I feel surer about "if you didn't spend serious cash at home, why would you consider spending it in your car?" than I do about the flip-side of that question.
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Audio: Sound System Quality?
- Thread starter STxTesla
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- Model S User Interface
contaygious
Active Member
There is a sub in the trunk. The rep pointed out the location.
That's where the .1 comes in with the 7.1 audio, right?
Also, Robert.Boston I don't think your home stereo has anything to do with it. I have Shures on all day at work and I spend more time listening to music in the car then at home. Most people could hear the difference between a good stereo and a stock one, it's just a matter of if you care.
chmod a+wrx
Member
chmod a+wrx
Member
That is an excellent point......
Guess it all boils down to hearing both options......
Must not be a sports fan. Sadly most sports (games and talk radio) are still broadcast only on AM (although of course you can now get most of the same content on Sirius/XM).
SCW-Greg
Active Member
Since *everything* is controlled through the touch screen, they would have to continue with the same audio controls for both sound systems. It's just speaker count, wattage, and some other tuning that make for the differences. Fade and balance are a ubiquitous control for all sound systems, though I suppose the 3 band EQ could be optional (maybe goes to treble and bass). But I doubt they'll want to have different software configurations for either audio system.
strider
Active Member
95% of the time I'm in my car I'm listening to FM radio (NPR mostly but also local music stations - learn about new music that way). Satellite is a rip-off unless you travel between cities a lot and I listen to my own music at work. I use my commute time to catch up on what's happening in the world. That said, during pledge time I'll plug my phone into my car and listen to that while driving
gg_got_a_tesla
Model S: VIN 65513, Model 3: VIN 1913
95% of the time I'm in my car I'm listening to FM radio (NPR mostly but also local music stations - learn about new music that way). Satellite is a rip-off unless you travel between cities a lot and I listen to my own music at work. I use my commute time to catch up on what's happening in the world. That said, during pledge time I'll plug my phone into my car and listen to that while driving
Sounds very much like my routine. Paid for XM for several years in my TL but hardly used it; audio quality is abysmal and is not even as good as FM. Internet radio could be touch-and-go depending on your data connection and the source.
Yup, unless you are someone who rips their CDs or buys their music, when possible, in a lossless (or close to that) format that's supported in the Model S, the source quality is the limiting factor; not sure if the sound studio can enhance the listening experience there much from a poor/ordinary source. Yes, you'd be getting more volume and inflated bass but, not sure of anything else.
As I mentioned sometime ago, my '04 TL came with an Elliot Scheiner-designed "ELS" system that could put out beautiful surround sound from DVD-Audio discs (I could only ever get my hands on 3 or 4 of them - The Eagles' "Hotel California" never sounded better!) but, didn't do much for other sources.
contaygious
Active Member
If I remember correctly he thought it was in the molding on the side of the trunk. The only other place it could be I guess is under the floor in front of the compartment section that opens up, but I assume that is the battery.
What if you sold your house to pay for the Model S that you now live in? Probably not get the upgrade?
chmod a+wrx
Member
Seems fairly clear that it's USB2.0. We know it's Tegra3, and although Nvidia don't bother to list the interfaces on their public specs, other products with Tegra3 are all USB2. USB3 is still rare on this class of SoC (tablets) from all manufacturers.
More interestingly, while checking this I noticed that Nvidia's press release about Tesla using their parts specifically referred to their 'VCM' product rather than Tegra as such:
http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/nvidia-tegra-powers-tesla-motors-sedan-20120621-uk.html
http://www.nvidia.com/object/visual-computing-module.html
The point here is that VCM is a plug-in module with a defined interface, opening the possibility of future upgrades and/or easier third-party hacking for enhancements.
I tried to move of some DVDa and Blu-ray audio 5.1 surround music discs to a drive and I found most of the music that I have purchased lately is copy protected. I really I enjoy these formats because the music is quite dynamic and they let through music that is seems to be hidden in other digital formats that I have tried. I still haven't figured out how I am going to work through this. I’d really like to take on this music on the road and I haven't found it available in a downloadable uncompressed digital format that can be put on a drive.
Advice or tips?
I got the upgraded sound system thinking that it would have the latest and greatest. From what I have been seeing in these threads it appears that we wouldn't be able to play 5.1 surround audio no matter what format is chosen even though the spec says 7.1. Is this true?
I understand that Alan Parsons (Engineer for Pink Floyd's Dark side of the Moon and more) and Steven Wilson of (Porcupine Tree and more) will be in the studio in LA in September. I'd consider them to be a fantasy super group of audio production. Maybe Elon can get Tesla's Sound team to collaborate with them on how to best deliver the latest recording formats in the Tesla. I know I'm dreaming but it’s fun to think about.
Advice or tips?
I got the upgraded sound system thinking that it would have the latest and greatest. From what I have been seeing in these threads it appears that we wouldn't be able to play 5.1 surround audio no matter what format is chosen even though the spec says 7.1. Is this true?
I understand that Alan Parsons (Engineer for Pink Floyd's Dark side of the Moon and more) and Steven Wilson of (Porcupine Tree and more) will be in the studio in LA in September. I'd consider them to be a fantasy super group of audio production. Maybe Elon can get Tesla's Sound team to collaborate with them on how to best deliver the latest recording formats in the Tesla. I know I'm dreaming but it’s fun to think about.
Took a test drive today and spent some time listening to the premium sound. This was the Red Signature Performance at Santana Row.
My take on the system is that it's very good. It's got an accurate clean natural sound. Pretty revealing. Acoustic strings and female vocals sounded great. High's sounded good. The bass seemed good and accurate. Not boom-boom loud but controlled and at about the right volume. With the default EQ, you don't get the "surrounded in a field of sound" feel. The soundfield is thrown more forward with a fair amount of imaging spread across the windshield with some enveloping.
Test tracks included Annie Lenox (Cold, Little Bird from Diva), IGY (Donald Fagen), U2 (Mysterious Way, The Fly), Norah Jones (Cold Cold Heart) and Crooked Still (Darling Corey).
My overall take on the upgrade is that you could do better in a car. But you'd have to pay a lot more than $950 to get it.
FWIW, my home system is Thiel CS 2.3 speakers, the best Velodyne subwoofer I could get at the time and an Integra 10.1 receiver. Total cost probably well over $5K and maybe approaching $10K. It certainly was over $10k by the time I added the center speaker and the rears for the surround sound.
[Additonal note: source material was WAV files ripped from CDs. Sadly the car couldn't read Apple Lossless. Hopefully they'll get that fixed in the future.]
My take on the system is that it's very good. It's got an accurate clean natural sound. Pretty revealing. Acoustic strings and female vocals sounded great. High's sounded good. The bass seemed good and accurate. Not boom-boom loud but controlled and at about the right volume. With the default EQ, you don't get the "surrounded in a field of sound" feel. The soundfield is thrown more forward with a fair amount of imaging spread across the windshield with some enveloping.
Test tracks included Annie Lenox (Cold, Little Bird from Diva), IGY (Donald Fagen), U2 (Mysterious Way, The Fly), Norah Jones (Cold Cold Heart) and Crooked Still (Darling Corey).
My overall take on the upgrade is that you could do better in a car. But you'd have to pay a lot more than $950 to get it.
FWIW, my home system is Thiel CS 2.3 speakers, the best Velodyne subwoofer I could get at the time and an Integra 10.1 receiver. Total cost probably well over $5K and maybe approaching $10K. It certainly was over $10k by the time I added the center speaker and the rears for the surround sound
.[Additonal note: source material was WAV files ripped from CDs. Sadly the car couldn't read Apple Lossless. Hopefully they'll get that fixed in the future.]
spatterso911
P100DL - Raven
I second this. You can buy some 5.1 FLAC files online, particularly for classical music. (E.g. https://www.hdtracks.com/) There are also ways to rip DVD-Audio (I have purchased an extensive collection) or Blu-Ray (which are discrete surround formats) to discrete surround files such as 5.1 FLAC, but I won't touch that because of the DMCA. Anyway, I was really disappointed that the Tesla system won't play either of these (based on what I'm told--I havent actually tried) given that it has a physical 7.1 arrangement. It does "Dolby Prologic" based on the specs which is not a discrete surround system, but rather a matrix system that only accepts two channel files and then interprets these files to expand the field (back if the source was surround) to 7 speakers, which loses a lot of quality vs. the original discrete format.
Dolby Pro Logic IIx is the flavor of Dolby surround processing that can derive up to 7.1 matrixed channels. It is capable of upconverting both stereo and 5.1 discrete sources to 7.1.
From the Dolby Laboratories website:
So the question remains, "Has Tesla provided the means of accepting and delivering 5.1 discrete content to the Dolby surround processor so that it can upconvert to 7.1?"
I am not an audiophile, but from my experiences in my home theater Dolby Pro Logic IIx does an excellent job of upconverting 5.1 discrete to 7.1 matrixed.
Larry
Todd Burch
14-Year Member
It seems to me that all of these concerns can be addressed through software. The hardware should all be in place regardless, correct? Even if deliveries right now don't have multi-channel audio support, it seems it can be added later without issue.
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