For those of you with the 3 and the premium interior for the upgraded sound system. Is Iphone Bluetooth or usb better overall? Any suggestions on usb type if that’s the best method?
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Best Audio Quality and Experience
- Thread starter Pandamoanium
- Start date
Brenzo
Member
I thought Bluetooth was only option for playing from an iPhone?
Unless you are referring to / comparing to playing downloaded music on a USB drive, which I believe is an option too...
Unless you are referring to / comparing to playing downloaded music on a USB drive, which I believe is an option too...
sduck
Mr. Duck
He/she wasn't asking about playing from a phone exclusively.
Playing flacs or similar from a USB flash drive is probably the best sound you've going to get currently. However, the USB audio system is ridiculously borked currently - many bugs and stuff that doesn't work right, so much that I gave up on it and just stream from my phone via bluetooth.
I use Neutron, an app on my iphone to stream to bluetooth - it's a full featured high end audio player app that works well and sounds great.
Playing flacs or similar from a USB flash drive is probably the best sound you've going to get currently. However, the USB audio system is ridiculously borked currently - many bugs and stuff that doesn't work right, so much that I gave up on it and just stream from my phone via bluetooth.
I use Neutron, an app on my iphone to stream to bluetooth - it's a full featured high end audio player app that works well and sounds great.
flashflooder
Member
USB is going to sound better than BT, especially if you encode files in FLAC format.
However, as has already been stated, the player is currently a joke. Interface needs a LOT of work to be usable, and I personally can't get FLAC files to playback reliably despite trying many things.
Hopefully V9 software resolves these issues and gives the USB player a massive overhaul, because the USB with FLAC playback was one of the things I was most looking forward to with this car.
However, as has already been stated, the player is currently a joke. Interface needs a LOT of work to be usable, and I personally can't get FLAC files to playback reliably despite trying many things.
Hopefully V9 software resolves these issues and gives the USB player a massive overhaul, because the USB with FLAC playback was one of the things I was most looking forward to with this car.
Eno Deb
Active Member
Apple Music should sound very good over Bluetooth, since it streams in AAC format which can be directly transmitted over Bluetooth without transcoding (since both iPhones and the Tesla support AAC over BT). For the best experience make sure to enable high quality streaming (Settings/Music/Cellular Data) unless you have a limited data plan.
As others have mentioned the USB audio player on the Model 3 kind of sucks currently. Among other issues, it cannot play AAC files purchased via iTunes in my experience.
flashflooder
Member
woodisgood
Optimustic Pessimist
Great tip, completely forgot about that and just now saw I didn't have high quality streaming enabled.
In earlier threads it was claimed that the firmware didn't support the higher bit rate - has this been fixed? And does it support playlists, etc, with the $100 plan?
Knightshade
Well-Known Member
Your best choice is to get a standalone music player with its own speakers and plug it into the 12V outlet.
I am not kidding. That's how bad the music player system on Teslas is. It's clearly not a priority for them since they have not fixed any bugs in the S/X system in 5 years, and have introduced several new bugs. If you care about music quality, just treat it as a car which doesn't come with a radio.
I am not kidding. That's how bad the music player system on Teslas is. It's clearly not a priority for them since they have not fixed any bugs in the S/X system in 5 years, and have introduced several new bugs. If you care about music quality, just treat it as a car which doesn't come with a radio.
I got my Model 3 LR AWD on 6/30/2018. I had pre-loaded a USB stick (Kingston Digital 64GB DataTraveler Elite G2 Black Metal Casing Fast 180MB/s R, 70MB/W USB 3.1 Flash Drive - $30 on Amazon) with uncompressed files (AIFF). The Kingston was already FAT 32 format, so did not have to convert it. I loaded the stick using JRiver media player - made it very easy to do, and very fast to load with the USB 3.1. When I plugged it into the front left port in the M3, the stick was processed/loaded almost immediately, I mean it was like "boom - done". The interface showed almost all the album cover art and was easy to navigate. The sound is great. I disagree with the above poster that said it was lousy. Using uncompressed files via USB does sound really good. FYI, I am a bit of an audiophile, own high end audio equipment, 3000 LPs, 2000 CDs, etc. My desktop computer audio system is very high end also. In the few days that I have been driving it, haven't listened to Slacker at all and no bluetooth either. Oh, when I get back into the car, the system does not remember what it last was playing. But on the other hand, when I go back into the USB, it goes directly into the files with no re-loading or delay.
Knightshade
Well-Known Member
I would agree with you. I loaded a bunch of FLACs (some 90 GBs) onto a drive and popped it in. It indexed it in some 20 seconds and it worked fine from there. It's a simple interface and it works fine for my needs (I tend to pick an album and just play it or otherwise listen to a streaming "station"). The drive I used was USB 3.1, 256 GB and it was fast enough (I hear the ports are USB 2, so perhaps it would have worked just as well with a cheaper drive).
I give you this, the stereos on the S and X are *sugar* but I disagree on the one in the Model 3. I'm quite the sound quality nazi and for me the 3's stereo is fine. It's reasonably capable in the bass and treble and a bit muddled in the mids, but it's definitely quite decent for a car stereo. While it has different pros and cons, I'd say it's on par with the Bose in my one Audi and close to the Bang & Olufsen in my other one (a touch less crisp).
If we want to split hairs, sure, my McIntosh/Proac home system does indeed sound a bit better, but it would be difficult to place inside the car. That and the 12V outlet may struggle with powering it just a bit.
I really like the ability to play from USB. I just wish there was the ability to randomize playback. There are several other play features I'd appreciate, but the randomize is one I'd like to start with. I realize they can be added later. Would have thought that one would be an easy one.
Similar threads
