I had an old Slacker account long before I got my M3. Tried a couple of times to log in to the account in the car to no avail. Occurred to me that my account might not permit streaming. Went on the Slacker site today. They are currently offering a one-year upgrade to "Slacker Plus" for $29.99. I purchased the upgrade, which also upgrades the sound quality to Slacker's max. Later today, got in my car and was able to log into my account. What I didn't expect was to be absolutely blown away by the sound improvement. Clearly the basic "Tesla" account is at a much lower bit rate. Difference was night and day. Like everyone else, I would love a better solution for music streaming, but for $29.99, this upgrade was well worth it. I'm no audiophile, but if you like your music, you should consider doing this. Definitely worth the cost.
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Slacker Sound After Upgrade
- Thread starter Boomer543
- Start date
Jmjcsim
Member
Not sure. In the days before Model 3 (i.e Model S and X circa software version 6.x and 7.x), the Tesla provided streaming account was actually Slacker Plus and you could even ask Tesla to provide the login and password to use with your computer or phone. I still use that now. There are older threads here about that, but the consensus was (IIRC) that switching the account to the high bitrate mode on your phone or computer slacker app didn't affect the sound quality in the car. The account in current cars is still most likely Slacker Plus, though the login is now integrated and Tesla won't provide credentials anymore. Don't know if anyone has done a bitrate analysis comparing the included service vs Slacker Premium (the next tier above Slacker Plus).
It was there today. Maybe you need to create a basic account first. I already had one.
I'm no audiophile, but at volume I could hear distortion on the "Tesla" account. That's all gone. Music is crystal clear. Much better bass response as well. I don't think I'm imagining it.
Jefla
Member
An easy test is to sign out of personal account and play same song on Tesla account and then compare. Do it for science!
Curious how the paid account is better than the free account other than sound quality. Is there a lot more songs available on the paid account? Can you do a playlist on your laptop or phone and have it appear in your Tesla? I'm fine with the free account, but if there were quite a few perks to the premium version I could be talked into it.
I'd do it but my Model 3 is currently having surgery at the auto body shop.
If you upgrade to Slacker Premium, the benefits are ability to create custom playlists, skip backward, and play requested songs. But I don't know how much of this feature set actually translates to Tesla which doesn't use the standard Slacker interface. I don't think there's any benefit to paying for Slacker Plus since it's most likely what the car already has as standard. At least, that's what it was before Model 3.
Jefla
Member
With slacker premium, playlists do show in the Tesla UX. Though the Tesla UX does not have a skip back button, I wonder if it let's you if you go back on steering wheel buttons?
I bought the base subscription for $19.99 it allows 320 bps. Main reason I got it was si I had an account I could access. Model 3 logs in fine to it. No idea if the 320 bps applies. I don’t notice a sound difference. No idea what Tesla’s free account bit rate is. It’s kind of nice listening to the same streaming in other cars. Premium does not increase bitrate over plus. It gives other features that I doubt work.
Knightshade
Well-Known Member
Difference was imaginary.
Bitrate is set by the client (which is controlled by Tesla and on the 3 never allowed setting a higher bitrate, since Tesla is paying for the bandwidth), not by your account.
Slacker support has repeatedly confirmed this as mentioned in a ton of threads, and explicitly says so on their website.
Audio Quality
Slacker said:
So all the folks who go "I set it to 320kb on the website and now my car sounds better!" are great examples of the placebo effect.
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groovidad
Living the Dream!
Interesting....I’ve had my 3 since the end of December. EVERYONE commented on the sounds in it. Very impressed! Just a week ago, I noticed the sound became “tinny” with more treble and almost absent bass. I immediately began tweaking the sliders but, to no avail. I did perform tweaking after taking delivery and I was blown away by the sonic delivery. I never adjusted after initial. Now, it’s just too artificial. Something has happened. Not sure what but, there’s a notable difference and very troubling.
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There are a couple threads on “lost bass” that randomly happens. Like lost sound, lost backup camera, etc. It comes and goes.
I have not followed those threads for a while. But what would happen is the rear amp would either shut down or mute, that controls the rear speakers and subwoofer.
groovidad
Living the Dream!
RayK
Active Member
Try a re-boot. It fixed the sonic issues the couple of times it happened to me.
groovidad
Living the Dream!
RayK
Active Member
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