jshap4321

Got my 2019 ES F-Sport with Mark Levinson. I've noticed that when I turn the volume up loud enough to enjoy (around 30-35) it causes ear pain and headache. The feeling is like when you put your ear directly up to a speaker. However, putting the volume at 25 or so is not loud enough to enjoy. As I type this I understand it may not make sense, but I'm pretty experienced with car stereo. In my last Acura TL with ELS audio I could blare the volume at max with no problems. Anyone else have this issue with Mark Levinson?

RAIES911

That's weird! I also have Mark levinson and I'm really happy with it, the sound is very clear even when I put the volume on 55

Maybe you need to lower the bass?!

john341

Is the EQ maxed out?

Mike728

What's the source of your music?

jshap4321

All standard settings. Using USB with CarPlay and Apple Music. The sound is super clear but oddly painful to my ears at higher volumes. I seem to be the only one.

reposado2

Maybe you are just getting old.

I used to love rollercoasters until my body told me no more.

wing

I picked up one of these yesterday for review and noticed it really sounds like the sound is coming too much from the left, despite the balance being centered. I'm surprised as I was expecting a better system, I tried changing all sorts of settings and can't get it right.

jshap4321

Agreed. I had the same observation with the sound coming from the left. I think the ML system is somewhat of a gimmick altogether. The whole "purist" / "orchestra" ideology has resulted in an overrated and highly unusual sound system. My previous Acura's ELS sound (Panasonic) was incredible... This is not rocket science. Very disappointed with ML.

wing

Well I have the ML system in my LX570 and in my ISF and it did not do this. So something is odd, it's not really a gimmick as it sounds incredible in those vehicles...

95bat

Bass typically won't hurt ears unless it's extremely loud. My living room subs can make people's ears hurt, but it takes two 18" subwoofers with 4,000 watts And I'm adding two more with 4,000 more watts soon! Tbe little 10.5" sub in the ES isn't going to pressurize the cabin enough to hurt your ears.
Play with the EQ a bit... I'd try turning down the treble first. Sometimes the highs can cause fatigue, making your ears hurt. When I test drove the '19 ES 350 I noticed more of a presence in the upper end than my '13 GS and our '16 RX has (all ML systems). I'm sensitive to higher frequencies, I definitely prefer a mellow tweeter. Maybe the ES went with a metal dome tweeter. The JBL system in the Avalon is using a horn style tweeter, haven't seen those in cars in ages!

jimv1983

Before I ordered my car I listened to both the standard and ML sound systems. I didn't have any problem with pain at all.

I tested with music from my phone over Bluetooth and XM. To me the ML system did sound noticably better than the standard system but not massive. Where I noticed the biggest difference was actually with XM which was FAR better on the ML system. I have read that the ML system has processing that helps lower quality compresses music sound better and it absolutely works.

https://news.harman.com/releases/harman-enhances-clari-fi-for-an-improved-music-listening-experience

Since I do listen to a lot of XM it was well work the extra $1080.

February/March can't come soon enough.

jshap4321

Mike728

I have the last get ES with ML. The biggest improvement, besides ditching SXM, was turning off the DSP surround. Have you done that?

jshap4321

Yes, I've tried that and it doesn't make a big difference. I've seen in other threads that TONS of people are finding this unbalanced (front and center) sound annoying. I find it unlistenable. One of the best parts of car audio is to have perfectly balanced sound coming from all directions. ML sounds like I have one small speaker glued to the front/center of the dash. The music enters my right ear far more than my left. And to think this is the "upgrade" from a luxury brand. What a major disappointment. I can't think of anyone who would prefer to have all the sound come from the front/center dash unless they were sold by the marketing gimmick. Newsflash: the reason the sound of an orchestra comes from the front is because they're not going to set up a circle of instruments around a massive auditorium. This is a car! To mimic the positioning of a live concert in a car is a marketing gimmick created by someone who was trying too hard to out-think the room. I wish I did more research instead of putting my trust in Lexus.

SW17LS

Are you sure the surround is turned off? What you describe is exactly how the ML in my LS sounds if I have surround turned on...