[The Ru]

Any radio (standard or satellite) have a distinctly better sound that when I stream Spotify from my phone. Spotify seems to lack a full sound, and less bass is very noticeable.

I've tried messing with the settings in the car, and even the EQ settings on my phone, and can't find a solution.

I assume I'm missing something simple.

Thanks in advance.

2014 435i

[bjornrepublic]

I'm having the same issue. I found a few more threads with this question, and I don't think there's a fix for it.

[quakerroatmeal]

I've researched about this and found that it was normal. The reasoning for it I'm not sure.

[ReMiii40]

Originally Posted by The Ru

Any radio (standard or satellite) have a distinctly better sound that when I stream Spotify from my phone. Spotify seems to lack a full sound, and less bass is very noticeable.

I've tried messing with the settings in the car, and even the EQ settings on my phone, and can't find a solution.

I assume I'm missing something simple.

Thanks in advance.

2014 435i

Hey,
Radios channels always boost bass...

And I think the car use SDC technology, very basic codec with lot of compression (max bit rate 345 kbps). And Spotify use mp3 files (max 320 kbps bit rate).

With bluetooth you can't have loseless music, even with the latest codecs (LDAC or aptX HD), there are always compression

Maybe you can have slightly better bass in USB mode with Spotify hifi :confused 2 (or Tidal, Apple Music lossless, Deezer hifi, Qobuz)

[The Ru]

Originally Posted by ReMiii40

Hey,
Radios channels always boost bass...

And I think the car use SDC technology, very basic codec with lot of compression (max bit rate 345 kbps). And Spotify use mp3 files (max 320 kbps bit rate).

With bluetooth you can't have lossless music, even with the latest codecs (LDAC or aptX HD), there are always compression

Maybe you can have slightly better bass in USB mode with Spotify hifi :confused 2 (or Tidal, Apple Music lossless, Deezer hifi, Qobuz)

I get compression, etc. I assumed spotify would sound better than analog radio signal. I was really hoping i was missing something easy to adjust. Thanks for the reply.

[Kevin @ Integral Audio]

Check your Audio Quality settings (Settings > Audio Quality) and Equalizer settings (Settings > Playback > Equalizer). If you force it to "Very High" and uncheck "Auto Adjust Quality" the quality should be quite good.