Music quality Mark Levinson Sound system using your iPhone

[EEH]

Realise this may be a rather easy and basic question to most, but PC tech etc is not my strong point and would value anyone who has had some experience in this areas advise. 

I have an Iphone 15, and have the phone linked to my Lexus Takumi Design or Cool Edition infotainment system with the ML sound system.  I have noticed that the sound quality when using my Iphone compared to some radio stations when I listen to them is rather flat and poor. I have watched a few YouTube videos on how to adjust and play around with your Iphone settings to improve the sound, but not with much luck. Also played around with base, treble etc in the car with no improvement.

Has anyone managed to get good sound quality using their Iphone? Should it rather be wired to the car than via Bluetooth for better sound? Or should you rather load your music to a USB C memory stick in a FAT32 format (to be honest have no idea on even how to do this and any advise on how to do this would be appreciated)

 

[Heuer]

Lexus support A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) Bluetooth for music transmission. It is an old spec which has been replaced in most devices by the far superior Bluetooth aptX variants which are capable of high res audio. A2DP is only really capable of one third the quality of a CD or about the same quality as an MP3 track as it is 'lossy'. This is done for comparability because whilst all Android phones support aptX, apple devices do not.

So for best sound quality you need to hard wire your phone to the car and you can then play high res tracks from that device. You can do the same by using a USB-C thumb drive although Lexus say they only support up to 32Gb otherwise song indexing speed will be compromised. You could buy a iPod Touch 7th Generation (available new or s/h) as they go up to 256Gb and support FLAC files but you will need to plug it in to get full resolution. The device does all the heavy lifting of tracks and artwork so capacity is not an issue. Bluetooth connection will be compromised by A2DP but your Iphone will happily work over Bluetooth for calls and maps.

As regards a USB-C memory stick they do tend to be fairly large as they need a USB-A to USB-C adapter so you can easily knock them with your hand which could break the car USB-C socket. The big disappointment for me is Lexus have provided four USB-C sockets but only one is capable of hosting music - the other three are charge only 🤔

[ColinBarber]

12 hours ago, EEH said:

Should it rather be wired to the car than via Bluetooth for better sound?

Definitely try plugging it in, in theory it should be better sound. Is the music stored on your Iphone or is it being streamed via Spotify/Apple Music/Tidal etc?

[EEH]

6 hours ago, Heuer said:

Lexus support A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) Bluetooth for music transmission. It is an old spec which has been replaced in most devices by the far superior Bluetooth aptX variants which are capable of high res audio. A2DP is only really capable of one third the quality of a CD or about the same quality as an MP3 track as it is 'lossy'. This is done for comparability because whilst all Android phones support aptX, Apple devices do not.

So for best sound quality you need to hard wire your phone to the car and you can then play high res tracks from that device. You can do the same by using a USB-C thumb drive although Lexus say they only support up to 32Gb otherwise song indexing speed will be compromised. You could buy a iPod Touch 7th Generation (available new or s/h) as they go up to 256Gb and support FLAC files but you will need to plug it in to get full resolution. The device does all the heavy lifting of tracks and artwork so capacity is not an issue. Bluetooth connection will be compromised by A2DP but your iPhone will happily work over Bluetooth for calls and maps.

As regards a USB-C memory stick they do tend to be fairly large as they need a USB-A to USB-C adapter so you can easily knock them with your hand which could break the car USB-C socket. The big disappointment for me is Lexus have provided four USB-C sockets but only one is capable of hosting music - the other three are charge only 🤔

Hi David, thanks for the great advise. Truly appreciate the help. Does help a lot and may just look into an iPod option as you said. 

 

[EEH]

46 minutes ago, ColinBarber said:

Definitely try plugging it in, in theory it should be better sound. Is the music stored on your iPhone or is it being streamed via Spotify/Apple Music/Tidal etc?

Thanks for the advise Colin. Music sadly streaming off apple Music which I do think is part the problem.

I did however notice that by going into my Iphone settings, then going to music and then going to the "sound check" icon and turning it off, it made a big difference in sound quality. 

[ColinBarber]

26 minutes ago, EEH said:

Music sadly streaming off Apple Music which I do think is part the problem.

It does support lossless audio if you enable it (and consider the extra data usage and storage it may consume). This only works via USB to the car, not via Bluetooth.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/118295

 

[PCM]

I Save music on to my Iphone X, then plug it into the appropriate USB socket in the middle arm rest.

Quality sounds great for me...

I did 'up' the settings in the actual car Audio menu.

The Iphone settings worked best as Default, I thought...

[EEH]

Cheers Piers! Appreciate you input too

[PCM]

On 9/23/2024 at 7:13 PM, EEH said:

 

I did however notice that by going into my iPhone settings, then going to music and then going to the "sound check" icon and turning it off, it made a big difference in sound quality. 

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