View Poll Results: HDD from CD or Streaming Bluetooth Audio?
i hate music and could care less about the stereo.
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Voters: 12. You may not vote on this poll
HDD or BT Audio?
#1
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
HDD or BT Audio?
while time marches forward and new technology continues to outdate the old or even recently old, some of us are still clinging to the CD, its funny cause I have the most high tech job at a Lexus dealership as the technology specialist, and my job wouldn't have even existed ten years ago if it wasn't for modern tech. yet when I get home I listed to vinyl and tapes on a 50 year old stereo system, and still run cassettes and CDs in my current LS400.
as we all know between the 1st and 2nd gen LS460, there were some choices in the way you listened to music that were not the same between the two in 07 to 09 you had a CD player attached to a hard drive recorder that could store up to 100 albums of music, they took that feature away and gave us Bluetooth Audio, which is great but lets face it, streaming music over Bluetooth via a smartphone just doesn't have the sonic transparency of a Compact Disc, if you have any kind of musical ear at all. im not saying its terrible, but it just doesn't sound as musical, atleast to my ears. the HDD system rips music from your CDs, that has virtually zero loss in sound quality, and is much more uncompressed than BT audio, and is crazy as it sounds, its actually one of the reasons ive decided to go after a 1st gen 460 instead of a later one. so how bout you? HDD or BT audio?
as we all know between the 1st and 2nd gen LS460, there were some choices in the way you listened to music that were not the same between the two in 07 to 09 you had a CD player attached to a hard drive recorder that could store up to 100 albums of music, they took that feature away and gave us Bluetooth Audio, which is great but lets face it, streaming music over Bluetooth via a smartphone just doesn't have the sonic transparency of a Compact Disc, if you have any kind of musical ear at all. im not saying its terrible, but it just doesn't sound as musical, atleast to my ears. the HDD system rips music from your CDs, that has virtually zero loss in sound quality, and is much more uncompressed than BT audio, and is crazy as it sounds, its actually one of the reasons ive decided to go after a 1st gen 460 instead of a later one. so how bout you? HDD or BT audio?
#2
Lexus Fanatic
I listen to BT Audio all the time. I've had music HDs in cars and never used them. In fact I have had several cars now that I've never used the CD player in at all, and my 2014 Jeep had no CD player at all.
If you want better quality you can always plug your BT device into the USB port, voila...
Although with the Lexus stereos I don't see much difference between BT Audio and USB.
If you want better quality you can always plug your BT device into the USB port, voila...
Although with the Lexus stereos I don't see much difference between BT Audio and USB.
#3
Pole Position
Once the music went digital, the warmth went out the door. Oh sure you can replicate the vinyl sound, but in today's music scene, it's all about the 1's and 0's. Even still it takes a discerning ear to hear a vast difference. The transfer method of the music really doesn't matter in my opinion, it's just what makes your boat float. If I had my druthers, as I've mentioned many times, I'd go the USB route. If I'm going to stream through Bluetooth from my phone using data, I'd just rather listen to satellite radio. If I really want to hear warm stereo sound, I'll do as you do and crank up some vinyl in a room dedicated to music.
Ok, so the answer is, whatever the user prefers.
Ok, so the answer is, whatever the user prefers.
#4
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
yes and no. im an audiophile that actually has a dedicated listening room, (acoustic panels, etc) so I pretty much nitpick and scrutinize every little thing. depending on the type of music CD is better. ive actually found a way to give digital music a much warmer sound via another format but that's neither here nor there. streaming Bluetooth is much more convienent cause you can store about a million albums on a phone these days, but it just sounds a little compressed. call me crazy but its just a personal observation. I also have a very strong opinion on the ML vs the old NAK stereo but that's for a different thread lol
#5
Pole Position
yes and no. im an audiophile that actually has a dedicated listening room, (acoustic panels, etc) so I pretty much nitpick and scrutinize every little thing. depending on the type of music CD is better. ive actually found a way to give digital music a much warmer sound via another format but that's neither here nor there. streaming Bluetooth is much more convienent cause you can store about a million albums on a phone these days, but it just sounds a little compressed. call me crazy but its just a personal observation. I also have a very strong opinion on the ML vs the old NAK stereo but that's for a different thread lol
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#8
Lexus Fanatic
I go both ways! LOL
I love the convenience of the Bluetooth through my Android and it sounds great. I have various random songs stored there. However, for my audiophile classic favorites, such as Pink Floyd The Wall and Dark Side Of The Moon and various Rush albume etc, it's all on my HDD. On the ML it all sounds GREAT
I love the convenience of the Bluetooth through my Android and it sounds great. I have various random songs stored there. However, for my audiophile classic favorites, such as Pink Floyd The Wall and Dark Side Of The Moon and various Rush albume etc, it's all on my HDD. On the ML it all sounds GREAT
#9
Pole Position
I go both ways! LOL
I love the convenience of the Bluetooth through my Android and it sounds great. I have various random songs stored there. However, for my audiophile classic favorites, such as Pink Floyd The Wall and Dark Side Of The Moon and various Rush albume etc, it's all on my HDD. On the ML it all sounds GREAT
I love the convenience of the Bluetooth through my Android and it sounds great. I have various random songs stored there. However, for my audiophile classic favorites, such as Pink Floyd The Wall and Dark Side Of The Moon and various Rush albume etc, it's all on my HDD. On the ML it all sounds GREAT
#10
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
sounds crisp as a cd and warmer than vinyl
#11
Lexus Fanatic
#12
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (3)
yes and no. im an audiophile that actually has a dedicated listening room, (acoustic panels, etc) so I pretty much nitpick and scrutinize every little thing. depending on the type of music CD is better. ive actually found a way to give digital music a much warmer sound via another format but that's neither here nor there. streaming Bluetooth is much more convienent cause you can store about a million albums on a phone these days, but it just sounds a little compressed. call me crazy but its just a personal observation. I also have a very strong opinion on the ML vs the old NAK stereo but that's for a different thread lol
#13
Lead Lap
iTrader: (2)
http://www.cnet.com/news/top-6-sites...ng-flac-music/
Most stuff is available on FLAC or WAV from torrents on the internet but, of course, the legality of this may be questionable. I have pretty much all of my music on LP, so I feel I have paid my artists' copyright dues. Please, no tirades on my choices, just help the OP with any other websites you are aware of.
#14
I'm an audio engineer, do large scale conference meetings for walls street firms, Un meetings and such so I do have some knowledge in the audio field.
To me the difference between hdd and disc is noticeable but not remarkable.
I was hoping to be blown away by the ML system and I wasn't.
Count in the road noise you get while driving and we are splitting hairs here.
I wish xm radio was a bit more high quality, as these days that's all I listen too.
To me the difference between hdd and disc is noticeable but not remarkable.
I was hoping to be blown away by the ML system and I wasn't.
Count in the road noise you get while driving and we are splitting hairs here.
I wish xm radio was a bit more high quality, as these days that's all I listen too.
#15
The CD is going to win; it has the most data that's the least compressed.
I've used BT audio in other cars but not the LS. I don't know if the bitrate is going to be as high as the HDD (I think it's 256k max) so it could be a crapshoot.
Lossless FLAC or WAV over USB will be the next best option to the CD; but at that point you'll have to figure in DAC performance, noise, etc.
I just find the HDD fussy to record to and hard to navigate. iPod classic all the way!
I've used BT audio in other cars but not the LS. I don't know if the bitrate is going to be as high as the HDD (I think it's 256k max) so it could be a crapshoot.
Lossless FLAC or WAV over USB will be the next best option to the CD; but at that point you'll have to figure in DAC performance, noise, etc.
I just find the HDD fussy to record to and hard to navigate. iPod classic all the way!
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