Questions about Audi Music Interface (AMI) and MP3 player

[Scribe42]

My car is a 2012 A4 P+ without navigation (standard radio). There is a receptacle at the upper left of the glovebox for plugging in a cable (supplied with the car) to allow attaching an MP3 player. I believe the supplied cable is configured for an iPod.

My MP3 player is a low-priced RCA model purchased on impulse on Black Friday -- it was a very good take-it-or-leave-it deal. I have not yet downloaded music to it. Will be downloading from my CD collection. It came with a cable that plugs into the player and the other end has a standard USB plug to go into the computer. It will not plug into the car.

Before spending a lot of time learning how to download music, I would like to know if this setup is going to work the way I hope it will. Thus the questions.

It appears that the end of the cable that plugs into the car is not an industry standard plug, but is unique to Audi. Meaning that the cables can be purchased only from an Audi dealer, not a computer store, for instance.

Question 1. Is this correct?

Question 2. My MP3 player takes a little (1/4-inch) USB plug. Does anyone know for sure that this is one of the several variations that are shown in the sound system owner manual that came with the car? (It shows several different ones that are available from the Audi dealership.)

Question 3. Any idea of the price at the dealer?

It is my understanding that, with the MP3 player connected, the song titles and album titles will appear on my car's radio display and that I will be able to make selections using the large radio knob -- similar to choosing a radio station. This is what I gather from reading the owner manual.

Question 4. Is this correct?

Question 5. Or will I have to make the selections using the controls on the MP3 player itself? -- which would be very inconvenient.

Question 6. Any idea how many songs a 4 GB player will hold? Or perhaps more to the point, how many CDs will it hold?

As you may have guessed, I'm a "senior citizen" with little knowledge of this technology. But willing to learn.

Thanks for your help.

[van462]

It will only connect to an iPod or apple device. Easiest way to do what you want is load music to an SD card and use the card slot on the radio. Just get a 4GB card as some of the larger cards have comparability issues.

[Stubek]

He might not have the SD cards without Nav.
To be honest, go on ebay, get an iPod 180 GB 5th Gen for about $90-100. Fill that with everything, stick it in there and forget about it.
That is what I have. About once a year, I pull it out to put new stuff on, but with about 130 GB on it right now, I am rarely at a loss for what to listen to.

[DoctorB8]

you can go on ebay and find an mmi adapter for stereo jack. wont charge the unit but it will be able to play it.

[TimNGobbles]

you can go on ebay and find an mmi adapter for stereo jack. wont charge the unit but it will be able to play it.

Hopefully this helps you with your search

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw...i+mp3&_sacat=0

[junchen]

Just get a cheap old ipod, nano etc. Only apple products allow you to see the song lists on your lcd screen. The USB / aux plugs only allow u to play songs, but there's no control of playlist

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk

[Silverbird]

I got one of the ebay MMI cables that has a female full size USB socket on the end.
Got a 64 GB USB flash drive, loaded it with music using the same folders and files that I use to organize them on my computer
Haven't had any issues, I can navigate the folders and files using the MMI controller (I don't have Nav, just the basic radio)
For more frequent updates, I have a 16 GB SD card as well (although the older B8's are limited to a smaller size)

I haven't really gotten into playlists, but it looks like the MMI system could handle one if you knew what file and format to make it.

[Scribe42]

Thanks to everyone for the quick and thorough replies.

Sounds like I need to re-assess how I'm going to do this. The suggestion from Silverbird sounds workable, though. I really would like to be able to see the folders and files on-screen. And I already have several flash drives on hand.

I think we're going to take the MP3 player back to Menards and hope for a refund.

[Turbo Freak]

I have a 2009 without NAV and bought an adaptor to USB just like Silverbird did and recorded M4A (AAC) files on a USB stick and it plays perfectly. It also plays the M3U playlists. Better option than an iPod, because the iPod uses the analog output and a USB stick plays the digital file...

M4A files also support all of the Metadata !

[elscotto80]

Don't forget about tune2air. If you have an iPhone it will show files and info in the Ami. It works on android but no song info or folders in the Ami. The unit plugs into the older iPod plug and streams through Bluetooth. Works well for streaming music, etc. I have one and am very happy with it (android user).

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

[UmIsThisThingOn]

It will only connect to an iPod or apple device. Easiest way to do what you want is load music to an SD card and use the card slot on the radio. Just get a 4GB card as some of the larger cards have comparability issues.

BS. I've had 8, 16 and 32GB cards w/out issue.

[TexasEric]

Silverbird is correct. Audi makes a USB cable that you can use with your Black Friday purchase. Look for the "Audi Music Interface USB Cable" with part number: 4F0-051-510-G. You can probably find them on ebay for $10-15. That will give you a "regular sized" usb port. You will then need a cable to convert that to the size you need. I would bet that the Black Friday special came with the cable you need to plug the MP3 player into the Audi Cable. Boom. Done.

As for how many songs you can store, that is dependent on the quality of the music file. If you record the music file at bit rate of 192, average a song to be 7Meg. This puts you at about 585 songs, plus or minus... Better quality recordings would take more space, but I don't think you will hear the difference/benefit of anything higher than 192.

Finally.... I will agree with UmIsThisThingOn. I have a 2010 A4 P- and I have successfully used a SanDisk 16GB SD card. I would not be surprised if the cheaper cards gave you issues.

Good Luck!

[Alberta Albert]

I'm using 32GB cards from SanDisc and have no issues. I also used my iPod but I think the cold weather messes it up. I do believe that the SD cards sound way better than my iPod or when I listen to my iPhone via bluetooth.

[heffer]

Is there any way to jump to the next track from the steering wheel? It drives me nuts that I can just scroll and select a song. I want to be able to hit a button on the steering wheel to jump to the next track.

[mr_milo]

Is there any way to jump to the next track from the steering wheel? It drives me nuts that I can just scroll and select a song. I want to be able to hit a button on the steering wheel to jump to the next track.

Steering Wheel... No. I'd love to figure out a way to get that going too.

But if you hit the volume knob (left or right) on the console, it will skip tracks.

[Scribe42]

UPDATE FROM OP:

I have successfully ripped several CDs (at 192 bit rate) and placed the MP3 files on a 1GB SD card. The radio recognizes the files and plays them flawlessly.

Now that I am comfortable that the process works, I will be ripping/transferring my favorite CDs to a larger SD card.

Thanks to everyone who contributed suggestions and ideas. I'm only sorry I didn't realize how easy this would be when I first got the car, two years ago.