How To Extract The Best Audio From Your iPhone

You're the proud owner of an iPhone and, of course, a Pioneer car audio receiver!  You also have a subscription to Apple services, including Apple Music, which now offers high-resolution audio to deliver the best possible sound from your iPhone, and it's wonderful!

Since you're paying for this type of services, you get the best of what Apple has to offer, whether you’re at home, at the gym with your headphones on, and of course, in the car... No matter the environment, you'll get the best! Yes, it's true... BUT maybe it’s also false!

It's very easy to believe that we automatically have the best when that's not the case. Your iPhone and your Apple services offer you the ability to access this type of high-quality music experience, BUT you must take care to configure your iPhone and its environment to maximize your musical chain.

MAXIMIZE YOUR SYSTEM

To maximize the audio quality of your listening experience, and fully enjoy it when using your iPhone as a music source, you need to consider three important elements:

1.  The build quality and the capabilities of your audio devices.
2.  The communication tunnel connecting your audio receiver to the iPhone.
3.  The way your music is currently managed within your iPhone.

If any of these three elements is missing, your music experience won't be at its best.

MANUFACTURING QUALITY

The quality of your audio devices is paramount. Without it, you'll lose significant sonic richness, not to mention other potential issues related to the integration, the quality of the connection to be established with your iPhone, its ease of use, and, more importantly, how the acoustic processing will be performed by the audio device, which is, in our case, your Pioneer car audio receiver. Does your audio device support high-resolution music? Does your device feature cutting-edge technologies to maintain strong wireless communication with your iPhone? Is this same device capable of properly processing the information received and converting all those binary "0s" and "1s" into an analog signal, faithful to the recording source, without artifacts or noise? AND OF COURSE, have you taken the time to replace your original speakers with better quality speakers, to transform this electrical signal into precise air movement to create these emotional vibrations that create what we call music?

Now, the important question: do you check all these boxes?

To help you validate everything, and if you haven't read our previous article «BEHIND THE SCENES OF WIRELESS SOUND QUALITY», we invite you to consult the latter HERE.

GOOD COMMUNICATION

As in many scenarios, good communication is essential if you want to be understood... which we know can sometimes be difficult! The same goes for the connection between your iPhone and your in-car audio receiver. Whether wired or wireless, this connection must remain clean and free from interference that could be caused by the environment, such as the array of embedded computers installed in your car, which today are several dozen devices installed everywhere behind the vehicle's interior trims.

Based on the available technologies in your car, you can enjoy your music on your iPhone via three possible types of connections. Here they are, in order of importance, based on their performances:

1. USB cable (see it as your typical wired CarPlay)
   
2. Wi-Fi wireless connection (see it as your typical wireless Apple CarPlay)
   
3. Bluetooth wireless connection (typical hands-free and basic audio streaming)

USB LINK

The USB cable will often remain your most faithful technological companion. It's not as user-friendly as wireless communication once the setup is done, but it offers significant advantages. Starting, of course, with the ability to recharge your iPhone's battery while avoiding unnecessary overheating, which is commonly seen with wireless chargers. Since data communications take place within a physical "conduit" equipped with a protective shield beneath the cable's outer sheath, the USB cable will always be best equipped to protect you from RF interference (radio frequency noise) inherent in the environment, which can not only intermittently cause some interruptions in the wireless communication, but also potentially corrupt the transmitted information due to possible software correction errors. Please also note that it is easier to achieve high-speed communication with a cable than with wireless communication. The better the quality and the details of your audio files are, the more data there is to transmit within the same time, hence the need for a reliable and fast connection.

WI-FI LINK

Wi-Fi communication is now used in the car to connect your smartphone to your touchscreen AV receiver (with compatible units). This wireless link is now also used for connecting your Apple wireless CarPlay and Android Auto wireless compatible devices. Your Pioneer NEX receiver, which is compatible with these wireless modes for most of our models, gives you access to the convenience of a wireless link, which will give you access to various apps available on the respective Apple and Android platforms. It's perfect for a short trip, reducing the hassle of connecting your smartphone via the USB cable typically used for the same purposes.

A few important points to know about using Wi-Fi with your smartphone;

1. You won't be charging your smartphone battery while it's in use. In fact, in addition to not charging it, the battery drain will be greater due to the use of music streaming and other features via the smartphone's wireless modem. So, you gain convenience, but there's a small price to pay for battery life.
   
   
2. If we compare Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, wireless transmission via Wi-Fi is far superior in terms of connection quality, its immunity to RF noise, and it also boasts a much higher data rate. (All mandatory for maintaining excellent audio quality.)
   
   
3. While superior in every way to Bluetooth, a Wi-Fi connection is nevertheless subject to certain external influences that can be caused by RF noise, while a USB connection will be more robust in this type of environment... if you have a good cable quality, of course.

FUN FACT #1 – SAME BUT DIFFERENT

Did you know that wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto use different methods to communicate with your touchscreen receiver? In both cases, smartphones will recognize the receiver in the dashboard via a Bluetooth connection. Once this connection is established for hands-free calling, they will activate the Wi-Fi for their communications. For your iPhone, all communications will be switched over a single high-speed communication tunnel, namely Wi-Fi. This involves streaming your music, displaying videos, your CarPlay menus, control signals from both devices, and your hands-free phone. For Android users, the Bluetooth mode will be maintained for the hands-free calling portion of the communications. iPhone users, this explains why you experience a slight loss of hands-free calling when you're on the phone during this transition, but also why you gain audio quality for your phone calls when in CarPlay mode.

FUN FACT #2 – ARE YOU REALLY HAVING THE BEST?

Did you know that if your iPhone is in wireless CarPlay mode, using Wi-Fi to exchange data between your smartphone and your in-dash receiver, and you connect these devices via USB connection, you won't automatically switch to USB mode?

Of course, the receiver's USB connection will automatically activate your iPhone's battery charging, but both devices will maintain their Wi-Fi communication active. Therefore, if you think this will improve your acoustic performance, you're unfortunately mistaken. Once your iPhone has recognized an in-dash receiver as compatible with wireless CarPlay, it will always use Wi-Fi as its means of communication unless you have taken care to disable Wireless CarPlay automatic connection from your iPhone before connecting it with the USB cable from your compatible in-dash receiver. Note here that I mentioned "compatible" BECAUSE a certified wireless CarPlay receiver is NOT NECESSARILY certified as a wired Apple CarPlay device. Don't worry, all our Pioneer NEX receivers certified for wireless CarPlay are also certified for wired CarPlay mode!

To turn off this automatic connection to Wireless CarPlay, you need to go into your iPhone “General” Setting page, then select “CarPlay” turn off the automatic connection to Wireless CarPlay.  After that, a mandatory wired connection over USB will be required. 

BLUETOOTH CONNECTION

Certainly, the most widely used wireless connection for automobiles due to its ease of use, Bluetooth communication remains essential for connecting your smartphone to your car receiver. Although Bluetooth communications have evolved significantly over the years, this wireless connection does have its limitations. To maintain its low power consumption, these communication speeds are never as fast as Wi-Fi. However, as mentioned previously, it remains very useful for initial recognition between devices or basic wireless connections, such as hands-free calling, where audio quality isn't as critical as for listening to music. In the case of your iPhone, the important point to remember is that if you're not in CarPlay mode, whether wireless or wired, you're necessarily in Bluetooth communication with your car receiver and, therefore, you're not really getting the best possible music experience.

PROPERLY SETTING UP YOUR IPHONE

Excellent, now that you've done your homework, taken care to install a Pioneer NEX in-dash receiver in your vehicle, and you are using your preferred communication method based on your goals and preferences—namely, having found the sweet spot between convenience and audio quality. You can enjoy the best of your iPhone as a music source!

Actually, that's not quite the case... I’m sorry to have burst your bubble of happiness here, but you should also be aware that many settings inside your phone can have a significant impact on your musical experience, even if you have the best receiver in the world and use the best communication link.

To optimize your music quality, you must;

1. Go to the "Settings" section of your iPhone.
   
   
2. Scroll to the bottom of the list, then select the "Apps" line.
   
   
3. Once in the “Apps” submenu, you will find the "Music" app, which you must select.
   
   
4. Scroll to the second section of the settings, where you will find the audio quality option.
   
   
5. Select “Audio Quality”, which will open a specific page for these settings. 
   
   
   
6. Within this page, two settings will influence the quality of your in-car music experience and will have an impact based on your selection.
   1. "Cellular Streaming"
   2. "Download"

Although we're using Wi-Fi to communicate with Apple CarPlay wirelessly, the second option line here has no impact in the car. This configuration will only affect your listening experience when you're at home, connected to your Wi-Fi network and where you have AirPlay devices such as an Apple TV or HomePod, or via a high-quality DAC using a wired interface with your iPhone.

So, let’s go back to our two critical configurations: “Cellular Streaming” and the “Download” options.

If your cellular data plan allows you tons of data so you don't have to worry about your consumption, then you can aim for the best and select "Hi-Res Lossless" for your "Cellular Streaming" and "Download." This will allow you to always have the best and maximize the acoustic performance, based on the quality of your audio components and the communication link used between the devices. I invite you here to take note of the example and the details shared by Apple on these iPhone pages regarding the available resolutions, but also the typical data weight that belongs to a typical 3-minute song.

If you have some data limitations from your current data plan, we recommend that you select "Hi-Res Lossless" for your "Download" and select "Lossless" or "High Quality" for your "Cellular Streaming." With these settings, you will be able to enjoy adequate music quality in the vehicle if you are streaming, BUT also enjoy the best "Hi-Res Lossless" quality when listening to music that you have taken care to download to your iPhone memory via the "Add to Library" function available in your Apple Music application. With this option, listening to music from your music library will not only allow you not to consume cellular data, but to have the best available source for your music.

How do I add to my "Downloads"?

It's easy. When you're at home and connected to your home internet, you can do this by song, album, artist, or playlist by clicking on the "..." icon, usually to the right of each item, and then select "Add to Library."

Once in the car, you simply need to select a song from your "Download" section. This way, your music source will draw exclusively from the music stored in your iPhone's memory; zero cellular data usage and the highest possible quality.

SMALL BONUS

As with any properly installed car audio system, your technician will have taken care to calibrate everything, from the in-dash receiver to the speakers, including the amplifiers used, and of course, taking into account the acoustics of your cabin, which greatly impact the reactions and sonic characteristics of these components. Therefore, since this system is optimized for all audio sources in the device, if you haven't taken care to disable the "EQ" function in your Apple Music app, you will greatly affect the final acoustic results. Depending on the equalization selected on your iPhone, which will be combined with the settings of your in-car audio system, this could create gaps for some frequencies, or even a disproportionate boost in some other areas, resulting, as you might expect, in significantly degraded acoustic performance. Therefore, please disable this "EQ" function from your iPhone to avoid those potential problems.

CONCLUSION

I'm sure you didn't think you had all these things to adjust to optimize your music source. Since you took a few minutes to review this article, I invite you to take a few more to make the right adjustments. Your ears will thank you for this attention! This chart below perfectly shows the limits based on what you’re listening to and how you do it.

You liked this article, but by using music services other than Apple Music or without necessarily using a "Hi-Res Lossless" source. You would like to know if you can improve those sources and enjoy better sound in your vehicle. Stay tuned for our next article!