Audio source makes a difference

I have the JBL system in my Tundra and I have added dual 12" Infinity subs and replaced the door speakers with Hertz K170s.

I was about to pull the trigger on a DSR1 & amp as the sound quality was somewhat better with the new speakers.

I switched to Apple Music as my audio source and HOLY CRAP what a difference! I could not believe the difference, even the subs hit much harder.

I am glad I switched as I have had to hold off on any upgrades because there are no DSR1s available except my local shop for $100 more than normal prices.

 

Strange, my JBL sounds best (by far) using SiriusXM as the source. What year is your truck (mine is ‘21)?

 

Congrats! Awesome to have good tunes.

 

I don’t listen to SiriusXM, but good old FM radio is easily the loudest music source in my 2021. Bluetooth is the worst and wired Apple Car Play is somewhere in the middle. My Tacoma was the exact same way, but I did not have Apple Car Play.

I assumed that my plug in, from-cell phone audio was subpar because much of my library comes from mid 90s to mid 00s songs that were ripped into iTunes from CDs. I stopped paying attention to audio format types at that point too, so never bothered to find out what format is best.

I had grand plans to use a micro thumb drive as a music library using the best format, but that never got off the ground. I couldn’t even figure out how to efficiently search the library from the thumb drive, so I dropped that plan.

 

I ended up going with an Axxcess DSP on my 14 platinum. Couple that with hertz door speakers, 2 JL 10"s and a JBL Club amp and it will blow your mind at how loud and clear it sounds. It is a little more work with the Axxcess because it installs behind the HU and you have to run RCAS and amp remote to where your going to mount the amp(I mounted mine under passenger seat)

 

Mine is a 20 and I use wireless apple car play

 

I got a quote for installing the Axxcess DSP & a JL Audio amp for $2000. Not sure what I am going to do yet

 

I didn't think that wireless Carplay was supported, only wired?

 

I have the adapter for wireless carplay, there is a thread on it here, let me see if I can find it.

 

Have you thought about switching out the HU instead? That should be a bit cheaper and get you the same result…

 

I have but I don't like the floating units and I do like keeping the stock HU for aesthetics.

 

I bought the OEM audio plus enhancement system for 2021 Pro. It took me about 6 hours to install and it sounds much better. I can definitely live with the system now. I agree my system sounds way better with Apple Music compared to anything else.

 

It's not a difficult install. Just need to plan accordingly because it is time consuming. My self, brother, and best bud(all with car audio install experience) spent about 7 hours or so to complete it.

 

Yea I am pretty sure I can get it done, I just don't know which DSP I am going to use yet. The audio shop down the street has a DSR1 for $340. decisions decisions

 

A good thing about the DSR1 is that I don't believe you have to install it behind the HU. If I understand correctly it can be installed under the passenger seat

 

Not only does the source matter input also matters. Lots of factors really make a difference.
CD and Aux in theory will give you the best quality.
FLAC player utilizing the Aux input is the best sound I have come across yet for the JBL.

 

Excuse my ignorance but what is FLAC?

 

It’s a compressed lossless audio file. Near original audio quality of a CD from a digital file. But generally around half the file size that the song would be in its original format size.
High quality/definition audio file. Far better than mp3s and the like.

 

Tidal Hifi is the cleanest of the streaming services, but pricey at $20.00/month, I am a SQ audiophile so it is well worth it for me.

 

Anybody install one of these yet?



If its good enough for George...

 

I recently signed up for the HD Amazon streaming service. I prepaid $79.00 for one year.

 

There isn't an XM radio on earth that should sound better than a tape/CD/MP3/etc. I ripped out the HU less than a week after getting my Tundra, so I can't comment directly, but I have a hard time believing that XM could 'ever' be better than anything 'other' than AM radio.

 

from my past experience up here in the higher latitudes of Washington, satellite radio is garbage. I can hear the awful compression in every song. I trend toward Carplay and CD.

 

Satelite radio sucks ass here in NewEngland, continually cutting in and out.