Question re. 2024 LC Mark Levinson
Thread Starter
Driver
Joined: Nov 2023
Posts: 62
Likes: 45
From: CA
I just re-tested. This is for 24 MY LC 500. i don’t know about the prior year models.
First of all, i have 2 USB connectors. one is USB-A, and the other is USC-C. USB-C is for charging only, and wired carplay does not work with USB-C.
Now back to the wired carplay audio issues. I am able to confirm that if you have ‘wireless’ carplay enabled and working, it does not switch to wired carplay mode when you plug in the device. It stays on its initial connection mode. Which means if you already have the carplay up, then plug in the USB-A cable, the audio system does not switch to wired mode. audio will stay BT/Wifi mode. how do I know? as mentioned above, i launch youtube and play a music video or any source that allows you to observe correct audio sync / timing.
Now, turn off bluetooth & Wifi with the USB cable plugged in, you will notice that the carplay disconnects, and does nothing,
At this point, with the BT & Wifi turned off, unplug the USB cable from the phone and plug it in again. Carplay magically pops up. now i launch the same youtube video: Audio sync issue is eliminated, working as it’s supposed to.
I then kill the youtube video, check that carplay is on, now turn in BT & Wifi. Launch another Youtube video. In this test, there no audio sync issues and everything sounds great.
Conclusion: if you have your phone paired with the LC & Carplay enabled, when you start the car, the head unit immediately looks for the bluetooth device and activate the ‘wireless’ carplay. once the wireless carplay is activated, you cannot switch to wired mode by simply plugging in the cable.
You havd to first kill the original wireless carplay mode, and re-activate the carplay with the usb cable (turn off BT & Wifi). once the wired mode is activated, you can now turn on the wifi & bluetooth if you so choose.
This is a pain in the a$$. Do all cars work like this?
For those wanting to play higher Bitrate, be sure to do this, otherwise, you are streaming via bluetooth / wifi.
I hope this help everyone to better understand what is going on.
One more point: Even If you turn on the car / start the engine with your usb cable connected to the car’s usb port, it will never activate wired if you have the bluetooth & wifi on. I was able to confirm this behavior. The head-unit’s first priority in device connection is ‘wireless’. so if you have your bt / wifi turned on, it would activate wireless carplay mode regardless if you start the car with the cable connected or not.
if you always want wired mode, plug in your phone, turn off the bt / wifi, then start the car. once the carplay pops up, you can now turn on BT & Wifi.
First of all, i have 2 USB connectors. one is USB-A, and the other is USC-C. USB-C is for charging only, and wired carplay does not work with USB-C.
Now back to the wired carplay audio issues. I am able to confirm that if you have ‘wireless’ carplay enabled and working, it does not switch to wired carplay mode when you plug in the device. It stays on its initial connection mode. Which means if you already have the carplay up, then plug in the USB-A cable, the audio system does not switch to wired mode. audio will stay BT/Wifi mode. how do I know? as mentioned above, i launch youtube and play a music video or any source that allows you to observe correct audio sync / timing.
Now, turn off bluetooth & Wifi with the USB cable plugged in, you will notice that the carplay disconnects, and does nothing,
At this point, with the BT & Wifi turned off, unplug the USB cable from the phone and plug it in again. Carplay magically pops up. now i launch the same youtube video: Audio sync issue is eliminated, working as it’s supposed to.
I then kill the youtube video, check that carplay is on, now turn in BT & Wifi. Launch another Youtube video. In this test, there no audio sync issues and everything sounds great.
Conclusion: if you have your phone paired with the LC & Carplay enabled, when you start the car, the head unit immediately looks for the bluetooth device and activate the ‘wireless’ carplay. once the wireless carplay is activated, you cannot switch to wired mode by simply plugging in the cable.
You havd to first kill the original wireless carplay mode, and re-activate the carplay with the usb cable (turn off BT & Wifi). once the wired mode is activated, you can now turn on the wifi & bluetooth if you so choose.
This is a pain in the a$$. Do all cars work like this?
For those wanting to play higher Bitrate, be sure to do this, otherwise, you are streaming via bluetooth / wifi.
I hope this help everyone to better understand what is going on.
One more point: Even If you turn on the car / start the engine with your usb cable connected to the car’s usb port, it will never activate wired if you have the bluetooth & wifi on. I was able to confirm this behavior. The head-unit’s first priority in device connection is ‘wireless’. so if you have your bt / wifi turned on, it would activate wireless carplay mode regardless if you start the car with the cable connected or not.
if you always want wired mode, plug in your phone, turn off the bt / wifi, then start the car. once the carplay pops up, you can now turn on BT & Wifi.
Wow, you nailed it! Thank you for figuring it out. I just verified it!! I might’ve eventually figured out but you were able to get to it faster. Hats off to you sir
Intermediate
Joined: Nov 2021
Posts: 308
Likes: 213
From: Ontario
asong1,
I’ve done a lot of google searches seeking ideas to fine tune my vehicle audio systems.
Your suggestions above are amongst the most helpful I’ve found.
Thank you so much for all the effort and time you have given to sharing your findings - I’ll call “teachings” - for the ML system. I will definitely use your “teachings” when I take out my vert in the spring.
I’ve been tweaking the audio system in my daily driver. I’ll use your song and settings suggestions to help me tune my DD.
Really helpful!!!
Thank you for the New Year’s present.
Happy New Year’s to you as well!
I’ve done a lot of google searches seeking ideas to fine tune my vehicle audio systems.
Your suggestions above are amongst the most helpful I’ve found.
Thank you so much for all the effort and time you have given to sharing your findings - I’ll call “teachings” - for the ML system. I will definitely use your “teachings” when I take out my vert in the spring.
I’ve been tweaking the audio system in my daily driver. I’ll use your song and settings suggestions to help me tune my DD.
Really helpful!!!
Thank you for the New Year’s present.
Happy New Year’s to you as well!
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2022
Posts: 566
Likes: 443
From: USA
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2022
Posts: 566
Likes: 443
From: USA
-UB 40 (Red Red Wine) - Great bass & other sound engineering. Allows me to test mid & treble limits + the level of punchiness of bass I want
- Guns & Roses (Paradise City): Allows me to hear the sound staging in a live arena environment
- Georghe Zamfir (The Lonely Shepherd) (Theme from Kill Bill): Mostly treble. Allows me to understand the treble limits until the sound tears.
- Kendrick Lamar (King Kunta): Oveall clarity of mid to bass ranges.
- Chris Botti in Boston (I've Got You Under My Skin): Treble, Mid, drums + live concert sound stage.
- Guns & Roses (Paradise City): Allows me to hear the sound staging in a live arena environment
- Georghe Zamfir (The Lonely Shepherd) (Theme from Kill Bill): Mostly treble. Allows me to understand the treble limits until the sound tears.
- Kendrick Lamar (King Kunta): Oveall clarity of mid to bass ranges.
- Chris Botti in Boston (I've Got You Under My Skin): Treble, Mid, drums + live concert sound stage.
I'll be interested in what you think of the wireless carplay adapters. I have 2 and both work well but for one important exception.... terrible audio delay when using the phone. I get about a 1 to 2 second delay that makes ther conversastion difficult. I'm by no means an audiophile so sound quality for me is just fine.
i just posted a thread about it.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lc-...rks-great.html
I just re-tested. This is for 24 MY LC 500. i don’t know about the prior year models.
First of all, i have 2 USB connectors. one is USB-A, and the other is USC-C. USB-C is for charging only, and wired carplay does not work with USB-C.
Now back to the wired carplay audio issues. I am able to confirm that if you have ‘wireless’ carplay enabled and working, it does not switch to wired carplay mode when you plug in the device. It stays on its initial connection mode. Which means if you already have the carplay up, then plug in the USB-A cable, the audio system does not switch to wired mode. audio will stay BT/Wifi mode. how do I know? as mentioned above, i launch youtube and play a music video or any source that allows you to observe correct audio sync / timing.
Now, turn off bluetooth & Wifi with the USB cable plugged in, you will notice that the carplay disconnects, and does nothing,
At this point, with the BT & Wifi turned off, unplug the USB cable from the phone and plug it in again. Carplay magically pops up. now i launch the same youtube video: Audio sync issue is eliminated, working as it’s supposed to.
I then kill the youtube video, check that carplay is on, now turn in BT & Wifi. Launch another Youtube video. In this test, there no audio sync issues and everything sounds great.
Conclusion: if you have your phone paired with the LC & Carplay enabled, when you start the car, the head unit immediately looks for the bluetooth device and activate the ‘wireless’ carplay. once the wireless carplay is activated, you cannot switch to wired mode by simply plugging in the cable.
You havd to first kill the original wireless carplay mode, and re-activate the carplay with the usb cable (turn off BT & Wifi). once the wired mode is activated, you can now turn on the wifi & bluetooth if you so choose.
This is a pain in the a$$. Do all cars work like this?
First of all, i have 2 USB connectors. one is USB-A, and the other is USC-C. USB-C is for charging only, and wired carplay does not work with USB-C.
Now back to the wired carplay audio issues. I am able to confirm that if you have ‘wireless’ carplay enabled and working, it does not switch to wired carplay mode when you plug in the device. It stays on its initial connection mode. Which means if you already have the carplay up, then plug in the USB-A cable, the audio system does not switch to wired mode. audio will stay BT/Wifi mode. how do I know? as mentioned above, i launch youtube and play a music video or any source that allows you to observe correct audio sync / timing.
Now, turn off bluetooth & Wifi with the USB cable plugged in, you will notice that the carplay disconnects, and does nothing,
At this point, with the BT & Wifi turned off, unplug the USB cable from the phone and plug it in again. Carplay magically pops up. now i launch the same youtube video: Audio sync issue is eliminated, working as it’s supposed to.
I then kill the youtube video, check that carplay is on, now turn in BT & Wifi. Launch another Youtube video. In this test, there no audio sync issues and everything sounds great.
Conclusion: if you have your phone paired with the LC & Carplay enabled, when you start the car, the head unit immediately looks for the bluetooth device and activate the ‘wireless’ carplay. once the wireless carplay is activated, you cannot switch to wired mode by simply plugging in the cable.
You havd to first kill the original wireless carplay mode, and re-activate the carplay with the usb cable (turn off BT & Wifi). once the wired mode is activated, you can now turn on the wifi & bluetooth if you so choose.
This is a pain in the a$$. Do all cars work like this?
For those wanting to play higher Bitrate, be sure to do this, otherwise, you are streaming via bluetooth / wifi.
One more point: Even If you turn on the car / start the engine with your usb cable connected to the car’s usb port, it will never activate wired if you have the bluetooth & wifi on. I was able to confirm this behavior. The head-unit’s first priority in device connection is ‘wireless’. so if you have your bt / wifi turned on, it would activate wireless carplay mode regardless if you start the car with the cable connected or not.
wired and wireless carplay are the same. it's bluetooth ONLY that's less capable (no display, lower bandwidth). for wireless carplay, bluetooth is only used to make the connecition. presumably the car tells the phone what wifi network credentials to use.
Driver
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 91
Likes: 117
From: VA
Bumping this thread because I cannot express how grateful I am for asong1's post on setting up the Mark Levinson. Every new owner should look at his guide on set-up.
Recently got my settings just right with his guide just tweaking it little with more bass.
Recently got my settings just right with his guide just tweaking it little with more bass.
Advanced
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 606
Likes: 261
From: Michigan
Agree, lived with an RX350L (still own) for 4yrs thinking the ML system was a waste (especially comparing it to my other non-ML Lexus vehicles sound). After getting my LC500C, I finally started trying to figure out why the ML system still didn't impress. Following his guidance (and others here), it's finally providing audio satisfaction. I'm a happy camper now, especially after installing the Ottocast U2Airpro for wireless capability (my LC is a 2023).
