symphony unit and Ipod
09-01-2008, 12:58 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Delta
Posts: 2
symphony unit and Ipod
Hey guys new to the Audi world, just made the switch from VW. I have a A3 with the symphony unit and i was wondering about my options for Ipod connections. I have heard of the OEM one that dooks in the glove box and wondering what your experices are with it. (It would seem to me to be slow to navigate through your library if there is no display?? plus is it worth the cost?) Or is there an aux. jack on the back of the Unit? but i don't see an aux function the front of the unit. Any input would help thanks.
09-01-2008, 03:29 PM
#2
Audi Forum - Posts like an S6
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Regina, SK
Posts: 1,043
Audi OEM iPod Adapter is C-R-A-P!
Hey Kevin,
The OEM iPod adapter from Audi/VW (for any car that doesn't have full MMI) is an overpriced option that functions like it was an afterthought from Audi. I have fallen for buying this ridiculous option twice and both times I was kicking my own a$$ for doing so. (Actually its the third time if you include my girlfriend's Golf.)
The Audi iPod adapter is basically a CD changer emulator. It uses the CD changer controller functions in the head unit and thinks of the iPod playlists as CD's in the changer. It allocates CD positions 7 to 11 on the head unit to the first five playlists on your iPod and uses CD position 12 to play your entire iPod. (CD positions 1 to 6 on the head unit remain allocated to the car's CD changer.)
As an added bonus, the Audi OEM iPod adapter displays no library or track/title information. The only information it displays on the head unit is the track number (1-99) from each play list. Being that the connection to your iPod is usually run to the glove box, you can't even see the info on your iPod!
Unless you just want to play all of the music (in order or randomly) on your iPod, I found the best thing to do is create five playlists in iTunes specifically for your Audi. Since the iPod adapter will play the first five playlists on your iPod (and both iTunes and your iPod will sort them alphabetically) I suggest using the numbers "1", "2", "3", "4" and "5" as your playlist names. From there it is up to you to remember what's in each playlist.
Something else to note is that sometimes the iPod will keep playing after you have shut the car off. There's been mixed feedback from different owners and their various iPods but I am personally relating it to charge and/or age of the iPod and therefore it's battery strength. I left my 8GB Nano plugged into the Audi iPod adapter almost all of the time. On a few occasions I had turned on the head unit and it has displayed a "NO CD" message. At first I thought it was a connection, but later realized it was because my iPod was fully discharged. When the iPod is completely drained it requires a certain amount of charge before it can play again. Just running the car with iPod plugged into the Audi iPod adapter hasn't been enough time in my experience. Pulling the iPod out and fully charging the unit had since remedied the problem. My Nano hadn't run flat since.
Sound like a fairly useless, overpriced piece of junk yet?
After dealing with all of this crap with my Audi iPod adapter I ordered and received a Dension Gateway 100 iPod controller. It plugs right into the head unit and you can run the adapter cable to anywhere that is convenient for you. It's also about half the price of the Audi unit (depending where you go.) It doesn't offer any other playback functionality over the OEM unit, but it is cheaper and can be run wherever you like.
Tony
P.S. The other option you have is to go buy a different Audi.
The full MMI cars (newer A6/S5, S5, Q7 etc.) have fully library access and playlist information is displayed.
The OEM iPod adapter from Audi/VW (for any car that doesn't have full MMI) is an overpriced option that functions like it was an afterthought from Audi. I have fallen for buying this ridiculous option twice and both times I was kicking my own a$$ for doing so. (Actually its the third time if you include my girlfriend's Golf.)
The Audi iPod adapter is basically a CD changer emulator. It uses the CD changer controller functions in the head unit and thinks of the iPod playlists as CD's in the changer. It allocates CD positions 7 to 11 on the head unit to the first five playlists on your iPod and uses CD position 12 to play your entire iPod. (CD positions 1 to 6 on the head unit remain allocated to the car's CD changer.)
As an added bonus, the Audi OEM iPod adapter displays no library or track/title information. The only information it displays on the head unit is the track number (1-99) from each play list. Being that the connection to your iPod is usually run to the glove box, you can't even see the info on your iPod!
Unless you just want to play all of the music (in order or randomly) on your iPod, I found the best thing to do is create five playlists in iTunes specifically for your Audi. Since the iPod adapter will play the first five playlists on your iPod (and both iTunes and your iPod will sort them alphabetically) I suggest using the numbers "1", "2", "3", "4" and "5" as your playlist names. From there it is up to you to remember what's in each playlist.
Something else to note is that sometimes the iPod will keep playing after you have shut the car off. There's been mixed feedback from different owners and their various iPods but I am personally relating it to charge and/or age of the iPod and therefore it's battery strength. I left my 8GB Nano plugged into the Audi iPod adapter almost all of the time. On a few occasions I had turned on the head unit and it has displayed a "NO CD" message. At first I thought it was a connection, but later realized it was because my iPod was fully discharged. When the iPod is completely drained it requires a certain amount of charge before it can play again. Just running the car with iPod plugged into the Audi iPod adapter hasn't been enough time in my experience. Pulling the iPod out and fully charging the unit had since remedied the problem. My Nano hadn't run flat since.
Sound like a fairly useless, overpriced piece of junk yet?
After dealing with all of this crap with my Audi iPod adapter I ordered and received a Dension Gateway 100 iPod controller. It plugs right into the head unit and you can run the adapter cable to anywhere that is convenient for you. It's also about half the price of the Audi unit (depending where you go.) It doesn't offer any other playback functionality over the OEM unit, but it is cheaper and can be run wherever you like.
Tony
P.S. The other option you have is to go buy a different Audi.
The full MMI cars (newer A6/S5, S5, Q7 etc.) have fully library access and playlist information is displayed.
09-02-2008, 04:30 PM
#3
Audi Forum - Posts like an A1
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Port Moody
Posts: 21
Re: symphony unit and Ipod
Regina's right the OEM one isn't very good. That being said I've not seen a whole lot of better options. I should be getting my OEM Nav unit this week so if you're looking for an OEM Ipod connection let me know I don't think i'll need mine anymore with the SD card slots i'll have.
09-02-2008, 04:45 PM
#4
Audi Forum - Posts like an S6
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Regina, SK
Posts: 1,043
Re: symphony unit and Ipod
Regina's right the OEM one isn't very good. That being said I've not seen a whole lot of better options. I should be getting my OEM Nav unit this week so if you're looking for an OEM Ipod connection let me know I don't think i'll need mine anymore with the SD card slots i'll have.
Anybody want to buy a used Nano?! LOL! I originally bought it just for the Audi's. Now all I use is SD and Sirius.
10-07-2008, 06:45 PM
#5
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Clargy
Posts: 29
Re: symphony unit and Ipod
From my personal opinion OEM one isn't very good because it is fairly useless, overpriced piece of junk .
I prefer Dension Gateway 100 iPod controller, this is the best i have ever used .
Give it a try
I prefer Dension Gateway 100 iPod controller, this is the best i have ever used .
Give it a try
10-11-2008, 02:48 PM
#7
Audi Forum - Posts like an A1
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Toronto
Posts: 30
Re: Audi OEM iPod Adapter is C-R-A-P!
Hey Kevin,
The OEM iPod adapter from Audi/VW (for any car that doesn't have full MMI) is an overpriced option that functions like it was an afterthought from Audi. I have fallen for buying this ridiculous option twice and both times I was kicking my own a$$ for doing so. (Actually its the third time if you include my girlfriend's Golf.)
The Audi iPod adapter is basically a CD changer emulator. It uses the CD changer controller functions in the head unit and thinks of the iPod playlists as CD's in the changer. It allocates CD positions 7 to 11 on the head unit to the first five playlists on your iPod and uses CD position 12 to play your entire iPod. (CD positions 1 to 6 on the head unit remain allocated to the car's CD changer.)
As an added bonus, the Audi OEM iPod adapter displays no library or track/title information. The only information it displays on the head unit is the track number (1-99) from each play list. Being that the connection to your iPod is usually run to the glove box, you can't even see the info on your iPod!
Unless you just want to play all of the music (in order or randomly) on your iPod, I found the best thing to do is create five playlists in iTunes specifically for your Audi. Since the iPod adapter will play the first five playlists on your iPod (and both iTunes and your iPod will sort them alphabetically) I suggest using the numbers "1", "2", "3", "4" and "5" as your playlist names. From there it is up to you to remember what's in each playlist.
Something else to note is that sometimes the iPod will keep playing after you have shut the car off. There's been mixed feedback from different owners and their various iPods but I am personally relating it to charge and/or age of the iPod and therefore it's battery strength. I left my 8GB Nano plugged into the Audi iPod adapter almost all of the time. On a few occasions I had turned on the head unit and it has displayed a "NO CD" message. At first I thought it was a connection, but later realized it was because my iPod was fully discharged. When the iPod is completely drained it requires a certain amount of charge before it can play again. Just running the car with iPod plugged into the Audi iPod adapter hasn't been enough time in my experience. Pulling the iPod out and fully charging the unit had since remedied the problem. My Nano hadn't run flat since.
Sound like a fairly useless, overpriced piece of junk yet?
After dealing with all of this crap with my Audi iPod adapter I ordered and received a Dension Gateway 100 iPod controller. It plugs right into the head unit and you can run the adapter cable to anywhere that is convenient for you. It's also about half the price of the Audi unit (depending where you go.) It doesn't offer any other playback functionality over the OEM unit, but it is cheaper and can be run wherever you like.
Tony
P.S. The other option you have is to go buy a different Audi. The full MMI cars (newer A6/S5, S5, Q7 etc.) have fully library access and playlist information is displayed.
The OEM iPod adapter from Audi/VW (for any car that doesn't have full MMI) is an overpriced option that functions like it was an afterthought from Audi. I have fallen for buying this ridiculous option twice and both times I was kicking my own a$$ for doing so. (Actually its the third time if you include my girlfriend's Golf.)
The Audi iPod adapter is basically a CD changer emulator. It uses the CD changer controller functions in the head unit and thinks of the iPod playlists as CD's in the changer. It allocates CD positions 7 to 11 on the head unit to the first five playlists on your iPod and uses CD position 12 to play your entire iPod. (CD positions 1 to 6 on the head unit remain allocated to the car's CD changer.)
As an added bonus, the Audi OEM iPod adapter displays no library or track/title information. The only information it displays on the head unit is the track number (1-99) from each play list. Being that the connection to your iPod is usually run to the glove box, you can't even see the info on your iPod!
Unless you just want to play all of the music (in order or randomly) on your iPod, I found the best thing to do is create five playlists in iTunes specifically for your Audi. Since the iPod adapter will play the first five playlists on your iPod (and both iTunes and your iPod will sort them alphabetically) I suggest using the numbers "1", "2", "3", "4" and "5" as your playlist names. From there it is up to you to remember what's in each playlist.
Something else to note is that sometimes the iPod will keep playing after you have shut the car off. There's been mixed feedback from different owners and their various iPods but I am personally relating it to charge and/or age of the iPod and therefore it's battery strength. I left my 8GB Nano plugged into the Audi iPod adapter almost all of the time. On a few occasions I had turned on the head unit and it has displayed a "NO CD" message. At first I thought it was a connection, but later realized it was because my iPod was fully discharged. When the iPod is completely drained it requires a certain amount of charge before it can play again. Just running the car with iPod plugged into the Audi iPod adapter hasn't been enough time in my experience. Pulling the iPod out and fully charging the unit had since remedied the problem. My Nano hadn't run flat since.
Sound like a fairly useless, overpriced piece of junk yet?
After dealing with all of this crap with my Audi iPod adapter I ordered and received a Dension Gateway 100 iPod controller. It plugs right into the head unit and you can run the adapter cable to anywhere that is convenient for you. It's also about half the price of the Audi unit (depending where you go.) It doesn't offer any other playback functionality over the OEM unit, but it is cheaper and can be run wherever you like.
Tony
P.S. The other option you have is to go buy a different Audi.
The full MMI cars (newer A6/S5, S5, Q7 etc.) have fully library access and playlist information is displayed.
10-11-2008, 10:14 PM
#8
Audi Forum - Posts like an A1
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Richmond Hill, ON
Posts: 21
Re: symphony unit and Ipod
auto sound design in markham quoted me $850 for a dension 500 system for my A3. ouch! pfaff audi offers a dice system for about $500 but i heard they're not as fully integrated as dension's.
i'm pretty sure the dension 500 is overkill considering i just want ipod connectivity. i've checked dension's website and they don't list the '09 A3 as compatible with their 100 system.
i'm pretty sure the dension 500 is overkill considering i just want ipod connectivity. i've checked dension's website and they don't list the '09 A3 as compatible with their 100 system.
10-11-2008, 11:06 PM
#9
Audi Forum - Posts like an S6
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Regina, SK
Posts: 1,043
Re: symphony unit and Ipod
I would get in touch with Dension directly or through their Canadian distributor, AutoMobility Distribution. They will likely need your make/model/year info as well as which headunit it is. You may need to send them a picture.
Traditionally the Gateway 500 unit has been used with more advanced audio systems. Audi models to date (2008) that have used the Gateway 500 have only been cars with full MMi capabilities (A5/S5, A6/S6 and Q7.)
Granted they don't have their compatibility lists updated to include 2009, your head unit itself isn't really any different than previous year's Concert head unit. The Gateway 100 worked with that same head unit in my 2008 TT.
Worst case scenario, save your money and use the new auxiliary input.
Traditionally the Gateway 500 unit has been used with more advanced audio systems. Audi models to date (2008) that have used the Gateway 500 have only been cars with full MMi capabilities (A5/S5, A6/S6 and Q7.)
Granted they don't have their compatibility lists updated to include 2009, your head unit itself isn't really any different than previous year's Concert head unit. The Gateway 100 worked with that same head unit in my 2008 TT.
Worst case scenario, save your money and use the new auxiliary input.
10-12-2008, 01:10 AM
#10
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Richmond Hill, ON
Posts: 21
Re: symphony unit and Ipod
I would get in touch with Dension directly or through their Canadian distributor, AutoMobility Distribution. They will likely need your make/model/year info as well as which headunit it is. You may need to send them a picture.
thanks for the advice.
