Audi A4 Multimedia System

Audi A4 Multimedia System

The Audi A4 SE is supplied with a high-performance audio system as standard equipment: the concert radio with a 6.5-inch colour display screen, MMI operating logic, a single CD player and a 10-speaker system incorporating subwoofer with a 180-watt output.

The Audi music interface (AMI) is available as an optional extra for this unit and is capable of linking to the customer’s iPod and allowing all its controls to be used. The radio screen then displays the player’s menu structure with all its replay lists and additional information; operation is from the radio or the multifunction steering wheel.

The AMI links with fourth-generation iPods and above by means of a separate adapter cable. Older generation versions, and any other audio player with a USB 2.0 interface, can also be connected for playback via the car’s audio system, though in these cases it is not possible to control the iPod via the header unit or to view its playlists on the header unit display.

Audi has designed the AMI software in a modular form incorporating individual ‘drivers’ built into the memory that communicate with the players and enable their protocols to be read. If a new player comes on to the market, its driver can be installed quickly and easily as an update.

All Audi audio systems also incorporate an SD card reader (SDM = Secure Digital Memory) for audio files which, along with the CD drive, can also play music in the mp3 and wma formats.

Digital audio broadcasting (DAB) is also available at extra cost for the concert and optional symphony radios (only when the Satellite Navigation system Plus is specified). Digital VHF signals are superior to the analogue standard in their dynamic range, clarity and spatial quality. Audi DAB tuners compute the stereo signal by way of a signal processor, and prepare additional radio-text data in parallel.