Stereorob

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?

SW17LS

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.

R Z

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.

Stereorob

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

R Z

Understood. I have a recording studio with the same panel treatment. My ears are far from an audio wizard, but I do believe I can tell the difference in one of my old recordings from my tape days versus my current digital setup. Bluetooth is ideal for anyone wishing to stream music. Storing songs on my iPhone isn't for me, but I agree, for those wishing to invest the time it's great.

ChrisK

iTrader: (1)

Tidal HiFi through Aux In sounds pretty good to me.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

I was surprised I could hear the difference between CD and 256 mbps MP3 in my 07 LS with ML. Haven't listened to BT audio yet so can't comment on that.

roadfrog

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

R Z

Oooh. Never thought about trying dark side of the moon. I have the original cd. Oh man, I'm camping out in my car tonight!

Stereorob

try listening to dark side of the moon on an original factory open reel tape recording @7.1/2ips (yes that was an option back then sold along side the record and 8 track)

sounds crisp as a cd and warmer than vinyl

roadfrog

It'll rock your world on an ML. I've heard things on that album that I'd never heard before when played on my ML.

MrMark

iTrader: (3)

Is there a source you've found reliable....and legal, to purchase and download individual FLAC files? I am a newbie audiohead and looking for more lossless content without having to buy full CD's where I only want to pick up a song or two.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

You can get them from the Linn and Naim Websites but the selection is extremely limited. Here are some more sites (same issues):

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.

tbilisi79

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.

jainla

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!