Muffled sound through Apple CarPlay usb

Terry your response is complete ****. Don’t bother commenting unless you have a fix.

I wanted to say that I was having the exact same problem (I have a Honda CRV EX 2021) and this solution fixes the problem!

I had this problem as well this is what I did to fix it!

Reason why it sounds muffled or low quality audio is because it is using your microphone at the same time.

go to your SETTINGS

scroll down to your SPOTIFY app

click on the MICROPHONE and turn it off

That fixed it for let me know if that works :)

For me it happens with any music app. Including apple music. The music is crisp and clear when using Bluetooth however when I switch over to a usb (so I can use apple car play) the music sounds muffled and not as clear.

Hi! I’m having the same issue and I’m wondering if anyone found a solution.

CarPlay is just trash in general. Their sound is different than Bluetooth. It’s not our faults really I had issues with other devices and other people has said the same thing.

Hi Eric,

I'm having the same problem that Crabapple22 is having. For me, it is all music on my phone, not just Spotify. I've tried Apple Music as well, with no improvement in the sound.

Some other symptoms I've had include Siri not giving voice directions while I'm playing music from my phone. However, Siri does work if I'm listening to the radio.

Also, I have a 2018 Mazda CX-3 and confirmed that the CarPlay system is up to date as of last week. It does not have Bluetooth connection available for CarPlay. I noticed that it seems like the sound is going through a different channel in the system. Typically, it looks like music goes through a speaker channel (speaker icon shown when changing volume) and Siri goes through the navigation channel (maps/nav icon shown). Now, the sound looks like it goes through a microphone channel, since that's the icon that's shown.

Just this last weekend, I tried my wife's phone in my car on a road trip with no problems.

I hope this helps with some more information for you to diagnose. My next step is to take my phone into a Store to see if there's a problem with it.

Thanks for your help!

I’m having the same issue I have a 2020 Jeep Wrangler and when I use Bluetooth the music is clear and crisp and the bass is good, but when I connect to CarPlay the music seems to become muffled and it seems like the bass goes down. the vocals and mid ranges seems seem to get lower whenever there is higher bass in a song then when the bass drops down the vocals get high again, but this isn’t a issue with Bluetooth. I tried turning off “Hey Spotify” and it didn’t make a difference. The really weird thing is that it seems to affect all audio while my phone in plugged in. Even radio and Sirius XM. And yes I’ve tried brand new cords and everything so idk.. 🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

The same thing is happening to me and I tried everything everyone is saying & nothing has changed or improved. My sound is also muffled with bluetooth not just carplay , I already turned off hey spotify a while ago & nothing changed. Anyone know what else could be causing this annoying muffled sound?

I’m having the same issue I have a 2020 Jeep Wrangler and when I use Bluetooth the music is clear and crisp and the bass is good, but when I connect to CarPlay the music seems to become muffled and it seems like the bass goes down. the vocals and mid ranges seems seem to get lower whenever there is higher bass in a song then when the bass drops down the vocals get high again, but this isn’t a issue with Bluetooth. I tried turning off “Hey Spotify” and it didn’t make a difference. The really weird thing is that it seems to affect all audio while my phone in plugged in. Even radio and Sirius XM. And yes I’ve tried brand new cords and everything so idk.. 🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

To be honest I think the issue with people is that when they listen to CarPlay music through Spotify, the claimed that the music was being played as if they were on the phone, it was good quality. There’s nothing wrong with your stuff, playing music through your CarPlay is just crap. It’s the CarPlay itself itself bogus. Bluetooth sounds better and clearer and it’s not your fault that CarPlay is trash. But CarPlay is just convenient to have music playing while charging and using to make calls and gps.

Hello Crabapple22,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities!

We understand that Apple CarPlay sound is muffled when you're using the USB cord. We're happy to help!

Below is an article that will provide some steps to help with CarPlay.

If you need help with CarPlay

Were you able to try a different USB cord and if what was the result?

Let us know if you have any questions.

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

Take care!

Hello Crabapple22,

Thanks for responding back to us!

Does this only happen with Spotify?

Are you able to test it with a Bluetooth connection?

Let us know!

Thanks.

I fixed mine by going on Spotify and turning of “Hey Spotify”