Bluetooth Audio Issues

kribensis12

Member
:
2016 Mazda CX-5
Hello!

I recently purchased a CPO 2016 Mazda CX5 2.5L with 28,000 miles on it.

I LOVE it! I have one major concern - and it is with the Bluetooth connectivity.

I am a major technology fan - I am very proficient with the lingo, and I like to work on computers on the side. One of the selling points for the Mazda for me was the design of the infotainment console and the fairly intuitive OS (with Apple CarPlay coming soon!).

I have had a LOT of issues with my bluetooth since purchasing the vehicle. Here are the problems I have had to experience:
1. Phone is connected, and the music from Spotify shows on the screen. It says it is playing, but no sound. (yes, I checked to make sure my iPhone 7 was pushing sound to the Mazda).
2. The song plays very quickly (like double-timed) on the cars speakers, but the song is playing at a normal rate.
3. The audio quality is very poor, sometimes. Other times, it's great.
4. Phone is connected and nothing plays - the screen does not even show the progress bar for the sound playing. I have to disconnect and reconnect.
5. When I call someone, the call quality is fairly poor. Sounds like I'm calling from my wife's 2012 Ford Focus w/ Microsoft Sync (ew.....).

From what I can tell, it seems to be a software issue as opposed to hardware because I HAVE had some good experiences with the system. I have had a 50/50 experience for it. When I purchased the car I asked for a vehicle history report and it says they performed a software update right before purchase so the system should be up-to-date. My iPhone 7 is completely up-to-date.

Any ideas as to how to improve this situation?

ALSO, does anyone know more about the plans to update to Apple CarPlay? The dealer has no idea when that will happen and they have no information whatsoever. I've been scouring the web and I can't seem to find any more information on this. Any ideas?
 
Hmm Strange, I have a 2016.5 , I use a Iphone 7 +
And also use spotify and have yet to have any of these issues,

I never had any complaints about Voice quality either

What Is your Software version?
 
I am unsure as to the exact version number, but they updated it at the dealer 2 weeks ago when I purchased it. I would assume that it is the current version.
 
I have had the same issues --- 2016.5 with no software update yet, and my iPhone 6 is updated fine. I talked to the dealer and they said to "bring it in one day" and they'd flash the software, but I haven't had time to do it. If I reset the phone, it seems to help, at least the double-time skipping and the no-sound-at-all problem.
 
try resetting the phone's network settings and reboot the phone. You'll need to create new bluetooth connections. With ios 10 I've had a lot more annoying hiccups. The strangest I've seen is the phone playing music that doesn't exist on the phone or in spotify, but some ancient itunes playlist I made 10 years ago. Still haven't figured that one out. I guess it's coming over the cellular signal, even though I have that setting turned off.
 
It sounds like your phone might be the issue. Apple makes great products but they're far from perfect. Reboot your phone the real way by holding the home button and power button down for ten seconds and it will shutdown. Then power it back on.

For an iphone 7 you'll press and hold the power button and the volume down button for 10 seconds. That should clear up your bluetooth woes.

As far as the audio quality you'll want to check your streaming quality in Spotify's settings menu. I keep mine set to extreme but there are times when the quality drops and everything sounds muted.

It's highly possible that this hard reset will fix your iphone issues. It's 100% safe and fixes all sorts of iphone/ipad problems.
 
Something I noticed: took a longer trip and used both my iPhone over Bluetooth and an iPod using the audio cable, and the audio cable and iPod delivered by FAR better sound (and at lower volume) than the iPhone using Bluetooth. Anybody else seen this too?
 
It sounds like your phone might be the issue. Apple makes great products but they're far from perfect. Reboot your phone the real way by holding the home button and power button down for ten seconds and it will shutdown. Then power it back on.

For an iphone 7 you'll press and hold the power button and the volume down button for 10 seconds. That should clear up your bluetooth woes.

As far as the audio quality you'll want to check your streaming quality in Spotify's settings menu. I keep mine set to extreme but there are times when the quality drops and everything sounds muted.

It's highly possible that this hard reset will fix your iphone issues. It's 100% safe and fixes all sorts of iphone/ipad problems.

I've done the SMC reset as suggested. I will give the bluetooth another try later today. I have also changed my streaming settings.

Some of the audio quality issues I have experienced are during phone calls.
 
Something I noticed: took a longer trip and used both my iPhone over Bluetooth and an iPod using the audio cable, and the audio cable and iPod delivered by FAR better sound (and at lower volume) than the iPhone using Bluetooth. Anybody else seen this too?

Bluetooth has limited bandwidth
 
Something I noticed: took a longer trip and used both my iPhone over Bluetooth and an iPod using the audio cable, and the audio cable and iPod delivered by FAR better sound (and at lower volume) than the iPhone using Bluetooth. Anybody else seen this too?

Yes, bluetooth in a nutshell sucks for audio as it was not originally intended to xfer streaming audio. AUX or line in will always sound better no matter the car or bluetooth device.
 
2. The song plays very quickly (like double-timed) on the cars speakers, but the song is playing at a normal rate.

I have the same issue with my Android device, but not with my iPhone (work/personal mobile). I've reset the phone, reset the Mazda, it still happens every other time (or so). There's no noise, like it's on pause/mute, but then I'll get the last 15 seconds of audio in about 3 seconds, another 15 seconds of pause, etc. It's very odd, and makes audio books and music useless.

That said, I have not had it happen yet with my iPhone, but will test that out exclusively for the next week and see.
 
I know that Bluetooth was not originally intended for streaming, but Bluetooth 4.0 supposedly increased its viability.

The SMC reset did NOT work. Same problems again today where it plays, stops, plays, stops etc....

Here are the system details:

OS Version is 59.00.502 NA N
Music Database Version is 00.07.000
Fail-Safe Version is 59.00.502

Does this help?
 
I would factory reset your car's head unit. Wipe it and resetup your phone. Mine stutters on sound if it is set to connect and play when you start the car. The head unit is slow on startup and stutters until all loading is complete. It doesn't take long, but just long enough to bog down if BT music starts immediately.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
 
Hello!

I recently purchased a CPO 2016 Mazda CX5 2.5L with 28,000 miles on it.

I LOVE it! I have one major concern - and it is with the Bluetooth connectivity.

I am a major technology fan - I am very proficient with the lingo, and I like to work on computers on the side. One of the selling points for the Mazda for me was the design of the infotainment console and the fairly intuitive OS (with Apple CarPlay coming soon!).

I have had a LOT of issues with my bluetooth since purchasing the vehicle. Here are the problems I have had to experience:
1. Phone is connected, and the music from Spotify shows on the screen. It says it is playing, but no sound. (yes, I checked to make sure my iPhone 7 was pushing sound to the Mazda).
2. The song plays very quickly (like double-timed) on the cars speakers, but the song is playing at a normal rate.
3. The audio quality is very poor, sometimes. Other times, it's great.
4. Phone is connected and nothing plays - the screen does not even show the progress bar for the sound playing. I have to disconnect and reconnect.
5. When I call someone, the call quality is fairly poor. Sounds like I'm calling from my wife's 2012 Ford Focus w/ Microsoft Sync (ew.....).

From what I can tell, it seems to be a software issue as opposed to hardware because I HAVE had some good experiences with the system. I have had a 50/50 experience for it. When I purchased the car I asked for a vehicle history report and it says they performed a software update right before purchase so the system should be up-to-date. My iPhone 7 is completely up-to-date.

Any ideas as to how to improve this situation?

ALSO, does anyone know more about the plans to update to Apple CarPlay? The dealer has no idea when that will happen and they have no information whatsoever. I've been scouring the web and I can't seem to find any more information on this. Any ideas?

My problem is Google Maps turn-by-turn audio. When Bluetooth is turned on, cell phone calls work fine and audio comes thru car speakers. However, if I use Google Maps nav on my cell phone, I don't hear any directions from car speakers or phone. This is a 2017 CX-5.
 
After repairing it, it has been much better. Until today.

It is periodically cutting out, momentarily speeding up the song etc.

Any other ideas on what to do?
 
POSSIBLE SOLUTION:

It hit me, on my 12 hour road trip (stopped to feed our son several times), that maybe there is some interference.

If the FaceTime (upper) part of my iPhone is sandwiched between my legs (I do this often to make it easy to reach), or in my pocket, or inside of anything that could interfere with Bluetooth, then the music cuts out. As soon as the phone is "Free", then the music continues playing as if nothing was wrong.

So a majority of peoples problems, mine included, might be solved by sitting our phones somewhere the Bluetooth is unimpaired.
 
POSSIBLE SOLUTION:

It hit me, on my 12 hour road trip (stopped to feed our son several times), that maybe there is some interference.

If the FaceTime (upper) part of my iPhone is sandwiched between my legs (I do this often to make it easy to reach), or in my pocket, or inside of anything that could interfere with Bluetooth, then the music cuts out. As soon as the phone is "Free", then the music continues playing as if nothing was wrong.

So a majority of peoples problems, mine included, might be solved by sitting our phones somewhere the Bluetooth is unimpaired.

I put phone in the area right behind the E-Brake switch and next to the cup holders in plain sight while driving and I still loose Bluetooth connection.. But only for pandora. Everything else is good.
 
I'm having BT audio issues as well however with my phone (iPhone 7 Plus) phone calls always work, but the music often does not. I get the 'unknown' message on the screen when trying to access music (the phone remains paired) if I shut the car off and back on, it will work again. I already tried to delete and pair the phone but the issue keeps cropping up.
 
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