering customers into buying a 65 inch flat screen TV offering only standard definition. This is not the way to develop life-long customers who were originally attracted to Acura because of the once exceptional audio system of the pre-2015 TL.

Other luxury car companies seem to understand what the gang at Acura missed the boat with in their 2015 models - commercially available HD FLAC files are available by the hundreds for download and home-burning DVD-A discs, and the number is increasing. It's a shame that your DVD-A discs are useless. I would not be so conciliatory.

Stew4HD

DVD-A's are not useless. I have converted every one of my DVD-As. I was sad when I found that the TLX didn't support DVD-A but not surprised.

DVD-A is basically a non supported format. CDs are becoming a dying format due to the convenience of super compressed MP3 and streaming sources. Non of those sound anywhere near as good as DTS-CD.

I listen to every one of my DVD-A's in my TLX except they have been converted to DTS-CD 5.1. They sound great, fantastic even.

What other luxury cars plays DVD-A? The Mark Levinson in the GS350 I had didn't.

AndyI

Completed more testing of 5.1 playback in 2019 RDX. Converted tracks from J.M.Jarre "Aero" (audio tracks on DVD), "Hotel California" from DTS-CD "Hell Freezes Over", and a couple of tracks from DVD-Audio disk of Diana Krall to a compatible format. I listened to these tracks many times with standard ELS surround in earlier models of MDX and RDX that we have, so I know how they sound. Also, J.M.J. tracks have huge surround sound effects, which was good for the purpose of this test.

As for file conversion goes, the biggest pain in the *** is to make sure that FLAC is encoded with compression level zero. I tried several tools, the only one which explicitly enables one to set the compression level to zero is Foobar2000. The other tools, including eac3to, tend to create FLAC with undefined compression level and evidently not with zero, as these files do not play. So the workflow ends up being converting from whatever format you have to wav with an appropriate tool, then downsampling or upsampling the wav file to 48000 (neither 44100 on DTS-CDs nor 96000 on most DVD-audios would play), then converting them to flac with foobar. A little more involved process than it should be, but it works.

Sound quality of ELS 3D (5.1 surround from flash drive).

In the driver seat, I would say, ELS 3D is a little worse than standard ELS in the previous generations of Acura (I did not have an opportunity to compare ELS 3D and standard ELS in the new RDX and cannot speak about it). Somehow, to my ear, "old" ELS sounds a little smoother, fills space a little better. Additionally, separate subwoofer level adjustment is lacking which makes it difficult to properly balance the bass on some tracks. Worse or not, it is still a very good sound, which could've been even better if this thing could play 24/96.

In the front passenger seat, sound about the same as older generation ELS.

In the rear seats, ELS 3D sounds hugely better than with old ELS. The rear speakers do not yell into passengers ears, and you can actually hear and enjoy surround sound in the rear seat! This is very impressive. I think this rebalancing actually took its toll, to a small degree, on the balance and quality of sound in the driver seat. If something gets tons better in the back, something should give a little in the front. I was actually amazed how relatively little the sound degraded in the rear seats! I think Studio Surround took the first step in this direction, and now it is the second step.

AndyI

delete - sorry, started posting in a wrong thread