MDI niggles

[skeep]

I got the MDI factory fitted (armrest) and use the MDI-USB cable to my Sony walkman media player. There is a short pause in playback (1 second tops) about 3 seconds after i turn key (probably memory buffer related), but thats it. Is this what you guys are talking about? If it is then I don't see what the fuss is about.

[AdamD]

I'm really reluctant to get involved in this discussion

As am I, but... here goes...

A sine wave has to be sampled considerably more than 44 times a second to give close to a continuous analogue waveform. Since CDs are 44.1Hz you're stuck with a less than perfect medium to begin with.

Most CDs (and most mp3s) have a sample rate of 44,100Hz (44.1Khz) - somewhat higher than 44Hz. Many other formats are often encoded at 48Khz.

I agree that, generally, the sound quality produced from a lossless audio file played back on a head unit via an iPod connector is lower than when the same file (or a digital equivalent, from a CD or SD card for example) is decoded by a head unit's preamp - but this assumes that the quality of the DACs (Digital to Analogue Converters) in the iPod are inferior to those in the preamp doing the same thing. (There's also the possibility of analogue signal degradation between the iPod and the head unit.) But as I know nothing about the quality of the DACs in the RCD/RNS-510, I won't say I'm "sure" one way or the other.

At any rate, it's fair to say that if you're extremely picky about the fidelity of the audio reproduction in your car, an iPod is probably not the best solution for you as its playback quality is compromised by that lack of a digital bitstream output. If, like me, you're moderately fussy but love your music, an iPod may well do the job just fine.

My 2c.

[G-rig]

Re: MDI niggles

Mavatron is defending the MDI unit and trying to blame the iPod, even though my setup worked perfectly with the last (retro fitted) MDI i had.

[Maverick]

Mavatron is defending the MDI unit and trying to blame the iPod, even though my setup worked perfectly with the last (retro fitted) MDI i had.

G-MuzikPhile is defending his icrud/iturd when the discussion is around quality of audio and if you want quality use a CD otherwise use MP3's of whatever quality floats your boat and enjoy the convenience of having thousands of songs available rather than having to swap CD's!

[G-rig]

G-MuzikPhile is defending his icrud/iturd when the discussion is around quality of audio and if you want quality use a CD otherwise use MP3's of whatever quality floats your boat and enjoy the convenience of having thousands of songs available rather than having to swap CD's!

I've got thousands of songs on the ipod but not in mp3 format but makes no difference with the convenience. I dont really listen to that many mp3's these days and rather choose a player (computer and portable etc) that can play formats without converting.

[alebonau]

mdi and ipods

my mk6 gti came with the mdi option. which is pretty neat. works seamlessly with the ipod letting it to be out of site and with full control. My head unit is not the satnav one just the standard.

One quirk which am not sure is widely known. I noticed when got the car it seemed like the sound was being distorted. This is at all volume levels. It sounded like the was overloading either the head unit or ipod due to signal level or something. As usual last thing you look at is the manual ! going through the menus nothing I fiddled with seemed to cure it. then noticed in the setup menu for media. there is a setting for input level. I noticed it was set by defualt to high. as soon as changed that to low it fixed the issue. sound is clean and clear at all levels.

sounds great actually the mdi a great option if you want to use an ipod I reckon.

do wonder if had the sat nav head unit whether adds any further capability or options with the ipod ?

[Frankenstrat]

Most CDs (and most mp3s) have a sample rate of 44,100Hz (44.1Khz) - somewhat higher than 44Hz.

Of course they do, what the hell was I thinking??? I can only put it down to a lack of caffeine.

[ctan]

my mk6 gti came with the mdi option. which is pretty neat. works seamlessly with the ipod letting it to be out of site and with full control. My head unit is not the satnav one just the standard.

One quirk which am not sure is widely known. I noticed when got the car it seemed like the sound was being distorted. This is at all volume levels. It sounded like the was overloading either the head unit or ipod due to signal level or something. As usual last thing you look at is the manual ! going through the menus nothing I fiddled with seemed to cure it. then noticed in the setup menu for media. there is a setting for input level. I noticed it was set by defualt to high. as soon as changed that to low it fixed the issue. sound is clean and clear at all levels.

sounds great actually the mdi a great option if you want to use an ipod I reckon.

do wonder if had the sat nav head unit whether adds any further capability or options with the ipod ?

Does the mdi work with only with ipods? Will it work with other mp3 players? If it works with other mp3 players, is there a difference in the way it works? I have this option on my order but have not played with it on cars during the test drive. I don't have an ipod, I have a e200 Sansa and I also play music using my blackberry bold. Will the mdi interface work with these as well? Has anyone tried it?

[Guest1306]

Re: MDI niggles

Talk about splitting hairs, it's a friggin radio for crying out loud?

[alebonau]

Does the mdi work with only with ipods? Will it work with other mp3 players? If it works with other mp3 players, is there a difference in the way it works? I have this option on my order but have not played with it on cars during the test drive. I don't have an ipod, I have a e200 Sansa and I also play music using my blackberry bold. Will the mdi interface work with these as well? Has anyone tried it?

no idea mate, have only had the golf the day ! and only tried it with the ipod nothing else. perhaps someone who has tried with something else can answer. I can say it works well with the ipod and to good result

[Tux]

One advantage of being old is remembering what it was like to have those crappy speakers, that used to sit on the rear parcel tray, hooked up to a cassette player (or even the old 8 track before that). The sound was tinny or bassy but hardly ever good back then as I remember. I guess that was 'lossy'!

I think it is fantastic that you can carry around hundreds of songs and play them through a reasonable quality sound system. Although I have an Iphone, (not sure what an icrud is??) I might just end up mostly using the hard drive on the RNS510 but I'll still use the MDI at times I'm sure.

[Corey_R]

my mk6 gti came with the mdi option. which is pretty neat. works seamlessly with the ipod letting it to be out of site and with full control. My head unit is not the satnav one just the standard.

One quirk which am not sure is widely known. I noticed when got the car it seemed like the sound was being distorted. This is at all volume levels. It sounded like the was overloading either the head unit or ipod due to signal level or something. As usual last thing you look at is the manual ! going through the menus nothing I fiddled with seemed to cure it. then noticed in the setup menu for media. there is a setting for input level. I noticed it was set by defualt to high. as soon as changed that to low it fixed the issue. sound is clean and clear at all levels.

sounds great actually the mdi a great option if you want to use an ipod I reckon.

do wonder if had the sat nav head unit whether adds any further capability or options with the ipod ?

Buddy, this is the 2nd thread of yours that I've had to merge with an existing thread. This time a search wasn't even required, as this MDI thread was in active discussion on the 1st page of the MK6 forum. Please don't start new threads for existing topics.

[G-rig]

One quirk which am not sure is widely known. I noticed when got the car it seemed like the sound was being distorted. This is at all volume levels. It sounded like the was overloading either the head unit or ipod due to signal level or something. As usual last thing you look at is the manual ! going through the menus nothing I fiddled with seemed to cure it. then noticed in the setup menu for media. there is a setting for input level. I noticed it was set by defualt to high. as soon as changed that to low it fixed the issue. sound is clean and clear at all levels.

Input level on LOW seems to be the best setting, less distortion. You may want to turn the speed dependant volume off too, but that's up to you.

sounds great actually the mdi a great option if you want to use an ipod I reckon.

It does sound pretty good (esp if you use apple lossless, better sound than mp3's on the SD/HDD).

do wonder if had the sat nav head unit whether adds any further capability or options with the ipod ?

Doesn't add any extra features for MDI playback that i know of but may brows folders/songs a bit quicker than the original version of the RCD510 (mine came with the newer RCD510 that works quicker and has different buttons ie removed TIM (traffic info) and has an AM/FM button etc).

[alebonau]

Input level on LOW seems to be the best setting, less distortion. You may want to turn the speed dependant volume off too, but that's up to you.



It does sound pretty good (esp if you use apple lossless, better sound than mp3's on the SD/HDD).



Doesn't add any extra features for MDI playback that i know of but may brows folders/songs a bit quicker than the original version of the RCD510 (mine came with the newer RCD510 that works quicker and has different buttons ie removed TIM (traffic info) and has an AM/FM button etc).

I did actually turn off speed dependant volume only because last car I had that and drove me nuts till figured how to turn it off !

I'm using itunes plus which is 256k AAC+ and sound quality wise I am pretty happy with it. to be honest I've been more enjoying the note of the gti engine. but it is pretty good for sound quality from the ipod to mdi I have to say. Have a couple of hifi setups at home which have heard the same music through and can safely say the setup on the golf is doing a pretty good job. sure could take it up quite a few steps with better speakers, an amp and sub but for a stock factory system I think most would be pretty pleased

mine hopefully is the latest version rcd510. thansk for the heads up re mp3 and the sd card. wont bother wasting my time that way in that case and stick with the ipod !

[Frankenstrat]

I did actually turn off speed dependant volume only because last car I had that and drove me nuts till figured how to turn it off !

Funnily enough I was boasting to my wife just the other day about that feature and how cool I thought it was.