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Sound-Music quality

19K views 44 replies 19 participants last post by  SnowItch 
#1 ·
Hi all, I've noticed a big/distinct sound quality difference (not sure if it was intended or not) but sound/music actually sounds better when on HD radio// or XM as compared to bluetooth streaming or external audio in-put from my phone - i have all the phones music enhancements turned off - also most of my music files are loseless - flac

i've noticed that music coming from the radios - the bass are much more tighter - sharper vocals as compared to either way of getting my music from my phone to the car - which is boomy bass and less sharper vocals. one of the first enhancements ive noticed with this car was the audio quality of the "bose" system as compared to the g37s - but it seems as if once on either source the bose system has lost its touch or something..i'm gonna try "usb" later on today and see if it makes anymore differences.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Every source sounds like garbage except making a MP3 CD with 320kbps quality music or having it from a USB. Anything else and it compresses the audio and will sound not as it is intended.

I had a mp3 DVD for my G37 and that's what I used to show my sound system to friends. Now since the Q doesn't read DVD, I use mp3 CD and the audio quality is fantastic. My brother said it sounds like a nightclub when 80% cranked up.
 
#6 ·
I have no complaints with the system. The sound is not degraded when I use my iPod to input the music. I recently had a friend sit in the car while I demonstrated the system, and she said it felt like she was sitting in the orchestra. Bass was rich and treble was "sweet," with no distortion, even though I had the sound up higher than normal. I wish my father were still here - he loved good music.
 
#7 ·
I think that it completely depends on the quality of the original source. For example, I use the bluetooth all the time. I have a music subscription to "MOG" and the quality is fantastic. It is CD quality. If I take a very low quality song on my Iphone and play it via bluetooth, it sounds like crap. If I take a song I bought from Itunes with the highest quality or MOG, it sounds amazing through bluetooth.

As far as HD radio, it sounds good for the most part. XM totally depends on the channel. Do you notice how clear and crisp Howard Stern is and how "muddy" other stations sound.

What I notice about this vs. my G37 is that with my G37, everything sounded pretty good. Nothing blew me away, and nothing really sounded terrible. With my Q50, some songs are breathtaking and others sound very mediocre.
 
#26 ·
Amen Howard Stern. Have always thought that XM sounded like garbage, satellite radio in general. But Howard Stern sounds crystal-clear. I'm almost positive they can control the amount of bandwidth station receives.

Also I had a Q 50 loaner, synced my iPhone to it to play Bluetooth audio. All my songs are purchased through iTunes, so they're not some aftermarket shaddy quality. Bluetooth was just fine as good, if not better than my current G 37.
 
#8 ·
I was at the car wash the other day when the guy next to me (drove an audi), asked me what I had done to the sound system because it sounds great. I told him it was the factory set up and he found it hard to believe. He really loved my car btw, specifically the color.
 
#10 ·
I don't know for sure on this but I'm thinking that Bose is using the same A2DP spec in this implementation of BT Audio as they have in their SoundLink product(s). That spec would provide a transport channel capable of 320 kbps total, which would be roughly equal to a 128 bit encoded MP3 file, yes lower end. It's true that the source file would have a direct impact on the quality you hear but the BT audio itself will take even the highest quality file and make it sound run of the mill. Audio is VERY important to me so I have played with the system a lot recently. The very best sound is going to be achieved using high bit rate files (or lossless FLAC) and inputting them into the system in a way that no additional loss is added, that would be via CD or USB. All other input sources will be lower quality. XM is highly compressed and will always sound very mid-range heavy with no sparkle in the highs and muddy bass. Standard FM broadcasts will vary from station to station but for the most part they all stink, HD radio is a noticable upgrade from standard FM but don't expect perfection there either. If you seek audiophile level playback you need to either use good old fashion CD's, and high quality ones at that OR some type of lossless compressed files like FLAC or better yet un-compressed files (like WAV)played on an external player connected via the USB port or the external audio jack.
 
#12 ·
i've noticed alot of ppl doens't read the entirety of the post - my music files/source are 95% FLAC - so the source factor is out of my way in my case. im glad to see that this is the behavior in general of this system - it auto compresses the signals unless its cd/usb - but whats interesting tho - i've tried with AUX input and its the same compressed sloppy signal.(I was planning on further testing by using my portable Fiio e11 amp [phone->amp>car aux input] - but looks like this wouldnt be needed) will be using usb from hereon and revert back on the new findings.
 
#13 ·
I don't know for sure on this but I'm thinking that Bose is using the same A2DP spec in this implementation of BT Audio as they have in their SoundLink product(s). That spec would provide a transport channel capable of 320 kbps total, which would be roughly equal to a 128 bit encoded MP3 file, yes lower end. It's true that the source file would have a direct impact on the quality you hear but the BT audio itself will take even the highest quality file and make it sound run of the mill. Audio is VERY important to me so I have played with the system a lot recently.

This is such a good example of what I was talking about: People not speaking English in this forum.:rolleyes:;):D

O.K., seriously: That kind of statement reminds me of the old adage, "I don't understand art; I just know what I like." I don't understand the technical jargon(I know all of you are shocked by that, just SHOCKED!). People here, as well as at my dealership, advised me to download to iTunes, and thus to the iPod, using the lossless mode. I guess that because I did, I don't have a problem with the sound. They all sound as good as what I get from my home stereo(a very good Pioneer set-up), and in some cases, even better.

An aside: elito, is your apostrophe key missing from keyboard?
 
#14 ·
selzini - I take no offense to your comment at all, in fact it made me chuckle. I was just attempting to add some reasoning behind what the other posters in this thread were saying. Technical jargon may not be on your daily reading list but maybe just maybe someone will understand it and as a result better understand how to get the most out of this really great audio system we all have.
 
#16 ·
If it can't (and I bet it can't) then your best bet would be to play them via the AUX jack and use the controls on your external player rather than the on screen In Touch system controls.
 
#17 ·
Rich, I wasn't criticizing you at all. As I think you could tell, I use self-deprecating humor a lot, and what I said was a shot at my lack of technology knowledge.

elito: I try not to be a grammar Nazi, but it would be a lot easier to read posts if punctuation marks were used. I've already made known my opinion of others' lack of language knowledge.
 
#19 ·
The original OG

Hey, now just wait a minute! I haven't ordered you off my lawn, have I? (I had to look up "OG" on the Internet, and I'm assuming a certain definition).;) I really don't think it's asking too much for people to use punctuation marks. As I understand protocol, just about all comments are allowed in social media.:p
 
#20 · (Edited)
I really don't think it's asking too much for people to use punctuation marks.
No, it is not; However, the use of punctuation is, mostly, to help the person reading the post. In today's self-consumed society, everybody's time is more important than yours (or mine), so simple courtesies are ignored.

Yes, it is sad, but it is what it is...
 
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#23 ·
DVD Audio playback
Huh? I'll admit I'm confused. Do you mean that there were DVDs sold with surround sound music on them ("nobody bought this format").

Does the M35 actually have a center speaker (5.1)?
 
#24 ·
Yes, DVDs had Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS surround sound playback. If you have 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound at home, I suggest you buy a DVD Audio online and check out the sound. Unfortunately, it never caught on because people preferred mp3s. The M35 had a center channel speaker with a total of 14 speakers not to mention two speakers by the headrest. The sound was amazing with the playback of the DVD audio but was lacking in the bass dept.
 
#27 ·
sure enough, the system still doesn't read FLAC files - looks like I'll have to convert all my FLAC to ALAC (apple loseless) and use the ipod instead..sigh* but like all have stated - music from USB directly sounds the way it supposed to sound like - "Bose"
 
#28 ·
I don't usually comment out in here ( too lazy :mad: ).

Anyway, On the topic of music and grammar; I don't quite agree with quality degradation over Bluetooth.

Please do note that there are two things involved while streaming audio to your A2DP car, The car receiver being the first and secondly, your source ( THE PHONE ).

The USB streaming starts by compression on the source side before sending it over to your car (receiver). So it also depends on the audio codec the phone employs to do the compression in the first place. Some codecs end up loosing more information than needed.

I say this because I have tried using my gfs phone(Galaxy Nexus S) in the car and it did sound like crap. However, my (Note 2) sounds amazing!!!

As for Losless FLACS and OGG. I have a surround sound setup consisting only of floor standing speakers at my home. And I have come to realize that FLAC, OGG all of that is BS. Sure it does make it sound better but any MP3 above 26+ kbps limits the loss to below 5%. Sure, one can be an anal audiophile and complain about the 4th note on the 5th para sounding a bit mushy but hey, I try not to listen to my music with a dog's ear :eek:.

The bottom line is stuff sounds more amazing in car than it ever did on my expensive speakers. Sure it sounds a bit fake and way over digitized with all the Bose crap but I like it like it!!


P.S: Try with a new phone or a phone with a better A2DP interface!
 
#38 ·
You have to understand that I am trying to help you out here. Beforestarting to abuse the system and people, do some reasearch and ask politly.

[Q] Poor streaming Bluetooth audio sound quality? - xda-developers is one of the place where people keep complaining about bad quality over Bluetooth on android. In fact only a very few phones ( like the latest Galaxy ones ) have somehow made it better. A lot of android phones seem to have the issue just like my girlfriends phone did.
 
#39 ·
It's a Bose system...

Anyone who has done any sort of research knows that Bose plays games with their systems - psycho acoustic games. So, no, this system will never put out an audiophile grade sound. It will put out a sound that is acceptable to a vast majority of ears but, it will be a tweaked and messed with sound.

That's just the way Bose does it. I'm always amazed at the number of car companies that buy into Bose methods.

I'll give Acura credit for partnering with Panasonic and Elliot Scheiner for their system. At least you get an audio system that's tuned to a recording engineers ear. And it does sound a whole lot better than Bose.
 
#40 ·
I'm always amazed at the number of car companies that buy into Bose methods.
I'm not. Agree with you about Bose gimmicks, but you gave the reason yourself

It will put out a sound that is acceptable to a vast majority of ears
Bose provides a cheap audio experience that is "acceptable". Non-audiophiles still drool over the "Bose" label. Undeserved, but it is what it is.

Car companies also knows that a true audiophile is never really going to be happy and is going to spend $s on aftermarket to get the sound they want.
 
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#42 ·
Which is why I use a Cowon MP3 player that does an excellent job of equalizing the sound and providing a better experience.
 
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