They are all the same if recorded at the same density. For example if both the memory stick and Iphone were recorded at 160 kbps, they will sound the same. I remember when tape and cds came out and people were saying that they were terrible compared to vinyl. For the most part people have gotten over the difference. I still don't hear a large enough difference in ML to repurchase it.

 

My point, exactly! Well said.

 

I wouldn't lump USB drives in the same category as bluetooth audio. While in the past, using an iPhone to run lossless files will give it a slight advantage over even 320kbps MP3s via USB, they are still much much better than the compressed bluetooth sound.

In any case, someone on here mentioned that the 2020 RX now supports FLAC (and possibly other lossless formats) direct from the USB drives, so the iPhone advantage is negligible.

As for the surround sound argument, I personally prefer the ML soundstage when Surround is turned ON, so it's up to personal preferences. All other settings are flat/middle for me.

 

Well I never said the recording is different, they are the same, what is different is the way the recording is played. Using a USB drive the car in dash system is playing/decoding the information. Using an iPhone the phone itself is playing/decoding the information and is far better at performing that task.
The in-car unit is obviously not great at decoding, the sound is definitely flatter, a more "muddy" sound. It's more obvious on some tracks compared to others, just depends on the quality/age of the original recording.

 

Do what?? I don’t follow your logic.
If a USB drive is sending the same type of file to the infotainment system as an iPhone via USB, everything should be the same. The differences begin with different file formats. Are you talking about the differences between an ACC file in iTunes & an MP3 file on a USB drive? That’s two different file formats. If both were the same file format, they should both sound the same.

 

The decoding of MP3 or AAC files is very well described algorithm that every one implements the same way. Decoding implementations have to play a set of reference files the same way, so it is difficult to have a weak decoding implementation, unless you have a system that is not compatible with the standard. But to claim MP3 decoding and pay the license fee, you have to pass the reference file decoding, so all decoding systems are pretty much similar.

Encoding is a different matter since the encoding process is not well described in the standards and every one adds their little secret sauce based on the years and experience encoding songs.

In short, it would be extremely difficult for anyone to hear any difference in decoding MP3 files on different systems.

 

Thank you - well said!

 

The DAC and other circuitry within a player can affect the sound.
A USB drive uses the car's DAC and circuitry to play the music.
When using an iPhone OR SIMILAR device of quality the device is the player.
This has been talked about previously on here, it's not a myth, it's a fact.
My testing of equipment over the years has proven it, I hear the difference, quite markedly on some tracks.
Try it yourself, do what you want obviously but I know what works well for me.

 

This sounds like the old vinyl arguments of long ago, which were silly then. Hear and do as you wish.

 

The DAC of a car receiver is typically better than a phone, mostly due to better noise separation. The car receiver does not have a big microprocessor and a cell-phone transceiver chip banging bits away to transmit to a cell tower in very close proximity and on the same ground plane as the analog signal grounds. Moreover, cell phones use 90-100dB DAC while the car receiver would use a 100-120dB DAC of SNR. In fact, there is a big market for USB DAC like FiiO that are sold to audiophiles. These dongles connect to the phone through USB and you plug in the headphones to this dongle for better audio playback.

A phone connected through USB sends the data digitally, so it will use the car’s receiver DAC to convert it to analog. USB is a digital interface and does not transfer analog.

if you want to use the phone DAC connect it through the headphone port and use the car receiver to amplify it.

Bluetooth transmission is very low bit rate. So it will compress and decompress (codec) the already decompress MP3. There are a few codecs supported by Bluetooth: SBC, aptX, and AAC. AAC being the better codec while SBC being the worst. All Bluetooth systems support SBC, but very few support AAC. With AAC, you encoded AAC music is sent without decompression, so it tends to produce much better sound. This is why a USB connection to the phone is much better than a Bluetooth connection to a car receiver.

 

I just bought a new 2020 RX350 with the ML system and I am completely shocked at how great the sound is. I have a Klipsh Home Theatre system and this system sounds as good as my home system. After reading all of the posts I was fearful that I made a mistake ordering it but I am so glad I did. I have tried the Surround vs the Stereo and prefer the Surround. Bluetooth sounds as good as attaching via Apple Carplay. I put in a Pink Floyd SACD disk and could not believe how fantastic it sounded.

 

I confess, I had to go look up SACD - I knew I had heard about it some time ago. It appears that technology is almost dead - way too much fussiness with comparability within the theft deterrent software. I’m sure it sounds great...when the technology actually works correctly. There are still CDs out there with SACD, but I didn’t see anything new coming out. I’m also not aware of SACD technology being used within iTunes. You can rip your music from a SACD to iTunes, but it’s converted into standard iTunes audio format & not SACD.

 

gadgetman1: Yes, you are right, the technology is dead but if you can get one and find a player that plays the format the sound is unbelievable. I think it sounds so great because the SACD is a 5.1 Surround Sound and the ML is Surround sound. The 2020 Lexus plays it with the ML sound pkg and I was surprised it worked. Nothing I have played in the car sounds better than that SACD. I have the Dark Side of the Moon SACD and a different sound comes out of every speaker. My best MP3 320Kbps doesn't come close to the sound of the SACD. Wish I could find a few more SACD's but they are expensive and hard to find. I have not tried the newer SuperHIRez or HDtracks ( FLAC format and 88/24 or 96/24 resolution files). My manual says the car will play FLAC formats but only 16 and 24 bits). I haven't tried to play the higher formats yet.

 

This kinda sucks, as the technology appears to have been a good idea, minus the anti theft garbage that caused the whole thing to fall apart - enter corporate greed. There is no way to stop piracy & corporations know this, but insist on pursuing stupid ideas.

 

I assume you're referring to the 2003 SACD release of Dark Side of the Moon. This is a "hybrid" disc, meaning that it has a standard Red Book CD layer in addition to the SACD layer. According to the 2020 RX Multimedia System manual, it will not play non-hybrid SACDs. So, what you're hearing is the standard two-channel CD layer. Perhaps you have the ML "surround" feature on which, according to the manual, "can create a feeling of presence." It appears that the system is not capable of reproducing true surround formats of any format. Gotta give credit to Lexus/ML though, as many CD players "don't like" hybrid SACDs and won't even play the Red Book layer.

On another note: You might find other releases of DSOTM to be more satisfying than this SACD. Here's an interesting article featuring interviews with the original sound engineer, Alan Parsons and James Guthrie, who did the SACD release.