Audio quality difference between carplay MMI addon and NBT Evo retrofit?

[vroomvroomvroom]

Hey folks,

The audio quality difference between playing music off a USB stick and bluetooth Spotify is really starting to bother me. I'd love to get Carplay setup in my F12 M6 (with an ID4 unit).

Are there meaningful audio quality differences between using an MMI box (like this one) and a full NBT Evo 6 upgrade?

I'd hate to spend a bunch of money and end up with same audio quality I'd get by running a cable into the AUX port.

I'm leaning towards the MMI box, but would love to hear if people find the full upgrade to be a significantly better user experience.

[Oris4]

I have my mmi set to play through Bluetooth as well as calls and sound quality is as it was prior to mmi.

[vroomvroomvroom]

Sorry I guess I’m asking if the MMI CarPlay is able to send audio into the speaker system at the same quality as a full upgrade of the center console. Is it effectively using the AUX port or something fancier?

I ask because the quality of audio I get when the center console plays MP3s directly is much better than bluetooth

[Oris4]

In that case I experience terrible sound quality through aux, many others have reported the same. I believe the only way to have same quality if not better is to do as you mentioned and go upgrade route

[peoe]

I have too been looking into this as well, and also value audio quality greatly. Although I don't yet have the MMI CarPlay or the EVO retrofit, based on my research it appears that there are 2 ways to get audio from the MMI CarPlay box to the speakers, 1) via AUX input and 2) via Bluetooth from the CarPlay box (newer firmware required) to the car's head-unit.

Via AUX input sound is bad.
Via Bluetooth sound is equivalent of factory installed head-unit audio quality. Multiple people have said that, including those with B&O speakers.

I don't recall reading any comparison of MMI CarPlay sound via Bluetooth vs via EVO retrofit. But all I've read points to MMI CarPlay via Bluetooth being the simpler option without sacrificing audio quality.

[vroomvroomvroom]

My experience putting an MP3 on a USB stick and Spotify via bluetooth is that the audio quality is *much* better via the USB stick. That's why I'm a bit concerned about either the AUX or the bluetooth approach.

peoe Do you see the drop in quality playing music via bluetooth vs. MP3 that I do?

[peoe]

Ok I see what you mean. It really depends on the bitrate and compression of the audio files you are using. In my tests I didn't really see much if any difference between USB vs Bluetooth, and I am picky. I can try again and report back.

Note sure what quality of Bluetooth hardware the MMI box uses either.

Do this: Try audio streaming (Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music...) via USB cable and via Bluetooth and see if you notice a difference. Set quality to the highest settings in the audio streaming app.

[vroomvroomvroom]

@peoe I'll try this and report back. I did not know you could stream Spotify via USB cable - great tip!