Most cars these days have an auxillary input (headphone to headphone cable required). This is what the 08 has. However the new tsx, all ford cars that have microsoft sync, have a usb port that connects your ipod/mp3 player to the car and you can control your ipod through the controls in the car. The audio quality is signifcantly better and the improved controls helps as well.

 

lets iron out the facts from the lingo.

07-08 RDX's have an "AUXILIARY" input. Any device you currently own that can output sound, you can plug into an auxiliary input in the RDX. This means....not only an "ipod" but any device with a LINE OUT.

09 (TSX, maybe RDX) - Has a USB connection. U can make a direct connection between the audio of the vehicle and the DEVICE. Not only an iPod, but even a travel USB stick/flash drive...if your USB device contains audio (mp3 etc) the vehicle device will detect it and let you play it.

 

And one other fact--the sound quality is going to be exactly the same with either the USB connection or the auxiliary input. The driver is the recorded quality of the files--neither connection type is inherently superior in terms of transferring the sound information.

 

Does that mean the USB connection also acts as a charging station for your iPod/iPhone? That would be pretty sweet.

 

yea. the usb would charge the ipod too

 

actually thats completely false. Using an auxilary input is an analog connection and does not sound well at all. Using the USB to connect to your head unit is a digital connection and the sound quality is much better (as good as if you were using headphones).

 

Correct except for the very last line. Just because it has USB does not mean it will play. I plugged my Zune into the 09 TSX and it says it's unsupported on the display. I plug in a cheap pen that has a usb connection under the lid and it works great. What's up with that?

 

spot:

its only as good as the source. due to the fact that its a "digital" connection really doesnt guarantee anything.

minimal difference will be going on, itll be better than the line level on the current aux input, but overall, its up to the original file. the main benefit here is not audio quality, its controlability & versatility.

 

ya, i agree....just because it has a usb doesnt 'guarantee' playability. im would forsee some problems whether it be formatting, file structure, etc....

 

Hasn't Acura offered an accessory IPOD hook up in the glovebox that uses the display?
I recall seeing it when I bought. I just use the aux jack when I use it in the car.

The USB slot would be nice. A hard drive would be better.

I'd be happy if the stereo could recognize the track list on more cds.
Also more options for presets. I would like to have 4 groups of presets for xm radio.

 

its not the stereo recognizing the cd text...its the cd (if it was written with text or not) some have em some dont.

you can get the ipod link, but its pricey $$ and obviously limited to just an iPod...the usb solution is much better.

but if anyone is concerned with sound quality, text and so forth, its just as easy to write an MP3 cd and enjoy all the benefits (cd text, better sound)

if i had an ipod link in my 08, id use it. the aux jack makes it pretty impractical to use an ipod, at least in my eyes, u gotta fiddle with the thing...thus i use mp3 cds.

if i had the direct ipod connect like the tsx, without question id actually use my ipod in the car.

 

If one really cares about sound quality, they're not going to use MP3 from any source. Whether it's in a portable music player or burned to a disc, MP3 compression is going to prove inferior to other sources (DVD-A, normal CDs, or even the XM radio feed).

 

thats all based on what compression youre actually going to use. getting good sound quality is always possible. the avg person will rip their cd's at 128 or 192 which is not as good as the cd, but.....

if u rip at 320.... a 320 kbs track (either ripped into that format, or purchased at 320 from online music shops...guarantee you wont here a difference, not on the rdx system) 320kbs tracks get played out at almost any venue these days by basically every single dj or entertainer (even less, 192 will fly on a decent club or pa system) 320 u wont know the difference, the only thing better would just be a pure wav file. a garbage cd ripped will sound just as bad as the source content. a well mixed cd ripped to 320 u will barely notice a difference in the vehicle, or rather any home system, if any difference at all.

the majority of my dj collection is bought digitally at 320 as mp3, short of using up 5x's more space on my hard drive for a wave file, 320 kbs there is very little loss when you compare wave readouts and analyze the audio. wave will have a fatter sound but its really not THAT important. for space (HD) reasons, 320 is a much better option. Amazon sells their music at 256 which is about on par with how the cd will sound if u purchased it and played it in the truck.

so nothing wrong with banging mp3 cds, as long as the source content and coding is actually good and not junk like 128kbs. nothing wrong at all.

my truck is a base so no dvd-a (plus theres barely any solid pure dvd-a discs out anyway) ive talked about it in the proper sections, but why acura still insists with the dvda stuff is beyond me, more or less useless to the avg person. and by the way, xm radio streams at about a rate of 64 to 96 kbs which is piss poor and the worst compression period.

 

What ICEMAN said, except you can rip 'lossless' audio (even from MP3 with a high bitrate) to an iPod and it might sound decent.

That being said, there is nothing that sounds better than DVD-A, especially ones engineered for the format. I have about 50 of them - some sound worse or the same as the equivalent CD, and some are just plain kick-ass in what they do to your ears, in DTS 5.1 and DVD-A formats.

 

Not this one. I'm a pro DJ who spins house and trance, and I won't touch compressed files. You may be right that the sound system in my club or my mobile setup won't reveal the difference, but I won't take that chance. I do a top-quality job whenever I do a gig, and cutting corners on sound quality is a slippery slope to doing a half-ass job in all aspects of the profession.

That's just me--I won't compromise on something like this. Yes, I get a workout lugging CDs to all my gigs, but I believe it's worth it.

 

really makes no difference @320 & theres really no chance to take playing with 320 files, but if thats your preference then it is what it is.

you are basically in the minority of dj's if ur not touching digital music. its one thing to play off promo cd's on mailing clubs, but if you are buying up to date music and playing the latest stuff...ur either still playing vinyl or dl'd the track. any new beat coming out these days worth banging will be a high quality mp3 or a wav.

basically every big name dj (and even locals) are playing either thru a macbook w/serato or traktor...or playing thru Ableton. all digital. no corners are cut and theres no lack of quality. what you gain is organization and portability, theres nothing wrong with that.