Spotify versus Apple Music Sound Quality

[matty]

I use Spotify everyday but it sounds terrible in the car. Does Apple Music work better? Or can I connect to bluetooth instead of carplay?

 

[segbrk]

CarPlay should be much better than Bluetooth, Bluetooth does not have the bandwidth for high resolution music. Apple Music does sound great over CarPlay. Built in Tidal sounds even better, but it’s a bit clumsy. High quality media on a USB drive is unbeatable.

 

[DreamTour]

This thread might be helpful to get perspective.

Thread 'Observations HiRes - Audio source quality limits for Lucid Stereo System'

Apr 15, 2024

I know i am likely in the very small minority of folks who will ever notice this but wanted to share my experimental results in case anyone else wanted to dip into hifi.

As background, I've invested in a full aftermarket build of my Lucid Air's sound system with top of the line components and custom tuning.

Details here for background: https://lucidowners.com/threads/luc...lity-configuration-of-the-factory-audio.4647/

Since I've had this system for a while I started playing around with Tidal, Qobuz, Carplay, and USB audio.

Here are...

• DreamTour
• Replies: 47
• Forum: Music & Sound

• 

 

[matty]

This thread might be helpful to get perspective.

Thread 'Observations HiRes - Audio source quality limits for Lucid Stereo System'

Apr 15, 2024

I know i am likely in the very small minority of folks who will ever notice this but wanted to share my experimental results in case anyone else wanted to dip into hifi.

As background, I've invested in a full aftermarket build of my Lucid Air's sound system with top of the line components and custom tuning.

Details here for background: https://lucidowners.com/threads/luc...lity-configuration-of-the-factory-audio.4647/

Since I've had this system for a while I started playing around with Tidal, Qobuz, Carplay, and USB audio.

Here are...

• DreamTour
• Replies: 47
• Forum: Music & Sound

• 

So we're looking at Tidal for the best streaming sound from carplay. I listen to Rap mainly, so bass is important to me.

 

[segbrk]

So we're looking at Tidal for the best streaming sound from carplay. I listen to Rap mainly, so bass is important to me.

If you're going to use Tidal, why not use the built-in app in the car? It will play in higher quality than CarPlay and supports Atmos assuming you have SSP. The UI is a bit clunky, but, well, so is the Tidal UI on phones. Set up some playlists on your phone or computer and they'll sync to the car, then you barely have to use the UI. This car doesn't have a sub, but the woofers (at least with SSP) will generate some bone-rattling bass if your source is high quality and actually has bass. It doesn't add bass where there is none like some systems.

 

[idiot900]

I use Spotify everyday but it sounds terrible in the car. Does Apple Music work better? Or can I connect to bluetooth instead of carplay?

What specifically do you mean by "terrible"? This is an incredibly subjective descriptor. Both the native Spotify app and Spotify on my iPhone through CarPlay sound perfectly fine to me.

 

[Nomit8rs]

I use the Tidal app in the car. It is clunky to access and it will restart the song from the beginning or a playlist from the beginning when you leave the car and come back. I have resolved that by pressing pause when I think of it when leaving the car. Like other users, I have created a playlist on my computer and use that. It will also do playlists of songs you have listened to and similar songs so that is a nice variety. The big difference I noticed recently is when I found a playlist of Dolby Atmos songs. Oh my gosh, it is AMAZING! I had heard people talk about the sound quality in the Air and, while it is good enough for me, was not incredible. Once I paired the sound system with the Hi-Fi of Tidal and Dolby Atmos, it blew me away.
Now to run out and get hearing aids from the ridiculously loud music I have been playing.

 

[fisheral]

Does using the native app vs carplay make a difference on the base surreal sound system?

 

[hydbob]

Does using the native app vs carplay make a difference on the base surreal sound system?

It should, also ensure you set the sound quality to high in the native app

 

[fisheral]

It should, also ensure you set the sound quality to high in the native app

Would this hold true for both spotify and tidal native apps?

 

[coma24]

I use the Tidal app in the car. It is clunky to access and it will restart the song from the beginning or a playlist from the beginning when you leave the car and come back. I have resolved that by pressing pause when I think of it when leaving the car. Like other users, I have created a playlist on my computer and use that. It will also do playlists of songs you have listened to and similar songs so that is a nice variety. The big difference I noticed recently is when I found a playlist of Dolby Atmos songs. Oh my gosh, it is AMAZING! I had heard people talk about the sound quality in the Air and, while it is good enough for me, was not incredible. Once I paired the sound system with the Hi-Fi of Tidal and Dolby Atmos, it blew me away.
Now to run out and get hearing aids from the ridiculously loud music I have been playing.

Open the Tidal App on your phone, go to the Home screen, scroll down to find the Dolby Atmos option. It offers a ton of playlists, including new arrivals. That's the fastest way that I know of to get access to the most content. Alternatively, from the car itself, you can search for 'dolby atmos' simply because it features in the title of a number of the playlists. The in-car search can be hit and miss, though, if you know there's an album in both formats out there, it can be challenging to specifically target the atmos version when it's not included in the title.

I concur, Atmos offers a substantial step up in many instances. It comes down to the decisions of the mixing engineer as to what you ultimately hear, though. I notice that one of the most immersive effects are when echoes or atmospheric sounds are placed towards the back while the vocals are mostly from the front. Basic stuff, but it really gets your attention and just "sounds better" to my simple ear. That said, not every Atmos recording is going to have you sitting in awe. There have been a few where I haven't heard a peep from the back and the isolation of channels doesn't sound any different. In those cases, I genuinely don't know what they've done over and above the normal stereo mix.