Slacker radio

[chronopc]

the volume level tells you nothing whatsoever about the bitrate or quality of the recording

the actual company says it's 64kb/s (for slacker in a Model 3) and this has been repeatedly confirmed going back like a year now

I listened to the same song on slacker and off my usb at 128kb/s and it sounded better in every way on slacker. So maybe the compression doesn't really make a difference.

 

[Knightshade]

I listened to the same song on slacker and off my usb at 128kb/s and it sounded better in every way on slacker. So maybe the compression doesn't really make a difference.

Could also be slacker uses a better compression method than whoever made that 128kb file you're listening to...

FWIW my music on USB is all either 320kb/s mp3s or lossless FLAC, and there's a pretty obvious quality downgrade when I switch to slacker.

Usually when I have others in the car they think it (slacker) sounds...fine... until I switch to a better quality source.

 

[frankusb]

MP3 encoding output is not completely determined by bit rate used, it is affected by the encoder used.

I find some Slacker encoding pretty decent and some poor.

 

[chronopc]

Could also be slacker uses a better compression method than whoever made that 128kb file you're listening to...

FWIW my music on USB is all either 320kb/s mp3s or lossless FLAC, and there's a pretty obvious quality downgrade when I switch to slacker.

Usually when I have others in the car they think it (slacker) sounds...fine... until I switch to a better quality source.

How do you get 320kb/s mp3 files?

 

[PoitNarf]

How do you get 320kb/s mp3 files?

Encode then yourself or download files that have that bitrate? 320kbps MP3 files are not unheard of.

 

[skylander]

the volume level tells you nothing whatsoever about the bitrate or quality of the recording

the actual company says it's 64kb/s (for slacker in a Model 3) and this has been repeatedly confirmed going back like a year now

This is the response from Tesla Support as of today:

Thank You for contacting Tesla Service Support! I apologize for any inconvenience this delayed response has caused.
The bit rate is 128 Kbps, in order to get a premium 320 Kbps, you would have to create a premium account with slacker radio and log in to your Tesla with created account.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns, I will be more than happy to assist you.

Kind regards,

 

[Knightshade]

This is the response from Tesla Support as of today:

Thank You for contacting Tesla Service Support! I apologize for any inconvenience this delayed response has caused.
The bit rate is 128 Kbps, in order to get a premium 320 Kbps, you would have to create a premium account with slacker radio and log in to your Tesla with created account.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns, I will be more than happy to assist you.

Kind regards,

Yeah, you talked to the wrong support.

The correct support is Slacker- who will inform you it's 64kb, and there's literally no way whatsoever to change it on a model 3.

(there used to be a way on a Model S, with the upgraded stereo, to do so, but Tesla removed that option a while back).

Bitrate is set by the client- meaning you need a setting on the car to change it. Account type doesn't make a difference- both the premium slacker and the plus level Tesla gives you can stream at any rate up to 320 if the client supports it

Teslas client does not.


Audio Quality

Note: Quality setting is done on a per-client basis. If you listen to Slacker Radio on multiple clients, changing the quality setting on one client will have no effect on the quality settings of other clients.

Slacker support has confirmed all I've said here, repeatedly, going back at least a year now, in half a dozen or more previous threads.

(often after someone paid for a premium subscription and then was confused when it didn't sound better and contacted them to ask why)


But don't just take my word for it-
See also: (among lots of others)

Slacker, Bit Rate and getting the best sound quality questions | Tesla

Frank S. from Slacker confirmed what I've been saying:

"Bitrate cannot be increased in the Model 3, regardless of subscription. Tesla only streams at 64kbps."

When I asked about the high bitrate setting in the S and X he said:

"No, that setting has now been removed by Tesla."

Slacker plays at 64kbps and that's it!

Frank S. (Slacker Radio)

Jul 20, 10:28 PDT

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.)
Best regards,
Frank
Slacker Radio Support

Slacker plays at 64kbps and that's it!

I got the same answer from Slacker: the in-dash Slacker system in Tesla does not play high-quality audio, regardless of your subscription.