That sucks. I think it sounds great! My only gripe is the inability to cycle through folders and playlists with non-Apple devices like my S4. Firmware update maybe?

 

I'm also very happy with the sound quality. It's not quite as good as CD. If you sit in the car when it's not running, you can hear a difference compared with CD. However, let's face it - in a moving car with road noise etc you will be hard pressed to hear much difference.

It's also very convenient to just jump in the car and the music starts off where you left it. No plugging in etc.

 

Is it or will it be possible to skip through playlists/folders with Android devices? Is there a firmware upgrade coming soon? Would be nice!

 

Does the sound quality depend on your source? I don't use mp3s at all. I actually stream from my home server using Madsonic. All my files at home are FLAC and Madsonic converts them to OGG which I've found is a good compromise between full FLAC streaming (which Madsonic will do at a greatly increased data rate) and poor quality mp3. The benefit is starting with a FLAC file and transcoding it on the fly is that the initial quality is very high. This setup has worked flawlessly with every other bluetooth system I've had or currently have, I'm just wondering if VAIS will support this.

 

So finally time to update! I tried both, the bluetooth sl3b has a decent sound. If you're not so interested in sound quality and want easy connection it could be a good choice. Although I didn't like it starting from iTunes playlist and not from Spotify (I only use Spotify). So I put easy listening in that folder because you will always hear that music!

I really didn't like the sound (yeah, is personal) and ended up swapping the Sl3b for a MML (cost me more than 100 bucks extra!). What a difference! Plays also Flac and had a very good soundstage. Didn't compare A/B to the Cd player but it's really good (enough). As predicted didn't mind cabling it up as my iPhone battery needs juice more than once a day, expecially when driving, listening to music and run program that monitors speed controls (does something like Flitsmeister exist in States?).

BTW I have the ML which is fairly good. It lacks the 'wow' factor many car stereos have (strong bass and a lot of treble ;-). After a while it grows on you and you will appriciate the sound. At least in my case.

 

Has anyone had any luck getting to Settings Mode to adjust the volume? I have only been able to get to Simple Mode. The manual states for both modes that you press the SCAN button 8 times. When I do this I always get Simple Mode instead of Settings Mode. Thoughts?

 

from my research (i'm no audio expert) AptX is a proprietary codec that uses A2DP, they're dependent on each other. AptX is not a bluetooth connection protocol in of itself. So theoretically you can use AptX with the SL3B.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AptX

edit: on further research, it looks like both transceiver an receiver need to support aptx at a hardware level. Neither iphones nor my Nexus 6P support Aptx, so unless you're streaming from a device that licensed the tech, no benefits would be heard. I'd also guess that the majority of people streaming bluetooth audio to their car are using mp3s or other compressed forms of media and not storing huge music files on their phone. But as you say wired would be the way to go for best sound.

 

Just the info I needed before by purchase.

 

No wonder it sounds great then. My Samsung Galaxy S4 supports APT-X.