Leaf Audio/Music Features

[Coffee_Slurry]

Interesting report tzeweiu.

Do you know what filesystem format your WD portable hard drive is using? (FAT32, NTFS, exFAT)

If you mount it on a Windows machine, and do a "DIR" from a DOS prompt, you can see the order that the entries are in the directory. You might find that the 118 directories are the first ones in the unsorted directory.

Or maybe it's something different.

Are all the directories organized the same way? Maybe Artist/Album/Songs.mp3?
It might have a name length limit, or an aversion to non-ASCII characters.

If the head unit really is running embedded Microsoft software, I would expect it's one of the few that may parse an NTFS or exFAT drive.

 

[walterbays]

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.

Given that the infotainment console runs Windows 7 automotive, I'd expect that it could handle 32GB.

And on that happy thought... http://electrovelocity.com/2010/10/21/the-coming-carputer-virus-apocalypse/

can we realistically expect to see the emergence of the car virus in much the same way that the computer virus first began appearing en masse over a decade ago as computers began connecting to the internet in large numbers?

 

[evnow]

Most importantly, only 118 of 900+ artist folders were available.

May be their buffer got full. I usually have folders first by genre to avoid this kind of issue.

 

[BruinLEAFer]

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.!

The Nissan documentation I have seen mentions only MP3 and WMA file compatibility. Were any of your files in WAV or AAC format? Or are you strictly using MP3? (iTunes music is AAC formatted.)

 

[tzeweiu]

Groundloop, my hard drive uses FAT32, but I'm not sure how to mount the hard drive in Windows 7 and check the unsorted directory.

My music folder is not organized very consistently. The majority of the folders are formatted iTunes style (Artist/Album/Song.mp3) but some are just general folders that I created, e.g., soundtracks, oldies, audiobooks.

Actually, based on the songs I was able to play in my few minutes with the display, the folders might have to be arranged a certain way for the songs to appear. Let me give an example. One of the music folders that appeared was the one for The Killers. However, once I opened that folder, none of the albums appeared. The only songs which appeared in the folder were two that weren't in any of the album folders, but were located on the same level as the albums. I'm thinking that the folder system in a USB device must be organized with a maximum of two levels of folders because the Leaf will not read anything deeper.

The numbers below indicate the folder level.

Song appears on screen:
Music/Artist/Song.mp3
1.......2

Song doesn't appear on screen:
Music/Artist/Album/Song.mp3
1.......2.......3

Maybe I could access all 150+GB of my mp3s if I reorganized my hard drive to get rid of the main Music folder:

Artist/Album/Song.mp3
1.......2

This would explain why the majority of my mp3s did not appear because they were organized in a level 3 folder. The 118 folders that showed up were probably the 118 folders with at least one mp3 located in a level 2 folder.

Hope this little analysis wasn't too confusing!

Could someone who is going to one of the Drive Nissan Leaf events bring a hard drive to test this theory? Thanks!

 

[garygid]

WD portable HD, 150GB, as FAT32:
At least it worked with a HD, and avoided non-music files!

It showed mp3, and what other file type?

What is the model number of this HD that you tried, please?

 

[evnow]

The Nissan documentation I have seen mentions only MP3 and WMA file compatibility. Were any of your files in WAV or AAC format? Or are you strictly using MP3? (iTunes music is AAC formatted.)

I don't think AAC will be supported since it is a proprietary format. Other Nissan manulas only talk about mp3 and wma.

 

[tzeweiu]

Most of my files are mp3s so I didn't notice if AAC or WMA worked or not.

Model number of the WD hard drive is WD2500ME-01 and it is formatted for the PC, but I don't think the actual model of the hard drive will affect compatibility with the Leaf.

 

[garygid]

Ok, thanks.
A 250 GB drive, with 150+ GB used.

 

[tps]

The Nissan documentation I have seen mentions only MP3 and WMA file compatibility. Were any of your files in WAV or AAC format? Or are you strictly using MP3? (iTunes music is AAC formatted.)

I don't think AAC will be supported since it is a proprietary format. Other Nissan manulas only talk about mp3 and wma.

AAC is not a proprietary format, it is the "next generation" of MP3. However the Apple DRM "container" around it, if it is protected, is proprietary. Both MP3 and AAC encoding/decoding are licensed technologies, although they seem not to try too hard to enforce the licensing requirements of MP3. I'm reasonably sure that Nissan, through the various subsystem providers, has probably paid the MP3 licensing fees. Maybe the issue is that they didn't pay the AAC licensing fees.

My "portable" music library currently consists of ~1800 MP3 files, most encoded by WinLAME, with a few Amazon downloads and other assorted MP3 files which I did not encode thrown in. They are encoded from both stereo and mono source files, at both 16 and 24 bit-depth, at both 44.1 KHz and 48 KHz sample rate. Most have cover artwork embedded in the MP3 file. They have additionally be processed through MP3Gain. These files are all in a single subdirectory "MUSIC" on my Sony Walkman; they play fine, except that the Walkman is unable to pick up the "year" tag, although it shows properly in MP3Tag.

 

[evnow]

AAC is not a proprietary format, it is the "next generation" of MP3. However the Apple DRM "container" around it, if it is protected, is proprietary. Both MP3 and AAC encoding/decoding are licensed technologies, although they seem not to try too hard to enforce the licensing requirements of MP3. I'm reasonably sure that Nissan, through the various subsystem providers, has probably paid the MP3 licensing fees. Maybe the issue is that they didn't pay the AAC licensing fees.

In Windows Embedded 7 these file types are supported. Depending on the license agreement, I think Microsoft pays the licensing fees for all of them as well ...

http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/A/1/0A1E07D6-7562-4566-AACF-E04DF4FF8879/Windows%20Embedded%20Automotive%207%20Datasheet.pdf

AUDIO FILE TYPES:
Playlists: WPL, ASX, M3U, Zune, iPod, MTP
Media Files: .WMA, .MP3, .MP4, .AAC, .WAV
Codecs: .WMA, .MP3, .AAC, .PCM, .WAV
Extension interface for additional file types

BTW, Windows Embedded 7 supports the latest AVRCP profile as well. The phones may not.

PHONE SUPPORT:
• Bluetooth® 2.1 + EDR (with SSP)
• Message Access Profile (MAP) 1.0
• Calendar download from mobile phone:
• vCal 1.0 / iCal 2.0 supported formats
• Phonebook download using PBAP, SyncML, GSM AT, and OBEX
• Send and receive text messages
• Audio streaming over Bluetooth
• HFP 1.5 and 1.0 support
• Data connection using DUN
• Twice yearly device compatibility updates

BLUETOOTH PROFILES:
• Generic Object Exchange Profile (GOEP) 1.1
• Object Push Profile (OPP) 1.1
• Serial Port Profile (SPP) 1.1
• Phonebook Access Profile-PCE (PBAP) 1.0
• Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP)-SNK 1.2
• Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP)-Controller 1.4
• Hands-Free Profile (HFP)-HF 1.5 (backward compatible to HFP 1.0)
• Dial-Up Networking Profile (DUN)-DT & GW 1.1
• Message Access Profile (MAP) 1.0
Simplified extensibility model
for new Bluetooth profiles
Windows Embedded Automotive 7 Bluetooth Phone

 

[prberg]

I got to experience the Leaf stereo today at the test drive. I popped in my USB drive and played a few MP3's. It was pretty cool to be able to play all my music right from the drive. Very convenient. Don't need a separate MP3 player anymore (at least not when we are in the Leaf).

I was not impressed with the sound quality. I am thinking they are using some pretty cheap speakers. The sound was somewhat muddy and did not have much separation. I played with the audio controls and adjusted the bass and treble but it still did not sound that great. I was playing MP3's that were 160kbps and 44khz, so maybe that was part of it? They are not the highest quality files. I assume a CD would have sounded better.

I might be replacing the speakers when I get the car. But I will have to do some more testing before I go that route. Any other options on the sound quality?

It also seemed a little difficult to control the playback. Maybe I was just confused by the screens, but it seemed harder than it needed to be to pause, stop, rewind, fast forward, etc. Also I just pulled the usb drive. I wonder if there is any type of dismount procedure? I guess the safe bet is to turn off the car first?

-Peter

 

[evnow]

I got to experience the Leaf stereo today at the test drive. I popped in my USB drive and played a few MP3's. It was pretty cool to be able to play all my music right from the drive. Very convenient. Don't need a separate MP3 player anymore (at least not when we are in the Leaf).

I guess it showed the album art & track information ?

It also seemed a little difficult to control the playback. Maybe I was just confused by the screens, but it seemed harder than it needed to be to pause, stop, rewind, fast forward, etc. Also I just pulled the usb drive. I wonder if there is any type of dismount procedure? I guess the safe bet is to turn off the car first?

Interesting note about playback controls.

Regarding USB, I think it should really be plug and play.

 

[EVDRIVER]

I got to experience the Leaf stereo today at the test drive. I popped in my USB drive and played a few MP3's. It was pretty cool to be able to play all my music right from the drive. Very convenient. Don't need a separate MP3 player anymore (at least not when we are in the Leaf).

I was not impressed with the sound quality. I am thinking they are using some pretty cheap speakers. The sound was somewhat muddy and did not have much separation. I played with the audio controls and adjusted the bass and treble but it still did not sound that great. I was playing MP3's that were 160kbps and 44khz, so maybe that was part of it? They are not the highest quality files. I assume a CD would have sounded better.

I might be replacing the speakers when I get the car. But I will have to do some more testing before I go that route. Any other options on the sound quality?

It also seemed a little difficult to control the playback. Maybe I was just confused by the screens, but it seemed harder than it needed to be to pause, stop, rewind, fast forward, etc. Also I just pulled the usb drive. I wonder if there is any type of dismount procedure? I guess the safe bet is to turn off the car first?

-Peter

160kbs is poor quality, 320 is not CD quality, in the car I use 320, at home FLAC and WAV only.

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

If the console is never (ever) writing to your media, then it's perfectly safe to pull your USB device out at any time. You can not hurt anything.

It might confuse or even crash the music player, but your music is safe.

If you had an SD Card in a USB Card Reader, with the Write Protect switch on the SD Card set to Locked, you can be certain it's doing only read operations from the card, and you're safe to yank.

Given the rest of the interior, I can't imagine Nissan has splurged on the speakers. An upgrade seems likely.

 

[tps]

Given the rest of the interior, I can't imagine Nissan has splurged on the speakers. An upgrade seems likely.

Maybe I should be saving my aftermarket Focals from my current car to use when I buy the LEAF...

 

[garygid]

I thought somebody played a CD and said it sounded good, or at least very acceptable.

 

[Randy]

I played 320kbs MP3s and I thought the sound was pretty good. I'll probably try to figure out a way to add a subwoofer for some tasteful bass, but I was happy with what I heard.

I don't think you can assess quality on the audio system when playing low bit rate files. I thought it would be worse, but I can live with what I heard....

 

[Rat]

I got spoiled by the sound system in my Volvo C70, which has excellent audio quality and power, but then the CD player broke and I am down to cassette tapes, so I will be happy just to be able to play CDs or mp3/wav/wma files. I mostly listen to audiobooks from the library anyway, where top sound quality is not of much importance.

 

[evnow]

I mostly listen to audiobooks from the library anyway, where top sound quality is not of much importance.

Wonder whether Leaf will support Kindle/Nook ;-)