teelo

The S6 come with ipod interface via the MMI but does the cable come standard with the car or must it be bought with the media cable package?

Dr Chill

Cable in center console standard.

snagitseven

The included AMI cable has the blue grommet. An optional red grommet AMI cable is available from Audi parts that is required for album art and video to display from iPhone/iPad and recent iPod Touch. (MMI software 0566 or later).

See here for full explanation:

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho....php?t=2840907

subterFUSE

Which kind of iPod do you have?

Keep in mind that Red Cable does not work with iPod Classic. Only newer gen iDevices. iPod Classic requires Blue cable.

Dr99

What am I missing as far as the advantage of an iPod vs a USB flash drive? Playlists?

subterFUSE

iPod is better because you are not as limited in the choice of audio formats. For example, you can use 24 bit Apple Lossless on an iPod. USB drive will only allow crappy compressed formats like MP3 or AAC.

snagitseven

My take on this: I would mostly agree in principle (although, I would argue that hi bit AAC or MP3 is "crappy"; perhaps underneath Apple lossless but still can be very good especially considering the other variables as follows..).

The output of the iPod/iPhone is analog vs digital via SD card or Jukebox. If you have the B&O system, there's one less conversion and in all audio systems, the SD card uses either the B&O or MMI's DAC vs the lesser performing DAC found in an iPod.

If you have the B&O system:

iPod: iPod DAC is used. Signal is analog to the MMI, converted back to digital and sent to the amp for processing and amplification, and converted back to analog again
SD Card/Jukebox/Optical Drive/USB: B&O DAC is used. Signal is sent digitally to the amp for processing and amplification, converted to analog, and sent to the speakers. (No double conversion; digital all the way to the amps with less chance of analog signal loss).

If you do not have the B&O system:

iPod: iPod DAC is used. Signal is analog to the MMI, and sent to the amp for processing and amplification, and sent to the speakers.
SD Card/Jukebox/Optical Drive/USB: MMI DAC is used. Signal is converted to analog and sent to the amp for processing and amplification, and sent to the speakers. (Digital all the way to the amps with less chance of analog signal loss).

Bottom line, SD and Jukebox use a superior DAC which, one could argue, more than makes up for a lossless analog file from an iPod/iPhone. Plus, there's the benefit of smaller file size resulting in increased song capacity. Also, when adding the two SD cards and Jukebox together (32GB+32GB+20GB or roughly 84GB total), this is usually more capacity than most iPods and iPhones.

I've done the comparisons of iPod lossless vs. SD Card 256kbit AAC and in virutually all cases (with volumes equalized for comparison), the SD card sounds better to my ears, especially improved dynamic range. (I have the B&O which may contributing to some of the difference between the two formats; I can't speak to the standard or Bose systems).

cagambler

I have the B & O system.

I proposed to my wife buying CDs or albums on iTunes and putting them on an SD card.

She quickly gets tired of hearing the same songs and wants more variety. She likes MOG. I know that if I download songs on MOG to my iPhone ahead of time instead of listening on the fly with 3G in the car, that the download will be in the higher quality 320k.

Given the limitation of the source being a downloaded MOG song in 320k, is the best playback by connecting to the MMI with the iPhone 5/lightning cable to the AMI cable? Or is there some other configuration that will perform better?

Dr99

It just seems silly to me to invest in an iPod for high res audio in the car. All of my 24bit 44/88/96/192 files are already in FLAC format so I'm not interested in converting to ALAC and storing them again. Also, as pointed out, I doubt the DAC in an iPod is going to do high res files justice. I've burned DVD and DVD-A discs, and rarely notice a difference from 320k files on my flash media in the car. At home, different story.

You can also get huge amounts of flash storage for a fraction of what an ipod would cost, and it is much quicker copying files when you need to add content.

I'm assuming you still get artwork with the USB/SD media? (Not yet in an S6).

subterFUSE

You can't play FLAC on the MMI, though. You will have to convert your FLAC to a format that the MMI supports like MP3 or AAC if you want to use a flash card with the MMI. Unfortunately, the MMI does not support FLAC or Apple Lossless.

The argument about the quality of the DAC, or the number of conversions, is true in theory. High quality DAC is better, and fewer conversions is better. However, in the real world I feel this is less important when you don't have a seriously incredible sound system. The quality of the source file is generally more important.


I am running an iPod/iPad as the source in my aftermarket stereo that's in my BMW currently. (Audison, Hertz & JL Audio equipment)

I have 2 options for connecting it:

1. I have an outboard D/A Converter called an iStreamer. This will work with any iDevice, and gives an analog RCA output with no jitter. It bypasses the internal DAC of the iDevice, and it works with up to 24bit/48k source files.

2. I also have a device which outputs an optical digital signal from an iPad. No D/A conversions at all. Direct optical digital output.


My audio signal then gets fed into an Audison BitOne processor. If I'm using the iStreamer connection, then the BitOne must do an A/D conversion. The BitOne also has an Optical input which does not require an A/D conversion. This is the best connection, in theory, because it has no conversions.

I have done plenty of testing and listening (by ear and with the Audison BitTune toolkit), and have not been able to find an appreciable difference between the two source options. So I tend to use the iStreamer connection most of the time, even though it causes an A/D conversion in the signal.


Where I can tell a huge difference in sound quality is when I play an Apple Lossless file that's 24 bit/48k vs. an MP3 version.

That's why I feel the source quality is more important than the number of D/A conversions. I was disappointed when I got my Audi A8 and tried to copy some Apple Lossless files to an SD card to play and they wouldn't work. So I am sticking with an iPod and the MMI cable so that I can keep my source files in the format I prefer.

My wife might be stealing my A8 from me, in which case there is a possibility I will order an S6. If/when that happens, I plan to transfer over my Audison system to the new car.

Might get one of these, too: Audison BitPlay HD