2006 standard audio vs JBL at 9 speakers

I have not heard the standard system as the car I borrowed was an 05 with the Nac package. I'm buying an 06 with Nav so I'll get the JBL system. I'm not impressed with the JBL. It is not as goos as the BOSE system in my current Maxima but the sound isn't that bad either. I'm not sure I would pay $1000 for the sound but it does give you a 6cd in dash changer which I like since I'm not a ipoder.

That said package 5 gives you an alarm system and bluetooth as well. Both features I like.

 

In a word.......YES!!!!

I test drove a 2005 Prius with the regular audio package and it was muddy and unpleasant. My 2006 I just got is package #8 with the upgraded audio and it sounds great. It might not satisfy the purists in a crowd but to my ears with over 20 years of broadcast engineering behind me I find it really enjoyable.

Just my 2 cents worth

Cheers

 

Three60guy just posted what I came over here to post about. I heard that the audio on the 2006 is a huge improvement over the 2005 models. I didn't listen to the radio in the 2005 during our test drive as we had it turned off (too many distractions as it was-didn't need to mess with the radio). I haven't heard the audio system in the 2006 yet, but I do look forward to doing so in the very future.

 

Audio quality is a relative and personal issue. The JBL system is much better than the stock Toyota system. Even though some have commented on the JBL system not being up to their standards, it is still much better than the standard Toyota system. In addition, the 6-disc changer is a huge improvement. No car should be sold today without some kind of disc changer. There has to be more than just the radio upgrade for the $1000 difference to the next package. Do a little more research and see what else you get in the package you are looking at that has the JBL stereo and see if it is what you want.

 

Just curious why you think this. In this age of Ipod's, it makes the changer just about obsolete. I have a 60 GB Ipod, and rarely use the CD player...let alone a 6 disk changer.

Ken

 

Here's an overview of the JBL system:

http://www.jbltoyota.com/toyota_prius/audio_advantages.asp

 

It's individual preference. The CD changer is not obsolete for those of us who choose not to invest in an ipod.

 

For $1000 you could upgrade to a system much better than the JBL they offer most likely. Just be careful to have the work done at a reputable place, not like Best Buy with teenagers fiddling around on your car for minimum wage. Been there done that, not happy with the end result.

But if youre somebody who loves music and wants the car to be stock completely then go for the JBL system.

For the record the regular one isnt that bad at all.

 

I tend to agree with the statement that CDs are quickly becoming obsolete. It will happen quicker for some people... and slower for others.

Music has already transitioned from analog to digital starting back in 1982 or so with the volume manufacturing of the CD. What is changing now is how music is distributed. The internet has driven a model towards electronic distribution of digital music vs the old model of distribution on optical media.

You do not have to invest in an iPod to take advantage of digital music. Your home PC will do just fine... especially if you connect it to your home audio system. Often times that is inconvenient because your computer and home intertainment devices might be in seperate rooms. In that case... you can get very cheap home network devices that will let you play your digital music (stored on your PC) on devices all over your house. Expect more and more of this to become standard in most consumer electronics equipment.

The iPod is handy if you like to take a copy of your digital music mobile. I use my ipod a lot for use at our weekend condo at the coast... as well as whenever I am flying on commercial flights. Personally... I really do not typically connect it to a car because of the hassle of wires in the cabin.

For driving in the car... I really enjoy sattelite radio more than anything. It works very well... has no commercial interruptions... and it helps me broaden my appreciation for music.. and since getting Sirius... my music collection has been growing. Of course... if you have a subscrption to Sirius... you can listen to the same programming in your house off of the internet... connected to your home intertainment system as descibed above.

Back to the aquisition of music... I am still generally purchasing CDs... but I put them into my computer once... and about 3 minutes later after the entire CD is transfered into my digital music collection... I put the CD back into its case never to be opened again. I think that once the DRM issues are sorted out... then I (and most people) will just skip the purchasing of CDs all together and go straight to internet distribution.

Finally... if you look across demographics, I think that you will find that most younger folks get most of their music over the internet now... except that unfortunately... a lot of it is pirated. This causes a huge problem for the recording industry. It is appalling how the music industry is responding... but I also think this will get sorted out. I am a personal believer that over time... people will move away from owning music collections... and move toward a subscription model. It is cheaper... but more importantly... the broad availability of "all the music in the world" for a small montly fee will appeal to more and more people... especially those that are younger.

An intersting example of this "renting vs owning" is happening right now in the movie industry with Netflix and Blockbuster.com. For a low montly fee... you can always have your favorite movies available in your house waiting to be played. With higher speed internet connections becoming availble (ex: I just got fibre to the house)... internet distribution of movies reaches technical fesibility... so I expect that for the same low montly fee to Netflix... you will be able to watch as many movies as you want without using mail distribution of optical media.

Anyway... that is just my $0.02.

/Jim

 

Most people can't tell the difference between an MP3 encoded at 128 kbps and a CD. And when you add road noise into the equation its going to make even less of that non-difference.

 

MP3 is not a very good compression standard. It was one of the first popular compression standards, and is available on just about any device. In most cases... you are better off chosing a better compression algorithm. On many low end machines... it is the only choice that you get.

The various flavors of MP4 are much better. Apple's AAC falls into this catagory. Microsoft WMA is also quite good. I think that a lot of audiofiles choose OOG Vorbis over any of the above for exceptional sounding music with a good compression ratio.

There are also a few good "lossless" compression standards that will reproduce the exact bitstream... obviously the best solution... but the compression ratios are not too agressive.

/Jim

 

For lots of people, 128 kbps is simply not good enough. If you have an audiogram done and find that you can hear tones over 16khz, you WILL hear all the differences between different encoding rates - but probably not in a car .

Ogg is definetly much better though.... but everything still sounds better straight from a CD. Now how do I get those 78s to play in my car

Does anyone know if the center channel woofer has improved in the 2006?

Thanks!
Dave

 

I agree MP3 even at 128kbps still sounds a lot worse then CD. I'm suprised that people love their IPOD's so much, the quality often sounds worse then tape! I guess the coolness factor makes up for it. All MP3 I've heard have sounded bass heavy and tin canny.

I hate to say it but I like WMA much better. It has a more linear sound but even there the compression leaves a strange hiss (i.e the tin can sound). In the car I will test using WMA at the highest setting if this allows me substantially (50%) more songs per CD. Then I can simply burn 6 WMA CDs and play them.

I'm also looking for a system to make my home hifi system all digital. Doubt I can take my 400+ CD and put them on harddrives with out compression. So I'm looking for a loss less compression technique and a good player. I think there are loss less techniques but I haven't seen a digitial player with a good D/A converter/pre amp on it. I could buy a new amplifier with a digital-in but it's too much money at this moment and I like the NAD I have. Would love to hear peoples ideas

 

I would go pro/semi pro audio. I feel this way about most audio/home theatre stuff - why not listen to stuff on the same gear that recording engineers use - it's actually a lot cheaper than a lot of the "audiophool" stuff too

This may be out of the ballpark, but for music production, my AD/DA box is this:
http://www.yamahasynth.com/products/i88x/
It doesn't do any mixing, but at $400 it'll do analog in aswell as DA from SPDIF optical and coax, aswell as having balanced outputs and awesome AD too. Source monitoring selection is controlled by a little button on the front.
Anyway, when I upgrade my studio gear (in a couple years, probably), this box will probably be in my living room, although hidden in a cabinet with only a tube amp showing

Theres a lot of other cool pro-audio boxes that do excellent DA, but not many of the quality-yet-cheap ones operate without a computer.

Hope this helps!
Dave

 

Here's some info at a AV123 with links in the discussion that might help, good site for speakers and their customer service is the best:

http://av123forum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11943

Another good site for info is AVS Forum

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/index.php?

 

I came across a new technology this morning... and I could hardly wait to tell this crowd: HYBRID CODECS!

Hybrid codecs sound cool! Encode to two files--a standalone audio file of typical size (128kbit, 160kbit, 190kbit, whatever) appropriate to portable playback + a 2nd file of somewhat larger size that can be “combined†with the 1st file for lossless decode!

From what I can tell, it is not quite ready for prime time... and no one’s supporting hybrid codecs in portable players. Still... it is like having syngergy drive for your digital music. Good compression for the road... and a bit for bit exact copy (but still compressed) for your home.

/Jim

 

128k, even with a good encoder, won't live up to CDs. Ogg files etc are great, but nothing is as ubiquitous as MP3.

To get the most out of encoding MP3s, you can't just encode them with iTunes or any old thing.

Go to
http://www.mp3-tech.org/encoders_win.html
and download the latest release of LAME. It should come with a front-end, RazorLame, included.
Start RazorLame, hit the LAME button, and in Expert -> Custom Options, type --alt-preset-standard, then check Only use custom options.
Encode away - this preset is optimized for high quality MP3 production.