iOS: Muffled Audio Quality When Casting

[devenmonga]

Hi - 

I recently just upgraded to a Pandora premium member, hoping for better sound quality when chrome casting to my TCL TV (Roku Interface) or playing Pandora from the app on the TCL TV.  The sound quality when casting from my iPhone is muffled,  not clear, and quite bad (and yes I have put the quality of the sound on High through the settings).  I have a iPhone SE (2020).  I also have tried the Pandora App on the TCL TV (Roku Interface), again very bad sound quality and it is not very clear.  Only when I chrome cast from my desktop computer, the sound quality is amazing!  Desktop computer is connected thru an ethernet cable.  All other devices are wireless.  Yamaha sound system is being utilized for the TV and front 3 speakers are wired, and 2 rear speakers are wireless and run on 2.4 ghz.  Internet at home uses 5 ghz.

Any ideas on how to get good sound quality using the Pandora Roku app or when chrome casting from the iPhone?  These are the more convenient devices when playing music at home.

mod edit: changed title for clarity

[AlyssaPandora · Accepted solution]

Hi there, @devenmonga. 👋

Nice to see you around the community space.

Here are some details regarding audio quality on Pandora:

• For listeners accessing Pandora from a computer, Ad-supported Pandora is 64kbps AAC+, while Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium subscribers have the option of 192kbps.
• On Android and iOS devices, ad-supported listeners and Pandora Plus subscribers get anywhere from 24kbps to 64kbps in mono or stereo, depending on the phone, carrier, connection type and - in some cases - the user's settings.
• Only Pandora Premium subscribers can receive 192kbps on their iOS and Android devices.
• Most home-listening devices (like Rokud, Yahama receivers) get 128kbps - whether the account is free or paid.

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Audio Quality on Mobile Devices for Premium Subscribers:

We are constantly testing and evaluating what the right rates are for each setting level and do plan to migrate our high audio quality to 320kbps AAC over time. However, below are the current bit-rates for each audio quality setting on Pandora Premium.

• Low (32kbps)
• Standard (64kbps)
• High (192kbps)

Keep in mind that each setting will affect:

• Data used while streaming on your cellular network.
• Bandwidth used when listening on Wi-Fi.
• Device memory when downloading music for Offline listening.

The following are general guidelines for each setting:

• Low audio quality is better for data efficiency and device memory.
• Standard audio quality balances data efficiency, sound quality and device memory.
• High audio quality is recommend for listeners with high fidelity audio systems, but will use more data and device memory.

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Request for Higher Audio Quality:

In the meantime, we do have this existing feature request created by another community member: Higher Audio Quality

If you'd like to see more audio quality settings available on various devices, you can upvote this idea and leave a comment. To upvote an idea, click on the 💙icon next to the title of the request.

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Casting to Another Device:

If you're casting sounds very different than how it normally does when you're listening, you can also try running through the standard troubleshooting steps for your iPhone device: iOS Troubleshooting

I hope this information is helpful. 🎧