Marklev Asl Hack Or Mod

[Jon E O]

I paid alot of $$$ for my Mark Levinson system in my 07 ES350. It has a feature which I hate and I'm looking for a fix. ASL stands for automatic sound leveler and it changes the internal equilizer settings of the system according to the speed of the car. On the highway, the music sounds rich and full. But slow down and come to a stop, the music becomes flat and sounds like its coming out of a cheap stereo. If I turn off the ASL, the music always sounds like crap!

Does anyone know of a way to trick the ASL sensor into always thinking I'm going 70 mph? Had I known about this feature, I would have bought a cheaper version of the car and had a Bose system installed later!

Please help!!!!!

[amf1932]

Did you ever try adjusting the tone controls(equalizer) on the radio? Here you can boost the low, mid, and treble range to give you the sound you're looking for. ;)

[Jon E O]

Did you ever try adjusting the tone controls(equalizer) on the radio? Here you can boost the low, mid, and treble range to give you the sound you're looking for. ;)

Yes, I've tried that and still can not get the sound as when the ASL is on at higher speeds.

[amf1932]

Hmm....I never noticed any equalization difference using the ASL or not, but there is a difference in volume. The next time I get a chance I'll put in a calibration CD with my sound level meter and check whether the ML system uses some sort of EQ in their ASL compensation.

[SW03ES]

This is just your imagination, the ASL does nothing but increase the volume.

[dcfish]

This is just your imagination, the ASL does nothing but increase the volume.

I concur, ASL = Automatic Sound Levelizer. The volume is automatically raised or lowered according to ambient sound levels. It does not affect the equalization at all. ;)

[amf1932]

This is just your imagination, the ASL does nothing but increase the volume.

I concur, ASL = Automatic Sound Leveling. The volume is automatically raised or lowered according to ambient sound levels. It does not affect the equalization at all. ;)

Hey guy's.....In defense of what member Jon E O hears, are you certain that the Mark Levinson does NOT use any type of EQ in the ASL portion of their sound control?

I say this because I did work on some of the largest Disco sound systems in the New York....namely "Studio 54" for one, which did use "Acoustic Voicing", which DOES use modified EQ curves depending on volume.

Even some pre-amps use or used "Loudness Controls" in it's simplest forms to boost the bottom or top ends of the frequency spectrum, or both at lower volumes to compensate for normal hearing losses.

Like I said in my above post, the only way to be sure that the ASL is anything more than just a plain old volume control circuit is to use test equipment to verify it.

[SW03ES]

I would be extremely surprised.

[amf1932]

I would be extremely surprised.

Why? The Mark Levinson system is a very sophisticated piece of audio equipment. I wouldn't be surprised at all. :)

[SW03ES]

Just from my experience with it, the discription of the system is as follows:

Automatic Sound Levelizer (ASL)

ASL is a feature that automatically compensates for ambient sound (wind noise if a window is lowered, increased traffic, etc.) by raising the volume to maintain pre-set levels regardless of the increased amount of external sound coming into the cabin. Once the external sound has gone, ASL automatically lowers the volume back to the original level.

If it changed the dynamics of the system to compensate for ambient noise, they'd talk about that as a feature of the system. It very clearly says the system compensates for ambient sound by raising the volume.

[Toysrme]

Rip the stock *BLEEP* out & go aftermarket.

<oops>

LoL!

[amf1932]

Just from my experience with it, the discription of the system is as follows:

Automatic Sound Levelizer (ASL)

ASL is a feature that automatically compensates for ambient sound (wind noise if a window is lowered, increased traffic, etc.) by raising the volume to maintain pre-set levels regardless of the increased amount of external sound coming into the cabin. Once the external sound has gone, ASL automatically lowers the volume back to the original level.

If it changed the dynamics of the system to compensate for ambient noise, they'd talk about that as a feature of the system. It very clearly says the system compensates for ambient sound by raising the volume.

I definitely will contact the designers of the Mark Levinson System to get a more detailed explanation of the ASL's circuitry as used in Lexus vehicles. The description you supplied in your post is a little too vague......probably because you're dealing with the masses who wouldn't understand the technical details unless they were an advanced audiophile. ;)

[SW03ES]

Thats the description from Lexus' website. If you find out something different let us know!

[amf1932]

Thats the description from Lexus' website. If you find out something different let us know!

I know that this is what they say in the blurbs about the features in the ML System, but you should also realize that this copy is written by advertising agency people to impress the majority, and not directed to audio people who understand a bit more about the nuances of circuit design. In other words....they might be oversimplifying the true operation of ASL.

I will try to contact some of my friends who actually designed the circuits in the ML system soon and then report back.

[Jon E O]

Thats the description from Lexus' website. If you find out something different let us know!

I know that this is what they say in the blurbs about the features in the ML System, but you should also realize that this copy is written by advertising agency people to impress the majority, and not directed to audio people who understand a bit more about the nuances of circuit design. In other words....they might be oversimplifying the true operation of ASL.

I will try to contact some of my friends who actually designed the circuits in the ML system soon and then report back.

Thank you very much for your efforts. It seems to me that if I turn off the ASL while going 60 mph and and simply increase the volume, the music continues to sound flat and dull as opposed to sounding rich and full with the ASL on at a lower volume. I would like to know what you find and if anything can be done to modify it.

[amf1932]

I finally got an answer directly from the Mark Levinson design team.

Alan,

I am sorry for the late reply. The ASL function only applies gain (volume) increase while the speed is increased.

[Jon E O]

I finally got an answer directly from the Mark Levinson design team.

Alan,

I am sorry for the late reply. The ASL function only applies gain (volume) increase while the speed is increased.

Alan,

thanks for the info! I have to say that still disagree and think there is an tone quality increase wit the increase in speed wiht the ASL on. Again, thanks,

Jon

[Elan]

I finally got an answer directly from the Mark Levinson design team.

Alan,

I am sorry for the late reply. The ASL function only applies gain (volume) increase while the speed is increased.

Alan,

thanks for the info! I have to say that still disagree and think there is an tone quality increase wit the increase in speed wiht the ASL on. Again, thanks,

Jon

[Elan]

I paid alot of $$$ for my Mark Levinson system in my 07 ES350. It has a feature which I hate and I'm looking for a fix. ASL stands for automatic sound leveler and it changes the internal equilizer settings of the system according to the speed of the car. On the highway, the music sounds rich and full. But slow down and come to a stop, the music becomes flat and sounds like its coming out of a cheap stereo. If I turn off the ASL, the music always sounds like crap!

Does anyone know of a way to trick the ASL sensor into always thinking I'm going 70 mph? Had I known about this feature, I would have bought a cheaper version of the car and had a Bose system installed later!

Please help!!!!!

After my ES350 spent 5 months in the body shop I noticed that the radio sounded very poor. I fretted over it and the dealer said there was nothing wrong. It sounded flat and thin with very little stero seperation. Today I turned the ASL off and the system came to life and sounded great. I turned the ASL off and on a few times and the system continued to sound fine. Problem apparently fixed.

[rjt65]

Interesting thread guys. I don't have the ASL issue, But would say that the system on 20 or lower sounds bland, raising to 30 + and it sounds gr8.

I have played with treble bass mid...EQ etc to no avail to get the music on low sounding better, any suggestions?

[JGTNewLexusOwner]

My ML sounds great with or without ASL on. To me, the sound is best at about 25-30 volume level. Another thing to make sure you do is listen to and HD radio station and NOT XM! I have XM and like it for sports and comedy but it definitely isn't for the music. Satellite music stations (although it has good "category" music stations) the sould is not high quality....I hope you were not listening to satellite radio and expecting it to be crisp and clean!!!!

[lemon]

Wow...hate to reply to a thread over two years old, but I have noticed (on my 2006 RX400h) exactly what the original poster describes. The ASL affects tone as well as volume, and it sounds like crap if I shut the ASL off.

From my owner's manual -

AUTOMATIC SOUND LEVELIZER (ASL)

When the audio sound becomes difficult to be heard due to road noise, wind noise, etc. during driving, the system adjusts to the optimum volume AND TONE QUALITY according to the noise level.

[Michael Feinstein]

Thats the description from Lexus' website. If you find out something different let us know!

I know that this is what they say in the blurbs about the features in the ML System, but you should also realize that this copy is written by advertising agency people to impress the majority, and not directed to audio people who understand a bit more about the nuances of circuit design. In other words....they might be oversimplifying the true operation of ASL.

I will try to contact some of my friends who actually designed the circuits in the ML system soon and then report back.

Thank you very much for your efforts. It seems to me that if I turn off the ASL while going 60 mph and and simply increase the volume, the music continues to sound flat and dull as opposed to sounding rich and full with the ASL on at a lower volume. I would like to know what you find and if anything can be done to modify it.

[Michael Feinstein]

Sorry about the previous blank post.

There is a physical equation called the Fletcher/Munson Curve which states that as the volume of sound is reduced the perception of the high and low frequencies fall of disproportionately to the actual reduction in volume. This formula is used to produce loudness curves which are formulated into loudness controls on some audio equipment. In other words, for one to perceive the correct balance of high and low sounds one must increase their relative strength as the volume is decreased. This give one the impression as a loss of sound quality as the volume is automatically reduced by the ALS. Mike

[John Henry]

If I have known these Lexus problems I wouldn't buy the Lexus.  I am struggling with many Lexus problems from the stereo system sounding like crap. and all the vibration problems, from the front end to the rear end.  Expensive car, but sorry equipments.   Who's putting pioneer product amps and stereo system (Mark Levinson crap) in the 50K dollars car vs Nissan, GM, Chevrolet installing Bose instead of pioneer and Mark Levinson crappy product.