Some final thoughts on the Acura ELS DVD-A systems (2004-2014/2015)

[CPR]

Be thankful for DVD/A playback; I had 2 prior Acura TL's that had DVD/A playback
Currently my 2015 TLX does NOT play DVD/A's; only DTS, CD's, HDD, IPod, & BT audio
Not complaining, but I do miss my DVD/A recordings; they sound incredible in a car environment
Shame on Acura for eliminating a great redeeming audio quality!

 

[timbre4]

Shame on ELS for abandoning us in every sense. He still gets to cash those checks as his name is still on the audio system. I need DVDA more than the l need the latest model. My Civic has a Pioneer DVD-AV so the Jethro Tull discs and such do get played.

I'd like to know why auto Blu Ray was not offered beyond a single Audiovox offering.


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[sarasota2k4]

I'm shopping, new cars aren't easily fitted with aftermarket players, so...
This has the Technology Package, but no mention of even DVD in the description, can I be sure it has DVD-A?

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inven...d=true&filtersModified=true#listing=158521683

Based on my understanding of Acura's Technology Package option, even dating back to 2010, this would include the ELS system if the TSX you are looking at truly comes with a "Technology Package." You can find Honda's writeup here: http://news.honda.com/newsandviews/article.aspx?id=5036-en

 

[timbre4]

The "ELS system" no longer guarantees DVDA capability.


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[JonUrban]

The early TSX's did not have the ELS system, but I do not recall the years.

If the TSX has the ELS moniker than it does DVD-A, at least in 2010.

The current ELS systems do not play DVD-A's, just DTS-CDs.

As an aside, I blasted Acura in my JD Power Survey/Acura Survey. They called me today. I told them that I would have understood if they removed the disc player completely from the car, but since they left a CD player in the car it was unconscionable to remove the DVD-A playback when they've spent 10 years with players in their cars and the Acura owners who chose to embrace the format were now left with discs that they can not play in their new cars.

I made the example of the marketplace removing cassette decks a decade or so ago as well. I made the point that everyone removed their cassette decks (all manufacturers) and because every car on the market had one, removing the format was not an shot at a specific market. Nobody bought Toyota's, say, because they had cassette players in them. However, with DVD-A, there were in fact people who purchased Acura's because they had DVD-A players in them. That may have been the one thing that tipped the scales towards a sale of an Acura as opposed to say an Infiniti or Audi.

Anyway, there is nothing they can do because I am sure the disc player in a car will be gone by the next model refresh, but at least they listened and the guy on the phone did say that others had made the same complaint.

I also told him that the CD/SIRIUS/iPod playback sounded worse in my 2017 than it did in earlier Acura's.

 

[CPR]

Hey Jon;

If memory serves me well, The RDX, & RLX/Tech, HAVE DVD/A ELS playback
Never understood that; oh well
Anyway, the sound quality in my TLX/Tech/ELS, depends on the source
I have several DTS discs that sound incredible; eg; Gaucho, Hell Freezes Over, Aqualung;(made by a friend from a Blu-Ray)
My other sources; IPod, BT Audio, HDD, CD, etc., are pretty godd; it all depends on the dynamic range of the reference material
Some DTS discs, like Days of Future Past, are ok, not great
Anyway, just venting, because I miss my DVD/A playback

 

[kungpaogringo]

It's been my pleasure to introduce my parents to the amazing sound of the ELS Surround System in the 2013 RDX that they recently purchased at the beginning of this year. Since that time, I have made countless surround discs for the vehicle, some DVD-A and some DTS-CD. I even found out how to make DVD-A copies of Blu-Ray Audio discs, leaving my SACD collection as the lone holdout from the car.

Hello rtbluray, I know I'm very late to the party but would you be willing to share the recipe for converting Bluray Audio discs into DVD-A discs that will play on the ELS system?

 

[sjcorne]

Hello rtbluray, I know I'm very late to the party but would you be willing to share the recipe for converting Bluray Audio discs into DVD-A discs that will play on the ELS system?

Decrypt with MakeMKV and run the decrypted folder through DVD-A Extractor to get 96/24 WAV or FLAC, then plug those into Minnetonka Discwelder

 

[jsulzinger]

Hello rtbluray, I know I'm very late to the party but would you be willing to share the recipe for converting Bluray Audio discs into DVD-A discs that will play on the ELS system?

Welcome kungpaogringo!

 

[kungpaogringo]

Decrypt with MakeMKV and run the decrypted folder through DVD-A Extractor to get 96/24 WAV or FLAC, then plug those into Minnetonka Discwelder

Thank you! I'm on a Mac so I'll need to get a Windows machine to run this recipe. Since Discwelder is out of production, do you know where I can safely download an old copy? What OS would I need to run for it to work? I've been told to create a VM "sandbox" on a windows machine to download out of production software like this. Any thoughts on that? Thank you!

 

[kungpaogringo]

Welcome kungpaogringo!

Thank you, jsulzinger! Glad to be here!

 

[sarasota2k4]

Just hit 76K mile on my 2013 Acura MDX w/ Technology Package (ELS/DVD-A). Still thoroughly enjoy playing my DVD-A library in the car. Like others have said, it's always fun to see the looks on my passenger's faces when I play one of my DVD-As for them, i.e. Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms" or Donald Fagen's "The Nightfly." That look of "Holy Crap, that sounds amazing!"

Got a bit bummed out earlier this year when I started to get some distortion from one of my speakers, but it only cost me $30 and about 25 minutes of my time to replace the blown/damaged speaker in the passenger door. As usual, there were plenty of videos on YouTube on how to remove the door panel to get access to the speaker. My MDX has been a great vehicle and I hope to get another 100K+ miles and many hours of 5.1 surround sound out of it.

 

[kungpaogringo]

Just hit 76K mile on my 2013 Acura MDX w/ Technology Package (ELS/DVD-A). Still thoroughly enjoy playing my DVD-A library in the car. Like others have said, it's always fun to see the looks on my passenger's faces when I play one of my DVD-As for them, i.e. Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms" or Donald Fagen's "The Nightfly." That look of "Holy Crap, that sounds amazing!"

Got a bit bummed out earlier this year when I started to get some distortion from one of my speakers, but it only cost me $30 and about 25 minutes of my time to replace the blown/damaged speaker in the passenger door. As usual, there were plenty of videos on YouTube on how to remove the door panel to get access to the speaker. My MDX has been a great vehicle and I hope to get another 100K+ miles and many hours of 5.1 surround sound out of it.

Hi Sarasota2k4 -- Sorry to hear about your speaker redeaux. I always understood that the 2012 model year was the last year the ELS system capable of playing DVD-A surround discs was offered. But yours is a 2013, so please confirm that I am mistaken.

And also for anybody paying attention, I figured out how to make back-up copies of my DVD-A discs. If they were manufactured by WMG, they won't play in the Acura due to the watermarking scheme. I can also convert my Bluray Audio titles and surroud audio off of DVD-V discs into DVD-A discs that will play in the car. Working on SACD and DTS now.

 

[sarasota2k4]

Hi Sarasota2k4 -- Sorry to hear about your speaker redeaux. I always understood that the 2012 model year was the last year the ELS system capable of playing DVD-A surround discs was offered. But yours is a 2013, so please confirm that I am mistaken.

And also for anybody paying attention, I figured out how to make back-up copies of my DVD-A discs. If they were manufactured by WMG, they won't play in the Acura due to the watermarking scheme. I can also convert my Bluray Audio titles and surroud audio off of DVD-V discs into DVD-A discs that will play in the car. Working on SACD and DTS now.

Yes, to confirm, the 2013 Acura MDX (Technology Package) was the last MDX to include the DVD-A playback. The 2014 Acura MDX was a complete redesign and the 2014 ELS system in the MDX does not play DVD-A, only DTS 5.1.

 

[sjcorne]

And also for anybody paying attention, I figured out how to make back-up copies of my DVD-A discs. If they were manufactured by WMG, they won't play in the Acura due to the watermarking scheme. I can also convert my Bluray Audio titles and surroud audio off of DVD-V discs into DVD-A discs that will play in the car. Working on SACD and DTS now.

Glad to see you figured it out.

SACD is a real pain to convert- Some people digitally rip them with hacked PS3s or modified Oppo players, others just record the outs of their SACD player into a multichannel soundcard at 96/24 to make a DVD-A.

I used this method for a while- made DTS-CD copies of some of my favorite SACDs for car- https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...27-SACD-to-Creative-Labs-DTS-610-out-DTS-disc

Let me know which discs you want to convert- I'd be happy to supply you with a PCM copy for your car if I have one (as long as you have the SACD of course- don't want to break any rules here)

 

[timbre4]

always understood that the 2012 model year was the last year the ELS system capable of playing DVD-A surround discs was offered. But yours is a 2013, so please confirm that I am mistaken.
.

It’s not a clean year break for all Acura models; it depends more on when the specific model makeover occurs. There is a detailed list on here somewhere.


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[bossfan]

Just in the process of purchasing a very nice 2012 Acura TL with ELS system. Looking forward to hearing this.
Ok took it for a test drive and brought along Beatles Love and Eagles DTS cd. OMG unbelievable. Mind blowing. We pick this thing up on Saturday. Can't wait.

 

[bossfan]

Ok, I have had this thing a week but have had very little opportunity to use it. (Sharing with my wife) but, besides the fact that I love the car... The interior.. The leather... The drive....the power and the nav system., the sound system is just exquisite. I love the 5.1 capability, that's great. But the hidden gem is the 16 gig hard drive to store all my music. Have not used the 5.1 system much, but will this weekend. If you don't have one of these cars, you would be wise to search one out while you still can.

 

[quadsearcher]

How do I tell from sale listings if a 2012 TL has the ELS system? Does "Technology Package" include ELS?

 

[sarasota2k4]

How do I tell from sale listings if a 2012 TL has the ELS system? Does "Technology Package" include ELS?

Correct, a 2012 TL with the "Technology Package" would have the ELS included.
From Acura's 2012 TL Literature:
"The TL's renowned Acura/ELS Surround® premium audio system returns as part of the Technology Package. The audio system includes a 440-watt Digital Sound Processor amplifier, a 10-speaker surround sound array, and 15 GB hard disk drive (HDD) media storage that allows the owner to download and store up to 3,500 songs* from CDs for later playback. The Acura/ELS Surround® premium audio system offers DVD-Audio, DTS™, CD, AM/FM radio, XM® Radio with Note function music reminder, Bluetooth® Audio, and USB port and AUX jack connectivity."