wmjstevens

I just purchased a 2006 Acura TL. I was excited about getting the Acura Music Link and it was as much of a sale closer as the car itself. My impression was voice control, and on screen views of artist, genre, songs, etc.

My dealer wasn't aware the product even existed. I went back to parts and lo and behold they had one in stock. Again no knowledge of how it works. The installed price was $350.00 considerably expensive especially considering my video iPod only cost $299.

Well here's the skinny. There is no display of artist genre songs just the same display you would have for a CD changer. It only works with 3rd and 4th generation iPods. And controlling it with voice is truly misleading. First you can't even select CD changer mode by voice. You add a iTunes add in and it searches the music titles and finds the first letter of the song, play list, genre, etc. You have to select the letter immediately after it is read. By the way it’s the Microsoft voice which it is barely intelligible. Then it begins with the first song genre album etc beginning with that letter. The play back through the audio system is phenomenal and you can change selections with CD radio and steering wheel controls.

Well I have 855 items and 20 days of music how useable is that. I've got to tell you how disappointing this is. The solution I‘ve come to is to blow off the audio read backs. I have a older 3rd generation iPod I only download one audio book from audible.com and just a small selection of music and that way I have some control over what I’m listening to.

This really took the shine off buying the new car. Which I've grown accustomed to dealing with Acura dealers. I have gone to the local dealer here in New Orleans with cash in my wallet 6 times in the last 4 years to buy an Acura for either myself of my family only to walk out and buy a different car. I even drove 3 hours to another dealer to experience just a slightly improved customer experience. I have been disappointed with every Acura dealership that I have walked into. I was told I had to buy $2500 worth of trunk trays paint protection locking wheel nuts etc. It wasn’t until I walked out the door was I run down and given the car for the price I wanted. It took 9 hours to install the iPod link and prepare the car for delivery.

Okay enough whining I still love the car there are complex workarounds for the iPod music link and the sound is phenomenal. But if you think your getting “seamless integration” will be sadly disappointed. If I had to do it over again I would buy the monster FM modulated attachment for $75 and buy another iPod with the left over money. If you look at the earlier post showing the installation manual for this kit is at best $20 dollars worth of cables

JustinZ

repost

wmjstevens

No problem where. I see alot of excitement about this product and it isn't what it is cracked up to be.

Ytsejamr

I believe he's telling you that your post is a repost of information. Most of the people here know the limitations of the iPod interface . . . as we've been waiting for it for months (years).

Just one of those internet message board things . . . it might help to scan the rest of the forum or search for similar posts before you post. There are about 3 or 4 threads related to iPod interface on the first few pages of this forum.

-Brian

ludachrisvt

iTrader: (2)

I BELIEVE he's telling him that he posted this word for word in another thread. Hey, I know you are new here so I wont flame you. Mods dont like this very much. Just try to keep the discussion of a topic to one thread.

ludachrisvt

iTrader: (2)

oh yeah ... welcome

gt1

wmjstevens, I feel your pain! With all the obviuos limitations of Music Link, it has one major advantage over other methods- sound quality of a factory designed and tested solution. I'm sure that it will not be long before we will come up with a solution which allows using iPod's own controls and screen with Music Link.

JustinZ

I don’t know why you guys are so pissed at the music link device

i mean - REALLY did you expect Acura to REWIRTE all of the firmware for the NAV computer?
Also, i mean we dont even have CD text on our systems, so they wouldn’t be able to "hack" that to display the name

and there isn’t even an interface for them to plug in the ipod - maybe the PC card slot in the trunk, but that’s pretty ridiculous as well. So obviously they could NOT have implemented it properly without a WHOLE NEW NAV SYSTEM

and i have no idea why people without nave are even complaining, how they hell do they expect to control the ipod at all?

Finally, as of right now, the music link is the ONLY system that allows control from the stereo/steering wheel - that alone put it above other AUX devices

JustinZ

If anything, AUX devices are a rip off; you could just splice soem wire and whip out the soldering iron and make your own - $100 for that?

and multiple sources? wow, 3 dollar switch at radio shack

gt1

Not all, but to add some voice commands- why not. There is no need to reprogram firmware- all navi software is on DVD
The system is capable of displaying track information from XM, so I don't see why getting this info from iPod is impossible. But it is possible, that their CD changer protocol is limited to numeric information.
Turned out that TL has a CD changer interface and this is what they used for iPod adaptor
If they couldn't do it properly, they had to enable iPod own controls or, at least screen to remain opertational.

gt1

Not really. XM has higher output voltage, splicing wires will give you audio, but volume will be low. Also, car is very electrically noisy and proper AUX adaptor needs a very careful design, otherwise you will always hear ignition whine in background (ask me how I know). That's why I think that paying extra for a factory soultion is justified, even if it lacks a lot of features.

wmjstevens

Okay after getting flamed with my first post by someone. I feel real welcome.

Yes JustinZ I absolutely do expect Acura to do whatever is necessary to insure a product works as they advertise them. Or at the very minimum don’t exaggerate the product’s abilities beyond recognition. This isn't a product that was supposedly hacked together by a couple of kids in a garage. This is a factory option like let's say..... like your air conditioning. It's supposed to work as they describe it. Soooo....... lets take your suggestion to it’s logical conclusion do you expect the brakes to work like advertised, motor etc. It is important for ethical companies to represent their products in a measured, reasonable and responsible manner. Hype and deception have become the rule in advertising and only because no one holds these corporations feet to fire allows them to keep deceiving us. If you doubt my statements read on.



The reason I'm pissed is the way Acura advertises this product. Below are cuts and pastes from an advertisement found on my Aura Owner’s Link. They were from a press release by "Acura Press Release" - Acura Unveils iPod Music Link Accessory - SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. 09/07/2005 --



"Acura today unveiled the Acura Music Link adapter (for iPod®), which allows seamless integration between iPod and Acura audio systems."



With


"Acura Music Link allows drivers to select their music by artist, album, genre and play list through the standard controls on the audio system head unit. Additionally, the Acura Music Link adapter will be the first to include text-to-speech capabilities or VoiceID, when searching through the iPod music library with the audio system controls.".



And then there's:



"We're thrilled to team up with Acura, to provide drivers with a seamless iPod experience," by apple.



This is my friend is a lie. First off there is no mention of it only working with 4th generation iPod. Not a problem I own two one is a video iPod. The text-to-speech comment leaves you with the impression that you can control you iPod like you can control the AC in the car. You can’t. It also leaves you the impression you can sort through the different sorting capabilities you have on the iPod again it doesn’t. MusicLink is no more than a cable similar to to the PIE product http://www.myradiostore.us/auxadapte...-pod-ipod.html.

Yes I'm pissed because I could have bought the Harmon Kardon Drive and Play (http://www.harmankardon.com/drive-1/tour.aspx) for $100 less and got what I thought I was paying for. Or there is the $200 less PIE solution http://www.myradiostore.us/auxadapte...-pod-ipod.html and saved money with a similar product.

I was more than willing to pay a premium to get what was advertised factory installed seamless integration with standard iPod sorting abilities. (Which in my opinion is what the Acura Press release was describing) I was unable to get any definitive information from Acura or Acura dealerships prior to my purchasing the vehicle with the option. My dealership didn't even know the product existed, they didn’t even know they had the product in stock much less have the have the ability to answer my questions. When I asked if there were any instructions they were not aware of the pdf manual on a disk that was lying in the trunk of the car. I can only suspect they didn’t know about the CD either. The advertising was if not a lie certainly misleading. The dealer knew nothing about how the product worked, they didn't even know there was a disk with a poorly worded and even more poorly thought out pdf manual. I called Acura they didn’t know anything about the product and didn’t know anyone to refer me to who could help me. After purchasing the car and signing up for Owner’s Link I called them to find out how to make the product work as the manual describes it. They have absolutely no knowledge of the product. The quote “you know more about the product than we do" , “ we don’t have any information on the product” and “you’re not the only one dissatisfied with the product I’ll make a note in your record”.

If you want to be apologists for Acura try out for a sales position. But to excuse this as over reaction then let me suggest that is why we have such a poorly executed product with misleading advertising on the market is because people will accept it and worse buy it.

Wrong. Go to a reputable car stereo place there are several products on the market. There's one in my wife's G35. One 2 sec goggle check resulted in: http://www.myradiostore.us/auxadapte...-pod-ipod.html


The link plays through a $20 cable that plugs into the CD Changer plug behind the radio and is no way tied to the nav system. It would require Apple or Acura to make the same changes the Harman / Kardon does and place it on the information bus that transmits the information to the screen.


Yup!! You are right. So read the write up. You will find I posted it. In the post there is a discussion on why I "reposted it". If you look in the corner it’s number 2 so I was doing what I thought I was being instructed to do. I can assure you ludachrisvt my thought are original. I found this forum through a Google search trying to locate information on how to make the Music Link work as it is described in the manual. I searched the forum prior to making the post and did not find any mention of the Music link in it. Embarrassingly enough I did find the thread after I was told to repost. And I do apologize for that. Also like most forums they tend to gain there own language. If someone is posting the first post a one word post “repost” does not provide enough information. It comes across as a flame. I think if you read my 2nd post you will I gave the forum credit that if I had read that thread I would not have purchased the MusicLink. If I had found that thread before I purchased the car.


Justin car manufacturers do not make nav systems they purchase them from other companies. This is not an Acura system. It is an Alpine. If I’m not mistaken everything (Navigation, iPod link, MP3, CD Text, etc) with the exception of the DVD audio is available off the shelf from Alpine. I would gladly give up the DVD audio for the features you and others would like it to have. And I am confident that as many nav systems as Acura buys they could have got anything they wanted for the price. Which brings us to the real answer. Was Acura more interested in profit margins than giving the customer what he wanted. Who knows. But I’m a died in the wool republican capitalist. Yet I still believe you can give the customer what he wants and still make and maintain profit margins. In fact I think that might be the secret answer to improved sales. Which if I remember from business 101 develop a product people either need or want.


GT probably a good point. I’m not knowledgeable enough to comment. But let me say one thing in defense of the product. It is the best sound quality I have heard from any iPod interface. I own 3 other vehicles with iPod interfaces. Those interfaces range from FM modulated to direct connect into the back of the radio amp (RCA plugs) and nothing compares to the sound quality of the MusicLink. Which really adds to the frustration. If they did what they said they were going to do with the product provide “seamless integration”. How popular is the iPod and how many more cars will they sell because of it.

My real problem with this entire experience is the Acura dealership system. It appears to me that they spend more time teaching there salesman how to sell than the product they are selling. We all give the salesman 5’s on the sales follow ups so we have no one to blame but ourselves. My gut is they receive no training on the product the car at all. A salesman probably has gain that knowledge on his own. I have yet to go into an Acura dealership and the salesman understands his product to the level the average car owner is going to use the product. I’m a pilot by profession and I have a favorite line when I run into salesmen with this mentality: “I’m a pilot and I’m going to go for a flight today. I’m going to prepare for this flight with the same level of exuberance you have prepared to do your job today. Are you coming?” I’ve never gotten a taker. Typical of my last Acura experience was my salesmen told me in Mississippi I didn’t need a temporary tag. Well Louisiana where I live the state trooper had a different opinion. And yes when I called the dealer and talked to someone other than my salesman I was FedEx my Mississippi temporary tag overnight. Well North Park in Jackson, Ms may have gotten the car sale but they won’t get 5’s on the sales follow up survey.

Okay let me recap and close. The product is great product if you have a 4th generation iPod and don’t care about the “seamless integration”. And you’re willing to pay the exorbitant price knowing that there is a comparable product priced as the PIE product (http://www.myradiostore.us/auxadapte...-pod-ipod.html)is @ $119.99. Which by the way controls 3rd generation iPods. There is no doubt the sound quality is superior to anything I have heard out there and I’m guessing superior to the Harmon/Kardon and PIE interfaces. (I think it delivers the music digitally from the iPod to the Radio which accounts for the improved audio quality). But people your paying more for this product than you paid for your iPod and does not work as advertised.

If I flamed or offended anyone other than Apple and Acura please accept my apologies.

gt1

wmjstevens, I checked the adaptor you mentioned:
http://www.myradiostore.us/auxadapte...-pod-ipod.html
and judjing by description on their web site it doesn't allow browsing by artist or album and has no title display. In other words, it is no better than Music Link.

wmjstevens

Sorry for the confusion that was an example for what Acura is offering for $119.99 not the $350 I paid. The site for what I thought I was getting is:

http://www.harmankardon.com/drive-1/tour.aspx

It displays it on a mini screen but it seems if Acura wanted to hack something run that display through the Navi screen is what I would like to screen.

acura911

does anyone get bad hising sounds from the acura music link when they turn it all the way up or all the way down?

1hotcpa

I had mine installed a week ago, despite all the bad reviews by fellow AcuraZiners and the $500 it cost to have it installed. I still believe it is the best alternative available at this time. I do not get any hissing noise....

HollywoodTSX

I didn't.

Can I take my car back? It's clearly false advertising.

Kracker

You might consider it... You can least get the 350 back for it.

Get a 19.95 tape adapter that doesnt display the track/title, makes noise inside the the tape player and sounds crappy.

I ordered mine music-link yesterday. Its worth 200 bux for not having the hissing noise and being able to control it thru my steering wheel.

sybaek3

if you want a decent ipod player for the TLs, get the harmon kardon drive and play.

use it to hook it up direct into xm and you can easily have a switch to toggle xm and ipod. that drive and play is 199.00 and its much better than that music link.

jowaldo

I just got the Acura Music Link too yesterday, and am seriously dissapointed with how funky the controls are

I really wish I would have got the HK thing instead

HollywoodTSX

Did you call them and let them know?

jowaldo

what would that accomplish? they would just say sorry...

I have to admit now that i've played around with the controls a bit its not as bad as I first thought.. but its still not anything too great

walti

Acura always seemed concerned about liability. Not this time. I guess as soon as there are a few accidents maybe they will fix the music link interface.

jowaldo

how do you think it will cause more accidents? Now that I'm used to it, (and cleaned up my mp3 tags) it works pretty good i think, and I can get to anything I want without having to look down once. If it did have the menu, I think i'd be guaranteeing myself an accident or close call sooner or later.

HollywoodTSX

I don't know about causing more accidents, but it's clear this is something they advertised and did not deliver. Did they give themselves an "out" in the fine print? Probably, but in the court of public opinion, at least here, I think we all know that they don't stand back behind their word and that's not a good thing in a car company.

lauckatz

I purchased the Music link for my new 2007 MDX. Not sure how it works with the TL but it is worthless for the MDX. It just shows cd number and track number with no artist or song names. I have a Nano with over 800 songs. I have no clue which song is on what track. I bought it because the salesman said you can do everything thru the radio you can do on the ipod.

It does not make sense and I am asking for my money back

jowaldo

Its the same in the TL...

Now that I've had this for over a year tho, I'm pretty used to it. When you figure out the controls... its not so bad, I can get to pretty much any of my 5200 songs on my ipod within a very minimal amount of time, and still being able to keep my eyes on the road is a good thing. I've only been in one car accident my whole life, and it was in my last car cuz I was looking down at my stupid mp3 cd player I had then, trying to read what it was saying.

Granted I have plenty of complaints about it too... No text at all as to what is playing, the TTS software doesn't work on vista (at least not yet... hopefully they will fix that)

In all... it gets the job done, even if in a crappy way

datmrman

At least for the TL, we have a few other options. They are summarized here: 3G TL Audio & Electronics FAQ.

dampfnudel

I thought Acura would come out with an improved music link, but it looks like we'll have to wait until the 4G TL for that to happen.

too bad.

sw001

Don't the TL's and TSX's have auxillary inputs? I'm confused why you'd need the iPod adapter, as the iPod's controls are bound to be better anyway. Is the sound better though the adapter vs the aux inputs?

jowaldo

beside 3rd party adapters you can only get an aux input on 07 tl's and 06 and newer tsx's..

I'm sure the sound is a bit better through the adapter than the aux input, not enough though that most people would notice imho.

forberger4

Thanks for the thorough description....just bought an 06 TL with the adapter (plug in glove compartment)...in your write-up, you said...

You add a iTunes add in and it searches the music titles and finds the first letter of the song, play list, genre, etc.

Question...how do I 'add an ITunes add in'? All I can do right now is go forward and back on tracks....how do I use the voice commands for this?

Appreciate any help you can give.

Ed

forberger4

can you give me some idea of how to 'figure out the controls'? Just bought an 06 TL with the adapter, and all I can do is go forward and back on the 'CD' tracks.....how do I get to a song list or artist? Thx

Steve_O

So I work for an Acura dealer in the Mississauga Ontario and I've been trying to see if there are any software updates for this damn I-link system but nobody from Head Office ever replies back to my questions...its like they pretend I-link never happened lol.

My 2007 TL has it and it drives me crazy I can't see my songs!!

sopmodm14

just got my '06 TL a few months ago, and thanks to this thread, i believe the ipod connector in my glovebox is the Acura Music Link

it doesn't work on newest generation nano's i think *(it worked a few times actually, but has since stopped)

could be user error in its operation on my part, but just wanted to add info to future owners

any help is appreciated