Dolby setting in audio system (Sound Studio...or whatever it's called now)

I can't really tell the difference when it's on or off. I think the reason for this is that Dolby is really for movies rather than music.

As much as I enjoy the sound system in my Model S, it is true that the Dolby implementation is very poor and like the original poster I find this very disappointing. The particular version of Dolby surround processing that Tesla choose to implement simply does not work.

Although I agree that the more advanced versions of Dolby surround processing is very impressive on movies, especially action movies, I disagree that its only for movies. In my home theater Dolby Digital ProLogic IIx surround processing greatly enhances two-channel music and adds a very important sense of spaciousness and envelopment.

Larry

So, shouldn't you guys use multi-channel music if you'd like to enjoy this feature?
I really don't see the point of Dolby on a regular stereo source

AndreyATC said:

So, shouldn't you guys use multi-channel music if you'd like to enjoy this feature?
I really don't see the point of Dolby on a regular stereo source

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If the Model S could accommodate multi-channel music surround processing would be irrelevant. The fact is that the system currently can't accept multi-channel content.

However, surround processing is a mature technology and Lexicon Logic 7 and Dolby ProLogic IIx both do an excellent job of simulating multi-channel in the absence of true multi-channel recordings. These surround processes can upconvert both stereo and 5.1 sources to 7.1 channels.

Larry

I Bluetooth my iPad to the car to watch movies in 5.1.

MikeC said:

I Bluetooth my iPad to the car to watch movies in 5.1.

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Hi Mike,

Thanks for the information.

Can you provide more details? Can you hear different content between the front speakers and the rear speakers or are you merely hearing the same 2-channel content in the front being reproduced in the rear?

Larry

Bluetooth (A2DP) only supports 2 channels, so there is no surround sound over BT at this time.

Larry Chanin said:

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the information.

Can you provide more details? Can you hear different content between the front speakers and the rear speakers or are you merely hearing the same 2-channel content in the front being reproduced in the rear?

Larry

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To be honest, I was never sure if it was surround sound or not - which is why I didn't elaborate on my post. Now that I know that Bluetooth is only 2 channels, I guess it wasn't...

I am going to try to rip some multi-channel source and put it on USB drive
Should be interesting...

Reed said:

Bluetooth (A2DP) only supports 2 channels, so there is no surround sound over BT at this time.

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Even then, the Dolby surround algorithm will be applied to your two channel source.

Sorry to revive an old thread here, but I'd be curious to know how other users typically use the Dolby setting. Admittedly, I've only had the car for a couple days (w/ UHFS), though in my limited testing the Dobly Surround setting really degraded everything. It seems to narrow out the sound stage, bringing everything up front and in your face while overly exaggerating the highs and distorting easier. Even after tweaking the EQ a bit I can't seem to get it to sound as good as just leaving it off. Anyone else use it and find it beneficial?

So far, I've had the best results balancing everything by turning Dolby off, shifting the audio -2 or -3 to the rear, bass +2, mid +1, treble -1.5 or so.

It sounds so bad I just leave it off and pretend it's not a feature and doesn't exist. Then I don't have it to be upset about.

Ya, I made a concerted effort to just 'unsee' it.

Does it fix the bass eq slider when dolby is off?

I also leave it turned off all the time, don't like what it does to 2 channel sources.

I've noticed that the sound improves with different songs. Sometimes it sounds a lot better because you'll hear more highs and it sounds more clear, but it will kill the depth of the bass on other songs. I usually leave it on because the majority of songs I play seem to sound better, but some songs I want deeper bass and I'll turn it off.

Tesla dolby is a surround sound generator - but with recent firmware (dolby changes a lot with each firmware release, it seems) it seems to do nothing at all...early on, it was bad, then it was nice, now it is nowhere....(I'm only on .36, if that matters).

I've never noticed any difference on or off, so I just leave it on.

Played around with the dolby in a model s with upgraded audio yesterday at the store. Meh. I won't be springing for the upgraded audio if I were to pull the trigger anyhow. But I've driven in both, you can notice the sub, by the sound quality itself seems negligible for a non-audiophile like myself.