Model X Audio

[Enz295]

I have a technical question regarding the Audio input for the model X.
As everybody knows, the inputs are either the USB stick or Bluetooth.
USB is the best for sound quality. But Bluetooth is the most convenient.
Does anybody have a solution for an AUX input, where the phone could be plugged into the system direct. This would allow the best sound quality to be fed into the amp directly?
Thx

 

[GOPJEW]

Just plug in through the USB...

 

[COrich]

Nope, the USB connection will not use the phone audio directly. The USB connection needs to "see" a disc drive for the audio to work, and you need to have the files in the correct format. The phone audio uses bluetooth no matter what.

 

[ewoodrick]

where the phone could be plugged into the system direct. This would allow the best sound quality to be fed into the amp directly?
Thx

While this may have made sense in the old days, I don't think that an analog connection is going to provide the highest quality sound. I dare say that an analog audio connection is connected directly to an A/D where it is digitized and treated like all other music for routing.

 

[bob_p]

Tesla has promised improvements in the media player since they distributed the 8.0 release in the fall of 2016 - and we're still waiting for those improvements.

USB works reasonably well for playing songs. But... the media player often forgets the currently playing song (when you change media sources or sometimes after the car resumes from sleep mode), which forces you to manually select a song to start playing. And because of this, you can't use USB for listening to audiobooks.

BT works better - but it requires running an app on your mobile device. This means you usually have to interact with the app on your mobile device's display and not using the Tesla media player controls on the console touchscreen or the steering wheel.

USB will only access files on a storage device (not a smartphone or tablet) and cannot access the audio output from your apps.

BT will only route the audio from apps, and you can't access the files on your mobile device.

There have been many requests for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Several years ago, Musk indicated Tesla was planning to implement a different type of screen mirroring, with comparable features - and we haven't seen that yet (or heard anything from Musk/Tesla for quite some time).

Though even with it's flaws, the media player (once you figure out the limitations) works reasonably well.

 

[Enz295]

Yes Bob. And that is too bad.
I've upgraded my audio with a REUS system, and was planning to go TIDAL with ultra/lossless quality. But there is just no need to go above a 320kps quality, since this thing is streaming over Bluetooth...
Tesla should really implement some sort of direct connect for phones streaming high quality content!

 

[GOPJEW]

Nope, the USB connection will not use the phone audio directly. The USB connection needs to "see" a disc drive for the audio to work, and you need to have the files in the correct format. The phone audio uses bluetooth no matter what.

Ummm...not accurate. My kids plug their phones in all of the time and the system plays their music...much to my chagrin.

 

[ahkim]

I've been doing a lot of reading as I plan my audio system upgrade and there might be an way to get true lossless audio to the system. If you add a DSP like the Audison BitOne, you can add an digital AUX input. I thought about doing this but since I use Pandora and Apple Music, I don't think there will be a big benefit over BT.

 

[Enz295]

I've been doing a lot of reading as I plan my audio system upgrade and there might be an way to get true lossless audio to the system. If you add a DSP like the Audison BitOne, you can add an digital AUX input. I thought about doing this but since I use Pandora and Apple Music, I don't think there will be a big benefit over BT.

As a matter of fact, I just had the REUS level 2 audio upgrade done on my X. It's a improvement overall, especially in the mids and highs.
But I have been switching back and forth between lossless FLAC songs on a USB stick directly plugged into the car USB port, and my Spotify 320 kpbs extreme; And to be honest, even with the upgraded sound system, I don't think you can tell the difference between a direct FLAC source and bluethooth 320 kbps one, especially with the car in movement...

 

[doctoxics]

Very disappointed in the audio system playing from a flash drive. My $1,000 stereo system (Denon receiver/Polk speakers) in my office is far superior in terms of sound quality compared to playing the same music from the same flash drive in the Model X. As pitch and volume increase, music becomes noise. Otherwise, no other issues so far with the Model X. Love my Model X. Open to any ideas here as to how to improve music quality.

 

[bFlat]

You can always get one of these:

SoundWear Companion Wearable Speaker | Bose

 

[doctoxics]

Looking into upgrading DAC (digital-audio converter) in my Model X to improve sound quality. Any knowledge of the DAC manufacturer for the Model X, location in the car, resolution, sampling frequency, etc. would be appreciated.