defaria

I use Android Auto all the time now and I admit that the USB audio sounds a lot better than the Bluetooth audio. Other than fidelity the loudness of USB auto is very much noticeable, especially if you occasionally switch to Bluetooth. Why is the Bluetooth signal so much less hotter than USB audio?

cheapthrills

I almost always listen to Pandora via my phone (apple) it always sounds way better through a USB cord then the Bluetooth, also the volume is better. Still I'd love a bit more volume.

hangman

Check the volume control on your Bluetooth device. Some devices use their volume control in Bluetooth so it could be that your phone's volume is not turned all the way up, hence you get lower volume..

C7Joy

My guess is that the USB wins the battle due to its physical connection advantage. Bluetooth is on RF.

JC 2004

cheapthrills

Nope, not on my apple, cable is always the better choice for blasting the music. Just seems like the Bluetooth is sub par.

Indy-hp

Yep. Turn the volume on your phone to max.

defaria

I'm well aware of the Bluetooth volume control on the phone. It's pegged a 100% always. I control the actual volume with whatever the Bluetooth is broadcasting too be it the phone, my Google Home, Bluetooth headset or whatever. I hate that Android stopped you when you raise the volume at about 75% with a warning about listening to things too loud. There's another volume **** ya know!

defaria

Obviously the USB has an advantage in that the frequency response is wider. That does make it sound better. But I'm not asking about frequency response - I'm asking about volume! Surely BT could compensate by pushing more volume to make both sound equally loud where the USB would sound richer.

Look, when I'm listening to a podcast, spoken audio, I don't need "sounding better". Just sounding as loud as the USB would sound is what I'm asking about. Say when I'm listening to a podcast and need to run an errand to a store close by, as I approach the vehicle with the podcast playing in my Bluetooth headset, the car will disconnect that connection in its eager attempt to connect to the Bluetooth. Fine, I can listen on the car stereo - but for this short trip I don't want to necessarily pull out the phone, connect it up, get AA running, etc. I mean I'm just going down the block. So I'm listening on the car's Bluetooth but the volume is low. So I have to adjust it. Then next time in the car, longer trip so I connect the phone and wham - it's too loud.

First world problems for sure... But problems are problems and as humans we like figuring them out.

ttay3

So, wired connection will always beat a wireless connection . . so with that being said, I think bluetooth works great in my car and the volume is loud, so the question for you is, what do you consider as being loud?

This will always be subjective to the person . .

Dif

it's not just about Volume, it's about Signal strength Quality.
It's fine with a Blue Tooth head set listening on my phone.
But there's a big difference through the car's stereo system.
Regardless of Volume, the sound is not as clear or full.
All my songs are also on a USB thumb drive plugged in and set to that source.
It does not allow the phone's Blue Tooth to connect and play the songs on the phone when I get in the car.

MSG C5

I won a 128 GB iPod Touch 6th Generation at a business event. Since I already had an iPhone and iPad, I didn't think I would find much use for it, but now I love it. It holds my entire 12K+ music collection and I bought a nice leather case and Zagg screen for it. I keep it plugged in and it stays in the car and the sound is definitely better than bluetooth plus it displays the album art and track listings.

defaria

Missed the word "just" in there. I see you actually agree with me. Yes, my question is specifically about volume or db, not about clarity, quality or whatever which has to do with frequency response. Obviously the more frequency the more volume you'll hear. But it's not impossible nor unheard of to take a signal that has less frequencies and balance out the volume by boosting it. That is in essence my question - why isn't Bluetooth's volume boosted such that at least it is as loud as USB.

Again, I'm talking about podcasts or other forms of spoken audio content - not songs. I too have a USB stick and my songs are there (though I'll also stream or play songs on my phone too). I don't expect songs to sound as good on BT as USB, but I don't want them to be noticeably quieter either.

I'm not sure what "it" is in this context but I can assure you I can also play songs and podcasts from the phone to the BT in the car. What is stopping your phone/car from doing the same?

defaria

Yeah I also have a USB stick (I'm not an iGuy) and all of my music on it and I play it from there. But I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about podcasts, which come and go and therefore not really suitable for a USB stick as you'd have to constantly take it out to update it. Sometimes I play those over BT and I don't like that it's noticeably quieter.

defaria

I betcha if I got out a Db meter it'd be at least 3 decibels (the amount that most people would agree is a different volume) or more. It's markedly and noticeably quieter.

snow

I have to agree with the quality of the USB vs BT. I have a USB SD card reader plugged in behind the screen love it! quality is fantastic and the card holds all my tunes.

Hoonose

Pandora with my Android has better fidelity using the Aux cable/connection than Bluetooth.

joemessman

I just went out to the car and plugged in my Nexus 5x. Listened to a song. I unplugged it from usb and continued listening the song via Bluetooth. The volume was noticeably less via Bluetooth. So it is just not a phone brand issue. Must be more bandwidth via USB is my assumption.

Dif

Ok. I should have said Signal Strength but I presumed Signal Quality to mean Strength
Yes you would like it to have more Boost.
Problem is, Blue Tooth and USB are 2 totally different Sources.
Need a way to Adjust how much Boost to make it equal to the Volume of the USB connection.
Still does not mean it would do what you want.
It's Apples to Oranges.

IMO, this simply goes back to Signal Strength as I mentioned, we're dealing with 2 different Sources/Systems.
USB is a Directly integrated source "in" the car's system.
Blue Tooth through the car's system is adding a Secondary System/Source, the PHONE, which the car's system has to deal with.
No different that listening to the Radio or XM.
More hoops to jump through and not a Direct Source or integrated part of the car's system.
Neither the Radio or XM offer the same Volume output as a USB source without turning up the car's Volume ****.
At last not for me when if I switch sources.
The Radio and XM are Sources from a Secondary device.
Again, It's Apples to Oranges.

Now if a Phone is plugged into the car it's a bit better but it is still a Secondary system with it's own Volume control and power output.


I see what happened there
What I meant was, with the USB drive set to play music, my phone still connects to the car.
But, the Phone's Blue Tooth signal does not over ride the USB source and Automatically start playing through the car system.
Then, if I want, I can change the car's source to Blue Tooth and listen to whatever is transmitted from the Phone through the car's system.
Good Luck

defaria

I think it is what I want but wasn't thought of. For example, ever use one of those "Loud" buttons cars and other media players used to sport? They effectively simply boost the bass and treble areas but only when the volume is low. The intent is to make the music sound good even though the volume isn't cranked because when the volume is low not all frequencies are equally heard. Equal volume measurements show that the frequency response degrades in certain areas as the volume is lowered. As you crank it the frequency response flattens out. That's right Mom - I crank it because it sounds better!

Similarly audio compensation not unlike this "Loud" buttons could be employed on the different inputs to compensate for the differences in sound, the easiest of which would be to raise the volume (the harder of which would be to re-EQ things to achieve a similar effect).

Yes and the system should deal with it by even'ing out the frequency response and loudness. That's my point!

Yes and that should have been dealt with as well. Note that I don't hear that much difference between the radio and XM though I rarely use either of them.

Yes, what I'm talking about is adding "orange flavor" to the apples (or adding apple flavor to the oranges) so that they just taste like good fruit.

And again, those things should have been balanced better, IMHO.

Understand this - I never use XM, rarely (if ever) turn on the radio and occasionally use the USB thumb drive. By and far what I use the most is my phone. Usually playing podcasts, sometimes playing music? Why? Well because that has the most flexibly in my mind. Google Play Music has all of my music, my podcast player is there. I do Audible for books on long trips, TuneIn for Tom Leykis and Pandora if I get bored. By and large this works well because I'm an Android Auto guy and use AA all the time and that is connected through the USB but I can control everything with the AA UI - 'cept for some of those quick trips as described above when it's just more convenient to just let it connect to the phone via Bluetooth. And I'm always shaking my head now saying "Why is is so much quieter" - which is why I asked the question here.