Bluetooth vs. ipod integration - sound quality

[grzesiuskow]

I have a 2010 GT with Bose (no nav) and im wondering if it is worth to spend over $100 plus all the installation labor for iPod integration cable?
Will the sound quality be any better than Bluetooth?
i dont really care about the charging issue since i have an Apple car cigarette lighter to USB connector that charges my iphone, sound quality is the only thing im concerned with.

What do you think?

Thanks

 

[memasterac]

I have a 2010 GT with Bose (no nav) and im wondering if it is worth to spend over $100 plus all the installation labor for iPod integration cable?
Will the sound quality be any better than Bluetooth?
i dont really care about the charging issue since i have an Apple car cigarette lighter to USB connector that charges my iphone, sound quality is the only thing im concerned with.

What do you think?

Thanks

I do not have iPod integration kit on CX-9 but I have both Bluetooth and iPod integration on my Lexus. I personally don't hear the difference in sound quality so unless you have trained ears or testing equipment can tell the difference. The over $100 plus installation will only give you some customized control and display on your factory head unit but again, to many people it is worth it.

 

[mainard1]

not worth i, save your money and replace the whole head unit to get nav

 

[mainard1]

or upgrade your spekers

 

[grzesiuskow]

Got my iphone for NAV, works good

 

[ceric]

BT sound quality heavily depends on bit rate of both sides (server and client).
It is not as good as digital signals thru wires, but it might be comparable to
analog signals thru wires (such as AUX input) due to A/D-D/A conversion.
Again, depending on the highest bit rate of both sides can handle.

 

[JTEN98]

http://accessories.mazdausa.com/pdfs/iPod_Integration_Module_Application_Guide.pdf

 

[HOLOHOLO]

The Bluetooth is terrible. Even the wired iPod sound is weak. But the BT is worse than a walkman.

 

[jrgmanict]

My thought is that BT is acceptable but it depends upon the bit rate you are using either in streaming a service like Pandora or the bit rate at which you encoded the MP3 file.
I notice on files that were encoded at a lower rate that the quality is not as good as a higher encoded file.
It also depends upon at what level you set your phone at the higher the media volume the better the sound.
There are times that I set the Media volume lower while at work and when I get in the car or have my motorcycle helmet (bluetooth streaming device there too) on and did not reset the volume to the higher setting then I notice pretty much right away as it does not sound as good as it does on the higher setting.

The Bluetooth is terrible. Even the wired iPod sound is weak. But the BT is worse than a walkman.

 

[HOLOHOLO]

Barely acceptable, but it has nothing to do with the music bit rate or sample rate. Sorry.

All my music is 44.1k or 96K and 192kbs. Has always sounded great on almost any non streaming stereo. Even cheap ones.

I am not an audiophile or audio snob, but I do this for a living and I can't believe how poorly tuned the Mazda Bose is.

Connect the iPod via the Bose wired aux port (analog) and it sounds pretty weak and flat. Basically lifeless. Not lifelike.
Connect via BT (narrow digital stream) and it further degrades, sounding much like a weak, muffled broadcast signal. At least with the iPhone/iPod.

Regardless of the file, the Bose fidelity gets worse as soon as BT is used. I don't think it was ever intended as a multichannel HIFI streaming protocol. BT barley manages to produce decent 2 way voice communications, which have a very narrow bandwidth. It is re-compressing the hell out of our dynamic music files. I avoid it because of this.

 

[ceric]

When I said bit rate, I did not mean the sampling rate of the music.
I meant the bit rate of transmission of both ends....

 

[JTEN98]

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...d-iPod-Integration-Cable-USB-TYPE-GEA1-79-970

 

[nosbusa]

a wired connection will aways be better than a wireless connection

 

[HOLOHOLO]

a wired connection will aways be better than a wireless connection

Seems logical.

Except where it's Analog vs Digital. Which is what we have here, using Aux vs BT.

In this case, the cheap CX-9 analog still sounds better than the cheap BT.

If we were listening to decent digital broadband stream, this would not be the case.

Does the ipod kit JTEN mentions use a true digital connection to the amp? That should sound great w/ good source material.