[aabc]

Has anyone else experienced / noticed that CarPlay playback quality through the HK system is poor compared to radio? I have the "enhanced sound" toggle on which makes a small improvement.

All the music through CarPlay is downloaded from Apple Music (lossless, atmos where available) so not using mobile data to stream which could cause playback quality issues.

Are there any settings tweaks I can make to the in-car system or on my device for better playback?

[SkykingUSA]

I don't use CarPlay because I have an Android phone, but generally I have read that it's best to turn off the "enhanced sound" and just adjust the equalizer to your liking. For me, I typically turn up the bass and treble a little. Others have had some success by moving the balance of the sound a little to the rear as well. I think once you're in there, you just have to fiddle with the sliders to find what suits you best.

[RichardInCA]

Agreed with Skyking - one thing I notice is how much quieter the rear speakers are relative to the front - assume others have noted the same?

Edit: sorry I have the B&W not HK, may or may not apply

[aabc]

Thanks! Will give that a whirl and see if that improves.

The HK system in the G30 seems far superior to the G60...

[Scrapula]

I’m not sure that the HK system has an equalizer. I remember someone posting that it’s only available with the B & W system, which is well worth the upgrade.

[SkykingUSA]

Originally Posted by Scrapula

I’m not sure that the HK system has an equalizer. I remember someone posting that it’s only available with the B & W system, which is well worth the upgrade.

Technically, you are correct! When I wrote equalizer, I was referring to the sliders in the sound settings. I took a couple of photos to show the sliders below. It's really just your basic Treble, Bass, Balance and Fader settings.

[aabc]

Originally Posted by SkykingUSA

Technically, you are correct! When I wrote equalizer, I was referring to the sliders in the sound settings. I took a couple of photos to show the sliders below. It's really just your basic Treble, Bass, Balance and Fader settings.

Will try out your sound settings and see how that works. Did it help with making it more "surround" sound?

[SkykingUSA]

Originally Posted by aabc

Will try out your sound settings and see how that works. Did it help with making it more "surround" sound?

Honestly, I don't think any changes I made sounded more "surround". I just like the increased bass and treble settings because it sounds better to me as the driver. I also tried moving the sound a little to the rear, but felt it just lowered the volume for me.

Perception of sound is very subjective - you really need to play with it a little as you're listening to something in the genre you typically listen to, to see what sounds best to you. Your preferences will probably change as your hearing changes over time as well, so just play with the sliders and see what works best for you.

If I had to order again, I'm not sure I would go for the Bowers and Wilkins system. Based on what everyone writes on this forum, it seems to undoubtably be a better system, but is the extra grand worth it for ME? I'm not sure. I always ask myself, do I need to spend almost $1,000 on a system if I only have $5 ears? Certainly if I was more of an audiophile or really enjoyed high quality sound more often it would be worth it I think.

[Scrapula]

I think $1k is totally worth it. I wish I could have spent $4k on the Diamond system. I’ve had audiophile quality equipment at home for most of my life and used to order cars without a radio so I could install something decent. I sometimes just get in my car to listen to music so I don’t disturb anyone else at home. Yesterday, I was listening to Destroyer of the Void by Blitzen Trapper. Lots of highs, lows, tempo changes, etc. It sounded amazing.

[BimmerFix]

I believe this has to do with CarPlay limitations , that interface is not using top tier Lossless Audio

Which is why music from USB sounds better, even Sirius XM . Higher quality & bit rate

[Kenny C]

Download tidal. Its awesome

[aabc]

You might be correct. Got a G30 with HK audio and the playback is the same whether it's radio or CarPlay. But there's such a huge drop off in the G60 when going from radio to CarPlay...

Originally Posted by BimmerFix

I believe this has to do with CarPlay limitations , that interface is not using top tier Lossless Audio

Which is why music from USB sounds better, even Sirius XM . Higher quality & bit rate

[RichardInCA]

Just had something of a breakthrough for me - yes, I’m on the B&W - just tried audio through my iPhone and USB with a Lossless recording and the extra clarity I heard through the USB was really noticeable. I’m now worried I can’t go back….anyone found a hack to be able to use the functionality of CarPlay but force the audio to go through USB somehow?

[SkykingUSA]

Originally Posted by RichardInCA

Just had something of a breakthrough for me - yes, I’m on the B&W - just tried audio through my iPhone and USB with a Lossless recording and the extra clarity I heard through the USB was really noticeable. I’m now worried I can’t go back….anyone found a hack to be able to use the functionality of CarPlay but force the audio to go through USB somehow?

I wonder if this would apply to Android Auto as well. Anyone compared?

[Scrapula]

Originally Posted by SkykingUSA

I wonder if this would apply to Android Auto as well. Anyone compared?

My guess is that it is Bluetooth with lesser quality. The old wired CarPlay didn’t have the issue.

[richpat69]

Originally Posted by RichardInCA

Just had something of a breakthrough for me - yes, I’m on the B&W - just tried audio through my iPhone and USB with a Lossless recording and the extra clarity I heard through the USB was really noticeable. I’m now worried I can’t go back….anyone found a hack to be able to use the functionality of CarPlay but force the audio to go through USB somehow?

About 10 years ago I burned all of my CD's onto a PC using a FLAC format which is lossless and which BMW supports. I also converted the FLAC's to MP3 files which are much smaller in filesize than FLACS. A couple of years ago I put the entire FLAC collection (close to 10K songs) onto a small USB-C drive for my car.

I have the B&W option on my '24 540 and I am very impressed with the sound. I've tried using MP3 files also and there is a bit of a drop in sound quality but not much. I believe you can use CarPlay with a USB drive but I use the BMW player and it sounds great.

[SkykingUSA]

Originally Posted by richpat69

About 10 years ago I burned all of my CD's onto a PC using a FLAC format which is lossless and which BMW supports. I also converted the FLAC's to MP3 files which are much smaller in filesize than FLACS. A couple of years ago I put the entire FLAC collection (close to 10K songs) onto a small USB-C drive for my car.

I have the B&W option on my '24 540 and I am very impressed with the sound. I've tried using MP3 files also and there is a bit of a drop in sound quality but not much. I believe you can use CarPlay with a USB drive but I use the BMW player and it sounds great.

All this talk of sound quality makes me wonder if my Android Auto music is sounding as good as my USB music I used to play in the car. I guess I'm not much of an audiophile since I didn't really notice any difference when I decided to switch to the Android player on my phone. I'll have to plug in the USB stick again and compare song to song to see if I can hear any difference.

[RichardInCA]

Originally Posted by richpat69

About 10 years ago I burned all of my CD's onto a PC using a FLAC format which is lossless and which BMW supports. I also converted the FLAC's to MP3 files which are much smaller in filesize than FLACS. A couple of years ago I put the entire FLAC collection (close to 10K songs) onto a small USB-C drive for my car.

I have the B&W option on my '24 540 and I am very impressed with the sound. I've tried using MP3 files also and there is a bit of a drop in sound quality but not much. I believe you can use CarPlay with a USB drive but I use the BMW player and it sounds great.

Yeah - I’m going to explore some options here. I listened to an album via USB on my way to work this morning the clarity was so much better - it seemed to be the upper registers that was most noticeable. I was pretty happy with CarPlay audio before, but this just took the audio to another level.

[lukaceh]

There is a software problem with the head unit. I just dropped my G61 at the dealer for reprogramming and software updates. They mentioned that this should now fix the problem.
I will let you know if this will solve the sound issues.

vv

It did not fix the problem. Apparently, there are a lot of problems similar to this, also with the i4. They are now waiting for an official explanation from Germany.