Changes to the Australia specifications

[danielp]

Makes sense - thanks.

 

[doctorwho]

Unfortunately your RDIO sub isn't worth too much, because Tesla only allows the "free" version of the app, which means you can't listen to albums or play by artist. You can only pick a song and it will create a "playlist" from that song. Similar to "stations" in other apps. This is actually one of my biggest gripes with the car: it's such a good feature, why is it restricted like this?

If you want to listen to Spotify, the only option is to connect via Bluetooth, which will result in loss of audio fidelity. A real shame given the upgraded audio package will be wasted for now if listening to audio over Bluetooth.

So what exactly is the 'high fidelity' audio source in an Australian Tesla? No CD player, no iPhone or music player integration. No album streaming. Apart from FM radio, presumably we can connect a USB stick with a few albums of non compressed audio files, with limited sorting ability. I was hoping for the browser so that I could stream Spotify and 3RRR out of Melbourne.

 

[heosat]

So what exactly is the 'high fidelity' audio source in an Australian Tesla? No CD player, no iPhone or music player integration. No album streaming. Apart from FM radio, presumably we can connect a USB stick with a few albums of non compressed audio files, with limited sorting ability. I was hoping for the browser so that I could stream Spotify and 3RRR out of Melbourne.

DAB and USB delivered audio files.

 

[Mark E]

DAB and USB delivered audio files.

Agreed. DAB is pretty good but the real opportunity for quality audio will come from files on a USB stick. I'd expect that the sorting functionality will improve over time. What I'd be really interested in seeing/hearing is if it's possible to have multi-channel sound from the USB - i.e. Rip the audio from a DVD-Audio or SACD to play.

 

[doctorwho]

DAB and USB delivered audio files.

so nothing outside capital cities then apart from USB sticks with a system that struggles to even play album tracks in order. It is one weal area in the car, made weaker in Australia by the enforced loss of browser function. Tesla should develop a specific Rdio or Spotify app or allow someone to do it.

 

[timpoo]

so nothing outside capital cities then apart from USB sticks with a system that struggles to even play album tracks in order. It is one weal area in the car, made weaker in Australia by the enforced loss of browser function. Tesla should develop a specific Rdio or Spotify app or allow someone to do it.

agreed.

I no longer buy music from iTunes or ahem...procure via other legal means, because streaming is so convenient. At the moment I have a generous data plan and I can plug in via AUX to my car. Because there is no AUX with the Tesla, I have to stream via Bluetooth, and because Tesla doesn't have the most recent Bluetooth standard, it can't handle the data rates required to stream good quality music.

Anyways it's not a big thing in the grand scheme of things and certainly wouldn't make me hesitate in getting the car, but it's something they might want to think about

 

[doctorwho]

It just seems a big thing as it's such a strikingly poor solution in countries without browser function that it really stands out in what is otherwise a well resolved car. Even being able to connect an iPhone (or my soon to arrive Pono) would go a long way to resolving the problem.

 

[heosat]

I'm OK with the solution but for those that aren't please contact Tesla to explain the situation.

 

[Higgy]

When I did a test drive with Cary he showed off the connection to Tunein which streams any online radio station including the ABC stations and 3RRR. I assume that Tunein is still accessible?

Not a HD source though. I wonder where Tesla stands with data use? I have a good data plan and would be happy to use mine for data but take the point re the quality of Bluetooth and had not realised there was no aux in!

 

[doctorwho]

Dis the early demonstrator cars have a functioning browser? If so Cary may have been accessing Tunein through the browser.

 

[Higgy]

Dis the early demonstrator cars have a functioning browser? If so Cary may have been accessing Tunein through the browser.

Yes - I am pretty sure that this would have been the case.

 

[MDK]

Tune-in and rdio are accessed via the media interface - you can select them as a source, the same way you would choose to play from usb or bluetooth

I don't think the browser is capable of playing sound (or video)

 

[Higgy]

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[JOH]

Unfortunately your RDIO sub isn't worth too much, because Tesla only allows the "free" version of the app, which means you can't listen to albums or play by artist. You can only pick a song and it will create a "playlist" from that song. Similar to "stations" in other apps. This is actually one of my biggest gripes with the car: it's such a good feature, why is it restricted like this?

If you want to listen to Spotify, the only option is to connect via Bluetooth, which will result in loss of audio fidelity. A real shame given the upgraded audio package will be wasted for now if listening to audio over Bluetooth.

At this point I'm glad I opted for the "standard" audio option......

 

[Aussie Bob]

Great read. We have a Canadian Model S and currently we are visiting Australia. One item that I think needs correcting is day running lights as day running lights are required by law in Canada. All new cars have day running lights.

 

[Mark E]

Dis the early demonstrator cars have a functioning browser? If so Cary may have been accessing Tunein through the browser.

None of the cars here have functioning browsers - including the demonstrators. I'm also not convinced that streaming services are that HD compared to a flat file on a usb stick!

 

[cynix]

@Aussie Bob: Thanks for the correction. Do you know if US cars also have DRL?

 

[timpoo]

None of the cars here have functioning browsers - including the demonstrators. I'm also not convinced that streaming services are that HD compared to a flat file on a usb stick!

Not sure what you mean by "flat" file, but "standard" streaming is now 128kbps, with some set at 256kbps. On "high" quality streaming you can get around 512kbps, which is indistinguishable from CD quality for all but the most serious of audiophiles. You can't stream that kind of quality over older generation bluetooth at full fidelity. On a USB stick you can do FLAC or other lossless formats which is a more "pure" CD listening experience, and you can't get that for streaming, as each file is huge.

Anyway - it doesn't matter given how awesome the car is, and it only really matters for people who really care about music, but given that I'll be spending much of my time in the car in future, it's quite important to me. Having said that I do seem to be listening to ABC 774 more and more recently.

I would still get the upgraded audio package because of the subwoofer though.

 

[Mark E]

Not sure what you mean by "flat" file, but "standard" streaming is now 128kbps, with some set at 256kbps. On "high" quality streaming you can get around 512kbps, which is indistinguishable from CD quality for all but the most serious of audiophiles. You can't stream that kind of quality over older generation bluetooth at full fidelity. On a USB stick you can do FLAC or other lossless formats which is a more "pure" CD listening experience, and you can't get that for streaming, as each file is huge.

Sorry - flac file. As for streaming, most seem to drop the quality down substantially over cellular in some cases down to 128kbps. 320kbps sounds pretty good but on a decent system not quite as good as CD - but pretty close. In any case, SACD sounds significantly better than CD - hence my interest in it.

 

[bollar]

@Aussie Bob: Thanks for the correction. Do you know if US cars also have DRL?

DRL is a switchable control on US spec cars and all have it available. The button is on the controls page adjacent to the headlight and fog lamp controls.