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Funny, my friend bought me one of these carplay2air devices and i never ended up using it cause it seemed janky to me. only cause i didn't want audio to suffer. maybe i'll try it out. i didn't realize they were that expensive.
ideally though i'd like to hardwire it and tuck it away somewhere. i don't want to lose my cupholder or phone slot.
Funny, my friend bought me one of these carplay2air devices and i never ended up using it cause it seemed janky to me. only cause i didn't want audio to suffer. maybe i'll try it out. i didn't realize they were that expensive.
ideally though i'd like to hardwire it and tuck it away somewhere. i don't want to lose my cupholder or phone slot.
I wouldn't call it "janky." I found it to be a quality product that worked very well. I gave it back because, while the sound quality was very good, it wasn't as good as the wired setup. But I'm very fussy about sound. Most folks probably wouldn't notice any difference.
I wouldn't call it "janky." I found it to be a quality product that worked very well. I gave it back because, while the sound quality was very good, it wasn't as good as the wired setup. But I'm very fussy about sound. Most folks probably wouldn't notice any difference.
Odd, I found the signal quality to be much better visa the wifi on the Carplay2Air. I run Tidal HiFi (and some MQA Master) and found the comparison of wired vs WiFi to be pretty clear. Did you go into the C2A menus and set it to 192kHz? That make a huge difference over the standard settings.If you want to play hi-res music you are limited by the DAC inside Apple’s devices.
To use Apple’s Lightning adapter, you are limited to supporting 24-bit/48kHz.
I found the signal quality to be much better visa the wifi on the Carplay2Air.
That makes absolutely no sense to me. How could wireless sound better than wired? I was hoping that wireless sounded as good as wired, but better? No way.
Did you go into the C2A menus and set it to 192kHz? That make a huge difference over the standard settings.
It was a year ago, so I don't remember the details. I did go back and forth for many emails with their support person, but whatever I tried was not satisfactory for me. They agreed to refund my purchase.
So I used this thing over the weekend... and yeah it works and yeah it's cute... turns out it is janky. The most annoying thing is it takes forever to load when you first get into the car and start it, like almost a full 45s to a minute, and you can't listen to or do anything during that time. Then when it is loaded, at least when using spotify, there's a delay and one time the audio just stopped playing. I can see this thing being nice to use for a long drive/road trip where you aren't turning the car off and back on but it's annoying for every day use.
Also it takes up space. Either it sits in the cupholder where I can't put a drink or it sits in the phone slot where I can't put my phone.
Also there's like a weird flash screen that pops up during the loading time which looks like a highschool computer programmers class from the 1990s. doesn't really fit with the car. For now I'll be fine with the wired setup.
Wondering if anyone knows how to remove this ridiculous cover for the USB ports on the 2021 ES350. I've received the flat ribbon cable I ordered a month ago from Ali Express and I want to be able to close the console while having the Carplay2air adapter connected to the USB. I had a 2019 ES FSport and the door was a rubber cover you could easily remove and put back via a snap-on connector. Now, for some odd reason, Lexus decided to put a hard plastic cover over the ports that is hinged and not designed to be removed. Appears the ribbon cable it will work perfectly - except - you can't close the console/cup holder cover without removing the USB port cover. This is really a stupid design and why they changed it from the 2019 design is beyond me. Only option I see is to break off the cover while trying not to damage the surrounding area. I can't see any other way to accomplish this. 4
Any thoughts?
To do it professionally you'll have to pop off the center console, remove the port, then pop the door off. otherwise yes you'll need to break it. In my younger years I would've broken it but i pledged to myself to avoid breaking any stock parts even if i plan to never use it again. it's more work, but more satisfying.
Perfectly said my friend and thank you for the reply. You're absolutely right. It is more satisfying when you do it the right way. Personally I've actually gotten use to it over the last few weeks. It definitely does make that area look cleaned when the cupholder cover is open and more times in practical use as a phone and Bluetooth earpiece holder for me, it is open. One thing I can't get past is how much I love this car.. It's an absolute pleasure and joy to drive, park and get in and out of. After much testing with different methods and devices I've discovered that the absolute best sound you can get out of the sound system whether Mark Levinson or stock is iPhone 11 or higher hardwired via these USB ports. This interface really was designed for Apple. iPhone 11 or higher has the Spatial Sound output and you have to make sure to set the Dolby ATMOS to always on in settings under Music. Make sure to also set Audio Quality to the highest "High-Resolution Lossless = ALAC up to 24-bit/192 KHz." Also make sure "Lossless Audio" is enabled. This will give you sound that will surprise you in any genre.
Perfectly said my friend and thank you for the reply. You're absolutely right. It is more satisfying when you do it the right way. Personally I've actually gotten use to it over the last few weeks. It definitely does make that area look cleaned when the cupholder cover is open and more times in practical use as a phone and Bluetooth earpiece holder for me, it is open. One thing I can't get past is how much I love this car.. It's an absolute pleasure and joy to drive, park and get in and out of. After much testing with different methods and devices I've discovered that the absolute best sound you can get out of the sound system whether Mark Levinson or stock is iPhone 11 or higher hardwired via these USB ports. This interface really was designed for Apple. iPhone 11 or higher has the Spatial Sound output and you have to make sure to set the Dolby ATMOS to always on in settings under Music. Make sure to also set Audio Quality to the highest "High-Resolution Lossless = ALAC up to 24-bit/192 KHz." Also make sure "Lossless Audio" is enabled. This will give you sound that will surprise you in any genre.
You must be using Apple Music. I don't see those options while using Tidal Master Audio
You must be using Apple Music. I don't see those options while using Tidal Master Audio
Correct, those options are only for Apple Music. You have similar options on Tidal and Amazon music located in the settings of each app (depending on the plan). Andrew Robinson uploaded a great video comparing the most popular services. I can confirm that Apple Music is louder which gives the impression of better quality. I had to turn down the power on my aftermarket subs after switching to Apple Music. Also, the Atmos tracks sound amazing in my 7.1.4 home theater.
Correct, those options are only for Apple Music. You have similar options on Tidal and Amazon music located in the settings of each app (depending on the plan). Andrew Robinson uploaded a great video comparing the most popular services. I can confirm that Apple Music is louder which gives the impression of better quality. I had to turn down the power on my aftermarket subs after switching to Apple Music. Also, the Atmos tracks sound amazing in my 7.1.4 home theater.
I use Roon as my home music server and it integrates beautifully with Tidal and Qubuz but not at all with Apple Music so, no apple music for me. I do have the Tidal settings in my iPhone set to Master
And even further those options for Apple music look different on iOS15 Beta which I'm using currently lol. But yeah good idea to deep dive into the settings on any app you use.
Agreed. I love testing and trying different applications in pursuit of getting the best out of things. I love how Apple Music has a feature where if you tap the Lossess icon within the album or track you're playing it will show you the exact bit and kilohertz rate for that album or single. It also shows you the audio codec its in like ALAC for example. The absolute best I've seen which I think is the highest standard currently available for mainstream audio is 24-bit/192KHz. If you can find a newer album that displays that quality and the output device is set to play it, you will notice a HUGE difference in playback especially on the ML system. Has to be newer audio tho because older audio remastered in that quality and codec won't be the same because in the remastering/upscaling process there will be a lot more data in the audio file but no new information within that new data. Kinda like an old movie from 1960 remastered and upscaled to 4K vs a new movie reordered with a 4K camera. Most people wont notice the difference but I'm fussy like that with sound and technology in general lol!
Agreed. I love testing and trying different applications in pursuit of getting the best out of things. I love how Apple Music has a feature where if you tap the Lossess icon within the album or track you're playing it will show you the exact bit and kilohertz rate for that album or single. It also shows you the audio codec its in like ALAC for example. The absolute best I've seen which I think is the highest standard currently available for mainstream audio is 24-bit/192KHz. If you can find a newer album that displays that quality and the output device is set to play it, you will notice a HUGE difference in playback especially on the ML system. Has to be newer audio tho because older audio remastered in that quality and codec won't be the same because in the remastering/upscaling process there will be a lot more data in the audio file but no new information within that new data. Kinda like an old movie from 1960 remastered and upscaled to 4K vs a new movie reordered with a 4K camera. Most people wont notice the difference but I'm fussy like that with sound and technology in general lol!
Most platforms display the maximum sample rate available for each song while it's being played. Unless you're using a DAC chances are you're only listening to 24-bit/48 kHz even though you might see a sample rate of 24-bit/192KHz for that particular song. It gets really ugly if you use Bluetooth headphones since that tech is really limited. The links below might shed some light:
07-02-21, 10:51 AM
