Just trying to see if I'm going nuts or if it might be a legitimate difference that others notice. Normally I use my iPhone music through the bluetooth audio but today I was charging my phone in the glove center console through a 6 inch Monster lightning cable I picked up recently for the purpose. While it was charging I played the iPhone audio through the USB connection as you can select it in the media menu. It seemed a lot clearer with cleaner highs and deeper, more of a punchy bass. I was curious if anyone else notices this. It almost seems like when using wifi vs a ethernet wired connection how you get more bandwidth being wired. I've only had the car 3 months so I haven't really used the USB much. Its the non-ML, nav audio system.

 

Bluetooth Audio is horrible in this car. Wired is way better.

 

I don't believe there is any difference however note that the EQ changes from input to input so if you made adjustments for USB they will not automatically be there for bluetooth. I've never done a direct comparison but I never noticed anything when using both in the past.

 

No I looked at that, they're set exactly the same.

 

I typically stream music through Bluetooth so after reading this thread today I decided to experiment with the USB connection. With the EQ mimicking the other and playing the same track...I personally can't differentiate one from the other. I didn't notice any changes in clarity/treble/bass.

I'm not sure how you download your music but it's possible one track was lesser quality then another.

 

Of course a wired connection is always going to be better than a wireless. There are too many frequencies going on that can be convoluted with the radio signal of the blue tooth. You get a crisper sound when it is wired cause it is a straight connection.

 

I figured out why my bluetooth music sounded like crap. The EQ settings do not transfer from Satellite/CD/Radio. You have to set them in bluetooth as well. They were all flat.

Sounds great now.

 

BT compresses the audio even mroe and it sounds lowsy. Can BT even transmit 320kbps MP3 bitrate?

 

I haven't tried USB but BT sounds perfect to me. It sounds good to be honest.

 

Our cars have BT4.0 which transmits up to 768. There should be no difference between BT and USB

 

USB connection sounds much better in my ears. BT uses much more compression than the usb. It doesn't matter if uses BT4.0 if phone is using smaller compression. You really notice the difference in mids and highs, not to mention its much louder. However the usb connection is very buggy on these cars.

BTW. how do you guys set your audio sound setting?