pietew

On Audi's german car configurator (which basically the same as the belgian one) I read better info about this stripped down MMI system and they write the following:
Bluetooth-Schnittstelle für Freisprechen und Audiostreaming

• Audi sound system

pietew

Let me rephrase that, so it has

• Bluetooth-Schnittstelle für Freisprechen und Audiostreaming
• Audi sound system

Translated in english this means:

• Bluetooth interface for handsfree calling and audiostreaming

So I think I'm safe!

John Simcox

No the basic (RMC) MMI Navigation System does not include Audi Connect, that is only available with the Hard Disk based 3G+ system

subterFUSE

I'm still very interested in knowing if the DVD drive in the C7 is a "player" or a "transport."


In other words, does the DVD player have a D/A Converter in it or not?



Does anyone know how we might get such a question answered?
Obviously a dealership would never know. They'll just give you a blank Homer Simpson stare when you ask.

I would expect similar results from AoA.

snagitseven

You could try calling AOA and ask the csr to escalate your question to an engineering person. You might get lucky.

subterFUSE

Sent an email this morning.

I figured email would be better because I could explain the question and not have it get lost in translation by a non-technically inclined service rep over telephone.

Will see if they get back with the answer.

snagitseven

I haven't had much success with emails to AOA. I have, however, calling and asking to escalate. Good luck. You never know.

subterFUSE

Just heard back from Audi North America regarding my question about the DVD drive operation in the C7.

According to the engineers, the DVD drive is connected via SCSI and sends a digital signal to the internal processor.

That means the DVD drive is a "transport" device and not a "player."


As mentioned before, the difference is that a transport does not contain a D/A converter. It simply extracts digital audio from the media and passes it along in digital form.



So, the bottom line is that on the Pre-Facelift C7 cars, the absolute best quality audio source format is standard audio CD. That is because an audio CD carries an uncompressed, lossless format similar to WAV. And since the DVD drive does not contain a DAC, that lossless WAV audio will be extracted without conversion and sent along to the factory amplifier.

The Jukebox and SD card slots are not capable of playing any lossless formats, on the pre-facelift cars. They only support lossy compressed formats such as MP3 and AAC. So while those 2 media sources also do not convert from D/A, they are still beginning with an inferior, lossy compressed audio format that has lower quality than a standard audio CD.


If you have a post-facelift C7, the new MMI system now allows FLAC format from the digital media options. If FLAC is supported to higher bit depth / sample rates than standard CD (which is 16bit/44.1k), then FLAC will be the best option.

jjsC6

Where do I get one if these FLAC formats? Quite honestly, nothing you said here means a thing to me, and likely most other people either. Is there any way to tell us in simple terms what we can go out and buy, or download that sounds best?

snagitseven

What he's saying is that in pre-MY2016 C7's, the best quality music format is from a CD which uses uncompressed music files. Second best would be high bit be AAC/MP3 files played from an SD card or the Jukebox, presumably copied over from a computer using iTunes files or the like. While digital in format, they are compressed to one degree or another.

In MY2012-2015 C7s, music from an iDevice using the AMI cable are converted first to analog by the iDevice because the AMI can ony process analog. Therefore, using the AMI cable in those years C7s will be lesser in quality than the other sources above.MY2016 C7s now have a USB jack instead of the older AMI connector and I am guessing it handles digital music files without having to be converted to analog for processing (not positive on this one).

The FLAC format is another music file type that uses uncompressed audio, much like on a CD. Pre-MY2016 C7s cannot process FLAC files, only MY2016. For the MY2016 owners, they can use one of the computer programs that can copy CDs to the FLAC format if desired.

The challenge with all of this is we are not trying to play music in a living room on a high quality audio system but in a car environment. With the road, traffic and wind noise to contend with, it is doubtful that many listeners would be able to tell much, if any, difference playing music from either a CD, Jukebox or an SD card. My ears, trained in the audiophile business for over 40 years, sure can't. On the other hand, I can hear an obvious frequency response/dynamic range improvement with SD cards or Jukebox over my iPhone connected via AMI cable.