I've been frustrated with my 5000nex because when my iPhone 6 is connected over usb1 I noticed the audio quality is not very good. Pioneer tech support recommended to check the s.rtrv setting but it was on mode 1. Bluetooth sounds amazing compared to usb1 so I disabled CarPlay to see what would happen. All of a sudden the usb1 audio quality was just as good as Bluetooth. I'm disappointed that I have to disable CarPlay but I would rather have the superior sound quality.

I wanted to post this in case someone else noticed this issue.

This has been discussed in the past, sound quality is better with car play disabled

I mentioned this issue a few weeks ago with my 5000 and now with the S.Rtrv setting on 2 bars/lines the audio quality is back to being on par with BT. I just wish i had more control of the EQ settings though. My old X910BT had a much better EQ setup and was far "louder" as well. Check your EQ settings and see if you can improve on them somehow.

Pretty much all my music that I d/l is set to the lowest bitrate anyway so I'm not expecting the best audio quality. The S. Rtrv setting does help a lot though.

Your sound quality should always be better when coming from a connected audio source as the cable can carry the full music source as oppossed to streaming via bluetooth which will compresses the music further.   Your connected source should sound much fuller.  You have mentioned the sound retirever is set to 1.  What about the other settings, 

Have you set up your

Equalizer,

High & Low Pass filters,

Time alignment,

Speaker output such as sub level etc

If your sound is way to full of bass, or muddy in the middle, that is is because the USB connection is pulling much more from the source and you may need to tone down some of the settings.

Also check the connection wire to the phone.  Be sure it is a Apple product or apple authorzied product.

This has been discussed in the past, sound quality is better with car play disabled

The level of just..... The pioneer radio creates a different sound preset for each and every sound mode. Sound retriever or s.rtrv has been the biggest culprit of all this confusion, but there are other factors. Before anyone states that car audio quality is better in carplay or worse in carplay or worse in bluetooth or whatever, make sure that your sound settings are IDENTICAL across all audio sources. This is not easy on an NEX. The sound sources are split all over the place. 

Make sure your equalizer settings are the same.

Make sure your sound retriever settings are identical.

Check your audio source sound level setting against FM.

Check what your sound settings are on your phone for its equalizer.

Check your speaker settings. So High low pass filters, speaker output levels, time alignment, etc. There are so many settings.

I cannot stress this enough. The pioneer radio keeps a different set of settings for each audio source. Even your video output settings vary by your output source. Don't believe me? Change your display settings in carplay and then press the mode button while in carplay. You will momentarily see your video settings switch to the built in media player video preset before switching over. 

Is there an overview of S.rtrv somewhere? I just stumbled upon this setting on my USB2 port and yea it does sound better with two of the bars on.

I have a fully upgraded audio system in my car (amps and all) and I use carplay all the time and it sounds great to me. 

I have a fully upgraded audio system in my car (amps and all) and I use carplay all the time and it sounds great to me.

Same here. I have a JL XD700/5 amp and Hybrid Audio speakers, and CarPlay sounds great. FLAC on an SD card sounds noticeably better, though.

I have to chime in as well on this matter. CarPlay sounds as good as I can expect it to. 

I definitely do not think that Bluetooth sounds better - it's worse if anything. It does have greater output (i.e. louder) than CarPlay.

...and FLAC sounds most excellent compared to all.  

Same here. I have a JL XD700/5 amp and Hybrid Audio speakers, and CarPlay sounds great. FLAC on an SD card sounds noticeably better, though.

YES. FLAC on SD sounds awesome and hard to distinguish from CD......

I mentioned this issue a few weeks ago with my 5000 and now with the S.Rtrv setting on 2 bars/lines the audio quality is back to being on par with BT. I just wish i had more control of the EQ settings though. My old X910BT had a much better EQ setup and was far "louder" as well. Check your EQ settings and see if you can improve on them somehow.

 

Pretty much all my music that I d/l is set to the lowest bitrate anyway so I'm not expecting the best audio quality. The S. Rtrv setting does help a lot though.

You have to turn on S.Rtrv in the Pioneer screen. Play a track from your iDevice in Carplay then push the Mode button. It should take you to the Pioneer screen of the same track (if not keep pushing it until the same track appears onscreen). In the bottom right corner you'll see the S.Rtrv button, just tap it twice to get 2 bars. Then you can push the Mode button to get back to the Carplay view

You have to turn on S.Rtrv in the Pioneer screen. Play a track from your iDevice in Carplay then push the Mode button. It should take you to the Pioneer screen of the same track (if not keep pushing it until the same track appears onscreen). In the bottom right corner you'll see the S.Rtrv button, just tap it twice to get 2 bars. Then you can push the Mode button to get back to the Carplay view