The Leaf will not come with HD Radio

[johnr]

Unfortunately the Leaf will not come with HD Radio installed.

I went into chat on the Nissan Leaf website, and was connected to their customer service rep, Edina. I asked about HD Radio, and she said and I quote, "The LEAF will have XM satellite radio and will not have HD radio available.".

So ... It will have standard AM/FM radio with XM Satellite Radio option subject to monthly subscription and an audio input cable for mp3 player. But no HD Radio, although I suppose one could get one aftermarket. I'm just surprised they don't include such a basic feature, considering how it's a relatively low-cost item and everybody's coming out with them now. But I don't need it anyway - with the audio input cable I can connect to my mp3 player

 

[mwalsh]

Isn't the mp3 input by USB rather than aux jack?

 

[mitch672]

in my 2010 Prius, I have both a USB input, and a mini stereo audio in jack, and also bluetooth as well... so I can use an iPod/iPhone on the USB interface (or via bluetooth), and I have my old Sirius receiver jammed into the center console for Howard Stern [Yes, the Prius comes with an XM radio, but they won't move my Sirius lifetime subscription to it, so I managed to jam the Sirius into the center console ]

The USB port will also take a USB stick with MP3's on it as well....

I can only assume they will do a similar thing on the Leaf.

 

[garygid]

My 2010 Prius (bought Aug 20, 2009) was made in July, 2009 and it came without the USB connection.

Other than play mp3 files from a USB flash-drive, what is the USB port useful for?

Any idea how much this "USB-Upgrade" for my Prius III (with Nav) would cost?

Thanks, Gary

 

[garygid]

I felt that the XM radio in my Prius was a waste of $$, so I did not subscribe, and it remains unused. Thus, I do not get traffic updates either.

 

[mwalsh]

I felt that the XM radio in my Prius was a waste of $$, so I did not subscribe, and it remains unused. Thus, I do not get traffic updates either.

If you like the French language music, XM 89...'Sur la Route' is a pretty cool station!

BTW, I've just found a pic that shows the 12v and 120v/150w outlets under the dash stack! Pretty cool! I was looking for the USB input for the stereo, but haven't found that yet.

 

[EVDRIVER]

I would rather have HD radio, high quality, clean. XM quality is fair and not worth the money for the time spent in a Leaf IMO. I hope there is an aftermarket kit to get the digital in form an ipod as that is vastly superior to the analog jack and you get meta data!

 

[mitch672]

My 2010 Prius (bought Aug 20, 2009) was made in July, 2009 and it came without the USB connection.

Other than play mp3 files from a USB flash-drive, what is the USB port useful for?

Any idea how much this "USB-Upgrade" for my Prius III (with Nav) would cost?

Thanks, Gary

Bought mine at the end of January 2010, it was mfrd in October of 2009, and came with the USB interface in the center console, next to the mini audio in jack. You get iPod/Itouch control, dsplay of the name of the song etc, and of course it charges the iPhone/iTouch at the same time. they have a retrofit kit you can get from the priuschat store (or probably other places as well), $210

http://priuschat.com/shop/product_info.php/cPath/12/products_id/141

I just use the standard white Apple 30 pin to USB cable to connect the iPhone to the USB jack, the above kit actually has the 30 pin cable on it... It also sais that is disables the factory XM, so my guess is they are connecting it to the same connector used for the factory XM.

I was waiting for the Plug in Prius, and got sick of waiting so just traded in my 2004 Gen 2 for the 2010, should have just waited for the Leaf... The only advantage of waiting this time was the bugs had been worked out mostly for the 2010 by the time I jumped in...and they decided to make the USB Interface standard. I should also note I have the package 5, with the larger tires, LED headlights, etc, so that may be why the USB interface was included as well.

As far as HD radio is concerned, is there anything even worth listening to on "free FM" anymore? I don't listen to FM any longer, ever.

 

[evnow]

As far as HD radio is concerned, is there anything even worth listening to on "free FM" anymore? I don't listen to FM any longer, ever.

Just the public radio ... I usually listen to a local station that combines NPR News & Jazz.

 

[scottsim]

I use a DICE unit to integrate my ipod into the SAT mode. displays on screen, stays charged...purchased thru Prius Chat site.

 

[EVDRIVER]

As far as HD radio is concerned, is there anything even worth listening to on "free FM" anymore? I don't listen to FM any longer, ever.

Just the public radio ... I usually listen to a local station that combines NPR News & Jazz.

+1

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

I assume it has AM. As long as I can get Glen Beck, Rush, and some sports talk I'm fine.

 

[garygid]

I do not enjoy listening to many of the more modern forms of "music".
Repetitive bashing of objects and various forms of yelling, often MUCH amplified, is usually just "noise" to me.

Yes, I know that others have different opinions, but I am "old" and this is just MY opinion.

I want my vehicle to be able to "shut out" as much "road noise" as possible, please.

For me, there is very little broadcast radio that is worth listening to. Occasional news or talk shows can be interesting, but they seem to be fewer and fewer of these. Likewise, hard for me to find peaceful music, but I have never heard HD "radio".

Perhaps, the mp3 player functions will be good for me.

Perhaps the USB port will support "talking books"?

 

[johnr]

My first car didn't come with any audio input, it just had an AM/FM stereo with cassette player. Like Gary said, there's not much worth listening to on the radio. So I wanted to hook up my ipod. First I tried one of those little FM transmitter adapters, it did the job but the sound quality was poor, scratchy with lots of static. Then I tried a cassette adapter, it didn't work so well as the sound kept fading as it played. So I ended up stuffing in a couple of computer speakers and a cigarette-lighter cord to power them, hooked up my ipod directly to the speakers and it worked great! :lol:

The Leaf will come with both a USB connector for ipods, and a standard 3.5mm audio input connector for everything else - now that's a handy feature.

 

[mwalsh]

The Leaf will come with both a USB connector for ipods, and a standard 3.5mm audio input connector for everything else - now that's a handy feature.

Do you know where they're located? I've been trying to find a picture showing them.

 

[johnr]

Do you know where they're located? I've been trying to find a picture showing them.

I haven't been able to find a picture of them either. Just going by the stated specs:

audio

* AM/FM/CD audio system with MP3/WMA CD playback capability
* XM® Satellite Radio
* Auxiliary audio input jack
* USB connection port for iPod® interface and other compatible devices
* 6 speakers

Here are a couple of pictures of the control panel and center console. There is a little slot in the center console, I wonder if the audio connectors might be inside there.
http://assets.gearlive.com/blogimages/gallery/nissan-leaf/nissan_leaf_control.jpg
http://assets.gearlive.com/blogimages/gallery/nissan-leaf/nissan_leaf_gear.jpg

 

[garygid]

Is it true that the LEAF's USB port will support a flash drive,
and play mp3 files (music and audio books) from the drive?

Or, without an iPod, is the USB port only useful as a "charger"?

What are the "other compatible devices"?
Thanks

 

[mwalsh]

Is it true that the LEAF's USB port will support a flash drive,
and play mp3 files (music and audio books) from the drive?

I'm fairly certain that's how it will be.

I don't think it's in that slot...surely that's for your hand, so you can pull up on the parking brake lever?

 

[Rat]

I don't care about HD radio, whatever that is. I want to be able to play my own music mixes. I guarantee you you'll never find anything like one of those on the radio. Swapping CDs can be bothersome and even dangerous as a distraction. I'd rather put them all on a memory stick and play them from there. Also, I listen to a lot of audiobooks. That may be easier to do by ripping the CDs to the stick and playing in one "piece" instead of swapping CDs. The USB port may also be good for transferring waypoints from a handheld GPS unit to the car unit. That would be a huge help for geocachers or others who use a lot of them that are based on coordinates instead of addresses. That's assuming the car unit has the right software, of course, but it really shouldn't take anything more than being able to copy from the portable unit RAM into the car unit RAM. I know people who go out and try to get as many as 100 geocaches in a day, some that use multiple waypoints. It may be possible to transfer those via Internet, cell phone or wireless in some fashion directly to the car, but my guess is no, whereas the newer handheld GPS units now all have USB connectors. Trying to transfer in 100+ sets of coordinates by programming them into the car unit by hand would be onerous indeed, and driving using the handheld or portable unit as your navigator instead of the car unit is not entirely satisfactory either, although it's not bad. The right solution is to take the GPX file generated on your computer, transfer it to the handheld unit or a memory stick (or both), and then transfer from there via USB to the car unit.

 

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

<snip>

As far as HD radio is concerned, is there anything even worth listening to on "free FM" anymore? I don't listen to FM any longer, ever.

HD Radio: http://www.hdradio.com/what_is_hd_digital_radio.php

I have HD radio in my accord and I love it. Reasons:

1) free
2) most of the alternate channels have no ads whatsoever
3) on dash information about what is currently playing
4) crystal clear - no drop outs
5) tons more options to listen to
6) did I mention free... all free

If you are like me and enjoy classical music sometimes, having HD radio is a true godsend.

I worry that the Leaf will have the audio controls built into the touch screen and not allow for upgrades to after market HD radios but more importantly, I just wish they would spend an extra dollar and put it in the car out the door.