The Best Internet audio quality - Apple Car Play/Android Auto, or Bluetooth streaming from cell phone?

[PMCErnie]

Question: I can get decent enough BT streaming audio quality from Internet radio Apps like TuneIn radio. Is it worth the bother to listen instead via Apple Car Play/Android Auto? Same question with Apps like Pandora. Which has the best audio quality? BT streaming also has the advantage of a wireless connection AND my smartphone can charge wirelessly simultaneously. I also have an unlimited data plan for my cell phone.

 

[daviderle]

Hay PMCErnie, it has been a while...

The simple answer for most use cases, No.

Unless one is an audiophile who subscribes to high resolution service(s), such as Tidal, Spotify Hi-Fi, Deezer, HDTracks, etc or using FLAC or have some other high res media stored on the phone, one really can’t tell the difference.

It is all down to the technical specifications of Bluetooth as most other services stream using a compressed 96k-192kbps with variable rate and the Bluetooth has the ability to stream around 328 kbps at a 44.1kHz , which covers, 99%+ of all streaming needs.

There are some who may argue otherwise, but in reality most people can not tell the difference between 192k and 384k streams not mention, for every day usage I would propose that convenience and ease of use wins every single time. Just my two cents.

Happy streaming while wirelessly charging...

 

[Suburbazine]

It's worth noting that the car will process audio differently depending on the source. In the case of Bluetooth it will probably lose some midrange and emphasize low/high even though the Bluetooth spec itself says it shouldn't have to. The easiest way to test is to play from Bluetooth then play from the wire (not headphone jack). The issue stems from the way the system handles AD2P, since it's not aptX or aptX HD the devices will use SBC which is a very lossy compression method. Most of the time the effective bandwidth will fall under 150kbps.

 

[PMCErnie]

Thanks. Two good answers so far. I really don’t want to be bothered using Apple Car Play in my new ‘19 Santa Fe Ultimate 2.0T that has built in Nav. Still, maybe somebody else can offer some good reasons to use it.

I’m spending most of my time in the Santa Fe now and the wife really enjoys our ‘12 Genesis more as a driver because of the older and simpler tech. I’m breaking her into the new tech features gradually, but she likes what she is comfortable with, unlike most of us folks here who enjoy pushing the tech envelope. The Santa Fe is my “Genesis SUV that never came to market” and it has everything I want, although I’m waiting for LED door sill plates to become available.

 

[SuperKing]

The car seems to process the sources differently. The same 320kbps MP3 file sounds different when being played through BT and off a memory stick. For some reason, it "sounds" better through BT. Sounds quite a bit louder. If your car has a DVD drive, treat your ears with DVD-A.