Lexicon Sound System Review 2012 V8 Genesis

[elshagon]

I bought my 2012 Genesis just over one month ago and feel it's time to do a review of the Lexicon sound system. Let me start off by saying I play mostly dvd-audio discs as I have little interest in XM radio, FM radio, mp3's or cd's. Dvd-Audio will get you the best sound out of this system due to it's higher bitrate and surround capabilities. I currently have more than 300 surround discs in my collection along with software which allows me to make mixed dvd-audio discs with multiple artists. Playing anything but dvd-audio is like going to a gourmet steakhouse and ordering a grilled cheese sandwich.

The Bad (most are just minor annoyances):

1. The infamous "surround" setting problem: This has been documented here before so I won't go into it too much. It's a pain to have to enable the surround setting each morning. I find with dvd-audio discs, which are already in surround, the setting doesn't do anything whether enabled or disabled. With other sources this setting definitely is an improvement so it's an annoyance to have to reset it. And by improvement I don't mean to imply it's perfect. The faux surround for stereo sources which I have on my pc with a Creative soundcard make this stereo-surround attempt seem mediocre.
2. Random Play feature: When I select this on my dvd-audio discs it takes you to a random track and begins playback from there. Not truly a random play as it will play track#8, 9, 10 etc. To me random would be to play track #8 followed by 3, 10, 7 etc...you know, random.
3. Track names: Within the dvd-audio specs is the ability to display track names. With the Genesis this isn't enabled so the tracks only show as Track #1, Track #2 etc. Not good if you want to look for a certain song title.
4. Sound: With XM it can sound a bit tinny at times due to the low bitrate. The bass on the sound system is a little lacking to begin with. I also wish the center channel was a little better than it is, as some of my surround mixes which have the vocals tied to the center channel often have the vocals get lost in the mix. I find that I pump up the bass settings and move the surround to the back 3 notches. I wish there were more controls such as bumping up the center a bit.
5. Storage: This isn't a criticism of the Lexicon system but rather the lack of storage space in the center console for my dvd-audio discs. They simply won't fit because of the larger cases they come in. This means inserting the discs into paper sleeves to place in the center console or putting them in the glove box.
6. Playback: With my dvd-audio discs sometimes they get a "disc error" message. This doesn't happen often and usually ejecting the disc and re-inserting solves the problem. Also with dual layer discs I've made the player has trouble at the layer break on the disc. This happens with all my dual layer discs. It will either skip 1-2 songs entirely at the layer break, or with one it ends up playing two songs at once and then skips the next two songs! Hmmm, very annoying!

The Good

1. DVD-Audio: It's always been a dream of mine to have a car which played my surround sound discs. DVD-Audio is lossless and really shines on the Lexicon system. If you're not enjoying DVD-Audio then you're missing out on the best this system can sound. I've made several demo dvd-audio discs with a mix of artists, a "best-of" surround if you will. It's not only important that you play the best sounding format for the Genesis but also choose titles which were mixed well by the engineers in the studio. For a start you can look at this list of surround titles: Hi-Rez Poll
2. Sound: I know I also listed this in the "bad" section, but my complaints with the sound only were several minor annoyances. Overall the Lexicon is an great surround system for a car. The 17 speakers do an excellent job of reproducing the surround mix found on my dvd-audio discs. I've sat in all the seating positions, and no matter where I sit I'm impressed. I look forward to every time I enter the car, and long for a road trip.
3. Controls: The large control knob is easy to use and find. The controls on the steering wheel work well.

Overall I'm really enjoying my new 2012 Genesis. I've been converting over all my DVD-Audio discs to individual tracks so I can mix and match songs making my own new discs. Bluray and SACD can also be converted over to DVD-Audio which brings even more surround music to the Genesis. I think the Lexicon system has a few minor flaws such as the surround setting not staying enabled, but with the right source (dvd-audio) it blows me away at times. Also I think Hyundai needs to have a better dvd player as the disc error and layer break problems shouldn't be happening and are definitely flaws.

Custom DVD-Audio I made:

My New Genesis:

 

[STREETS]

Selling the DVD?

 

[BacktoHyundaibychoice]

Great, fair review. Couldn't agree more about the sound quality of the other sources, though I have found one local college jazz station that sounds fantastic on FM-HD with surround engaged, at least on most tracks.
Thank you!

 

[EXBMWGUY]

Your review is spot on. I also love DVD audio, but am light years behind you on all this.

 

[BacktoHyundaibychoice]

Your review is spot on. I also love DVD audio, but am light years behind you on all this.

It's because he's a whippersnapper and we aren't!
Damn kids should get off our lawns!

 

[elshagon]

edited my review to add some disc playback errors I sometimes get.

 

[BacktoHyundaibychoice]

Are you going to cross-post this at QQ?

 

[bobshine]

What computer software are you using to create the DVD audio discs? I just have all mine jammed onto a 64gb flash drive. Works fine, even with the random, but I might enjoy the DVD-audio discs where I can subdivide songs onto discs by type (folk, rock, jazz, pop, country etc.). Now they are all mixed together and I have to remember to take out the USB fllash drive when shutting down the Genny and have to plug it back in when I start up next time (manual says the drive may get damaged if I don't unplug before shutdown/startup). It would be nice to listen to a DVD on radon for just one type of music depending on my mood.

 

[PMCErnie]

I've used IMTOO software to rip audio from DVDs. Simple enough. Does plenty of other things too. They have various combo products for sale.

I have not, however, created a custom DVD filled only with audio files. Is it as simple as dragging mp3 files onto a DVD? I hope the OP, or others, will assist on this question. Of course, if the DVD screen will only tell you "track 1," why bother putting 4,000 tunes on it?

What is displayed on the screen when a thumbdrive is loaded? Does it show song names, or "title 1?"

 

[elshagon]

DVD-Audio is not the same as a dvd with audio on it. They're often confused. DVD-Audio is a disc format for delivering high fidelity audio. DVD-Audio allows for higher sampling rates and bit rates, the audio can be lossless to the studio master. By lossless audio let me explain it this way. Dolby digital audio is compressed at a 12 to 1 ratio. That means for every 12 bits 11 are thrown out. 96% of the original file gone with compressing it into a smaller file size. Obviously you lose quality when doing this. MP3's are compressed even further. Another advantage with DVD-Audio is it can use stereo or surround music.
To further show my point here's typical file sizes for one song of various formats:
MP3: 4mb
Dolby Digital: 10mb
DVD-Audio: 250mb

With the Hyundai Genesis, DVD-Audio discs will give you the best possible sound you can get out of the Lexicon system. If you're not familiar with any of this and you own a Genesis with the tech package you owe it to yourself to find at least one quality DVD-Audio disc to play in it to see what you're missing. The discs are sometimes hard to find now because the format is pretty much dead now. Amazon and ebay are your best bet, but make sure you're really buying a DVD-Audio disc. Here's a link again to a poll of the best surround discs produced: poll

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[PMCErnie]

What's the point then if this is dead technology? 33 1/3 LPs give better sound than CDs, but nobody is installing turntables in cars.

 

[elshagon]

Are you going to cross-post this at QQ?

Went ahead at posted the review over at the QQ as well.

 

[scottdk]

DVD-Audio is not the same as a dvd with audio on it. They're often confused. DVD-Audio is a disc format for delivering high fidelity audio. DVD-Audio allows for higher sampling rates and bit rates, the audio can be lossless to the studio master. By lossless audio let me explain it this way. Dolby digital audio is compressed at a 12 to 1 ratio. That means for every 12 bits 11 are thrown out. 96% of the original file gone with compressing it into a smaller file size. Obviously you lose quality when doing this. MP3's are compressed even further. Another advantage with DVD-Audio is it can use stereo or surround music.
To further show my point here's typical file sizes for one song of various formats:
MP3: 4mb
Dolby Digital: 10mb
DVD-Audio: 250mb

With the Hyundai Genesis, DVD-Audio discs will give you the best possible sound you can get out of the Lexicon system. If you're not familiar with any of this and you own a Genesis with the tech package you owe it to yourself to find at least one quality DVD-Audio disc to play in it to see what you're missing. The discs are sometimes hard to find now because the format is pretty much dead now. Amazon and ebay are your best bet, but make sure you're really buying a DVD-Audio disc. Here's a link again to a poll of the best surround discs produced: poll

I agree and love DVD-A's but there isn't Sh*t for selection on Amazon that I find interesting. something from this Millennium would be nice, although I have the Incubus, live at Red Rock DVD-A. Excellent choice and damn near 10 years old already. I see Hootie and the Blowfish DVD-A is going for about $40 on Amazon and that's a used one. DAMN!! that better come with a autographed guitar

 

[elshagon]

What's the point then if this is dead technology? 33 1/3 LPs give better sound than CDs, but nobody is installing turntables in cars.

There are still artists who are releasing music on DVD-Auido, just not many. Also other lossless surround formats can be converted to dvd-audio such as bluray. There are also hundreds if not thousands of albums released, so there's many artists to choose from. The point of it is our cars play them. The point is our cars sound is at its best when you play dvd-audio discs. I didn't buy a car with an $8,000 stereo and speaker system to play mp3's. This system shines when playing dvd-audio surround discs, playing anything else is a huge step down.

 

[elshagon]

I agree and love DVD-A's but there isn't Sh*t for selection on Amazon that I find interesting. something from this Millennium would be nice, although I have the Incubus, live at Red Rock DVD-A. Excellent choice and damn near 10 years old already. I see Hootie and the Blowfish DVD-A is going for about $40 on Amazon and that's a used one. DAMN!! that better come with a autographed guitar

I agree, Amazon's selection is getting to be sparse and prices go way up once a title is out of stock.

 

[scottdk]

I agree, Amazon's selection is getting to be sparse and prices go way up once a title is out of stock.

Any advice on where to purchase DVD-A's online?

 

[nextcar]

Call me old fashioned, but I am perfectly happy with a good 2 channel recording.
I haven't tried any DVD audio discs in my Genesis, but of the other formats I think the best sounding is CD format - it sounds better than an identical file from a USB drive.

 

[musher51]

DVD-Audio is not the same as a dvd with audio on it. They're often confused. DVD-Audio is a disc format for delivering high fidelity audio. DVD-Audio allows for higher sampling rates and bit rates, the audio can be lossless to the studio master. By lossless audio let me explain it this way. Dolby digital audio is compressed at a 12 to 1 ratio. That means for every 12 bits 11 are thrown out. 96% of the original file gone with compressing it into a smaller file size. Obviously you lose quality when doing this. MP3's are compressed even further. Another advantage with DVD-Audio is it can use stereo or surround music.
To further show my point here's typical file sizes for one song of various formats:
MP3: 4mb
Dolby Digital: 10mb
DVD-Audio: 250mb

With the Hyundai Genesis, DVD-Audio discs will give you the best possible sound you can get out of the Lexicon system.

Great info, elshagon. As a long-time audiophile, I could never grasp the appeal of MP3s given the sonic losses due to compression. But having grudgingly conceded the convenience factor of iPods (and this from a guy that still listens to vinyl on tube amps 75% of the time), I worked with my kids to conduct an experiment with the three levels of compression offered by Apple. As expected, I couldn't live with the standard, fully-compressed option, and unfortunately, even the middle option (called Apple Lossless, I think?) had noticeable defects.

So I've been laboriously converting a collection of 3000+ CDs to iTunes using (what I've been led to believe is) the fully uncompressed option (can't recall the name). The net effect of this is that I can only get about 1700 songs onto a 160GB iPod versus the 35000+ songs that my daughter crams into hers fully compressed. Of course, it doesn't help that the average song length in my music collection is 20+ minutes (I'm a Deadhead and the boys are given to rambling jams) versus the 3 - 4 minute average of most musicians.

Given your obvious expertise in these matters, can you confirm that the uncompressed option with Apple/iTunes is, in fact, truly uncompressed? I've done some A/B comparisons between my iPod and CDs, and the sonic quality is comparable (although the highs still seem a little squeezed with the iPod). While I fully agree that DVD-As stand alone, options are damned limited as noted on many posts, so I'm motivated to utilize iPods in order to keep my music library as large as possible, for both the Genesis and at home.

 

[elshagon]

Great info, elshagon. As a long-time audiophile, I could never grasp the appeal of MP3s given the sonic losses due to compression. But having grudgingly conceded the convenience factor of iPods (and this from a guy that still listens to vinyl on tube amps 75% of the time), I worked with my kids to conduct an experiment with the three levels of compression offered by Apple. As expected, I couldn't live with the standard, fully-compressed option, and unfortunately, even the middle option (called Apple Lossless, I think?) had noticeable defects.

So I've been laboriously converting a collection of 3000+ CDs to iTunes using (what I've been led to believe is) the fully uncompressed option (can't recall the name). The net effect of this is that I can only get about 1700 songs onto a 160GB iPod versus the 35000+ songs that my daughter crams into hers fully compressed. Of course, it doesn't help that the average song length in my music collection is 20+ minutes (I'm a Deadhead and the boys are given to rambling jams) versus the 3 - 4 minute average of most musicians.

Given your obvious expertise in these matters, can you confirm that the uncompressed option with Apple/iTunes is, in fact, truly uncompressed? I've done some A/B comparisons between my iPod and CDs, and the sonic quality is comparable (although the highs still seem a little squeezed with the iPod). While I fully agree that DVD-As stand alone, options are damned limited as noted on many posts, so I'm motivated to utilize iPods in order to keep my music library as large as possible, for both the Genesis and at home.

Well being a Deadhead I hope you have Workingman's Dead & American Beauty on dvd-audio to play in the car. They both sound terrific. Uncle John's Band is one of my favorites as far as demo material goes. As far as the Apple formats go, I'm not familiar with them as I don't use them. You also have to remember that cd's are a lot lower resolution to begin with too. It's funny you brought up file sizes and how many mp3's can fit on a thumb drive or ipod. It seems the world today is more concerned about quantity vs. quality. Whenever I play a dvd-audio disc at home or in the car everyone wants to know why it sounds so good. I choose quality every time. Haven't even listened to a cd or mp3 yet in the Genesis.

 

[BacktoHyundaibychoice]

Well being a Deadhead I hope you have Workingman's Dead & American Beauty on dvd-audio to play in the car. They both sound terrific. Uncle John's Band is one of my favorites as far as demo material goes. As far as the Apple formats go, I'm not familiar with them as I don't use them. You also have to remember that cd's are a lot lower resolution to begin with too. It's funny you brought up file sizes and how many mp3's can fit on a thumb drive or ipod. It seems the world today is more concerned about quantity vs. quality. Whenever I play a dvd-audio disc at home or in the car everyone wants to know why it sounds so good. I choose quality every time. Haven't even listened to a cd or mp3 yet in the Genesis.

Re Musher's question:
Isn't that where the surround processing of the Lexicon would come in? If iTunes really is offering a less or non compressed option, wouldn't the Lex have a better chance of turning it into something closer to a DVD-A than a CD? Wouldn't it at least sound better in the Gen? Theoretically?