Bluetooth Audio Issues

[webigon]

Ok - I have 2 issues with my Bluetooth Audio. I have a Verizon Galaxy Nexus. Bluetooth Phone is just fine and no issues.

1. A couple of times now the bluetooth audio devices just disappear. I have to pair all the bluetooth audio devices (mine, wifes, kids) all over again.
2. While streaming bluetooth audio it's choppy, like a couple of times per song.

Anyone had these issues?

[damneighborkid]

The bluetooth quality is absolute crap in my 2012 SS. Connects just fine but sounds horrible. I have actually gone back to CD's until I can get an aftermarket head unit put in.

[ForgedReality]

Bluetooth, by its very nature, is not going to sound as good as a direct line, either via USB or a stereo patch cable. It is made for voice, not music. Therefore, the standard dictates a fairly significant amount of compression which strips down the high and low frequencies while downsampling the overall frequency bandwidth to allow the signal to be sent quickly over a bluetooth radio transmission. In other words, it's going to sound compressed because it IS compressed.

I stopped using Bluetooth to stream, even though it's convenient, and it's nice to have the steering wheel controls (or on the head unit) to switch tracks, but, really, it's a lot better in my experience to play on the phone (I use an Android media player called Poweramp, and it's awesome) over line-in, and that sounds the best, I find.

As for why yours is skipping, I dunno, but it's possible it has to do with the source. Try a different phone/media player/format to see if it still skips in all of those scenarios. I'm thinking it's nothing to do with the Camaro's system though.

[jeepguy_1980]

Originally Posted by ForgedReality

Bluetooth, by its very nature, is not going to sound as good as a direct line, either via USB or a stereo patch cable. It is made for voice, not music. Therefore, the standard dictates a fairly significant amount of compression which strips down the high and low frequencies while downsampling the overall frequency bandwidth to allow the signal to be sent quickly over a bluetooth radio transmission. In other words, it's going to sound compressed because it IS compressed.

I stopped using Bluetooth to stream, even though it's convenient, and it's nice to have the steering wheel controls (or on the head unit) to switch tracks, but, really, it's a lot better in my experience to play on the phone (I use an Android media player called Poweramp, and it's awesome) over line-in, and that sounds the best, I find.

As for why yours is skipping, I dunno, but it's possible it has to do with the source. Try a different phone/media player/format to see if it still skips in all of those scenarios. I'm thinking it's nothing to do with the Camaro's system though.

Bluetooth is not "made for voice." Voice is one the many intended uses for bluetooth. It does not do any any audio processing either, which means that it cannot strip highs and lows from your music. It does have a max bandwidth, which translates to a maximum sample rate.

Edit: From what I can find online, the max bit rate of A2DP (bluetooth music streaming) is between 127 kbps and 345 kbps. Even at the low end, it's the same bitrate as a standard iTunes MP3.

[Pur3vil]

For me, not only does is the sound quality lower than expected, but the volume is crap too. I have to crank the phone all the way up, and turn the volume up in the car way higher than it should need to go. I've also found that the AUX input connected to the headphone jack sounds like crap too, and is too quiet. I can stream Pandora with a good pair of headphones and it sounds good, but with the AUX port and a stereo cable in the car, it sounds horrible. I just stick with USB with my old iPod, or let the car index a stick or my phone. It's not ideal, but it is better then nothing.

[camtx45]

Originally Posted by webigon

Ok - I have 2 issues with my Bluetooth Audio. I have a Verizon Galaxy Nexus. Bluetooth Phone is just fine and no issues.

1. A couple of times now the bluetooth audio devices just disappear. I have to pair all the bluetooth audio devices (mine, wifes, kids) all over again.

Anyone had these issues?

Try turning on the radio BEFORE you turn on bluetooth on your phone. (This assumes you had pairing working the last time you were in the car.)

I have the same phone and had to repair often, but that seems to make a big difference.

Not sure if the order of turning things off matter, but I usually turn off the car (with the radio/BT connection running), remove the key (with the radio/BT connection running), open the door (which turns off the radio) and then go in the house before turning bluetooth on the phone off.

[ForgedReality]

Originally Posted by jeepguy_1980

Bluetooth is not "made for voice." Voice is one the many intended uses for bluetooth. It does not do any any audio processing either, which means that it cannot strip highs and lows from your music. It does have a max bandwidth, which translates to a maximum sample rate.

Edit: From what I can find online, the max bit rate of A2DP (bluetooth music streaming) is between 127 kbps and 345 kbps. Even at the low end, it's the same bitrate as a standard iTunes MP3.

My point was it wasn't designed with high quality audio transmission in mind. It was designed with limiting radio interference in mind, and it's a fairly tight band. Your audio gets decompressed by the processor, sent to the bluetooth processor, which recompresses it using another codec, which then gets transmitted to your receiver via radio waves (which, by definition means it's not going to be an audiophile's ideal method), where it then gets decompressed before you hear it reproduced in your speakers. Sometimes, the data stream can be downsampled from 16 bits to 8 bits depending on the coded data format that the transmission device and receiving unit negotiate. MP3 bitrate is completely separate and independent from the Bluetooth bitrate. There is no direct audio processing, no, but the encoding/compression used has the effect of cutting down "less efficient" frequencies.

Long story short: a direct connection will almost always sound better, if the source audio itself is high enough quality to begin with. If you're playing shit-quality 128kbps mp3s, you probably won't notice the quality degradation. Try some at 320, and you will.

[jeepguy_1980]

Originally Posted by ForgedReality

My point was it wasn't designed with high quality audio transmission in mind. It was designed with limiting radio interference in mind, and it's a fairly tight band. Your audio gets decompressed by the processor, sent to the bluetooth processor, which recompresses it using another codec, which then gets transmitted to your receiver via radio waves (which, by definition means it's not going to be an audiophile's ideal method), where it then gets decompressed before you hear it reproduced in your speakers. Sometimes, the data stream can be downsampled from 16 bits to 8 bits depending on the coded data format that the transmission device and receiving unit negotiate. MP3 bitrate is completely separate and independent from the Bluetooth bitrate. There is no direct audio processing, no, but the encoding/compression used has the effect of cutting down "less efficient" frequencies.

Long story short: a direct connection will almost always sound better, if the source audio itself is high enough quality to begin with. If you're playing shit-quality 128kbps mp3s, you probably won't notice the quality degradation. Try some at 320, and you will.

Bluetooth is capable of greater than 320kbps transmissions, so unless your phone doesn't support this, there shouldn't be a difference.

[ForgedReality]

Originally Posted by jeepguy_1980

Bluetooth is capable of greater than 320kbps transmissions, so unless your phone doesn't support this, there shouldn't be a difference.

Like I said, that's different from the audio compression used in whatever format the files are encoded with. And it's also "in theory," from lab tests with little interference from other radios in the area, or materials the signal has to pass through before reaching its destination.

[jeepguy_1980]

Originally Posted by ForgedReality

Like I said, that's different from the audio compression used in whatever format the files are encoded with. And it's also "in theory," from lab tests with little interference from other radios in the area, or materials the signal has to pass through before reaching its destination.

The audio is still re-sampled at the phone's headphone jack, so unless you give the radio direct access to the file, i.e. the USB port, your music is still being re-sampled.

I rarely use my bluetooth for music stream, and never use the headphone jack. I pretty much keep an iPod plugged into my car with high quality mp3s and ALACs. When I do use bluetooth, it sounds much better than XM. Then again, XM is a mere 44kbps.

[ForgedReality]

The headphone jack is a line out. All it does is play on your phone. I have a much better player on my phone than the head unit is capable of, so it sounds a lot better and I don't have to worry about the 1000 songs limit or whatever it is with the car's USB reader, especially considering it tries to index every single audio file on the phone, including system and app sounds. No thanks. If it were just a music player, that wouldn't be so much of an issue.

I never listen to XM because it sounds like shit, and with all the trees and overpasses here, there is no reception 30% of the time, and it cuts out. I only ever use it when I have a free trial, and after that, I don't miss it. I'd rather stream Slacker or Pandora from my phone at that rate. It sounds better and it doesn't cut out.

[jeepguy_1980]

1000 song limit? I have a 240GB iPod and have never encountered such a limit, or any indexing issues.


And the headphone jack is not a simple line out. It goes through the DAC (which by the very definition of digital, means it has a sample rate) and then the, likely, crappy phone internal amp, before making its way to the jack. This leaves you at the mercy of your Phone's DAC and stereo's DAC, as opposed to just the stereo's DAC.

[ForgedReality]

Originally Posted by jeepguy_1980

1000 song limit? I have a 240GB iPod and have never encountered such a limit, or any indexing issues.


And the headphone jack is not a simple line out. It goes through the DAC (which by the very definition of digital, means it has a sample rate) and then the, likely, crappy phone internal amp, before making its way to the jack. This leaves you at the mercy of your Phone's DAC and stereo's DAC, as opposed to just the stereo's DAC.

Whoops sorry. 10,000 song limit.
http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116803

As for the stereo jack, it's a helluva lot better quality than Bluetooth compression, because with that, you're adding at least two more levels of conversion along the way, and depending on vendor, the quality of the audio format chosen can vary within that data stream.

USB is the only other option and that's not very useful with a modern smartphone like mine. You'll end up with a whole lot of audio tracks it thinks is music, but is really just sound effects, cached navigation audio, etc. If you know a better way, let me know.

[Big Top Gt]

I've got a 2010 2SS/RS and have NEVER been able to get the streaming audio to work.

The phone pairs basically fine, for the most part, but audio is a no-go.

:(

[webigon]

Not sure if you are aware but you need to pair the bluetooth audio separately from the phone... It's a two step process. Pair the phone for bluetooth calling and then pair the phone again for bluetooth audio/streaming. To get to audio pairing set the radio to aux and then click the config/setup knob (not the button). This takes you to the bluetooth audio setup...

[Big Top Gt]

In the Bluetooth audio menu, I don't even see the prompt.

Terrible system, I tell you.

[jeepguy_1980]

Originally Posted by Big Top Gt

In the Bluetooth audio menu, I don't even see the prompt.

Terrible system, I tell you.

You can't even get to the bluetooth audio menu without having already paired your phone to the audio portion of the radio.

So I'm not sure what you're asking.

[Big Top Gt]

What I meant was this:

I can go into the system and pair the phone with no problems.

When I go into the auxiliary menu through which I'm supposed to find the separate menu for pairing the streaming audio, it doesn't offer me the necessary option to connect the streaming audio function to the phone.

It gives you the option of selecting GMXXX for the standard phone connection, but when in the streaming audio menu, the necessary GMYYY option never comes up on my phone. (Nor is it visible on the radio itself.)

[DuskSS]

Stange I've had had 0 issues on the 2013 with bluetooth use it for everything.
Steaming Spotify constantly.
sounds great just as good as it is when plugged in.

guess the 13 solved these issues.

I got this thread by looking for the only issue I'm having. which is after a trip the dealer yesterday I can no longer skip songs in any of my phone apps using the steering wheel controls.
before that was working great.

[Shu71]

My bluetooth audio streaming from my iphone 4 sounds poor compared to a direct USB port connection in the console. I ended up getting a 16GB falshdrive like this one http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Kingston...&skuId=4923319 and put my music on it and leave it in the car all the time. By far this is my preferred method. It sounds very good and I never have problems navigating the music files (but I also manually change the album details; like genre to only have about 5 genres to make it easier). A CD sounds a little better but for the storage capacity of the flashdrive and not having a glovebox/console full of cd's, I am happy.

[SNK]

I am a little confused. I am not aware that I can stream music through bluetooth from my phone to the car for MUSIC. My phone is connected to the car through bluetooth but it is only availible for phone calls. How do you make music play through the bluetooth? Or is this an aftermarket thing?

[Shu71]

Originally Posted by SNK

I am a little confused. I am not aware that I can stream music through bluetooth from my phone to the car for MUSIC. My phone is connected to the car through bluetooth but it is only availible for phone calls. How do you make music play through the bluetooth? Or is this an aftermarket thing?

On your Bluetooth device you would do a search for "GMMusicConnect". This is the PDIM module for streaming music. When you do your search you will also see the "your vehicle" connection which I for the phone Bluetooth.

[SNK]

Originally Posted by Shu71

On your Bluetooth device you would do a search for "GMMusicConnect". This is the PDIM module for streaming music. When you do your search you will also see the "your vehicle" connection which I for the phone Bluetooth.

Just to clarify, I will do a bluetooth search on my phone, with the car running, and should see "GMMusicConnect". If I pair to this I will then be able to play music through the car wirelessly?

[BigRed82]

I've heard certain types of window tinting will affect bluetooth audio.

[DuskSS]

Originally Posted by SNK

I am a little confused. I am not aware that I can stream music through bluetooth from my phone to the car for MUSIC. My phone is connected to the car through bluetooth but it is only availible for phone calls. How do you make music play through the bluetooth? Or is this an aftermarket thing?

Depends on the phone as well some can others can't.

On modern android you just got to make sure both media and phone are bound to the car.

Leave bt on and when you get in the car bt audio will be active.
You can then stream any media on the phone.
I use spotify and my 64gig sd card in my note 2



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