nanos

I am more curious of how it compares to the other els systems. From what I remember, my 4G sounded better than my TLX now. I was so bummed about that. The last gen TSX/RDX wasn't as good either.

oblio98

My 14 RDX was my last car with the DVD-A ELS system. I replaced it with a 17 which had the DTS-CD only ELS system. I hated that version. It sounded like crap, especially with iPod's and stereo CDs. It's one of the main reasons I went a year early to get the 19. The 19 runs rings around that previous ELS system and sounds more like the DVD-A ELS systems. To me anyway.

AndyI

Thank you for the information!

Crazy. The common knowledge from 5.1 encoding, as far as I can recall, is that smart variety of decoders either direct LFE channel to the subwoofer if this channel is present (regardless of whether it is actually used or empty), or creates LFE channel from front (or all?) channels to balance the sound and ensure sufficient bass. So, generally, the idea was that if you do not have a center or an LFE channel, you should not create an empty one to not interfere with what decoder does... But in this case, it is not an option, and with the empty LFE channel, I assume, subwoofer is totally silent. Is this the case?

The way how I see it as a bigger picture, FLAC playbac is not listed in the spec of the vehicle and its implementation is kind of experimental, without enough effort put into it to make it work as it should, and without warranty that it would work. We can only hope that they will eventually start developing it as a specified, quality-controlled feature of the software.

What is your best known method of adding empty center and LFE channels? Do you do it in a sound editor, e.g., Adobe Audition or similar, or is there a simpler and faster way?

Cazman

It would have been nice to have the ability to upload my music library to the internal memory of the audio system. This would free up the single active usb port for apple car play. It would also eliminate the need for indexing the music files every time the car is started.

quantum7

Does anyone have the actual specifications/details of the new ELS system in the 2019 RDX. I can find the basic information in the press release and owners manual, but not much detail. Same with online. Maybe I am missing something.

HillbillyInBC

I'm using a SanDisk DualDrive Ultra, model number SDDDC2-128G-G46, capable of "Delivering USB 3.1 speeds of up to 150MB/s" (per the manufacturer's marketing blurb on the Amazon page where I ordered it. This device is denoted as "Ultra USB 3.0" on the infotainment display, and it still exhibits the same misbehaviour.

I think this is spot-on, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's the former of those two possibilities.

DrWoo

For anyone interested in 5.1 flac files who doesn't already own a bunch of DVD-A disks and/or doesn't want to go through the conversion effort, I came across this site last night:

https://www.onkyomusic.com/US/home

only legal download site I have seen that has high res (5.1) flac files for sale. Looks to be a much better selection than the limited DVD-A disks on Amazon.

Madd Dog

MrJames

Is it possible to use the SiriusXM app through Carplay and eventually Android Auto? I wonder how the streaming app sounds compared to the built in radio. Are they both sh!t?

Madd Dog

oblio98

Um, no. Yes, those are HiRez .flac files for sale, but they are stereo (2.0), just like HDTracks and ProStudioMasters.

There are a few classical places that sell 5.1 downloads, but as far as I know, there are no known sites that legally sell 5.1 pop/rock/hiphop/modern music. Unfortunately.

DrWoo

You are correct, my mistake. I read the following https://www.cnet.com/news/onkyo-to-o...sic-downloads/ about this site late last night, and while is was expected to offer 5.1 channel downloads, I'm not seeing any as I look through it today.

oblio98

No worries. In fact, I got all fired up when I read your post and went to their site to check it out. They do have many titles listed that were available on DVD-A and SACD ten/fifteen years ago, so I looked extra hard but did not see any. Maybe they will come through.

That would be great if they did.

oblio98

Hey Dr. Woo. I just noticed that the article you posted the link for was from 2012!!! Oh well.

Twaeball

Satellite radio is super compressed to squeeze in more channels causing even talk shows sound worse than regular AM radio. When Sirius and XM first launched, sound quality was on par with FM radio. Now it is not as good as a live band thru a brick wall. The ELS system is not at fault for satellite sounding bad. The solution would be to go back to the 70s and 80s where car manufacturers purposely degraded OEM FM performance to AM levels to keep people from complaining that AM didn't sound as good as FM.

GBR!

That's because XM/Sirius sucks. It has nothing to do with the sound system.

cbstsx09

Has anyone seen the audio setting that says it helps with the sound of lower bit rate compressed audio like Sirius XM. I have turned it on and off but can't tell a difference.