C Class (W205) - iPhone vs. USB - best audio quality

[wolla]

Just took delivery of a C220d estate with the Burmester system.


My iPhone 6 is loaded with Apple Lossless (ALAC) music, which plays fine when I hook up the iPhone via the USB port. The "problem" is that I do a lot of short drives every day and that I thus need to connect and disconnect the phone (and stove it away in the center console) many times each day (I know; a "luxury" problem).


I do not wish to use the BT function due to the loss of audio quality and lack of album art etc.


I have tried copying the ALAC files to a USB drive, which could then be connected permanently. However, it seems that the Burmester system cannot play/decode ALAC files directly from a USB drive.


Therefore, I have considered converting the ALAC files to MP3 (320 bit) and then loadning them on to the USB drive - the Burmester system should be able to play those files.


However, this leads to the following two questions:


1. When playing the ALAC files using the iPhone via USB (which works fine), I assume that the iPhone either (i) decodes the ALAC files and "downsamples" them, or (ii) re-encodes them to a format which the Burmest system can decode?


2. In theory, which solution provides the best sound quality; (a) playing the ALAC files from the iPhone over USB (which are then downsampled or re-encoded - see above), or (b) converting the ALAC files to MP3 (320 bit) and playing them from the USB drive?


Thanks in advance!

 

[kid-jensen]

I would do some A-B testing (preferrably blind) to check if the Quality drop-off via Bluetooth is really that noticable. Whatever quality loss you get might be worth living with for the convenience. The album art you shouldn't be looking at anyway!

I know next to nothing about apple products, but my quess the reason that you can hear the Audio from the Iphone is because it's been converted to MP3 before appearing at the output socket (or AAC maybe).

A car is not a great place to evaluate the finer subtleties of varoius music formats, but I understand your desire for good quality audio.

A blind A-B test should make your mind up..

 

[wolla]

I would do some A-B testing (preferrably blind) to check if the Quality drop-off via Bluetooth is really that noticable. Whatever quality loss you get might be worth living with for the convenience. The album art you shouldn't be looking at anyway!

I know next to nothing about apple products, but my quess the reason that you can hear the Audio from the Iphone is because it's been converted to MP3 before appearing at the output socket (or AAC maybe).

A car is not a great place to evaluate the finer subtleties of varoius music formats, but I understand your desire for good quality audio.

A blind A-B test should make your mind up..

Thanks, but unfortunately the quality drop using BT is quite noticable. Although the Burmester system is not high-end, it is good enough to reveal the differences.

 

[television]

Burmester is top end for cars.