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[Media Mistake - False] No FM, Bluetooth, or USB Audio either?

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Fair enough, I guess Tesla decided the cost/benefit of shielding and adding hardware to enable AM radio wasn't worth it to them, looks like they may have misjudged how popular AM is in the USA.

I guess you'll have to take an AM radio along on a test drive and see how much interference it picks up, then find one that you can plug into an Aux in port ( Does the Model 3 have a 3.5mm Aux in port)? Or use one of those FM transmitter devices to rebroadcast the signal into your stereo.
So one could use a AM->FM converter plugged into the 12v provided by the DC->DC converter to get power from the battery out there by the AC->DC converter.

I personally haven’t used AM in forever. And most (but not all) of the road sign “tune to xxx for more info” I’ve seen are FM. But I do appreciate people that love a particular radio station would not want to drop it.
 
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For those who love music, they expect FM radio and method for high quality sound, streaming does not provide this with slacker radio, spotify and apple music. All my music is wav. files from original cd's. I expect the USB input to allow more than low quality mp3. Only streaming option close to being as good as cd's is Tidal.
 
Is it true that Tesla does not support USB audio from a smart phone? Ie, I can't plug in my iPhone and view/control my iTunes music?

Back in the day "iPod control" was a big deal, but I haven't looked at the state of it in well over a decade. I guess bluetooth audio would provide the same functionality (assuming it's coming in an update)?

Sorry to distract from the AM radio discussion...
 
Is it true that Tesla does not support USB audio from a smart phone? Ie, I can't plug in my iPhone and view/control my iTunes music?

Back in the day "iPod control" was a big deal, but I haven't looked at the state of it in well over a decade. I guess bluetooth audio would provide the same functionality (assuming it's coming in an update)?

Sorry to distract from the AM radio discussion...


Please see the amended name for this thread. It was FUD, it was dispelled. You'll have USB audio.
 
Please see the amended name for this thread. It was FUD, it was dispelled. You'll have USB audio.
Right. I didn't look at the video sources for USB audio, however I will say that the press kit says "two usb ports for media and power", that the FM radio is mentioned on the Monroney sticker and that the bluetooth media streaming from phone is mentioned in the FCC leaked key manual. So all of these features will eventually be coming (even if initial cars might not have them yet).
 
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Is it true that Tesla does not support USB audio from a smart phone? Ie, I can't plug in my iPhone and view/control my iTunes music?

Back in the day "iPod control" was a big deal, but I haven't looked at the state of it in well over a decade. I guess bluetooth audio would provide the same functionality (assuming it's coming in an update)?

Sorry to distract from the AM radio discussion...

The most current info from the employee cars is that you can NOT control USB audio from a smart phone... YET. If you just have a USB flash drive and plug that in, it works. Not from a phone though. It's expected to come via OTA update. Just no one knows how soon it'll come yet.

I'm keeping my eye on this as well cuz I live in an area where I don't like the playlists of the radio stations except during certain times of the day. I use my phone's music the majority of the time. And bluetooth doesn't offer the same amount of control as controlling the phone via USB. Bluetooth really just allows for skip/reverse track and play/pause. Like cassette tape technology.
 
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The most current info from the employee cars is that you can NOT control USB audio from a smart phone... YET. If you just have a USB flash drive and plug that in, it works. Not from a phone though. It's expected to come via OTA update. Just no one knows how soon it'll come yet.

I'm keeping my eye on this as well cuz I live in an area where I don't like the playlists of the radio stations except during certain times of the day. I use my phone's music the majority of the time. And bluetooth doesn't offer the same amount of control as controlling the phone via USB. Bluetooth really just allows for skip/reverse track and play/pause. Like cassette tape technology.

As I think I said previously, we've already been waiting 5 years for USB control of a smart phone, so I wouldn't count on it happening any time soon (or ever). When you say you use your phone's music, if it's downloaded non-DRM content then using a USB memory stick works well. Also, I use Slacker directly from the car a lot. If you use something like Spotify or Apple Music you have to do it through bluetooth.
 
Some random pondering thoughts:

Did they recently switch from Nvidia to Intel chips, and so the team is scrambling to implement new device-drivers so that basic functions work again?

I was going to suggest that the long haul truck project needs Sirius/XM satellite radio since truckers tend to drive between towns and need a consistent radio station to keep company on boring empty roads with no FM & LTE... Then I realized the response could be "without a human driver who needs radio?"
 
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Please see the amended name for this thread. It was FUD, it was dispelled. You'll have USB audio.
I realize that a USB stick with music on it will work, but "iPod Control" is more than that. It allows for rich information on the screen (artist and song info, album art, etc) and allows for playing DRM protected music.

The most current info from the employee cars is that you can NOT control USB audio from a smart phone... YET. If you just have a USB flash drive and plug that in, it works. Not from a phone though. It's expected to come via OTA update. Just no one knows how soon it'll come yet.

I'm keeping my eye on this as well cuz I live in an area where I don't like the playlists of the radio stations except during certain times of the day. I use my phone's music the majority of the time. And bluetooth doesn't offer the same amount of control as controlling the phone via USB. Bluetooth really just allows for skip/reverse track and play/pause. Like cassette tape technology.
Thanks for the comparison with bluetooth. That's pretty much what I was thinking.

As I think I said previously, we've already been waiting 5 years for USB control of a smart phone, so I wouldn't count on it happening any time soon (or ever). When you say you use your phone's music, if it's downloaded non-DRM content then using a USB memory stick works well. Also, I use Slacker directly from the car a lot. If you use something like Spotify or Apple Music you have to do it through bluetooth.
This was my concern - after hearing that Model S/X don't have this, I was pretty sure we wouldn't be getting it on the 3 either.
 
I realize that a USB stick with music on it will work, but "iPod Control" is more than that. It allows for rich information on the screen (artist and song info, album art, etc) and allows for playing DRM protected music.


If Tesla is moving towards their own streaming service, I doubt they're putting a whole lot of effort into making Android or Apple device control play nice with their infotainment hardware.
 
As I think I said previously, we've already been waiting 5 years for USB control of a smart phone, so I wouldn't count on it happening any time soon (or ever). When you say you use your phone's music, if it's downloaded non-DRM content then using a USB memory stick works well. Also, I use Slacker directly from the car a lot. If you use something like Spotify or Apple Music you have to do it through bluetooth.

Does the Tesla UI allow you to browse your media on the Android or iPhone over BT and select the playlist you want to listen to? My BMW from 6 years ago had no problem doing any of that, or displaying text messages.