Slacker radio credentials

[Knightshade]

I'd just add here that it's all relative to what you're comparing it to. The Slacker tier that Tesla provides is obviously not as good as a paid Spotify subscription or Apple Music where you can pick any song or album and play it. But compared to FM radio it's fantastic: much better audio quality, no idiotic radio ads (or interruptions of any kind), ability to skip and pause/resume songs. If you think of it as a lesser Spotify, Slacker isn't as good. If you think of it as a better FM radio, Slacker is excellent. As for TuneIn, I've never used it in my two+ years of Tesla ownership.

slacker is 64 kb/sec bitrate on the model 3 (confirmed in previous threads by slacker themselves there's no way to change this on a 3)

That's actually lower quality than old-school broadcast FM (or even HD1 on HD FM stations)

What bitrate is needed to sound like analog FM? « Engineering Radio

 

[BioSehnsucht]

From listening to the audio, I have a hard time believing it's really 64kb/s, no matter what codec might be in use.

 

[Snow Drift]

From listening to the audio, I have a hard time believing it's really 64kb/s, no matter what codec might be in use.

Meaning, you think it’s worse or better than 64kbs?

 

[kutkuzak]

Meaning, you think it’s worse or better than 64kbs?

WAY better - the sound in the model 3 is really good.

 

[Knightshade]

WAY better - the sound in the model 3 is really good.

Now put some FLAC files on a USB key and listen to em- they should sound tremendously better than what Slacker is streaming to you at 64kb

(or I guess possibly not... there's folks who claim they can't hear any difference between any level of audio encoding in general I suppose...)


See among many other discussions of it this thread-

Slacker plays at 64kbps and that's it!

All music with Slacker on Tesla plays at 64kbps, regardless of subscription level.

If your Tesla includes the high quality audio package, this quality can be increased to 128kbps by enabling the option in your car. (If your car doesn't contain this option, then you cannot adjust the audio quality.)

The S at least had the switch to turn on 128kbps for a while (but I think no longer does)- the 3 never had that switch enabled so it's 64kbps period on a 3.


So basically your choices are low-bitrate slacker, medium-quality bluetooth from your phone, or high quality files from a USB stick with a horrifically bad interface.

I'd like to think v9 of the software will make the infotainment options less garbage than they are now, but that might just be the eternal optimist in me.

 

[BioSehnsucht]

Meaning, you think it’s worse or better than 64kbs?

I have a hard time believing even AAC at 64kbps could provide this quality, and I don't know what slacker would use outside of MP3 or AAC.

Now, perhaps, if you log into slacker, something gets messed up and you get worse audio, but without being logged in, it sounds great.

Now, it might be only a very good 128kbps MP3 or maybe even 96~112kbps AAC (as perceptual encoding has come a long way since the 90's), but regardless, it's very good. Not *perfect*, but I have no complaints as far as audio quality.

I've got a fistfull of other complaints though : can't edit stations to un-dislike a song (and for un-like you must wait for it to come back around), or really do anything but mark as favorite or unmark as favorite. No option to enable the "DJ" inserts between songs (I actually like them on some stations), or news segments (I don't really care for these as much but others might and I'd like a full feature set for all), etc. When I did log into my slacker account, nothing showed up. Apparently we need to do some janky work arounds using the Android app to save our stations in a special way so they appear on the Tesla as a favorite. For now I've just remained logged out. And that's just slacker complaints, I haven't tried using USB audio because of how bad the UX is according to others, and various USB bugs etc - but I'd like for that to work well so I can use it without pulling my hair out. Besides, I do have some musical tastes that aren't served by Slacker...

 

[lairdb]

Now put some FLAC files on a USB key and listen to em- they should sound tremendously better than what Slacker is streaming to you at 64kb

(or I guess possibly not... there's folks who claim they can't hear any difference between any level of audio encoding in general I suppose...)
[...]

If you haven't tried it, this is an interesting exercise:
How Well Can You Hear Audio Quality?

(...and if you're really nerdy, this is also interesting: QUIZ: Do you have the ears of an audio producer?. FWIW, I was pretty close to random chance on the first (althoguh I wasn't using a great setup) and scored 100% on the second.)

 

[plasmo]

Does anyone know if you can use another Tesla Slacker account login/password simultaneously on the Model 3?
I might try using my Model X account info, but wanted to ask first just incase I get locked out or something.

 

[kutkuzak]

Nope one stream at a time.

 

[Knightshade]

I tried it the last time someone brought it up in one of these exact threads.

As I recall I got 4 exactly right, the other 2 I picked the 320kb one over uncompressed.

I was always able to tell, easily, which the worst was though (the 128kb one).

To be fair I was listening on, well, I'm not gonna say high end speakers lest someone come in with their $20,000 a pair ones to laugh, but certainly better than average ones

 

[psykobunny83]

There's a very distinct difference between the free Tesla Slacker and my Premium one when I log in. For me it's like FM radio vs high quality streaming. I literally sat in the car for 30 minutes trying different songs just to see how amazing they would sound as they sound. I find it hard to believe this is only 64kbps as this sounds far better than CD or any other audio device that I own, like Sonos or my $500 Bose headphones.

Serious side question though but why is it always "Frank" that replies to every single support request to Slacker? I've seen several people here post emails from Slacker support on diff threads and it's ALWAYS this Frank guy.

 

[Knightshade]

There's a very distinct difference between the free Tesla Slacker and my Premium one when I log in. For me it's like FM radio vs high quality streaming. I literally sat in the car for 30 minutes trying different songs just to see how amazing they would sound as they sound. I find it hard to believe this is only 64kbps as this sounds far better than CD or any other audio device that I own, like Sonos or my $500 Bose headphones.

Serious side question though but why is it always "Frank" that replies to every single support request to Slacker? I've seen several people here post emails from Slacker support on diff threads and it's ALWAYS this Frank guy.

I mean you're welcome to find it hard to believe- but unless you think Slacker is widely and repeatedly lying about their own product then both the Tesla account and the "premium" one provide literally the same quality of stream.

Such a lie makes even less sense when you consider telling it costs them money because it removes a reason to pay them money for upgrading the service.


Also if you're citing Sonos and Bose and things that sound good to you that might be part of the problem here

Sonos is an excellent product for someone who doesn't want to understand how to actually set up a sound system, or figure out "How do I get sound from this device to that place over there..." but it's pretty mediocre sound quality, especially for the price. You're paying for easy, not awesome with Sonos.

Bose is often overpriced for quality too- see the famous "no highs? no lows? must be bose!" refrain...though that applies more to their home audio than their headphones where they're pretty competitive among the mid-priced noise cancelling stuff.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Has anyone signed into their Slacker account (Plus or Premium) on the Model 3 UI and heard or seen any difference vs the Tesla account?

I just signed up for Premium, but I don't have the car yet to test.

I have. The only difference is that I can skip and go forward and backward without interruptions now. What's strange is that Tesla Slacker and my Android Slacker are using the same account, however favorites and such aren't carrying over.

 

[NathanielHrnblwr]

Anyone know the proper place to send Tesla feedback regarding this? Maybe if we send enough requests for the ability to tether a phone or even pay for higher bit rate streaming, they’d accommodate.

 

[kutkuzak]

Anyone know the proper place to send Tesla feedback regarding this? Maybe if we send enough requests for the ability to tether a phone or even pay for higher bit rate streaming, they’d accommodate.

You can already - just stream your music through your bluetooth connection. It will even show album art and let you skip tracks.

 

[NathanielHrnblwr]

You can already - just stream your music through your bluetooth connection. It will even show album art and let you skip tracks.

Bluetooth streaming quality is less than that of tethering. The phone gets plugged in to charge anyway, might as well use that connection for media.

 

[Knightshade]

Anyone know the proper place to send Tesla feedback regarding this? Maybe if we send enough requests for the ability to tether a phone or even pay for higher bit rate streaming, they’d accommodate.

S and X owners have been asking for this (and a myriad of other media related improvements) for many years now- to apparently deaf ears.

 

[psykobunny83]

I mean you're welcome to find it hard to believe- but unless you think Slacker is widely and repeatedly lying about their own product then both the Tesla account and the "premium" one provide literally the same quality of stream.

Such a lie makes even less sense when you consider telling it costs them money because it removes a reason to pay them money for upgrading the service.


Also if you're citing Sonos and Bose and things that sound good to you that might be part of the problem here

Sonos is an excellent product for someone who doesn't want to understand how to actually set up a sound system, or figure out "How do I get sound from this device to that place over there..." but it's pretty mediocre sound quality, especially for the price. You're paying for easy, not awesome with Sonos.

Bose is often overpriced for quality too- see the famous "no highs? no lows? must be bose!" refrain...though that applies more to their home audio than their headphones where they're pretty competitive among the mid-priced noise cancelling stuff.

I knew I'd get a comment like that about Sonos. Say what you want about it, I think it sounds amazing as do most people that come over and visit. I use Sonos for the ease of use, and the simple multi room audio. The audio quality is excellent which is a nice bonus.

Your ignorant comment about Sonos being good for someone that "doesn't understand how to actually set up a sound system" was completely unnecessary. I'm an IT consultant and work in technology every single day. You are confusing "understand" with "want." It's not rocket science, anyone can set up a sound system but who wants to go through all of that? I want to open the box, plug it in and use it. I have absolutely zero interest in running wires, and trying to create my own multi room audio solution just to get what, better quality, when I think Sonos sounds amazing as is? There's no point. Just because someone doesn't use something doesn't mean it's because they are too stupid to use it. I'm not an audiophile, so I wouldn't even notice the difference, making it a waste of time and money to use my own system.

Furthermore, I never said anything about anyone lying. If you actually read my post, I said that the free Slacker is completely different sounding than when I use my own account. The free one crackles and has static, it sounds like FM radio when you're driving under a bridge. If you crank it, the base crackles and can't go super loud or it distorts. I log into my own account, I don't have any of those problems. Base can go super loud and sounds fine, and it's the same songs I'm testing as well. I'm not saying it's 64kbps vs 320kbps I'm just saying it's not the same in my car, 100%. It's like AM/FM radio vs CD when I try both, but maybe because I just got my car yesterday it has different equipment or something since my VIN is over 100,000.

 

[psykobunny83]

Bluetooth streaming quality is less than that of tethering. The phone gets plugged in to charge anyway, might as well use that connection for media.

I agree they need to add USB tethering. My 8 year old BMW can do this, I plug in with USB (or even on Bluetooth) and I can browse playlists from Spotify, GPM, I can skip ahead, go back, view all the tracks on the screen. My phone can stay in the glove box plugged in I never need to see it. Bluetooth on the M3 is kind of useless since you can only skip tracks, but can't even fast forward or rewind or view the next song coming up.

 

[Abstrakt1]

My sound over bluetooth sounds terrible and the volume is cut nearly in half from when I use slacker. I just want the ability to curate a playlist and listen to it, I don't understand why slacker doesn't focus more on their Tesla app, I have never heard of anyone else using their service. It's not like anyone is intentionally in the market for an app that is like Pandora and Spotify but sucks.