VOX App sound output problems with CarPlay

#1

Hi team,
I’m trying to get the VOX iOS app running via CarPlay.
I’ve a 2017 Audi A4. The Apple Music App works perfectly via CarPlay, also the Deezer app works fine.
When I try to play songs from the VOX app, the sound output is stuttering and choppy.
I’ve tried three different (original Apple) cables, but the result was always the same.
Close and restart of the app, re-connect the phone etc. didn’t help either.
Any suggestions how to get the VOX app working via CarPlay?
Many thanks in advance!

#2

Hi Arne,

Thanks for the notification!
We are working on it! Should be updated in future versions of VOX.

However, if you have some more questions, please contact our tech. support in direct: https://vox.rocks/support

#3

The discussion has been re-opened.

#4

Hi team,

just a short notice what I've found out today.
If I turn on "only local tracks" on the iOS app and then connect the iPhone with my car and press immediately "Play" (which means the last played song will be continued), the app is playing normal.

The problem seems to occur if I connect the phone with the car and go directly back to the library to select another song or album. (which I normally do).

Another notice - the progress bar is not working when I play via Car Play. Also I can see all albums in the library, even though I've selected "only local tracks".

Positive: The sound is so much better :-)

#5

Ok, my previous mentioned workaround seems not to work every time... Since 3 days I can't get the app play properly via CarPlay. Sometimes it helps to press 2-5 times "stop/play", then the current song is playing "normal" to the end. But the next song is messed up again...

My setup: iPhone 7+, current version of the app, CarPlay via Audi A4
When I use CarPlay I only use the local tracks - so no streaming is involved which could cause data transfer problems. I have only FLAC files. The phone is connected via original Apple cables.

Please find attached an example of AC/DC played through the VOX app via CarPlay.

#6

same here with the mmi6703 in the audi a4 and on iphone x. any solution from the vox player support team?

#7

I am having similar issues with my 2018 Audi A4. Vox player sometimes works with Carplay and sometimes I have to restart a few times. Art work will show up sometimes and other times not at all. I have ios 12.1 and MMI 0160. I’m using the Audi supplied USB cable.

Playing local FLAC and other Hi Res files doesn’t seem to make a difference.

All other streaming music services are working correctly with Carplay. ( Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music )

Any ideas anyone?

#8

Hi,

Thanks for reaching out!

Please contact our support desk, so we can find an individual solution for you!

Meanwhile, we are trying to indicate and fix the issue described. Thanks for your petience!

https://vox.rocks/support

#9

Exact same issue, I connect to Carplay, press the play button on my iPhone (I can’t find any Play button on VOX Carplay), and no sound comes off VOX Carplay. Has this been fixed?

I am on iOS 12.1.2

#10

Hi,

How are you connected to CarPlay with your iOS device? Did you try to re-connect your iOS device to CarPlay?

#11

Hi Adam,
I do not have an 2018 Audi A4, however, my experiences/discoveries may be of some help to you. For about a month, I was amazed at the sound quality of my music played via Vox/Apple CarPlay (iPhone SE - iOS 12.1.2), in a 2018 Volkswagen Golf SE.

Now, I am struggling to get some “albums” to play more often than not. All my music is in the Vox Cloud and it is all in FLAC format. When I first experienced interference with music streaming, it seemed related to being around university buildings, hospitals, and to being in a busy downtown/residential area (vs. driving on the interstate). Then I found I could not get anything to play during a rainy, slow, packed, rush hour, despite having a “4 bars” LTE connection with my service provider. I figured it was a matter of too much cellphone/radio wave interference.

Then, a few days later, the weather was beautiful, traffic was light, and my music still would not stream, sputtering and then stopping instead. Yesterday, after experiencing interference again, I switched to another song, and it played perfectly. I switched to a different “album,” and it would not play… Then, I switched to a newly uploaded selection, and it played.

Today I broke out the *&$%#^ manual (again), and it specified that I had to use a USB cable from Apple (specifically made for iPhones), that Apple CarPlay had to be activated on my iPhone “without restrictions” (what restrictions Volkswagen is referring to, I don’t know, but I Googled and made sure to follow any and all pertinent recommendations for Apple CarPlay settings), and that Apple CarPlay in a VW 2018 Golf SE only played FLAC files up to 96 khz (it also had a long list of other formats it would play). It did not mention limitations regarding data transfer rate (kpbs), or 16 or 24 bit-depth. Nevertheless, as I stated before, some FLAC files played just fine, others barely sputtered a note here and there with long silences in between sputters, and others would not play at all after “loading.” Since I cannot see the relative transfer rates, bit-depth, or khz on my iPhone or on the car’s Vox display, I went back inside and checked out this information relative to the songs that would play vs. those that wouldn’t on my MacBook Pro’s Vox Player.

I discovered that an “album’s” songs that streamed only in bits and spurts before quitting, had a relatively low data transfer rate compared to those songs with a higher data rate that played well - in a relatively interference-free area, but with only 1 bar showing on the car’s Vox display. The songs that played well had data transfer rates between 642 - 989 kbps, depending on the particular song. The songs that did not play well had data transfer rates between 462 - 604 kbps. In all of the music used for comparison, the bit-depth was 16 bit, and the sampling frequency was 44.1.

Paradoxically, I also found that a Hi-Res “album” with data transfer rates between 3,096 - 7,101 kbps (depending on the song), a bit-depth of 24 bit, and a sampling frequency of 96 khz played well one day, and played in spurts and silences on another. I do not remember if rush hour traffic was an issue.

As far as USB cables go, a 3rd party USB cable did work for awhile - for that first month of streaming perfection, and then it seemed nothing would stream well or at all. When I ran into these playback problems, I switched to my Apple iPhone USB cable, which I discovered I was supposed to be using according to the Golf SE manual.

And regardless of the day, place, or weather, Siri flat out stated “she” could not access Vox to play a request, which of course, is not true of iTunes selections (iTunes remains separate from Vox just because I wasn’t sure I wanted to combine them - my Vox Library has nearly 400 Gbs of music in the Vox cloud, and the few iTunes selections I have are on my iPhone).
It did not occur to me to try my other streaming services on my iPhone. On days when Vox would not stream, I switched over to Sirius XM Radio.

I plan to check with the tech whiz at the Volkswagen dealership and see if she has any ideas about Vox/Apple CarPlay. If I learn anything new, I’ll be back!

I have no idea if any of this will help you or anyone else, but I thought I would put it out there. My hope is that it will help someone, or maybe even lead to improvements on the Vox side of what seems like an equation with many variables.

#12

Hi Spider.

Not sure why I am only seeing this now but I wanted to thank you for your lengthy reply.
I am still battling away with Vox after all these years. It’s been about a year now so i have redownloaded everything and I am trying to sync some HiRes playlists.

I really hope you got yours sorted out and have been enjoying HiRes playback in your car!

All the best,

-A