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      12-30-2017, 08:44 AM   #1
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Carplay music volume low compred to other sources

Hi guys,

I’m finding myself having to turn the volume up when listening to my apple music via carplay - over half the full volume bar for ‘normal’ listening level. When I switch to DAB radio or another source it’s really loud at half volume - much louder than the apple music.

Is there a way to adjust the level of the carplay music volume without adjusting all other sources? I thought it might be in the settings on my iPhone but I can only find EQ filters in the music settings, not a volume control or carplay settings.

Thanks in advance
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      12-30-2017, 09:51 AM   #2
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Unfortunately, that’s they way it is. I have it on mine as well, you just get used to it
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      12-30-2017, 10:56 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mailrush View Post
Hi guys,

I’m finding myself having to turn the volume up when listening to my apple music via carplay - over half the full volume bar for ‘normal’ listening level. When I switch to DAB radio or another source it’s really loud at half volume - much louder than the apple music.

Is there a way to adjust the level of the carplay music volume without adjusting all other sources? I thought it might be in the settings on my iPhone but I can only find EQ filters in the music settings, not a volume control or carplay settings.

Thanks in advance
Here's the issue: the volume is determined by the idevice. Make sure the volume is turned up all the way on your idevice.
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      12-30-2017, 11:08 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by MarcoZandrini View Post
Here's the issue: the volume is determined by the idevice. Make sure the volume is turned up all the way on your idevice.
When its connected via carplay the volume on my iphone is locked/greyed out - it can’t be adjusted from the handset
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      12-31-2017, 07:50 AM   #5
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Ok, then the issue is the audio source.
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      12-31-2017, 08:25 AM   #6
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When connected via USB you have no control of the volume other than the cars built in volume knob. It is normal, I’ve had this since the day I got my car and talked to 2 different BMW dealers/service partners and also contacted BMW themselves via email in Germany. They all said it is normal and there is nothing we can do as customers to fix this except try using AUX, however since my phone is a iPhone 7 Plus and I like my phone connected to the vehicle for both charging and connecteddrive purposes I’ve switched back to USB. Yes it does help as it gives you additional control of the volume, however I deemed it not important enough to completely change it. I’ve even got the car updated to the latest I-level for this with no result. Just keep it using like you always do, raise or lower the volume when switching between the sources.
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      01-03-2018, 07:29 AM   #7
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For some reason, using USB as a source has much more gain than using bluetooth. If you are using carplay via bluetooth, that might explain why it is so low.
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      01-03-2018, 08:03 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mecodoug View Post
For some reason, using USB as a source has much more gain than using bluetooth. If you are using carplay via bluetooth, that might explain why it is so low.
Yea, it is via bluetooth. Not sure I can be bothered to plug in the USB everytime, not to mention I’ll forget to take my phone with me when leaving the car!
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      01-03-2018, 11:17 AM   #9
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I use an old iPod and leave it in the car all the time. The audio fidelity is also much better than (further) compressed Bluetooth protocols.
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      01-04-2018, 04:08 PM   #10
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One thing everyone is forgetting about in this thread is this:

There is no 'gain' or 'volume' to adjust before the HU/iDrive because the music is being transmitted in digital form.

Neither Bluetooth nor USB has the capability to transmit an analog signal. Therefore, both digital-to-analog conversion and gain application (basically, volume) to the analog version occur within iDrive.

The gain level is likely lower than everything else since BMW doesn't have control over what is fed to the car via Carplay, Bluetooth, USB, etc. To make the programming still sound OK even if it's of low quality, it applies relatively little gain to it. This is strictly conjecture, of course, but it makes sense considering the many other "tricks" BMW uses to make the 2 Series audio sound acceptable to most.
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      01-11-2018, 09:24 AM   #11
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Bluetooth may be digital, but one can adjust the volume from the source in some cases. That is not always true, depending on the system being connected to. When connected to my M240 via Bluetooth for example the phone's volume controls do not do anything. But they do work when connected via Bluetooth in my truck or with my headphones or speaker.

I don't know how gain is adjusted in the digital signal, but it clearly can be.
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      01-11-2018, 10:47 PM   #12
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The volume control on my iPhone 6 works to adjust input volume over Bluetooth on our M240i.
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      01-12-2018, 02:29 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aerobod View Post
The volume control on my iPhone 6 works to adjust input volume over Bluetooth on our M240i.
That's because your iPhone 6, or any other device that is using Bluetooth ( mecodoug ) , is actually sending digital instructions to increase or decrease volume at the terminus end of the half-duplex Bluetooth signal -- IOW, your HU. That volume could be input gain, pre-amp gain, power-amp gain, or master volume -- all that is determined by the audio processor, NOT the source device, when Bluetooth is in use. Basically, Bluetooth is transmitting the same kind of digital instruction as it does when you skip a song or answer a call.

For reference: the most common cause of low-volume issues in mobile phones is some of the attenuation functions that exist in music software: things like the "Limit Max Music Volume" (or somesuch) option in iTunes. For those having volume issues over Bluetooth, re-pair the devices first, then make sure these attenuation functions are all turned off. 9 times out of 10, those two things solve the issue.
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      01-12-2018, 10:36 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Viffermike View Post
That's because your iPhone 6, or any other device that is using Bluetooth ( mecodoug ) , is actually sending digital instructions to increase or decrease volume at the terminus end of the half-duplex Bluetooth signal -- IOW, your HU. That volume could be input gain, pre-amp gain, power-amp gain, or master volume -- all that is determined by the audio processor, NOT the source device, when Bluetooth is in use. Basically, Bluetooth is transmitting the same kind of digital instruction as it does when you skip a song or answer a call.
Obviously BMW has implemented AVRCP control functions that allows the iPhone stored volume level from 0x0 to 0xF in the A2DP profile for the Bluetooth connection to the BMW HU, to be interpreted - from a functionality perspective the same effect a 16 position analog volume pot would have on an analog connection into an AUX input.

Last edited by aerobod; 01-12-2018 at 10:43 PM..
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      01-12-2018, 11:24 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aerobod View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Viffermike View Post
That's because your iPhone 6, or any other device that is using Bluetooth ( mecodoug ) , is actually sending digital instructions to increase or decrease volume at the terminus end of the half-duplex Bluetooth signal -- IOW, your HU. That volume could be input gain, pre-amp gain, power-amp gain, or master volume -- all that is determined by the audio processor, NOT the source device, when Bluetooth is in use. Basically, Bluetooth is transmitting the same kind of digital instruction as it does when you skip a song or answer a call.
Obviously BMW has implemented AVRCP control functions that allows the iPhone stored volume level from 0x0 to 0xF in the A2DP profile for the Bluetooth connection to the BMW HU, to be interpreted - from a functionality perspective the same effect a 16 position analog volume pot would have on an analog connection into an AUX input.
From a functionality perspective, yes. From an actual perspective, the gain is being applied not by the source (the iPhone) but by the processor (HU) because Bluetooth doesn't natively allow for processing -- it is simply a method of data transmission via variable ultrahigh-frequency, low-amplitude radio waves.

That's why Bluetooth-specific algorithms such as apt-X require full-duplex (IOW, two-way send-receive) capability for encoding/decoding; because the algorithm itself is additional raw data applied on top of to the raw data of the audio. Furthermore, Bluetooth attenuation in processors is often extreme because Bluetooth is not designed to carry large enough packets of data to support dense, high-definition programming (If it were, we'd be seeing video transmitted via Bluetooth). If too much gain is applied to badly encoded programming, it can sound horrible at best and fry preamps and speakers at worst.
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      01-13-2018, 12:00 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Viffermike View Post
... (If it were, we'd be seeing video transmitted via Bluetooth). ...
Video transmission using Bluetooth 4.0 +HS at 24Mbps with an 802.11 co-resident link is supported in the Android world to some degree, but hasn’t generally been adopted.
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      01-21-2018, 12:53 AM   #17
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I have a 2015 M235 and am using an iphone 5E - there are no volume issues with BT vs USB, BUT, I just drove a 2018 M240, and right away noticed the volume was super low on BT. I was able to raise it by changing the volume on my Iphone. It seems like a compatibility issue with idrive 6 - as if they are going backwards.
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      01-22-2018, 10:54 PM   #18
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I can't believe there is no way to adjust the "relative gain" of various input sources (or have per-input-source volume memory).

My home theater amp from 3+ years ago has this functionality, so you can change between devices without being "blasted" (if you had the volume on input A very loud, input B has its own volume and it stays where it was last set, rather than keeping the same volume level as the previous input).

Kind of surprised that a per-input gain can't at least be adjusted via coding?
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      01-23-2018, 11:34 AM   #19
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The lack support for android and audio quality are my two biggest complaints with the interior of the car.
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      01-23-2018, 01:04 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ZPrime View Post
My home theater amp from 3+ years ago has this functionality, so you can change between devices without being "blasted" (if you had the volume on input A very loud, input B has its own volume and it stays where it was last set, rather than keeping the same volume level as the previous input).
My Lexus CT F Sport had this as well, and I think (80 percent sure) the Logic7 HK systems in the 3 Series and up have it, too.

Yet more evidence that the 2 Series audio is bare bones, basic, and pretty much horrible all around.
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      10-23-2019, 09:37 PM   #21
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Old thread I know, but adding information. I have a 15' 335i with the logic 7 HK and still have the issues with Bluetooth connection being very quiet while streaming music. It does allow me to make volume adjustments for calls, but not music. Kind of annoying because when I first bought the car I kept blasting myself out switching to radio. After about the 5th time I finally started to remember to volume down each time.
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      11-28-2022, 10:16 AM   #22
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It's been a while since last post. Has anyone found a cure for low volume with wireless Carplay?
Initially I had audio normalization on in Spotify and it was very quiet. Now with normalization off, the Spotify volume is more or less same as Apple Music but both are still low volume compared to radio.

I have 2018 M140i with base audio. Considering to upgrade to a system with MATCH UP amp and Focal speakers (of course this does not help with low input in Carplay but should improve the sound anyways).
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