Leaf Audio/Music Features

[evnow]

To the user who tried a2dp earlier... did you try the cd skip fwd/back buttons to see if it would skip to next/prev song? I know you were testing 100 different things, but it doesn't hurt to ask

True, can't assume it won't skip.

 

[evnow]

I predict I will be using the 1/8" audio cable since what I need is the ability to skip back 7 second for the cases when I miss what was just said due to traffic conditions.

You can still use A2DP. The device still controls what it feeds the car.

 

[evnow]

A little more information. Nissan Maxima supports both A2DP and AVCRP.

From Wiki :

Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP)
This profile is designed to provide a standard interface to control TVs, Hi-fi equipment, etc. to allow a single remote control (or other device) to control all of the A/V equipment to which a user has access. It may be used in concert with A2DP or VDP.
It has the possibility for vendor-dependent extensions.
AVRCP has several versions with significantly increasing functionality:
1.0—Basic remote control commands (play/pause/stop, etc.)
1.3—all of 1.0 plus metadata and media-player state support The status of the music source (playing, stopped, etc.)
Metadata information on the track itself (artist, track name, etc.).

1.4—all of 1.0, 1.3, plus media browsing capabilities for multiple media players Browsing and manipulation of multiple players
Browsing of media metadata per media player, including a "Now Playing" list
Basic search capabilities

But, I don't know exactly what AVCRP version Nissan supports (and whether that is only with dvd etc). You can't check this using older iPhones since they doesn't support AVCRP.

edit : Apparently some iPhones support AVCRP and some others don't. Latest upgrade apparently even broke the functionality of the earlier version.

 

[evnow]

Maxima manual says :

This system supports the Bluetooth Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP, AVRCP).

Infinity manual says :

BLUETOOTH STREAMING AUDIO
(models with navigation system)
Your INFINITI is equipped with Bluetooth Streaming Audio. If you have a compatible Bluetoothdevice with streaming audio (A2DP profile), you can set up the wireless connection between your Bluetooth device and the in-vehicle audio system. This connection allows you to listen to the audio from the Bluetooth device using your vehicle speakers. It also may allow basic control of the device for playing and skipping audio files using the AVRCP Bluetooth profile. All Bluetooth Devices do not have the same level of controls for AVRCP. Please consult the manual for your Bluetooth Device for more details. Once your Bluetooth device is connected to the in-vehicle audio system, it will automatically reconnect whenever the device is present in the vehicle and you select Bluetooth Audio from your audio system. You do not need to manually reconnect for each usage.

So, I think we will get basic skip/stop/pause/play/fwd/rwd functions i.e. Level 1.0 AVRCP profile. What is lacking is album/track metadata support.

For iPhone users, you need 4.1 (with some work arounds, apparently). Windows Phone 7 (and earlier versions too) support AVRCP. Android has support for AVRCP too - but reports of bad audio quality.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-audio-electronics/85262-bt-audio-streaming-sucks-android-phones-so-usb-interface.html

 

[TimeHorse]

For iPhone users, you need 4.1 (with some work arounds, apparently).

That link is for Android phones -- actually good to provide since think Android phones are pretty cool too, but what are the known issues for an iPhone 3G running 4.1, if anyone knows.

 

[evnow]

That link is for Android phones -- actually good to provide since think Android phones are pretty cool too, but what are the known issues for an iPhone 3G running 4.1, if anyone knows.

Since I have no personal experience, I'm just going by what the internets say. Apparently 4.1 introduced AVRCP - but the perfectly working A2DP of the earlier version gets noisy. I didn't dig deeper to see what the work-around was.

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

I learned some details by trying it today:

Bluetooth supports these services:

• Handsfree
  Object Push (probably phonebook)
  A/V Remote Control
  Audio Sink
  Message Notification

The second SD Card slot appears to be not for music use. One slot is occupied by an 8GB Nissan Maps card. The other slot is empty. I was unable to get any format of music recognized in the second slot. I tried multiple cards, FAT16, FAT32, and exFAT, etc.

Audio inputs seem to be SAT, Radio, AUX (input jack), USB, CD, Bluetooth. It appears SD slots (both) are just for Nav. I could be wrong, but this would be supported by the "hidden" slots behind a shared cover that doesn't look like it was meant to be opened often. It breaks off easily, and is not inviting or labeled in any way hinting at music.

 

[garygid]

Maybe the 2nd SD slot is memory to "rip" CDs to, to have a virtual CD-Changer?

 

[Gonewild]

So does the first iphone 1.0 non G3 stream audio on blue tooth with 3.1.3 software update on the phone?

 

[sdbonez]

3.x software on my 2nd gen ipod touch worked... so maybe.

 

[Frank]

This is something I hadn't thought about using with the Leaf's audio system:

http://imagescl.cyberguys.com/images/prod_main/P17660A.jpg
http://www.cyberguys.com/product-details/?productID=17660&sk=13PORTLMTD&cm_mmc=Email-_-Promotional-_-C1091%20Cyb%20Limited%20Qty-_-204%200735_Handy%20and%20Convenient&emc=lm&m=204617&l=71&v=68978#page=page-1

A very small USB memory card reader that reads microSD and MMC memory cards. The price is right at $1.99 (without the memory card) but I have a spare 8GB microSD card from an old mobile phone that I could use. Does anyone know of a reason that this wouldn't work via the Leaf's USB port?

 

[garygid]

There are many other inexpensive USB "memory-card" readers.

This one appears to have a non-standard (un-covered) USB port. Personally, because of that, I would look for another with a "more sturdy" USB plug.

As long as they act like a OS-supported "flash drive", and have acceptable timing, many different "card readers" are likely to work.

 

[JasonT]

This one appears to have a non-standard (un-covered) USB port. Personally, because of that, I would look for another with a "more sturdy" USB plug.

At $1.99, I can't imagine anyone expecting sturdy :lol: I have a thin "thumbdrive" myself that has this same type of configuration, and I love it because it is so slim. The only downside to this type of design is you can easily plug it into a USB port "backwards". If you do that, all that happens then is that it doesn't work. Nothing gets shorted, no other problems.

 

[Frank]

I was thinking that because it is only 3/4 inch high after it is plugged into the Leaf's USB port, leaving it there all the time would be hardly noticeable.

 

[garygid]

I suspect that 3/4" or 1 3/4" would make little difference in getting hit by a knee, etc., but I might be wrong.

However, I think the USB port could have been put in a more "protected" position, perhaps even just an inch closer to the center-line of the console.

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

That's my plan.. a USB microSD adapter with a 32GB microSD card in it. All the music you can eat!

I agree that the USB port is in a strange orientation.. up.

If the reader looks precarious, there are 6" USB extension cables that can let it sit somewhere close by.

 

[garygid]

There are also a variety of "right angle USB A extension" and adapters.

 

[1051]

http://www.monoprice.com

 

[LEAFguy]

That's my plan.. a USB microSD adapter with a 32GB microSD card in it. All the music you can eat!

You are assuming that the system can read a 32GB source. No information published yet about what size memory might be accessable by the OS.

 

[tzeweiu]

I was really excited when I heard that the Leaf would feature a USB port. My plan is to hook up a Western Digital portable hard drive so that I could have 150+GB of mp3s available to me at all times in the car. At the Drive Nissan Leaf event in San Diego, I had the opportunity to test it out.

After I plugged in the hard drive, the screen displayed "reading USB memory" for maybe 10-15 seconds before some folders popped up. Although my hard drive also contains many folders of pictures and documents, only mp3 folders appeared. Most importantly, only 118 of 900+ artist folders were available. I waited to see if the Leaf would take some time to update the entire library, but after a few minutes the folder count topped out at 118. I'm not sure how much memory that corresponds to. The folders that did appear also seemed to be chosen at random because they were not just the first 118 folders in alphabetical order.

Unfortunately I don't think the Leaf is able to handle so many mp3s at once. Hopefully I missed something but with simple plug and play I was unable to access all of my music. I couldn't find how to make on-the-go playlists either, or determine whether or not the Leaf would list playlist files made on a computer. A lot of experimenting to do when the car finally arrives but USB is better than no USB!