Music and navigation are the two most frequently used CarPlay features. Many car owners, before converting their car's wired CarPlay to wireless CarPlay using a "Wireless CarPlay Box," wonder: Is the sound quality of wireless CarPlay the same as wired CarPlay? Which is better?
The sound quality of wired CarPlay is better than wireless CarPlay!
Let's rewind to 2014: Apple had just released CarPlay, and the company that owned CarPlay Smart Box Limited was founded. Two years later, at the Worldwide Developers Conference WWDC2016, Apple announced the difference between wired and wireless CarPlay.
- The wired connection uses LPCM encoding
- The wireless connection uses AAC-LC encoding
What formats are LPCM and AAC-LC?
LPCM (Linear Pulse Code Modulation) is an uncompressed audio digitization technology and an uncompressed reproduction of the original sound. It has a wide range of applications. AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is a file compression format specifically designed for audio data. Unlike MP3, it uses a new coding algorithm that is more efficient and offers a higher "value for money." Using the AAC format ensures that sound quality is not significantly degraded, and files are more compact. Apple iPods and Nokia phones support AAC audio files. AAC-LC is a derivative of AAC, primarily used for medium to high bitrates. It is a lossy compression format. Compared to popular lossless formats such as APE and FLAC, there is a "significant" difference in sound quality.
This is why wired CarPlay sounds better than wireless CarPlay.
Additionally, factors such as the sound source, car audio system, etc. also influence sound quality.
Tips:
CarPlay audio is divided into "main audio" and "backup audio." As you can see from the information in the figure, CarPlay supports up to 48 kHz, 16-bit, and stereo audio as the main audio.
