Hi,

Just ordered my C-class coupe and as strange as it may seem one of the most important things to me is the audio connection for my iPhone as I work with music and need to listen to a heck of a lot!

I have been told that I do not need to pay £150 for the hardwiring kit as the streaming of audio wirelessly is more than adequate but I am still a little concerned.

I was wondering what other's experience was like straming audio wirelessly and if i should hardwire or not. I have to skip tracks often and quickly so I can't have delays and I'm concerned the wireless option will not be up to it.

Alternatively should I just suck it up and pay the £2000 for the command online solution?

thanks in advance guys!

 

if you use it that much, and it's a big part of your job, pay the money at least for the cable. The great thing is it will also charge your phone. Or, just get an iPod, hook it up, and leave it there so you dont have to mess around with hooking up and disconnecting every time you get in and out of the car.

 

Thanks, good advice

 

I have the prewired option and it does work quite wonderfully - the interface mimics that of the iphone itself and you can scroll though songs/playlists/artists etc without actually changing the song

Bluetooth works ok as well - quality is just as good and it shows the full track name/artist/etc, but you can only scroll back or forward one track at a time, which changes the track... there is a minor delay when compared to the hardwire option when changing tracks... can't change playlists or anything like that... and of course it doesn't charge your phone

long story short, the hardwired option is great and i love it, but no way in hell would i pay over $2000 JUST for that...

 

I have my Bluetooth on on my iPhone and I like the way I don't have to do anything when I get into the car. It just turns on and the music starts to play right from my phone.

 

BT streaming quality is lower than that of a cable connection. If your songs are recorded at a high but rate then get the cable. I don't see how that is a 2000 option. Is it part of the navigation system package?

 

i do both, both great. pandora for streaming and ipod for wire. fu.k xm, pandora is better and you could change songs via streaming.

 

If your volume is low on your phone and you don't have the phone's EQ set right it won't sound as good. Check your phone and it will be just as good as if it were wired.

 

i have sony ericsson phone connected via bluetooth to audio20 cd changer and the sound quality is the same compared to same song on cd and you dont have to take phone out of your pocket to connect.but you cannot see song names or scroll between song names just track forword or back(may be i phone is different)
did you listen to harman kardon sound system on c coupe?it is not bad and better then standart audio

 

I have the Ed125 so it came with the wired connection. I leave an old iPod in the arm rest and play all my music from there - the sound quality is excellent and you can access all the functions of the iPod through the car. However, the other day the car started playing a song I hadn't yet put on the iPod - but was on my iPhone in my pocket and playing via Bluetooth. Personally I couldn't tell the difference between the quality of the 2 connections (all my music is 256kb/s MP3) but, you get (or at least I could only find) minimal control option for Bluetooth streaming. All I could do was select next / previous track and the music stopped at the end of the playlist / album. The only way I could have the full control over the iPhone was to get it out of my pocket, take my eyes off the road and select songs that way.

If Bluetooth was the only option you could obviously set up the required playlists and start it as you begin your drive, it's just that after 6 month of full iPod control and my inability to listen to full songs, let alone albums I think I'd find it difficult to use Bluetooth on a regular basis. However, I suspect you can have the iPod armrest integration added for much less that the £2k of Command.

 

I have both the wired iPod connection kit and the Bluetooth A2DP wireless streaming audio in my 2012 C250. Sound quality wise, they are extremely close, even with the H/K audio. It is very difficult to discern any difference, as the 2012 Bluetooth streaming setup is greatly improved. About the only thing you can notice is that the Bass isn't as "sharp" and is a bit "muddier". However, that's really nitpicking (as I consider myself an Audiophile) and so I doubt that 99% of the people will ever be able to tell a difference.

Aside from that, there are pros and cons to each setup. With the iPod connection, my iPhone is always fully charged and song changes are near instant, and you also can search songs through the comand interface and see how much time is left in the song. On the flipside, you're phone is stuck in the center console area, and I also have to take my bumper case off my iPhone to get it to work, quite annoying.

With Bluetooth Audio A2DP streaming, it is seamless, I never have to take my phone out of my pocket, and it connects automatically. Some of the drawbacks is that you have to use random shuffle (or go by alphabetical sorting) unless you manually operate it from your phone. Additionally, your phone doesn't automatically charge, so it can hamper battery life a bit (but my phone never lasts more then a day anyway, so its no biggie to me). Also, there is a bit of a delay when switching songs, where the iPod kit is near instant, the Bluetooth streaming takes about 1 second to start playing the song, and another second to display the song information (which isn't as detailed) as you only get the song name and artist. With the iPod kit you can see how much time is left in the song, album artwork, etc.

If I were you, I would get the cable, see if you can order it online for cheaper?