Buttons 5 and 6 on the radio heat unit have an alternate function of "Disk -" and "Disk +" respectively. But they don't seem to have any special disk related function in any mode. In disk mode, they select disks 5 and 6, in any radio mode, they set the appropriate preset and in tape mode they do nothing. Does anybody know what they're for?
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they cycle through XM radio station genres

 

Not those buttons (Scan), if you look at pre-sets 5 & 6, you'll see they have Disc - and Disc + written on them in the same places as the cassette functions are on pre-sets 1-4.
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oh i have no idea

 

On every other Acura/Honda vehicle those two buttons control disc selection for an optional 6-disc changer, but I don't remember seeing an accessory changer listed for the TL.

 

sfintel:

Button 5 moves you negatively in your sequence of loaded disks- if you are at disk 4 pressing button 5 will get you to disk 3. Button 6 moves you positively in your sequence of loaded disks- if you're at disk 2 pressing button 6 will get you to disk 3.

You should read the manual, there's good information in there.

 

Could you please tell me what page in the manual this appears on? I don't remember seeing it. Also, that's not how those buttons function. The 1-6 buttons select disk 1-6 directly. I just confirmed that in the car.
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You are correct sir!

I think the plus and minus probably has something to do with that thing called the cassette... A prehistoric audio playback device in the car for nostalga buffs

 

Buttons 5 and 6 only behave as disk up/down if disks are loaded into the changer only in positions 1-4.

Mike

 

I remember those! And I would almost agree with you except the buttons say "Disc +". It looks like Acura / Matsuhita screwed up.

 

That could be. I only tried it with all six disks loaded. If so, what a stupid feature.

 

I talked with the dealer, and here's how Acura designed the interface, according to him.

Changing to a disc is handled by pressing the disc number you want. To start playing disc 5, press the 5 button. That changes, however, if you have a cassette in the tapedeck. When a cassette is loaded, then the secondary labels on those buttons become the active ones. Pressing 1-4 will activate the tape control features at the top of the button. Pressing buttons 5 & 6 will now move you up and down by one disc. Not a very intuitive interface, but that's apparently how it works.

I'm taking the dealer's word for it, since I got the explanation over the phone. I'm just car shopping, so I don't have a TL to test this on. One of you with a TL sitting in your garage might test this out for us, if you can track down a cassette to use.

 

Ah I see... But it would make more sense and I would think it would work that if you press the Disc/Tape button it would activate Disc (and use the Disc commands for the 1-6 buttons) and when ytou pressed it again and it went to Tape it would use the tape controls.

Mike

 

I agree completely - that would be much more intuitive. Sadly, they didn't consult with us when they designed the interface.

 

I'm more surprised about the PAUSE feature which seems like some kind of afterthought.

If you press the button on the 1-6 buttons of the CD/DVD disc playing it will pause the CD/DVD.. and then toggle it back again.

however there is NO pause button on the nav screen.. in fact NOTHING there even says it is paused besides the numbers stop moving. It does say Pause on the top display.

And there is NO voice command for it... I think this is one of the most needed.. if a call comes in (not bluetooth regular cell) if you want to PAUSE the CXD you can use voice to turn off radio but you can not say CD Pause.

it is like not connected to the Nav at all.. Must be some oversight

Mike

 

I believe that it pauses the CD / DVD automatically as soon as you pick up the phone. I'll need to check to be sure.

 

I am talking about those who do NOT yet have bluetooth phones and have to use others... you have to hit tha tone button to pause the CD.

 

sfintel's question has become quite interesting. On page 131 of the manual it states:

"To select a different disc when all six positions are loaded, use the the preset 5 (disc-) or preset 6 (disc+) button. Otherwise, press the cooresponding number on the preset buttons or icons. On models with navigation system, you can also touch the appropriate disc icon (1-6) to select a different disc."

I based my response to you based on this information. I have a non-navigational model. I just sat in my car in the garage trying to figure this for 5 minutes and was unable to succeed.

All the presets will play the CD that cooresponds, whether there's 1 CD loaded or 6. If no CD is loaded the unit displays this fact. If one presses the preset where a cooresponding CD is playing it will pause. If one holds it for a couple of seconds the CD will stop playing.

I dusted off a tape and loaded it. Presets 1-4 all perform tape functions; e.g. rewind, fast forward, play and dolby. Presets 5 and 6 perform no tape functions. Touching presets 5 and 6 quickly, slowly or holding it down did nothing to the tape and didn't change the discs.

Please advise if anyone has different results than this. It's really not an important feature, but it would be quite comical if the Acura engineers labeled the buttons in this way and they don't work on anyone's car! If everyone has the same results I do, I'll drop them a line and see what response we get. I doubt many people at a dealership would know all these functions.

smcvick: I'm surprised you got a response over the phone from the dealer, even though it's probably incorrect.

 

Exactly the reason I asked! I think it was a mistake.

 

That's interesting, and not completely surprising, I guess. Just validation that when a car salesman tells you that something is true about a car, you shouldn't necessarily take it for granted that he has any idea what he's talking about.

Here's my best guess what the controls might be used for - controlling an external changer. Some Acura head units in the past have used a Disc-/Disc+ approach for controlling an external changer. I found an interesting site today (http://densionusa.com/) for a company selling a product that will allow you to use the external changer controls on your head unit to interface with an Ipod. Their product works with head units from a number of different manufacturers, but the basic requirement is that it has to be able to connect to an external cd changer. Anyway, they specifically mention the 2004 TL as being compatible with their product, which implies that even though the TL has an in-dash changer, it may have a port on the back for wiring up an external one in addition. The Disc-/Disc+ buttons may be for use with that external changer interface.

Of course, finding an Acura employee who can answer our question (without making something up) might be a bit of a challenge.

 

smcvick:

Yours is the best theory I've heard. Bottom line is the manual has it wrong.