What audio formats are supported (4th gen ML with Nav)
05-28-13, 01:59 PM
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What audio formats are supported (4th gen ML with Nav)
Hi fellow owners across the pond 
I am about to take delivery of a 2013 GS450h F-Sport with the ML premium upgrade and I am curious as to what audio formats the system can playback. I love my high definition audio and have a few DVD-Audio discs and prefer lossless audio (such as Apple lossless in an .M4a wrapper, or .FLAC). It isn't easy to find the answer with a search of the forums or the user manual, so perhaps you guys can help?
I am also unsure whether the system will allow online content from Lexus via Bluetooth to an iPhone 4s, because there are some reports of the iPhone not supporting DUN (dial up networking) and only PAN (personal area network).
Thanks in advance guys
Pete
I am about to take delivery of a 2013 GS450h F-Sport with the ML premium upgrade and I am curious as to what audio formats the system can playback. I love my high definition audio and have a few DVD-Audio discs and prefer lossless audio (such as Apple lossless in an .M4a wrapper, or .FLAC). It isn't easy to find the answer with a search of the forums or the user manual, so perhaps you guys can help?
- Can I play DVD-A and will they play when the vehicle is in motion?
- Will it play DTS-CDs?
- Are any lossless formats, such as FLAC, M4A etc supported on USB or disc?
- Is there any special trick to get a standard red book audio CD to make the best use of the surround sound, or is this handled by the DSP automatically?
I am also unsure whether the system will allow online content from Lexus via Bluetooth to an iPhone 4s, because there are some reports of the iPhone not supporting DUN (dial up networking) and only PAN (personal area network).
Thanks in advance guys
Pete
06-05-13, 11:46 PM
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Hi,
You probably have the car already.......but
ML won't play DVD-Audio, DTS-Audio, and FLAC (either USB or Disc).
I had to wait 3 months to just listen to a ML system in the RX and try my music recordings at the dealer. For the RX 350 the ML upgrade is special order only - 4 months.
Acoustically, cars are better than trucks - at least in my experience, so I'm still undecided about ordering the ML.
How do you like it compared to the stock Premium?? Have you found a way to play the HD audio sources.
Charlie
You probably have the car already.......but
ML won't play DVD-Audio, DTS-Audio, and FLAC (either USB or Disc).
I had to wait 3 months to just listen to a ML system in the RX and try my music recordings at the dealer. For the RX 350 the ML upgrade is special order only - 4 months.
Acoustically, cars are better than trucks - at least in my experience, so I'm still undecided about ordering the ML.
How do you like it compared to the stock Premium?? Have you found a way to play the HD audio sources.
Charlie
06-06-13, 12:08 AM
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Hi
Lexus customer services called and confirmed Flac and m4a playback isn't possible. They also said DVD-A wasn't possible, but that's not my experience:
Depending on the source disc and how it's mastered, it will play back just fine and sounds superb with amazing clarity, bass and channel separation. For example REM DVD-A will only play when at a standstill. When you move, the usual DVD-V restrictions apply and the disc skips to the top title and restarts playback for about 10s, then repeats that process.
Dire Straights' Brothers in Arms DVD-A however plays flawlessly. I will need to try a few others. It seems a shame that a high end Audio system is otherwise limited to a lossy MP3 format where a large portion of my collection is ripped via Apple products into a lossless .m4a format. Lexus said that ML are working on it for future generation releases, but it should be an ray firmware update in my opinion.
DTS streams on the DVD-a wouldn't play at all, but I haven't tried a DTS-cd yet, but if one stream wouldn't decode, I doubt the other will.
Regards
Pete
Lexus customer services called and confirmed Flac and m4a playback isn't possible. They also said DVD-A wasn't possible, but that's not my experience:
Depending on the source disc and how it's mastered, it will play back just fine and sounds superb with amazing clarity, bass and channel separation. For example REM DVD-A will only play when at a standstill. When you move, the usual DVD-V restrictions apply and the disc skips to the top title and restarts playback for about 10s, then repeats that process.
Dire Straights' Brothers in Arms DVD-A however plays flawlessly. I will need to try a few others. It seems a shame that a high end Audio system is otherwise limited to a lossy MP3 format where a large portion of my collection is ripped via Apple products into a lossless .m4a format. Lexus said that ML are working on it for future generation releases, but it should be an ray firmware update in my opinion.
DTS streams on the DVD-a wouldn't play at all, but I haven't tried a DTS-cd yet, but if one stream wouldn't decode, I doubt the other will.
Regards
Pete
06-06-13, 05:36 AM
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Hi,
I only have one DVD-A - Eagles, Hotel California and one DTS-Audio, Band on the run. The rest is mostly FLAC.
..........but between CD's, old iPods , and radio there's plenty of music to enjoy.
Do you still think the ML is worth getting over the mid range Premium system??
Here in the USA they preconfigure 90% of the cars inventory and all of the RX's with a mid range system.
For the RX, ML is strictly a special order.
Do you have the same offering in the UK?
Charlie
I only have one DVD-A - Eagles, Hotel California and one DTS-Audio, Band on the run. The rest is mostly FLAC.
..........but between CD's, old iPods , and radio there's plenty of music to enjoy.
Do you still think the ML is worth getting over the mid range Premium system??
Here in the USA they preconfigure 90% of the cars inventory and all of the RX's with a mid range system.
For the RX, ML is strictly a special order.
Do you have the same offering in the UK?
Charlie
06-06-13, 07:03 AM
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Hi,
I can't really comment on anything other than the ML system as it was in the ex-demonstrator vehicle that I purchased.
Being a bit of an audiophile, I'll always go for the upgrade if it's available.
What I can say is that no matter what the volume, there is absolutely no distortion at all, unless the source is poorly mastered (such as a low bit rate MP3!).
Regards
Pete
I can't really comment on anything other than the ML system as it was in the ex-demonstrator vehicle that I purchased.
Being a bit of an audiophile, I'll always go for the upgrade if it's available.
What I can say is that no matter what the volume, there is absolutely no distortion at all, unless the source is poorly mastered (such as a low bit rate MP3!).
Regards
Pete
06-07-13, 08:47 AM
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Hi,
I took a rip from a single track into the following formats:
MP3 (320bit)
WMA (320bit)
M4A (lossless)
FLAC
OGG
The ML found the MP3 file only. I deleted the mp3 file and it then found the WMA file.
What was amazing was how poor the sound quality of WMA was in comparison to the MP3 (considering that they were the same track, from the same CD, using the same encoding software and the same bit rate).
The .m4a, flac and ogg all failed to be recognised and play - as expected.
I then thought i'd be clever.....
I renamed the .m4a to .mp3 - lo and behold - every piece of playback software on my iMAC played the disguised file flawlessly. However - interestingly - the ML would see the file but refused to playback, so obviously the mp3 libraries used are too clever (or too dumb?)
Anyway, thanks for the input - for now, I'll rip to MP3 at 320bit as this produces a reasonable quality.
Regards
Peter
I took a rip from a single track into the following formats:
MP3 (320bit)
WMA (320bit)
M4A (lossless)
FLAC
OGG
The ML found the MP3 file only. I deleted the mp3 file and it then found the WMA file.
What was amazing was how poor the sound quality of WMA was in comparison to the MP3 (considering that they were the same track, from the same CD, using the same encoding software and the same bit rate).
The .m4a, flac and ogg all failed to be recognised and play - as expected.
I then thought i'd be clever.....
I renamed the .m4a to .mp3 - lo and behold - every piece of playback software on my iMAC played the disguised file flawlessly. However - interestingly - the ML would see the file but refused to playback, so obviously the mp3 libraries used are too clever (or too dumb?)
Anyway, thanks for the input - for now, I'll rip to MP3 at 320bit as this produces a reasonable quality.
Regards
Peter
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