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  #1  
Old 04-25-2016, 01:49 PM
rangergambler rangergambler is offline
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Hey GLH i just replaced my older JVC headunit because it died and would not unfreeze itself.

By the way im using ks68 speakers amped. 100 hpf

And a sub. 80 LPF

Got a new kenwood KMM-BT515HD with aptX codex to be able to stream pandora via bluetooth with the aptX codec. Im using a samsung galaxy S5 phone. The hd radio on this unit is clean super clear/clean sound out of it. But when i play pandora via bluetooth the sound quality is not as good/clean as when i played it from my older headunit using a 3.5mm audio cable. Is that the nature of the beast even with aptX codec? My bluetooth speaker from home with aptX codec sounds clear. Same with my sony headphones with bluetooth aptx codec they sound good. Do u know if there is a way to force my S5 phone or the headunit or to verify if the aptX codec is active???

Only reason i got that particular headunit was for the aptX codex. I dont want to use cables no more.

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U think its because my ears are used to the wired better sound quality?
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Last edited by rangergambler; 04-25-2016 at 01:46 PM.
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  #2  
Old 04-25-2016, 01:52 PM
horizon94 horizon94 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rangergambler View Post
Hey GLH i just replaced my older JVC headunit because it died and would not unfreeze itself.

By the way im using door speakers amped. 100 hpf

And a sub. 80 LPF

Got a new kenwood KMM-BT515HD with aptX codex to be able to stream pandora via bluetooth with the aptX codec. Im using a samsung galaxy S5 phone. The hd radio on this unit is clean super clear/clean sound out of it. But when i play pandora via bluetooth the sound quality is not as good/clean as when i played it from my older headunit using a 3.5mm audio cable. Is that the nature of the beast even with aptX codec? My bluetooth speaker from home with aptX codec sounds clear. Same with my sony headphones with bluetooth aptx codec they sound good. Do u know if there is a way to force my S5 phone or the headunit or to verify if the aptX codec is active???
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but i believe that codec with Bluetooth can only support up to 96kb/s while a 3.5mm wire can support a whole lossless file at 1.4Mb/s.
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  #3  
Old 04-25-2016, 02:06 PM
rangergambler rangergambler is offline
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If i cannot find a bluetooth setting to up the bluetooth audio quality im going to have to go back to aux cable. Oh well. sux. Might have to go back to using the aux cable. Im after sound quality. The hd radio sound quality on this headunit is super clear/clean no distortion at 75 percent volume both doors speakers and sub.
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  #4  
Old 04-25-2016, 02:21 PM
horizon94 horizon94 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rangergambler View Post
If i cannot find a bluetooth setting to up the bluetooth audio quality im going to have to go back to aux cable. Oh well. sux. Might have to go back to using the aux cable. Im after sound quality. The hd radio sound quality on this headunit is super clear/clean no distortion at 75 percent volume both doors speakers and sub.
I was in the same position you were at one point and then I realized that it's damn near impossible to create an adequate acoustical environment in a ford ranger, unless of course it's parked. Like you, I can definitely hear the difference between a 128kb/s and a 320kb/s file (my HU is capable of streaming Bluetooth at 320kb/s). I used to only play lossless through a cable but then I was sold with the convenience of Bluetooth. Also, I can't tell the difference between a lossless file and a 320kb/s file.

I'm just saying that worrying about playing higher quality files is only worth the effort if you can perceive it which is damn near impossible in a moving ranger, lol.
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  #5  
Old 04-25-2016, 04:56 PM
rangergambler rangergambler is offline
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So u gave up on bluetooth amd just stayed with an aux cable ???
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  #6  
Old 04-25-2016, 06:06 PM
horizon94 horizon94 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rangergambler View Post
So u gave up on bluetooth amd just stayed with an aux cable ???
Nooo, I did away with the aux cable. I use Bluetooth now for the convenience aspect and the fact that I can't tell a difference between 320kb/s and lossless.
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  #7  
Old 04-25-2016, 06:37 PM
rangergambler rangergambler is offline
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Well after retuning both amps using hd radio station(its a cd-less unit) with the best possible sound/reception and (i originally tuned both amps off of bluetooth audio, i think that was my mistake) playing around with some of the sound enhancements, i think it sounds a little better. Slightly less better than a 3.5mm cable, but not too bad for bluetooth. I just gotta tweak my eq to lower down the highs a little.

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Quote:
Originally Posted by horizon94 View Post

Nooo, I did away with the aux cable. I use Bluetooth now for the convenience aspect and the fact that I can't tell a difference between 320kb/s and lossless.
Yeah im gonna stick to bluetooth. My little dog rides with me sometimes and the cable sometimes is a hassle even though i was using a flexible braided high quality one.

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What specific bluetooth tech spec streams at 320kbps on your headunit and bluetooth device/cell phone?

This was the only single din headunit i found at crutchfueld that had bluetooth aptX codec, CD-LESS, and HD RADIO all in one unit. You must have a double din then...
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  #8  
Old 04-26-2016, 10:11 AM
horizon94 horizon94 is offline
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Default Re: hey GLH - Bluetooth sound quality...

I have a Sony MEXBT3900U with Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (same as the HU you have). Only difference is that my HU makes use of the classic SBC codec where yours makes use of aptX. I was under the impression but that the high POSSIBLE bitrate of SBC meant that my HU could play a 320kb/s file at 320kb/s but turns out I'm wrong again, lol. It's more in the range of 200kbps. So my ears weren't lying with being able to tell a difference in audio quality. It just wasn't at the bitrates I had thought before.

Here are two articles that are worth reading:
http://soundexpert.org/news/-/blogs/...o-quality-a2dp
http://soundexpert.org/news/-/blogs/...bluetooth-aptx

As you can tell I'm not an expert like GLH (where is he??) but I've been on the hunt for sound quality before.
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  #9  
Old 04-27-2016, 12:52 PM
rangergambler rangergambler is offline
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I was able to tell audio quality going from aux cable to bluetooth was a little less, but it is not bad. Ill stik to bluetooth for convenience
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  #10  
Old 04-27-2016, 01:02 PM
horizon94 horizon94 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rangergambler View Post
I was able to tell audio quality going from aux cable to bluetooth was a little less, but it is not bad. Ill stik to bluetooth for convenience
Even at highway speeds?
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  #11  
Old 04-27-2016, 01:25 PM
rangergambler rangergambler is offline
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It is not that bad after fine tuning some of the audio settings in the headunit. My headunit has drive eq. It uses the mic to hear road noise and dynamically tune the eq to overcome the frequencies it picks up. Kind of like auto brightness on a cell phone or tv with a sensor. I dont know if it is gimmicky or actually works. I have it enabled.

I have also noticed that pandora streams some songs with clean sound versions and some other songs with not so good recordings that lack bass, etc.
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  #12  
Old 05-11-2016, 06:55 PM
rangergambler rangergambler is offline
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Man, different headunit produce different sound, and different tuning of the amps is needed. The bluetooth aptX sounds good now that i have it tweaked down. With this headunit the sub does not sound good unless i turn on bass boost to level 1 out of 5. And yes i tried setting gain and tweaking bass boost at the amp, but it seemed the sub was not waking up to how i like it to feel as my old headunit. At level 1 bass boost on headunit i can feel the sub come to life. Kinda seems the headunit was not "sending" enough power to the sub channel and it sounded mehhh. With bass boost to level 1 of 5 on headunit now i was able to tune the sub amp a lot better to feel the bass.
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  #13  
Old 05-19-2016, 12:39 PM
rangergambler rangergambler is offline
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Update update.

aptX bluetooth streaming is awesome!! Good high quality streaming almost like being hardwired via 3.5mm.

The issue i had was stupid pandora low bitrate streaming in thenandroid app even the paid version and even in high quality mode.

I am trying spotify and it sounds A LOT BETTER, their bitrate is a lot higher when enabled in the settings. The android spotify app sucks though, way toooo many options, library, radio, stations, follow, unfollow, offline, goddd dammmn, i just want to create stations and switch stations in the fly.

I am canceling pabdora one free trial.

Can anyone recommend me A MUSIC ANDROID APP WITH HIGH BITRATE LIKE SPOTIFY, BUT WITH AN EASY INTERFACE LIKE PANDORA??? If spotify pisses me off ill stick to my 30 gigs of music that i will store on my phone....
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