Bluetooth v wired aa sound quality

[wechsler22]

I use a wired connection for Android Auto but still find the sound quality to be better when using Bluetooth. Seems to have more depth and spatial fullness. I know with certain head units as will provide a better reproduction. Why am I hearing better quality over Bluetooth? I'm not using a higher version of bt, I think my pixel 4a is only capable of 1.5. I stream 24 bit music.

If I'm not crazy they bt sounds better is there any way to use aa for things like map, texts etc but then bt for audio through the head unit media feed? 23 sport prestige

 

[EdP]

I use a wired connection for Android Auto but still find the sound quality to be better when using Bluetooth. Seems to have more depth and spatial fullness. I know with certain head units as will provide a better reproduction. Why am I hearing better quality over Bluetooth? I'm not using a higher version of bt, I think my pixel 4a is only capable of 1.5. I stream 24 bit music.

If I'm not crazy they bt sounds better is there any way to use aa for things like map, texts etc but then bt for audio through the head unit media feed? 23 sport prestige

There have been many posts here about wired AA and CP not working well with cable. Then it works with a better cable. They all look alike but evidently, some cables have signal transmission loss.

 

[wechsler22]

There have been many posts here about wired AA and CP not working well with cable. Then it works with a better cable. They all look alike but evidently, some cables have signal transmission loss.

Thanks-I'm using a pretty high quality cable as I overspend on anything related to home audio and unfortunately have carried that over to mobile as well.

 

[redbird01]

I also find Bluetooth to have more "spatial fullness" as you described. The audio system is only acceptable. I set the balance towards rear and right to help with the surround sound.

 

[joegr]

Please note that wireless CarPlay and Android Auto do not use Bluetooth for sound. They use WiFi. The bluetooth is used only for the initial connection handshake. Don't believe it? Disable bluetooth on your phone after wireless CarPlay starts.

 

[wechsler22]

Please note that wireless CarPlay and Android Auto do not use Bluetooth for sound. They use WiFi. The bluetooth is used only for the initial connection handshake. Don't believe it? Disable bluetooth on your phone after wireless CarPlay starts.

Right but if you don't use aa you can use Bluetooth to stream to the headunit directly

 

[Volfy]

With both wired and wireless AA, the sound quality has mostly to do with your source material. This is true for both playing from local storage media or streaming from online. This is why I don't like Spotify. Despite promises and rumors, they've yet to offer true lossless Hi-Res audio. Amazon Music Unlimited, Apply Music and Tidal are much better in this regard.

What format and codec your phone supports also can make a difference, albeit to a lesser extent, unless you're rocking a really old handset.

I use a wired connection for Android Auto but still find the sound quality to be better when using Bluetooth. Seems to have more depth and spatial fullness. I know with certain head units as will provide a better reproduction. Why am I hearing better quality over Bluetooth? I'm not using a higher version of bt, I think my pixel 4a is only capable of 1.5. I stream 24 bit music.

If I'm not crazy they bt sounds better is there any way to use aa for things like map, texts etc but then bt for audio through the head unit media feed? 23 sport prestige

I think the difference you're hearing might not be between wired or wireless, but between using the native Genesis UI and bypassing all that and letting AA do the codec and bit transfer. Most car mfrs' infotainment system have rather antiquated software. You won't find the latest codecs running on the latest processors, capable of the highest audiophile-grade bitrate transfers.

These days, as soon as I turn on the car, I'm running AA off my phone.

 

[wechsler22]

With both wired and wireless AA, the sound quality has mostly to do with your source material. This is true for both playing from local storage media or streaming from online. This is why I don't like Spotify. Despite promises and rumors, they've yet to offer true lossless Hi-Res audio. Amazon Music Unlimited, Apply Music and Tidal are much better in this regard.

What format and codec your phone supports also can make a difference, albeit to a lesser extent, unless you're rocking a really old handset.

I think the difference you're hearing might not be between wired or wireless, but between using the native Genesis UI and bypassing all that and letting AA do the codec and bit transfer. Most car mfrs' infotainment system have rather antiquated software. You won't find the latest codecs running on the latest processors, capable of the highest audiophile-grade bitrate transfers.

These days, as soon as I turn on the car, I'm running AA off my phone.

I'm using 24bit 192 flac files (sometimes even rsr files) for everything. I can hear a difference using lower quality flac files over both aa and straight Bluetooth streaming (aa being off) and yet I still find straight Bluetooth to have more soundstage and depth compared to aa (either wired or wireless). I'm sure it's the compression algorithms that aa uses, I'm just surprised as typically Bluetooth is a lower codec.

 

[Volfy]

Unless you're in Europe or other regions where Genesis has enabled wireless AA directly, you are using a wireless AA converter that plugs into the USB, correct?

If so, then at the AA dongle, wireless is getting converted to wired connection anyway, so not sure why it would be different than a straight to phone USB cable connection.

Unless... With direct USB cable connection, AA on your phone is using a different codec that downcoverts your FLAC file. Dunno.

I've auditioned both AA wired and wireless in all 3 of our Stingers and G70 and did not hear enough of a SQ difference in the same car.

 

[wechsler22]

Unless you're in Europe or other regions where Genesis has enabled wireless AA directly, you are using a wireless AA converter that plugs into the USB, correct?

If so, then at the AA dongle, wireless is getting converted to wired connection anyway, so not sure why it would be different than a straight to phone USB cable connection.

Unless... With direct USB cable connection, AA on your phone is using a different codec that downcoverts your FLAC file. Dunno.

I've auditioned both AA wired and wireless in all 3 of our Stingers and G70 and did not hear enough of a SQ difference in the same car.

Have you tried using straight Bluetooth instead of aa? That's what I find has the best sound quality. Beats wired aa and wireless aa using a dongle.

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[Volfy]

Have you tried using straight Bluetooth instead of aa? That's what I find has the best sound quality. Beats wired aa and wireless aa using a dongle.

You mean using the car's built-in UI and phone connection to stream audio? Yes, but have not done so in a long while. I did when we first got the car. Can't say I found it markedly better. Actually, I'm not sure I heard much of a difference at all, given the same source material, vs via AA. And when I tried any of the built-in DSP sound modes... blehhh. But, SQ can be subjective. No doubt some folks love the DSP modes. Not my place to say who's right and who's wrong.

G70's Lexicon system is definitely no match for the Lexicon in my old 2009 Genesis sedan, which had noticeably better sound stage and stereo image. No surprising, since those qualities are determined primarily by front driver placement. The G70's front tweeters and midrange are down in the door card, which creates a larger difference in path length difference between L and R channels. Plus those tweeter locations are more difficult to aim properly towards the front driver/passenger in a cross-firing position.

Understand that it is a smaller compact sedan, but I get the sense that it is more an issue of prioritizing interior styling over SQ. I'm pretty sure they could've spotted the front drivers better for SQ, if they really wanted to.

But, it's good enough for a near luxury vehicle, for what I paid for it.

 

[wechsler22]

You mean using the car's built-in UI and phone connection to stream audio? Yes, but have not done so in a long while. I did when we first got the car. Can't say I found it markedly better. Actually, I'm not sure I heard much of a difference at all, given the same source material, vs via AA. And when I tried any of the built-in DSP sound modes... blehhh. But, SQ can be subjective. No doubt some folks love the DSP modes. Not my place to say who's right and who's wrong.

G70's Lexicon system is definitely no match for the Lexicon in my old 2009 Genesis sedan, which had noticeably better sound stage and stereo image. No surprising, since those qualities are determined primarily by front driver placement. The G70's front tweeters and midrange are down in the door card, which creates a larger difference in path length difference between L and R channels. Plus those tweeter locations are more difficult to aim properly towards the front driver/passenger in a cross-firing position.

Understand that it is a smaller compact sedan, but I get the sense that it is more an issue of prioritizing interior styling over SQ. I'm pretty sure they could've spotted the front drivers better for SQ, if they really wanted to.

But, it's good enough for a near luxury vehicle, for what I paid for it.

The designers definitely could have put the tweeters in the dash firing up like a lot of high quality systems. Although interestingly Martin Logan systems in Lexus also have them in the door and their soundstage is markedly better. I don't have an issue with the sound system as I find it quite clean with high res files which is the only thing I'll listen to. I do find the DSP adds a bit of needed depth but I center the position a couple of notches back from center which I find balances it out a bit. Don't even get me started on the eq....

 

[Volfy]

The designers definitely could have put the tweeters in the dash firing up like a lot of high quality systems.

Actually, the best front dash tweeters generally are NOT up-firing reflecting off the windshield. That does not produce the most accurate front soundstage and stereo imaging, as the curvature of the windshield makes it difficult to control dispersion precisely. Moreover, the acoustic laminated glass used in high-end luxury cars are meant to suppress noise, so they are liable to mess up sonic reflectance purity.

Take a look at how B&O does G90's front drivers. The Dash drivers are actually a pair of pop-up acoustic lenses that are aimed in a cross-firing pattern - at the far side front occupant - which is the optimum way of using off-axis rollover of the drivers to balance frequency response between the front occupants and to broaden the "sweet spot" for the front soundstage. The entire front dash was styled to optimize for a flat low-rise "hood" over the instrumentation panels, so the very directional high-frequency sound waves have a clear direct path to the occupant's ears. I've had to pleasure of auditioning in a G90 driver's seat, and the B&O system SQ was sublime.

This sort of effort was very deliberate and not something that can be expended on a compact performance sedan with a rather cramped interior and built to a price point. We get what we get with the G70. All thing considered, Genesis did a pretty admirable job with the G70 sound system, but the front soundstage was clearly a design compromise.