norcal hybrid

Hi Dave, Thx. We'll make this the Lexus & High Res Audio/Video forum. I wasn't aware the LG player was out yet. That was the one I was referring to. CNET.com has a good review of it: http://reviews.cnet.com/video-players-and-...?tag=prod.txt.1 LG has a snazzy web site as well: http://us.lge.com/superblu/ The LG BH100 looks like it's not yet ready for primetime. Usually, companies work the kinks out by the 2nd or 3rd generation. HD DVD & Blu-Ray players are on their 2nd gen. A combo player may require two more iterations. Having two players to support HD DVD/Blu-Ray & DVD-Audio/SACD/CD/mega DVD R-W fmts/MP3/... is pretty darn amazing. I can wait for HD DVD & Blu-Ray. I have enough toys w/ HDTV, Tivo Series3 HD, a combo DVD-Audio/SACD player and a new RX 400h which is a great excuse to buy more DVD-Audio discs!! Unfortunately, it appears the DVD-Audio format may not last much longer so I have to snap them up before they go away. Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. Eagles Hotel California & Neil Young's Harvest DVD-Audio discs all went out of print. My wife took the originals for her Acura RL so I tried to buy them at Best Buy & Fry's. Amazon is out as well though I bought them thru the Amazon marketplace (similar to eBay's stores). Not a good sign if those classics LPs can't sell enough to keep the music companies interested. I wonder how long the auto companies will continue to offer the format in their new cars. BTW, all 3 of those discs sound amazing...particularly Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. The Chain can give you goosebumps if you have a good sub. Cheers, Norcal Hybrid

Hi Dave, Don't want to get too much off point as this is a Lexus topic forum but a couple of things. Blu-Ray & HD DVD do not support the DVD-Audio std. Blu-Ray & HD-DVD support Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio & DTS-HD High Resolution Audio. The Dolby & DTS formats support 96KHz/24-bit (I believe independent of the # of channels) but are proprietary formats that Dolby Laboratories & DTS license. DVD-Audio can support up to 192KHz/24-bit in stereo and 96KHz/24-bit in multi-channel. Can the difference be heard between 192KHz & 96KHz sampling? My guess is no (not w/o some serious listening which who wants to do when driving) as pobably the bigger variable will be the quality of the source input (the disc itself and how it was mastered). I believe the std is open source as part of the MLP consortium. Similar to CD's Red Book Std. BOTTOM LINE 1. HD DVD & Blu-Ray shouldn't be superior to DVD-Audio wrt sound quality. They may sound as good but it will be years before they get into the cars if they ever do. If DVD-Audio is any indication, music companies will have a tough time selling high res audio. For reasons unknown to me, there's been no SACD player for cars. Don't wait till HD DVD or Blu-Ray for a high res audio fmt. You have it already in your car if you purchased the ML Audio pkg! I have about 60 DVD Audio discs. After listening to them, it's hard to step back to CDs or MP3s. I have an 8GB Ipod Nano which I love but it's convenience not superior sound that I want when I listen to it. 2. I don't believe DVD-Audio discs will play on any current HD DVD or Blu-Ray player. There will be universal/combo HD DVD & Blu-Ray players in the next yr but these won't support DVD-Audio discs as well. Thus, you will need multiple DVD-type players in the house if you want high res DVD-Audio and/or SACD to go with your HD DVDs and/or Blu-Ray discs!!! Could be up to 4 players but there are combo DVD-Audio/SACD players (Denon, Yamaha). I'm waiting for the combo HD DVD/Blu-Ray player so I'll only need two players as I'm running out of space and processor & TV inputs. No wonder, folks are confused and have the opinion to sit on the sidelines till things get worked out. Count me in as not being an early adopter, not because I'm confused of the numerous formats but because they're constantly evolving. Just look at HDTV, too bad if you purchased an early HDTV that didn't have a DVI or HDMI input! Take care, Norcal Hybrid

Mike, My case # is 070701-000210 if you (or anybody) contact(s) Lexus Customer Satisfaction regarding the same issue. Hopefully Lexus can link multiple case#'s to common isues in their database. Lexus responded the case has been assigned to a dept specialist who is to get back in 3-5 biz days. I let the forum know of the outcome. I searched the forums and there was a 3rd person who reported a similar issue. AUIDO/VIDEO/ELECTRONICS FORUM joetrav "Can The "dvd Changer" Play Audio"/"When you play a DVD-Audio disk....there are diff...." Dec 21 2006, 11:57 AM I started a topic in the HYBRID FORUM "Mark Levinson DVD-audio & Issue w/ Rear Channels" Jul 2 2007, 01:24PM I demo'd the issue to our salesman as well. It's very obvious on certain discs such that the evaluation can be done in a few minutes. He heard the issue as have my wife, son and his girlfriend. Typically, dealers & sales people deal with car specific manufacturing issues not design issues that occur in all vehicles in a model or in this case, all vehicles that have the ML Audio DVD-Audio system. As such, they're a little stumped on handling these type of issues. They certainly manage recalls as the car manufacturer is telling them what to do. They're not well equipped to communicate design issues to the car manufacturers. Cheers, Norcal Hybrid

Hi Dave, I did contact Lexus Customer satisfaction. The ref# is 070701-000210 in case anybody else observes the same phenomenum. Lexus responded the case has been assigned to a dept specialist who is to get back in 3-5 biz days. I let the forum know of the outcome. I searched the other forums and found two similar topics. '07-RX350 Forum bnmintx "Issues with Mark Levinson And DVD-audio" Jun 10 2007, 08:09 AM Audio/Video/Electronics Forum joetrav "Can The "dvd Changer" Play Audio"/"When you play a DVD-Audio disk....there are diff...." Dec 21 2006, 11:57 AM Joetrav did not state his model. I don't know about other models but '07 was the first year the DVD-Audio was an option on the RX. I initially got a std form letter response from Lexus. I called them (email was the first communication) and the 2nd response was much better. I do agree if more people contact them it can have more impact than one person. I did tell them that for $4130 for the Nav/ML Audio package there is a reasonable expectation that it function correctly. It should be cost independent but $$ do play in the equation. I'm somewhat surprised only 3 folks have mentioned the problem in the forums. I do hope the percentage of people playing DVD-Audio discs is higher than 3 out of thousands. For those who haven't played DVD-Audio discs in their car, go buy 1 or 2 and check it out. The sound is truly incredible-and it will be even better when Lexus fixes the bug!! Cheers, Norcal Hybrid

Joetrav, I posted a similar topic in the Hybrid forum re: ML DVD-Audio & Rear Channels Missing (below). bnmintx posted a topic in the -07 RX350 forum in early Jun'07 (second excerpt and my response). HYBRID FORUM Mark Levinson DVD-audio & Issue w/ Rear Channels Norcal Hybrid Jul 2 2007, 01:24PM I purchased an '07 RX 400h w/ the Nav/ML pkg two wks ago. The DVD-Audio does not process the rear channels correctly. Depending on the source mat'l it can be very audible. It is very evident on Marvin Gaye's "The Marvin Gaye Collection" (Motown B0001109-19, DVD-Audio), Track 3 "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". Tammi Terrell's vocals are located in the rear channels in the duet w/ very little of her vocals in the front (for echo/reverb). Without proper rear channel processing, it sounds like she's in an echo chamber with her voice severely attenuated. It is also evident on Richard Thompson's "Rumor and Sigh" (Capitol 72434-77932-9-5, DVD-Audio). Over the weekend, I went back to the dealer to see if my vehicle was at fault or is it inherent in Lexus/Mark Levinson's design implementation of DVD-Audio. I got the same results on another '07 RX 400h and an '07 LS 460. It appears to be a design flaw but more analysis is required. My wife, son, his girlfriend & I all had the same observations. I tried adjusting the DSP & controls but to no avail. My wife has an '05 Acura RL w/ DVD-Audio and it sounds significantly better (functions as intended). I also have DVD-Audio in our home theater system and it also places the rear channel musical effects correctly. Has anyone noticed similar issues when listening to DVD-Audio discs? I contacted Lexus and they stated no other customer has communicated a similar issue. They indicated they will look into it but who knows. The Nav/ML pkg costs $4130. For this amount of money, it is reasonable to expect that it function properly. Welcome observations from others. I posted in the Hybrid forum but it appears to be endemic to "all" ML DVD-Audio designs. Regards, Norcal Hybrid 07-RX350 FORUM: Issues With Mark Levinson And DVD-audio bnmintx Jun 10 2007, 08:09 AM I have a 2007 RX-350 with the ML sound system. When I play some DVD-Audio discs, there appears to be a channel missing. An example is on Steely Dan's Gaucho, the song "Hey Nineteen" has background vocals missing. Has anyone else noticed this? Mike MY (Norcal Hybrid) RESPONSE TO bnmintx (Mike) Jul 2 2007, 05:19 PM Mike, I purchased an '07 RX 400h two wks ago. I posted a topic today in the Hybrid forum "Mark Levinson DVD-Audio & Issue w/ Rear Channels". I searched the other forums and saw your topic. Guess you & I are the only ones that critically listen to DVD-Audio discs in their cars. I'm somewhat surprised considering the cost of the Nav/ML pkg.... I don't have the Steely Dan Gaucho DVD-Audio disc. The problem I noticed are the rear channels are missing (I don't know if all the source mat'l is missing or just vocals?). Is this the phenomenum you observed? Your description seems to correlate as you described the background vocals are missing. The issue I observed is very evident on Marvin Gaye's "The Marvin Gaye Collection" (Motown B0001109-19, DVD-Audio), Track 3 "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". Tammi Terrell's vocals are located in the rear channels in the duet w/ very little of her vocals in the front (for echo/reverb). Marvin is in the front channels. With the ML DVD-Audio system, you can barely hear her as the front channels have her voice attenuated to expand the surroud presence. It is also evident on Richard Thompson's "Rumor and Sigh" (Capitol 72434-77932-9-5, DVD-Audio). I gather most discs primarily use the front channels and assign the rears for surround/presence. Discs that have "aggressive" use of the rear channels should highlight the problem. Did you contact Lexus or Mark Levinson? I did today and I was told I was the only one in the U.S. who has communicated this problem. If others notice the same issue, it will help if people contact Lexus (http://www.lexus.com/contact) to make them aware of the problem so it can be fixed. I'm fairly certain it is not unique to a particular vehicle as I went to the dealer this weekend. I heard the same issue on another '07 RX 400h and an '07 LS 460. The fix could be a FW upgrade if the DSP is incorrectly processing the channels. It's disappointing that ML did not sufficiently validate their design before it went into production. I thought ML was a audiophile electronics company. Doesn't appear they listen to their own designs.... Cheers, Norcal Hybrid

Mike, I purchased an '07 RX 400h two wks ago. I posted a topic today in the Hybrid forum "Mark Levinson DVD-Audio & Issue w/ Rear Channels". I searched the other forums and saw your topic. Guess you & I are the only ones that critically listen to DVD-Audio discs in their cars. I'm somewhat surprised considering the cost of the Nav/ML pkg.... I don't have the Steely Dan Gaucho DVD-Audio disc. The problem I noticed are the rear channels are missing (I don't know if all the source mat'l is missing or just vocals?). Is this the phenomenum you observed? Your description seems to correlate as you described the background vocals are missing. The issue I observed is very evident on Marvin Gaye's "The Marvin Gaye Collection" (Motown B0001109-19, DVD-Audio), Track 3 "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". Tammi Terrell's vocals are located in the rear channels in the duet w/ very little of her vocals in the front (for echo/reverb). Marvin is in the front channels. With the ML DVD-Audio system, you can barely hear her as the front channels have her voice attenuated to expand the surroud presence. It is also evident on Richard Thompson's "Rumor and Sigh" (Capitol 72434-77932-9-5, DVD-Audio). I gather most discs primarily use the front channels and assign the rears for surround/presence. Discs that have "aggressive" use of the rear channels should highlight the problem. Did you contact Lexus or Mark Levinson? I did today and I was told I was the only one in the U.S. who has communicated this problem. If others notice the same issue, it will help if people contact Lexus (http://www.lexus.com/contact) to make them aware of the problem so it can be fixed. I'm fairly certain it is not unique to a particular vehicle as I went to the dealer this weekend. I heard the same issue on another '07 RX 400h and an '07 LS 460. The fix could be a FW upgrade if the DSP is incorrectly processing the channels. It's disappointing that ML did not sufficiently validate their design before it went into production. I thought ML was a audiophile electronics company. Doesn't appear they listen to their own designs.... Cheers, Norcal Hybrid

I purchased an '07 RX 400h w/ the Nav/ML pkg two wks ago. The DVD-Audio does not process the rear channels correctly. Depending on the source mat'l it can be very audible. It is very evident on Marvin Gaye's "The Marvin Gaye Collection" (Motown B0001109-19, DVD-Audio), Track 3 "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". Tammi Terrell's vocals are located in the rear channels in the duet w/ very little of her vocals in the front (for echo/reverb). Without proper rear channel processing, it sounds like she's in an echo chamber with her voice severely attenuated. It is also evident on Richard Thompson's "Rumor and Sigh" (Capitol 72434-77932-9-5, DVD-Audio). Over the weekend, I went back to the dealer to see if my vehicle was at fault or is it inherent in Lexus/Mark Levinson's design implementation of DVD-Audio. I got the same results on another '07 RX 400h and an '07 LS 460. It appears to be a design flaw but more analysis is required. My wife, son, his girlfriend & I all had the same observations. I tried adjusting the DSP & controls but to no avail. My wife has an '05 Acura RL w/ DVD-Audio and it sounds significantly better (functions as intended). I also have DVD-Audio in our home theater system and it also places the rear channel musical effects correctly. Has anyone noticed similar issues when listening to DVD-Audio discs? I contacted Lexus and they stated no other customer has communicated a similar issue. They indicated they will look into it but who knows. The Nav/ML pkg costs $4130. For this amount of money, it is reasonable to expect that it function properly. Welcome observations from others. I posted in the Hybrid forum but it appears to be endemic to "all" ML DVD-Audio designs. Regards, Norcal Hybrid