loss of quality with aux.....
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 9,744
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From: Nevada
loss of quality with aux.....
THis is my first smartphone/aux setup so I can't compare...
I bought 3 aux cables from monoprice which although cheap prices was a dumb purchase I must add. The cables are huge and stiff as a brick....I bought a retractable one from them as well.....all with crap quality streaming Pandora. I have to turn the volume up to 30s to get the same volume 10-15 would give me with a cd in......not to mention the crackling that comes with it. So I went and bought a monster brand cable but still the same stuff. Is this normal or is my phone a weak link? It's an HTC EVO 3d. I set the volume on the phone to a few clicks from max and even on different levels its all the same. I feel like its just the radio not Pandora since the quality sucks so much
I bought 3 aux cables from monoprice which although cheap prices was a dumb purchase I must add. The cables are huge and stiff as a brick....I bought a retractable one from them as well.....all with crap quality streaming Pandora. I have to turn the volume up to 30s to get the same volume 10-15 would give me with a cd in......not to mention the crackling that comes with it. So I went and bought a monster brand cable but still the same stuff. Is this normal or is my phone a weak link? It's an HTC EVO 3d. I set the volume on the phone to a few clicks from max and even on different levels its all the same. I feel like its just the radio not Pandora since the quality sucks so much
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 617
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From: Western MA
It's because the Sound is going through the amp in your phone first before coming out of the Aux. With an Iphone you can get an interface cable so the audio travels through the port in the bottom and not through the Aux/amp in the top of the phone. Goodluck with your HTC evo. Your best bet is to stream through bluetooth if your headunit is capable.
Joined: Feb 2011
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Going from the headphone jack on a phone will typically give lower quality than other methods (if available).
Some headunits support playback through USB from iPhones or other phone's which is typically the best option as the phone is only sending the data to the headunit to be decoded, and isn't using an internal amplifier to send the signal through the headphone jack.
Another option if your phone has it available is a line-out cable (as YoG628 mentioned). It basically sends the audio out of a dock connector to a 3.5mm connector, just as the headphone jack would do, but it bypasses the internal amp on the phone. So when connected with a line-out cable, the phone doesn't have any control over the volume. Here's an example of one for the iPhone, the L10 from Fiio
But after searching it doesn't appear that there are many viable options for the Evo
Monoprice cables are excellent quality, especially for the cost. The Premium cables they offer can in fact be pretty stiff though.
The retractable cables are absolute garbage for quality & durability 99% of the time.
When you DO use a normal aux cable, as you mentioned you already tried, you want the volume at 8/10 or 9/10 of the device/phone's max volume... but since that didn't help...
Use bluetooth as also mentioned by YoG628, or look into a different device/phone to play back your music with.
What headunit/deck do you have?
Some headunits support playback through USB from iPhones or other phone's which is typically the best option as the phone is only sending the data to the headunit to be decoded, and isn't using an internal amplifier to send the signal through the headphone jack.
Another option if your phone has it available is a line-out cable (as YoG628 mentioned). It basically sends the audio out of a dock connector to a 3.5mm connector, just as the headphone jack would do, but it bypasses the internal amp on the phone. So when connected with a line-out cable, the phone doesn't have any control over the volume. Here's an example of one for the iPhone, the L10 from Fiio
But after searching it doesn't appear that there are many viable options for the Evo
Monoprice cables are excellent quality, especially for the cost. The Premium cables they offer can in fact be pretty stiff though.
The retractable cables are absolute garbage for quality & durability 99% of the time.
When you DO use a normal aux cable, as you mentioned you already tried, you want the volume at 8/10 or 9/10 of the device/phone's max volume... but since that didn't help...
Use bluetooth as also mentioned by YoG628, or look into a different device/phone to play back your music with.
What headunit/deck do you have?
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Joined: Mar 2010
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BTW Pandora for smartphone is really low quality too. It's not just the poor sound coming out of your phone's DAC. I don't think USB would work as smartphones don't have hub support, you can only listen to your SD music. However, you should try bluetooth, that' swhat I'm using and can't tell the difference between that and USB or CD when I play my own songs. Pandora for smarthone still leaves a lot to be desired.
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 9,744
Likes: 31
From: Nevada
Thanks for the info guys. I am using a alpine cde 122.....no bluetooth, but it was only 89 bucks....maybe I just need to switch to the new iphone so I can actually use Pandora controls on the deck.
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 4,359
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From: Houston, TX
I bought 3 aux cables from monoprice which although cheap prices was a dumb purchase I must add. The cables are huge and stiff as a brick....I bought a retractable one from them as well.....all with crap quality streaming Pandora. I have to turn the volume up to 30s to get the same volume 10-15 would give me with a cd in......not to mention the crackling that comes with it. So I went and bought a monster brand cable but still the same stuff. Is this normal or is my phone a weak link?
The crackling is probably your phone's headphone jack. 3.5mm connections aren't very sturdy and it's common for them to have problems.
You can also try switching Pandora to its higher quality setting. I have no complaints with it but I'm certainly no audiophile.
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From: Stanmore
See page 20 of the manual here http://support.alpin...23_24SXM_EN.pdf
Set it to HIGH - this is much cheaper than buying an iPhone.
Setting the AUX Level (Aux Gain)
After setting to ON in "Setting the AUX SETUP Mode", this setting can be carried out.
Setting Item: AUX GAIN
Setting Contents:
LOW (Initial Setting) / HIGH
LOW:
Decreases the external audio input level.
HIGH:
Increases the external audio input level.
After setting to ON in "Setting the AUX SETUP Mode", this setting can be carried out.
Setting Item: AUX GAIN
Setting Contents:
LOW (Initial Setting) / HIGH
LOW:
Decreases the external audio input level.
HIGH:
Increases the external audio input level.