ModestW12

Item number 4F0 051 510 J

I absolutely love it so far!!! (more on that later)

It arrived yesterday from Huntington Audi in UK, bought via their eBay listing. I could not get the USB key to update my AMI and after some technical troubleshooting, I determined that most likely the USB stick was DOA. I called my local dealer parts dept. who said they had the kit in stock. I asked if I could swap the kit with theirs, saying I got it from another dealer and over the phone he said I could but I also suggested if I just borrow their USB key I could see if that was the issue.

Turns out I was right, and the borrowed USB stick did it's job. I plugged the bluetooth adapter and tried to pair to my iPhone. The bluetooth menu in the MMI didn't seem to see it but it did pickup someone else's device. I deleted that from the menu options, which made it seem like it was saved in memory, not detected nearby (I was at the dealership). Maybe Huntington sent me a used or return unit? I tried paring with unknown device (something along those lines), however there was nothing in the documentation on what code to enter on my iPhone so I tried 0000 and 1234.

The latter successfully paired it but I could not hear music even though the iPhone showed it was playing. I tried fiddling with the settings, all of it made sense but none of it helped. Then my technical spider sense kicked in (aka. digital age common sense?) and I reboot both the iPhone and the Audi MMI via the button gymnastics in the owner's manual.

Bingo, it immediately pickup the iPhone and started playing the iPod app. I switched over to Pandora app, it stayed playing unlike the direct cable connection!!!

I've been in new music heaven since. Yes it's compressed but I don't listen to the raid since I can't stand commercials and Sirrius/XM is mediocre at best (not to mention you have to pay $10 per radio or thereabouts). I will drop the $36 on the years subscription to Pandora for higher bitrate streaming and no commercials now that I can listen to it at home and in the car (work, walk in the park, or wherever i go that has cell data or WiFi reception for that matter).

The awesome thing is, when I turn the car off it automatically pauses Pandora on my phone and that app goes to sleep. When I get back in the car and turn the car on, it automatically resumes where it left off without me having to take it out of my pocked. And I can track advance (and rewind for iPod app) via the MMI!!!! The sound quality even at the free level bitrate is much better than I was expecting. On some songs I can barely tell it's compressed, some I wouldn't know it wasn't CD.

I'm a happy camper!

Mike_k

My Dension does the bluetooth audi as well. I'd be more apt to use it if the iPhone's A2DP audio bitrate didn't absolutely suck. It sounds like a 64kbps MP3.

I realize how nerdy that all must sound but the bottom line is that the sound quality was lacking big time.

Glad to hear it's working better for you. Maybe there's an update for the iPhone that I'm unaware of.

ModestW12

From my experiences, the bluetooth receiver itself affects the sound quality as much as the transmitting device.

For example, I bought a set of bluetooth headphones that doubled as a cellphone headset, Voyager Plantronic 855. Listening to music on this set when paired with the iPhone is frustrating, as audio stream skips often for seemingly no reason. And when it doesn't skip the general quality is reminiscent of your remarks with your Dension. I don't think it's because the headphone's driver's sound reproduction capability is lacking, rather, the bluetooth receiver lacks the reception capability to receive a consistent high quality signal, perhaps due to limited power or inadequate antenna.

I'd wager the Audi bluetooth receiver is one of the top performing AD2P receivers on the market, as ostensibly it was designed for a direct connection to power (vs. self powered via battery), the size was not a limitation relative to some of these portable receivers, and the component selection was based on top performance rather than cost savings (hence the stratospheric cost compared to most other bluetooth receivers).

Do you think the Dension AD2P bluetooth module in the same league in terms of component performance and quality? What was the cost of it? BTW, I had just about written off music over bluetooth prior to getting the Audi bluethooth kit.

And maybe I just think it sounds good because I subconsciously want to justify the $180 price.... but I do love the convenience and I've very happy to be listening to fresh music again, with the ability to tag songs I really like for purchase later and to customize my radio stations based submitted feedback of playing tracks.

chazertis

what does it do to the iphone's battery life? does it get totally drained?

Mike_k

I can't say that I agree. Once the signal is out, the device either receives it or it doesn't. The compression and conversion are being done on the transmitting device so 99% of compression issues are going to lie with the transmission device. I bet the headphones you had were probably lacking in quality all across the board.

Well I haven't heard the AMI bluetooth setup so I can't compare but as far as sound quality through bluetooth with the Dension, it's great. It's the iPhone that stinks. The iPhone's low A2DP bitrate is a well documented problem which is odd considering they're (Apple) more apt to lag behind in technology until they can offer it as a fully functional entity. To me, 64kbps quality is not fully functioning.

I love internet radio in the car. Pandora, the various tuner apps, etc... It's all great.

kgd_007

Considering getting the Bluetooth dongle for a 2008 S8, MMI version 41.4.0. It appears the sound is decent from what I have found searching this forum. One question I couldn't find is, when listening to the iPod app on an iPhone through the Bluetooth dongle is the interface the same as with the cable? Can you select playlists, artists and shuffle from the MMI or only through the phone. I had an Acura loaner a while back and all you could do was skip songs through the car stereo. I am hoping you have the same control as the cord, just minus the cord.

Another bonus would be using the iPhone voice commands to select artists and playlists which you can't do when the phone is connected to a dock.

Thanks

BigladUK

I have a question too, how does the bluetooth phone function work when your using the bluetooth adapter ? Can it connect to both at the same time ? Does it drop the audio when a call comes in and connect to the phone kit ?

Any chance of some screen shots of what the MMI displays please ?

Thanks

Si

kgd_007

I suspect both should pair with no problem, at least it did on the Acura loaner I had.

I need to go by the Audi dealer next week and was hoping someone might be able to comment on what you can control via the MMI on the iPhone.

Thanks,

Kris

ModestW12

Bluetooth A2DP music and bluetooth telephony are distinct pairing instances and will show up separately in MMI bluetooth connections. The pairing works well 99% of the time but occasionally requires a phone reset and re-pair (when required it is typically after exiting and returning to the car).

MMI pauses bluetooth A2DP music playback, just like it would a CD or satellite radio, when a phone call is received or initiated. The bluetooth music streaming automatically resumes upon termination of a call.

MMI also automatically resumes bluetooth A2DP music where you left off, whether it is the iPod app or Pandora, upon returning and starting the car after a stop (at least that's now my iPhone worked with MMI).

As far as MMI controls for bluetooth A2DP music, you can only skip/ff/skip back/rewind (and pause IIRC?). You cannot browse playlists nor does it display track/album/artist information. You should be able to use iPhone voice commands but those must be initiated from the iPhone itself.

kgd_007

Thanks for the feedback!

That is really helpful as it confirms what I was thinking. With the iPhone voice commands there is really no need for MMI control of the iPhone other than skipping forward, back and pause which the Bluetooth will do; although, the track information would be missed. I really like the interface on the MMI with the iPhone/iPod but voice commands are so much easier. I pretty much only use the iPhone voice commands to dial the phone and would like to be able to use them to select music as well especially for artists that don't start with "A".

Appreciate your feedback, might have to give this a shot.