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The Best $150 Upgrade to your Audio System

21K views 33 replies 19 participants last post by  isiraider67 
#1 ·
More often these days our music listening is done with inferior quality MP3 and streaming music. These files contain between 10-25% of the information seen on a regular CD. To make matters worse, the electronics used to translate these digital files into a real music or generally lacking in quality and ability. Standard stereo equipment placed in modern cars today are no exception to this premise. Until you get to something like a Burmester, we are all settling for something less. With the following upgrade one can maximize the quality of their MP3 files for minimal cost.

I just tried the "Arcam Miniblink" ($150) in my new Macan and it works great. It is an audiophile quality Bluetooth receiver to upgrade the stock one in your PCM. Hook up was simple and anyone can hear the sound improvements. You don't have to be an audiophile to notice them. My Macan has the stock CDR+ plus stereo, so we're not starting with too great of a system here. I compared an iPod plugged into the USB adapter versus my iPhone on Bluetooth with the Arcam Miniblink plugged into the auxiliary input. Let me tell you the differences are not subtle. The base is so much tighter and cleaner without all the boom, you can make out the kick of a drum or pluck of a base guitar much better. Holding on to the door you can feel the snap of the base notes and not just a muddy boom. The midrange is more articulate where you can here the harmonics in the artist voice like they are actually singing into the microphone. A piano sounds more natural and a snare drum sounds more like someone is actually hitting the drum face with a wood stick and not a synthetic bop. The treble is much smoother and better defined where the cymbals start to actually sound like real cymbals. The whole presentation is more dynamic yet relaxed and more fun to listen to. Each person has to listen and decide for themselves if the improvements are valuable to them. Once hooked up the device is seamless and sits in the glove box or center console.

Well you ask, how can this be? A bluetooth transmission sounding better than a hardwired usb connection? The answer lies in the Burr Brown DAC and the quality parts in the Arcam unit. Arcam a British hi-fi company specializing in high-quality audio video equipment. The DAC is what takes the digital information from the audio file and converts it into listenable music. The DAC in the Porsche is very basic and nowhere near the capability of the Burr-Brown unit. It is the weakest link in this case. The Arcam can take the same 256K filesicon and reconstruct much sweeter music out of them than the generic Porsche DAC. Again we are basically comparing a $20-40 quality bluetooth/DAC combo to a $150-250 combo. The Arcam has a dedicated chip for the DAC that likely costs more than the entire lower quality units. Car makers can not spend high dollar amounts on specific DACs to improve there audio systems until you pay for say a Burmester.

For all the doubters, you can try one of these from Crutchfield, and if you are not satisfied , you can return it within 60 days for a full refund. So you have nothing to lose. I have purchased a couple of these to start, and will use them in the house as well with different receivers to get better quality Bluetooth sound out of our iPhones and iPads when streaming our music to the home setups. iPhones do not do Apt-x yet, but Samsungs and MacBooks do. Even if not universal yet, Apt-x will become more mainstream in the near future. Spotify and Pandora will also sound much better off your iPhone as well. Even if these music formats don't have the best overall sound quality, this is where the market is going, so you might as well get the best sound quality you can from these lower bit rate music files. If you are still not sure about this google the reviewsicon on it and you can read well it has been received by the audio media. "What Hi-Fi" magazine even gave it a product of the year award for 2014. In summary, this is the best most cost effective option I have purchased for both of my Porsches. What can you get from them for $150?
 

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#2 ·
I still don't understand why this is better than the physical USB-contained MP3 files.
 
#4 ·
It seems like what the claim is is that their D/A converter is better than Factory's, so drop $150 to replace the factory's with this one.

For such a "better" claim, there's really two main factors: the actual D/A conversion quality, and also just how is the system calibrated (tuned up): point being that the reported 'better' sound might have utterly nothing to do with the D/A conversion stage at all, but be all in the rest of the calibration(s).
 
#5 ·
Actually I would like to know if it possible to replace factory bluetooth with Arcam. Considering iPhone can connect only to one bluetooth device at a time, either you pair it with Arcam which is plugged into AUX in, or your pair it with Macan's bluetooth.
So, and please correct me if I'm wrong, in order to make/receive handsfree calls you will need to unpair it from Arcam and pair it again with Porsche's bluetooth.
 
#6 ·
let me get this straight. So this thing is claiming to be a DAC, and it connects to your phone via bluetooth and feeds "processed" music through AUX? first of all iOS does not even support aptX bluetooth protocol that this thing is supposed to use, not to mention you're feeding analog signal into your PCM through aux.
 
#10 ·
I'll put it another way. Bluetooth's poor reputation with audiophiles is largely due to Bluetooth's history of sucking.

But Bluetooth 4 with AptX has now stepped in to greatly improve the situation.

So our objective is to get music converted from MP3 files into an analog signal that the stereo will play in the least lossy way possible.

So your choices are:
1 - Flow it digitally over Bluetooth from your phone to the PCM and let the PCM convert it to analog
2 - Convert it from digital to analog in your phone or player and send it to the PCM via the hardwired Aux connection.
3 - Move all your digital files to Jukebox so you don't need to send anything from your phone.
4 - Just stick a USB drive with all your music on it into the USB connection and let the PCM convert them to analog (this is what I do).

5 - There is a fifth choice, IF you have a phone that is AptX certified, you can use an AptX certified receiver and D/A converter plugged into the Aux connection as lovetoturn has suggested. If your phone doesn't have AptX, don't bother. Both ends need to be AptX. There are several variants available here, including cheaper ones than suggested above (though you will give up the fancy D/A, the bulk of the improvement is coming from the AptX anyway).

I just did something similar on my home system, adding an AptX receiver/converter to my stereo system ($34 on Amazon), and adding an AptX transmitter ($13 on amazon) to my Mac, since Apple's base products are not AptX certified. You can go to aptX® Wireless Bluetooth Audio Products & Technology to see what devices are certified with AptX as of today.

But like I said, feeding the MP3's directly to the PCM from a USB stick is the simplest solution to much improved sound.

Hope that's helpful.
 
#11 ·
4. is what I do. Zero cost for decent music.
 
#12 ·
FYI - IF you choose this vendor (see Amazon website), be forewarned- they are not real "return-friendly", it would appear from this one comment I found within the Amazon website.



"NO REFUNDS. Read their return policy carefully! They don't sell any items on Amazon that will qualify for 100% refund. Everything will be either be repaired or replaced (at their discretion), or refunded with a 15% restocking fee, even if the product is broken or defective. Customer service folks are nice enough, but their return policy is terrible and inconsistent with 99% of Amazon vendors."
Jefe, December 4, 2014
 
#13 ·
I don't think making a point about the MP3 reconstruction and subsequent DAC is the point. The MP3 file is reconstructed on your phone before being passed into the atpx codec to be transmitted over bluetooth, and then reconstructed and converted back into the continuous time domain on this device.

I think the point you're trying to make is that it supports atpx. On the other hand this is only helpful if your phone supports atpx.

On the other hand I will bypass any additional possible issues and use either
a) CDs
b) a 3.5mm cable which costs me $0.50 in bulk.
c) use a flash drive

Cheap, old fashioned, and it works.
 
#14 ·
For us non audiophiles:
Will Pandora Stream decently from iPhone 6 plus through the basic Macan sound system?

Is the best way to connect:
1. By Bluetooth
2. Aux input with a cord

The mirror screen from iPhone to Macan display would be fantastic.... Can it happen in the real world with USA infomation option?
 
#17 ·
For us non audiophiles:
Will Pandora Stream decently from iPhone 6 plus through the basic Macan sound system?

Is the best way to connect:
1. By Bluetooth
2. Aux input with a cord

The mirror screen from iPhone to Macan display would be fantastic.... Can it happen in the real world with USA infomation option?
@Lgoldberg For you, option 2 is the best. iPhone doesn't support AptX, which significantly improves Bluetooth. You can still connect via Bluetooth for phone functionality, and route music over the USB.

One item to note: Are you only using free Pandora? If so, the bandwidth used is very low. While connected by cord is still better, the difference will not be as much as a paid subscription provides. Better yet, Spotify, Beats, Deezer, etc. Take it up to a whole new with Tidal. But not Tidal for you, as you just said "non-audiophile".
 
#15 ·
Interesting responses to my initial post about this product. I like how people on this forum question other's recommendations and opinions. It is a good practice not to take what others say to be fact until you do your own evaluation of the material. Clearly people are doing that here with what I have posted about the Arcam Miniblink, which is great. Well in answer to various comments and assumptions posted in this thread I will state the following:

1. I am not selling anything here. I am a Family Practice Physician who enjoys good quality music and especially great values in the audio market. I have helped many a friend get a better sounding stereo for less money over the years.

2. I will confirm if the Arcam bluetooth works with the phone tomorrow, and yes you can only use one bluetooth device at a time. I know that the Miccus brand bluetooth device does already work with my phone in the Cayman.

3. Crutchfield is the safest place to buy this device with their 60 day return policy.

4. The comparison was made with two apple devices, with copies of the same audio files, with the same tone settings, at the same volumes. The only real difference was the Arcam on bluetooth vs. PCM on usb.

5. Bluetooth in this comparison was only 256k with the iPhone. If a Samsung phone with Apt-x was used then the improvement in sound quality would have been even greater.

6. I agree with Sandpepple's post on the various options for MP3 sound, but posted this review because I was surprised at the improvement in the sound and thought others might find it helpful. I bought the MiniBlinks for use in my home and thought, "What the heck, how would this sound in the car."

All the technical talk aside of what should sound the best, in the world of audio things aren't always as they should be. Sometimes a $500 device can sound better than a $2000 one, go figure. Each person has to decide what sounds best for them. People have written dozens of pages on this forum about the three audio systems that come with our cars, and these are many thousands of dollars to upgrade for the top two choices. No refunds either if you aren't impressed. Here is a low cost (especially for Porsche) optional upgrade for anyone's audio system, you can return it if you don't like it, and or use it to connect to your home audio system as I originally intended.

Penicillin was discovered by accident as was this information.
 
#16 ·
Tired out the the phone with the Arcam Bluetooth this morning. It will integrate with the phone and stop the music for an incoming call or to make one, but it won't put the sound through the stereo system. So unfortunately the handsfree function and integration with the PCM display is not there. In order to use this you have to connect with the Arcam Bluetooth which excludes the PCM Bluetooth. So in the end, this may be too inconvenient for most people to consider, unless you're after that last ounce of sound quality for your system.

So as I said before, I will use these in my home stereo systems. Since my Cayman has no bluethooth built in, it's a no-brainer to use an Arcam for that instead of a cheaper unit. For the Macan I will probably use the stock bluetooth on a daily basis, and plug in the Arcam when we take a road trip.

Sorry for the long write up before. I got overly enthusiastic about how unexpectedly good this thing sounded. Other's opinions have attempted to point out why it shouldn't sound that much better, but it is hard not to notice the differences when actually listening in the car.
 
#18 ·
But like I said, feeding the MP3's directly to the PCM from a USB stick is the simplest solution to much improved sound.


Help this non-audiophile understand the difference in audio quality between the approach above (a USB stick) versus plugging my iPod into the USB port in the vehicle. Thanks.
 
#19 ·
@lovetoturn

AH-HA!!! A doctor, huh? And you expect us to trust you? LOLOL. Just joking.

One thing that I find helpful when posting opinions of "stuff" is to state flat out whether I have any association with the product. That usually stops the nattering nabobs of negativity dead in their tracks.

I for one appreciate the recommendation of this unit. However, if I'm reading your last post correctly, you can't use your phone through the car when using this? If that's the case, I agree it isn't ideal, but on a long trip, when you want to tune out the outside world and listen to higher quality music than otherwise available, it sounds like the ticket.

BTW: I didn't build my car, it was a dealer build (which I'm hoping comes in next week) and it has the Bose. While I probably wouldn't have spent the money on it and would've put that money toward PASM instead, when I test drove the car it had Bose and it sounded amazingly good, and I'm an audiophile for the past almost 40 years.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Just FYI, the only way to get really good audio out of an iPhone is with a digital dock such as the Cambridge Audio iD100 that I have. Little known fact, the iPhone outputs the actual DAC bits from the music files at its connector. They can be be used by the iD100's high quality DACs to produce analog out or be sent via Toslink to your receiver.'s own DACs. This produces far better sound than any Bluetooth or the analog out from the iPhone, which is pretty crappy due to the poor onboard DACs.

Too bad this option is not available to us in a convenient 12V version.

EDIT: in doing some more reading in the interwebs last night, I see the iPhone 6 has ver good DACs compared to 4 and earlier. Still not the best in the world, but not by any means "crappy".
 
#21 ·
To MDJAK:

Thanks for your kind words. As the audiophile type, then you know what a bargain 150 bucks is for a decent upgrade in sound. It wasn't one of those back and forth and which one am I on now kinda sort maybe type comparisons, it was obvious immediately to my ears what was going on here.

Again, the phone does work, but not handsfree through the bluetooth, you have to pick up the handset to make or receive a phone call. This unit will go in my Cayman which has no factory PCM or bluetooth to start with. In this case it does create a handsfree functionality for me in that car. I think you will like the Bose as it doesn't sound so Bose like but just more of a general audio upgrade.

To Macanuck:

Finding a good DAC to run an iPhone in a car is hard to find. These are of course better than bluetooth, but if you are listening to 128-256k mp3s, the in line DAC won't be that much better until you get to a 1440k WAV file off of a CD. Something like this should work on the phones and be portable for our cars. Has a Wolfson WM8740 DAC too.

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Beyerdynamic-A200p-Portable-Headphone-Android/dp/B00HWCYOK6[/ame]

The same device is sold by Astell&Kern as an AK 10.

http://www.astellnkern.com

These will hook up to your iPhone or Samsung and give the best possible sound when plugged into the aux line to your car stereo. Eventually I will get a Hifiman or Astell&Kern portable digital player and have SACD quality files to play straight through the aux line. That should sound amazing.
 
#22 ·
I would personally think that the DAC difference wouldn't be too noticeable with MP3's. The best improvement would be to go with ALAC (Apple Lossless) or FLAC files, or WAV. Then you might start to notice some DAC differences. An already compressed file shouldn't sound that much better with a better DAC. If it does then I would surmise the DAC is doing something besides just conversion, which is entirely possible (multiband compression/expansion, etc.).

My whole music library is Apple Lossless, which is data compression but no audio compression. I've done a lot of listening and testing to Apple Lossless versus original 44.1kHz WAV files and it is very hard to notice any difference. And that is within a recording studio environment.
 
#23 ·
My whole library is ALAC too. Will have to research lovetoturn's suggestions above. Looks like a sweet solution.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Hi,

I recently got a "Cowon plenue 1" which is an audio player that supports hi resolution files (24bits) and integrates a high end Burr-Brown DAC as well as a great equalizer ... this thing is just crazy on the Burmester (which already has a pretty good DAC).

I plugged it to a friends Macan with Bose and the difference in sound quality is even more noticeable. Imagine the difference on the basic audio system.

It is not cheap (around 1000 euros) but you really hear the difference. All you do is plug it to the Macan AUX input with an mini jack cable (make sure you get a decent one - should cost around 50 euros).

The DAC is so good it even makes your MP3 sound a whole lot better ... but of course it is really made for 16bit (CD quality) or 24bit (Studio Master quality).

Oh and of course don't forget to use it also as a source to your HI-FI stereo home system...

You'll find other brands FIIO (250€) and Astell&Kerr (+1000€)
 
#25 ·
An external digital audio player DAP is the best solution for any car as Tony 92 acknowledges here. Astel & Kern options are $800 and up and of course sound great. Hifiman has these options too, but now has a very affordable Hifiman HM-650 model which is a scaled down version of their more pricey units. It still has the same case format and dual wolfson wm8740 DAC chips for the bargain price of $449. This will make your WAV and lossless files sound better than the Porsche electronics and any hi-def files should sound phenomenal. I plan on getting one of these when I acquire some SACD quality music. Again I have no affiliations with this product.

Head-Direct ProductsHIFIMAN HM-650 +Standard Amplifier Card
 

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#26 ·
I have a question.

Since the base CDR+ plays DVD-audio discs (I assume the Bose does too), cannot you just make a DVD-audio disc from all your hifi music files? Zero cost, or am I dreaming?
 
#30 ·
@jzwu That depends on what you mean by "hifi"? If you mean MP3 or AAC, then yes you can, up to ~360K (Can't remember for certain, but think it was below 384k.

If you mean ALAC or FLAC, then I believe the answer is no. I don't see anywhere where it says those work. You can do WAV, but the space will go very fast.

Of course, assuming you have a smartphone, then you can load FLAC on Android, and ALAC on iPhone. Not sure about Windows Mobile, or dare I say Blackberry?

Then connect via USB in the console and enjoy!
 
#27 ·
Good idea, but how are you going to get the hidef music onto a DVD Audio disc. I don't think they make recorders, so it would have to be software on your computer I would imagine. How compatible that would all be, I am not sure. Anyone know more about this or have ever done it?
 
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