Mediocre audio system

[twelveeyedfish]

I'm no boy racer and I aren't interested in going around being a mobile disco, however the audio system in my 2019 Corolla is pretty weak. I have to really turn it up to get any dynamic range, it doesn't seem very well equalised and even on max volume, doesn't seem that loud. This is the case with its own internal sources (radio, USB) as well as through Carplay and even if I stream using bluetooth from my iPhone.

What's anyone else's experience of this because frankly my Polo had a better sounding radio. In fact my Renault 5 did way back.

[Parts-King]

I just don't get it when people come out with technical jargon about a car radio, I have had umpteen Corolla and never even considered the radio to be poor. The state of our roads and general car "noise" make it exactly what it is, a car radio, not a high end sound system for the home, maybe it's my ears  🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

[MC1216]

6 minutes ago, Parts-King said:

I just don't get it when people come out with technical jargon about a car radio, I have had umpteen Corolla and never even considered the radio to be poor. The state of our roads and general car "noise" make it exactly what it is, a car radio, not a high end sound system for the home, maybe it's my ears  🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

Have to agree...i have had HK and Bose systems in different cars and yes if you are stationary they sound better than a standard system

However as soon as you set off the sound of the engine,tyre noise and wind noise you may as well being listening to an 8 track,cassette or am radio in your car.

It's one thing i don't tick on the options list anymore as i find if you play around with the settings most standard systems are fine.

[Bper]

Hi Andrew,the stock audio system in the 2019 Corolla, particularly the base setup, is known for being underwhelming. It seems you're not alone, many users complain it lacks the richness and volume you'd think it should have.

The base system uses full range Speakers in all locations, which may not provide the strong bass or clear highs you're looking for.The factory tuning might not emphasize the dynamic range you prefer. Play around with the built in equalizer settings on your audio system. You might be able to find a configuration that improves the sound profile for your taste.Replacing the Speakers with higher quality aftermarket ones can significantly enhance the sound quality.Even a modest speaker upgrade can make a noticeable difference in your listening experience.

[flash22]

With modern cars, sound deadening is very much lacking

the simplest thing you can do is set up the fader either 60/40 or 70/30 towards the front, keeping the soundstage up front

I get it, not every one cares about audio and a car is just a means of transport

[sportse]

Initially I found the sound to be low using CarPlay , but fixed this by turning off volume limit protection on the iPhone - apparently this setting can interfere with Toyota infotainment.

Despite having a base model icon, I find the sound to be fine. I'm using standard equaliser settings just with some more bass.

It's much better in the Corolla than the sound I've had in recent VW and Skoda hire cars.

[AndrueC]

It seems like a fairly typical car audio system to me. The volume goes plenty high enough - way higher than I would ever want it. As others have saidm you're in a car. You can hardly expect the fidelity of an international concert hall.

Even if the Corolla had a quieter ride it's still not going to have very good acoustics. Far too many echoes from all the hard surfaces and sound waves absorbed by the soft ones.

There are probably upgrades you can make as mentioned in a previous post but I suspect most people don't even consider it.

[Trewithy]

With the fader centralised in my Corolla I would expect equal volume to be coming out of each of the four Speakers.  But no, the sound coming out of the rear Speakers is so quite you would think they were not working.  

[flash22]

12 minutes ago, Trewithy said:

With the fader centralised in my Corolla I would expect equal volume to be coming out of each of the four speakers.  But no, the sound coming out of the rear speakers is so quite you would think they were not working.  

it is the same with most cars Speakers are low down in the rear and are designed for rear fill for the rear passengers the Speakers are aimed inwards and the sound waves get absorbed into the seats and upholstery

[John1964]

Have to agree the sound in my 23 plate corolla design is very underwhelming to say the least no depth to it at all volume 30 is like volume 10 in my wife's mini

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twelveeyedfish]

"Technical jargon"! 😆I will admit that the CD player in the house cost a few bob and I'm used to a bit of quality there, however, equally, comparing this system against cheaper cars, I'd have expected better. It's not 1980 anymore and it's not like the same system hasn't been developed for almost every other modern Toyota.

It sounds like there are plenty of serial Toyota buyers who are just used to this. The emptyness between this and the Polo (I think that's a Clarion behind the scenes) was immediately noticeable. Oddly it's especially noticeable because it's not well equalised for the road noise at high speeds - this is quite well executed in the VWs and more so in the Golf than in the Polo which had a useful boost in the low end to account for the furniture and engine tone.

The Corolla definitely has AM radio vibes about it and yes, it's a car, I can ultimately cope with that, but the thing I most struggle to get over is that I frequently see it say "max" when it's barely loud enough to hear over the road noise. @John1964 sounds like you've experienced this too!

@sportse, that setting only applies to the "Music" app. Spotify, Tidal, BBC sounds etc will not be affected. That was a feature introduced in iOS 17. I don't use music - I mostly just use the radio.

From the signature of the sound I'm guessing they have Panasonic make this unit for them... does anyone know for sure?

[AndrueC]

37 minutes ago, twelveeyedfish said:

the thing I most struggle to get over is that I frequently see it say "max" when it's barely loud enough to hear over the road noise.

I have a '19 Corolla and I've never even 'found' what the maximum volume is.

When I'm streaming music over bluetooth from my phone I will vary the volume between 24 and 34 depending on the album (which is why I prefer album shuffle to track shuffle).

When playing via Android Auto I usually tweak the volume a little lower but not much. From what I remember of when I tried to play music from a memory stick I was using much the same values.

I've never used the radio though so perhaps there's an issue there.

I have the supposedly noisy Falken tyres on the large wheels and those settings put the volume well above any road noise.

I'm not a 'serial' Toyota owner. This was actually my first Toyota. Prior to this I've had Hondas and Nissans. I've also driven with friends and family in their cars. The Corolla's sound system strikes me as typical for a car and - to my ears - quite acceptable.

I think you're correct that the head unit is from Panasonic.

[Cyker]

9 hours ago, twelveeyedfish said:

I'm no boy racer and I aren't interested in going around being a mobile disco, however the audio system in my 2019 Corolla is pretty weak. I have to really turn it up to get any dynamic range, it doesn't seem very well equalised and even on max volume, doesn't seem that loud. This is the case with its own internal sources (radio, USB) as well as through Carplay and even if I stream using bluetooth from my iPhone.

What's anyone else's experience of this because frankly my Polo had a better sounding radio. In fact my Renault 5 did way back.

Are you talking about a JBL system? If so I tend to agree, it's very lack-lustre.

But I think you're wrong about the causes - The system definitely doesn't have insufficient dynamic range, if anything it has too much: You do NOT want high dynamic range in a car, especially ones with minimal sound-proofing. You want something set up like a Radio mix, so you don't get some parts being overpowered and others being drowned out.

The JBL audio system in mine sounds amazing when I'm sitting stationary - It projects all the subtleties in the music and the bass is nice and balanced with the trebles etc.

However, when the car is moving, it's clear it was set up in a quiet lab; It's not been balanced or calibrated to compensate for the road noise so you lose loads of fidelity at the frequencies that the road noise drowns out.

Ironically, I had a poverty-spec Yaris Mk4 Icon as a courtesy car, and that is the opposite - It's excessively boomy when you're not moving, and just sounds like a boy racer audio system with MEGABASS set to 11(!!), with poor definition, but at speed with the road noise it's ends up being much better balanced and actually sounds much better than the JBL

 

[sportse]

3 hours ago, twelveeyedfish said:

@sportse, that setting only applies to the "Music" app. Spotify, Tidal, BBC sounds etc will not be affected. That was a feature introduced in iOS 17. I don't use Music - I mostly just use the radio.

You can also listen to the radio through CarPlay if you have Apple music - you can ask for various radio stations to be played. 
 

I’ve never actually used either the sat nav or radio in my car yet, when I picked it up the dealer helped me set up the CarPlay and I’ve only used that. Mostly it’s playlists but I regularly use the CarPlay radio too. 
 

before changing the sound safety setting, the volume was quiet though and had to be turned up a lot. It’s made a difference to both volume and quality. 

[flash22]

There are known issues with ios 17, Apple are just about to roll 17.4

volume level from the iPhone has been ongoing

[BLOZ]

My old model Corolla has a great stereo system! I often listen to radio and CDs and the clarity and depth of sound are excellent, rather like being in the concert hall!

 

 

[Paul john]

19 minutes ago, flash22 said:

There are known issues with ios 17, Apple are just about to roll 17.4

volume level from the iPhone has been ongoing

Not sure where that info comes from as i have has no issues with either carplay or bluetooth volumes with the iPhone in 15 16 or 17. 

one thing you need to check is the volume controls on the iPhone itself when connecting via bluetooth.

if it is not loud enought adjust your iPhone volume levels. 
meercat it. 

[sportse]

9 hours ago, Paul john said:

Not sure where that info comes from as i have has no issues with either carplay or bluetooth volumes with the iphone in 15 16 or 17. 

one thing you need to check is the volume controls on the iphone itself when connecting via bluetooth.

if it is not loud enought adjust your iPhone volume levels. 
meercat it. 

That’s not the case for CarPlay unfortunately, only for bluetooth.
 

when you use CarPlay the volume controls on the phone are locked and don’t work. 

[Paul john]

On 3/20/2024 at 6:13 AM, sportse said:

That’s not the case for CarPlay unfortunately, only for Bluetooth.
 

when you use CarPlay the volume controls on the phone are locked and don’t work. 

Exactly what i said

”one thing you need to check is the volume controls on the iPhone itself when connecting via bluetooth.”

[sportse]

They are two different systems. 
 

you can’t have both, you can either have bluetooth or CarPlay. 
 

bluetooth is disabled when you use CarPlay. 
 

I’ve tried setting the phone to maximum volume before connecting, there’s no change as there wouldn’t be if you aren’t using bluetooth. 
 

Bluetooth only applies if you don’t want to use CarPlay and are hustling listening to music or making phone calls. 

[Paul john]

11 hours ago, sportse said:

They are two different systems. 
 

you can’t have both, you can either have Bluetooth or CarPlay. 
 

Bluetooth is disabled when you use CarPlay. 
 

I’ve tried setting the phone to maximum volume before connecting, there’s no change as there wouldn’t be if you aren’t using Bluetooth. 
 

Bluetooth only applies if you don’t want to use CarPlay and are hustling listening to music or making phone calls. 

Yup

[shufman]

On 3/19/2024 at 4:54 PM, twelveeyedfish said:

"Technical jargon"! 😆I will admit that the CD player in the house cost a few bob and I'm used to a bit of quality there, however, equally, comparing this system against cheaper cars, I'd have expected better. It's not 1980 anymore and it's not like the same system hasn't been developed for almost every other modern Toyota.

It sounds like there are plenty of serial Toyota buyers who are just used to this. The emptyness between this and the Polo (I think that's a Clarion behind the scenes) was immediately noticeable. Oddly it's especially noticeable because it's not well equalised for the road noise at high speeds - this is quite well executed in the VWs and more so in the Golf than in the Polo which had a useful boost in the low end to account for the furniture and engine tone.

The Corolla definitely has AM radio vibes about it and yes, it's a car, I can ultimately cope with that, but the thing I most struggle to get over is that I frequently see it say "max" when it's barely loud enough to hear over the road noise. @John1964 sounds like you've experienced this too!

@sportse, that setting only applies to the "Music" app. Spotify, Tidal, BBC sounds etc will not be affected. That was a feature introduced in iOS 17. I don't use Music - I mostly just use the radio.

From the signature of the sound I'm guessing they have Panasonic make this unit for them... does anyone know for sure?

If you look in sound settings you can alter how much the stereo turns up with speed. I’ve set mine to ‘high’ and this works well. I agree that turning off the sound levelling on iPhone can help with louder tracks but quiet ones are even quieter.