Reviews
Here you can find reviews of DLS Revolution.
Click little thumbnails below and you can get all articles in PDF format.
This is by “Far” the best sounding car ever built and judges, competitors, press and those who all queued throughout the weekend to get a chance to listen to it all agreed they were blown away.”
As a summary I could tell you all old cliches, but the sound of DLS Revolution mini is something truly different. I´ve heard many good sounding cars around the europe, but this was breath taking experience for me.
DLS Revolution Mini is carefully designed and extremely well finished listening pleasure.
I can recommend it to those who really want to go beyond the traditional parameters of treble, bass, stage and image, and want to listen details and feelings, like said, far from the "Usual".
Sound reviews:
Revolutional listening experience>
First I need to start this listening review by telling a little background information. Just before EMMA Finland finals I asked some TEAM DLS support in sound tuning from Tommi. As suspected you can count on good friends. I had just installed a new set of Nordica's into my own car and without going into too much details there were a lot of obstacles in our way before great sound was achvieved..
In the morning Tommi said that there would be a surprise waiting for me and I didn't ask too much but my hopes were up that maybe I could finally see The Revolution Project with my own eyes. How wrong would I be..
After eating some food in the afternoon Tommi asked from Olli that if he had everything they would need for my surprise. I was handed a pair of blindfold's and told that I could not see the state of the project but instead I could hear what the sound is like for now. This was even better than seeing the installation because for me the sound is much more important than installation.
Okay, enough bs.. Now for the review..
I think that if there's someone who had BIG expextations about this project it's got to be me. I have been close friends with team revolution people for years and from all the information and talks about caraudio that we have shared I really hoped to get amazing experience.
My own car is at the moment in the top of Finnish cars in sound quality and it's not bad I might ad. So I was waiting for wide stage which is high up on the dashboard level. Also I remember thinking that hopefully they have finally managed to get a lot of air around instruments and singers. Maybe even some amount of really 3 dimensional sound image crossed my mind..
I remember that when the first notes came out and filled the soundstage my first comment in my head was: There is no way this is possible! After the first bass drum hit my second impression was: You have got to be kidding me!
The tonal balance in this car is something truly amazing. Everything that there is get's out without any colouring in the sound. Music is extremely dynamic and yet so sensitive when it's supposed to be.
The size of the stage is something out of my comprehension. Remember that I could not see the boundaries of the car and I suggest that everyone who get's the chance to listen this Revolutionary car would start by eyes closed.
I have absolutely no idea how this car is supposed to be judged by EMMA standards. How can you say what the score for height should be when the sound stage is maybe one meter high. Also how do you score a system where the singer is almost straight in front of you (just a touch to right). The singer is still bang on the middle of the stage but the stage is so wide that there is no way the boundaries are even near the sides of the car.
Position and Depth of the soundstage then? I have no clue where they are in points but maybe the singer was somewhere 2 meter's away and the 3 dimensional image you get is unheard of. There is so much space between different instrument's that you are finally getting the same experience inside a car that you get when listening extremely good home system.
In great cars the bass drum is powerfull, sharp and maybe you get the feeling that it's 20cm in diameter and on top of the dashboard in the soundstage. I can honestly say that in Revolution it's atleast 50cm and because of the size of the stage therefore somewhere under the dashboard. The sound is so powerfull and sharp and there is so much clarity in the lowest of notes that I have no idea what could be better, maybe only a handfull of home systems with Velodyne DD-18. ;-) Not possible you say? Just have a listen and be blown away.
Midbass is really nice. A lot of power and fast action also here. Maybe just a touch of roundness but certainly it was better than any car in finland currently. And I can say that we have some car's that are hopefully competing in the european top this year.
Where this car really shows it's Revolutional quality is the midrange. The voice of the male and female singers is so realistic that it 's unreal. Also the pinpoint accuracy of the stereo image and the enormous space between instruments is mostly thanks to midrange. Honestly I don't know how good the scandinavia 3 element is supposed to be but I think that even the really expensive home systems can't do this much..
Also the tweeter is simply put the best I have ever heard in the car. It is able to produce so much air and sensation of space that it's unbelievable. World class even by home speaker standards.
I honestly can say that the project name Revolution is more than accurate. I feel priviledged that I had the possibility to be the first person outside Team Revolution who was allowed to hear this. In the same time it was rather bad experience because I now know how far all other cars are from this soundwonder..
This project will set the standard for years to come and I'm positive that in 20 years time it will be one of the car's which are remembered as milestones in the car audio world.
Jarno Lötjönen, Master 7, EMMA judge Finland
