When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Don't make the mistake of assuming that your RX ML system sounds the same as the ES ML system. Every serious audiophile knows that the room is every much a component as any other component in your system. In fact, a bad sounding room can make a great sounding system sound very bad,
That being said, the ES ML system is amazing sounding. They did a great job of matching the ML system to the ES environment, I suggest that you listen to it with a high quality music source. I think you will be impressed.
Yup, our RX450h has a M/L system and it is a step up (it happened to be on the RX we wanted). Whether the M/L upgrade cost to benefit ratio is worthwhile, is a subjective decision as all such decisions are. For me and an auto, music is...well background music, unless I'm parked and more seriously listening and even then, ho-hum (but that's me)! Lexus does a good job of providing a decent standard sound system, which would have been fine for my purposes. We have what's now a vintage Lexus 2006RX 330 that we bought new and its standard sound system is just fine. When moving from the 2006 RX to 2020 RX, the only thing I miss sound wise, is not being able to play my digital files.
Indeed, in an high-end in-home audio system, all components transmitting an active signal are important and of course the (so-called passive) room the components are placed, is no less important. Synergy among and between components is often mentioned in building a highly-resolved audio system. Thus, acquiring complimentary pieces is the goal; along with the room, exacting speaker placement and clean power, component synergy that compliments the owner's sonic preferences, is at the crux of the system-building process.
What equipment your using in your "2-channel audio room?"
The music server is an Intel NUC running ROCK (Roon Optimized Core Kit) with a 20TB hard drive housing my 200K FLAC tracks (note: many are duplicates because they're both SD and HD tracks). An Ethernet outlet in the audio room provides a connection to an EMM Labs NS1 Streamer, feeding an EMM Labs DV2 DAC which is directly driving Atma-sphere MA-1 OTL tube monoblocks. Speakers are SoundLab Majestic 845PX's.
I watched as Windows Media player wrote them, one by one, for many albums that I added singly over a period of time.
And they invariably play in alphabetical order, in the car.
Well, that would debunk the "order of writing" hypothesis. Just to be sure though, I am talking about the writing that takes place when I copy a folder (album) from my hard drive to the USB drive. During that process I can't see which order the files are copied to the USB. That is different from the writing that takes place when the album is being ripped from the CD.
The fact that there is a multi-page thread on playing MP3s from a USB flash drive, in 2024, pretty much confirms the reputation the ES has for appealing to certain age groups
The fact that there is a multi-page thread on playing MP3s from a USB flash drive, in 2024, pretty much confirms the reputation the ES has for appealing to certain age groups
I agree with you on this. I remember the days when the 8 track player was the best thing to have and beats having the record player in the car. At least now have switched to .wav and from now on use flac.
The fact that there is a multi-page thread on playing MP3s from a USB flash drive, in 2024, pretty much confirms the reputation the ES has for appealing to certain age groups
How about CDs - do I hear any votes for cassettes? 8-track tapes?
Well, that would debunk the "order of writing" hypothesis. Just to be sure though, I am talking about the writing that takes place when I copy a folder (album) from my hard drive to the USB drive. During that process I can't see which order the files are copied to the USB. That is different from the writing that takes place when the album is being ripped from the CD.
Good point. I hadn't done this for a while, so I added an album to my USB drive today. It was the ripping that I remembered, where Windows Media player showed me the sequence in which the files were processed. It did not show me the sequence in which they were written to the USB drive. So I added one more album by a different method. Once I had ripped it, I used Windows File Explorer to copy the audio tracks in track order, one file at a time, to the appropriate folder on the USB drive. Even with this album, my car ignored the track numbering and insisted on listing the songs in alphabetical order.
So I added one more album by a different method. Once I had ripped it, I used Windows File Explorer to copy the audio tracks in track order, one file at a time, to the appropriate folder on the USB drive. Even with this album, my car ignored the track numbering and insisted on listing the songs in alphabetical order.
That's a good experiment, but not the result I expected. Maybe I'll give it a try and see what I get.
Vinyl made a comeback, but unfortunately not in cars.
Good point. I hadn't done this for a while, so I added an album to my USB drive today. It was the ripping that I remembered, where Windows Media player showed me the sequence in which the files were processed. It did not show me the sequence in which they were written to the USB drive. So I added one more album by a different method. Once I had ripped it, I used Windows File Explorer to copy the audio tracks in track order, one file at a time, to the appropriate folder on the USB drive. Even with this album, my car ignored the track numbering and insisted on listing the songs in alphabetical order.
Originally Posted by Myshkyn
That's a good experiment, but not the result I expected. Maybe I'll give it a try and see what I get.
Vinyl made a comeback, but unfortunately not in cars.
I haven't played with this for over 3 years, so I'm going from memory. The order that the ES plays the tracks on a USB stick has nothing to do with the order they were copied or the track numbers. The play order is alphabetical based on file name. In other words, if you plug the USB stick into your computer and look at it in Windows File Explorer with an alphabetic sort, that's the play order. If you want to change the order, change the track file names.
I haven't played with this for over 3 years, so I'm going from memory. The order that the ES plays the tracks on a USB stick has nothing to do with the order they were copied or the track numbers. The play order is alphabetical based on file name. In other words, if you plug the USB stick into your computer and look at it in Windows File Explorer with an alphabetic sort, that's the play order. If you want to change the order, change the track file names.
As a test I just copied a folder to USB. On the Lexus it shows them in numeric/alpha order, like 01, 02, 03. Then I went into that folder on the USB and changed the numbers, switching 04 and 05. It didn't change the order and list them in the new order. So, it doesn't look like Lexus is doing the ordering based on the new file names.
I haven't played with this for over 3 years, so I'm going from memory. The order that the ES plays the tracks on a USB stick has nothing to do with the order they were copied or the track numbers. The play order is alphabetical based on file name. In other words, if you plug the USB stick into your computer and look at it in Windows File Explorer with an alphabetic sort, that's the play order. If you want to change the order, change the track file names.
Yes, that is the problem that we have been discussing.
As a test I just copied a file to USB. On the Lexus it shows them in numeric/alpha order, like 01, 02, 03. Then I went into that file on the USB and changed the numbers,switching 04 and 05. It didn't change the order and list them in the new order. So, it doesn't look like Lexus is doing the ordering based on the new file names.
Still have that album, bought it 50+ years ago. My subconscious knows which song is supposed to be next after any given song.
So I added one more album by a different method. Once I had ripped it, I used Windows File Explorer to copy the audio tracks in track order, one file at a time, to the appropriate folder on the USB drive. Even with this album, my car ignored the track numbering and insisted on listing the songs in alphabetical order.
I tried the "Wrangler" experiment, but couldn't replicate the results. I copied three files one at a time in reverse order to a USB. When I put it in the ML audio system they were displayed in reverse order, the order in which I copied them. In Wrangler's system they displayed in alpha/numeric order. Strange. Different systems? I have a '23 ML.
I still don't understand it, but they can't revoke your soul for trying.
I tried the "Wrangler" experiment, but couldn't replicate the results. I copied three files one at a time in reverse order to a USB. When I put it in the ML audio system they were displayed in reverse order, the order in which I copied them. In Wrangler's system they displayed in alpha/numeric order. Strange. Different systems? I have a '23 ML.
I still don't understand it, but they can't revoke your soul for trying.
So there's a mystical aspect, and I forgot to walk into splintered sunlight?
