Infiniti G35 Audio Questions

yifei

Hi Scott,

Thank you so much for your answer and I really appreciate it!

Yifei

scottm123

Better to put your dough toward many smaller 2GB cards than toward 1 8GB card.
Frustrating... but still a cool additional to an already fantastic stereo!

jck1974

I had problems with this. I can burn a CD from iTunes without that box checked and the car will read the CD and import it into the Music Box without any of the track information. When I check the "include CD text" box in iTunes and then burn a CD, however, the car can't read the CD at all, to play it or to import it into the Music Box. What am I doing wrong?

bmulberry

Same thing here. I burned my whole iTunes collection to Audio CD with text and the in-dash won't read it. Works fine from the chnager, but the whole purpose for me was to rip. Maybe Infiniti did it to prevent ripping songs with DRM from iTunes.

mrnick2

I've had sirius in my xc90 for about a year and love it (after i worked around the feeble internal fm transmitter in the sportster 4). With the external player, you can see a complete list of channels in each category, as well as what artist/song is playing on each channel BEFORE you tune to it. That's the first Problem i have with the indash xm...you have to tune to each channel before you know what is playing. The second problem...and this is the biggest one.....XM absolutely, positively stinks compared to sirius. Does xm assume you know what kind of music a channel called FRED is going to be playing? oh wait...I'll tune in to find out, but I never heard of the artist or the song. I ran the entire rock category on several occasions and couldnt recognize a single artist...maybe because no one has ever WANTED to hear them. It's one thing to play rare cuts from known musicians, or great new music from someone unknown, but xm seems to be playing the worst from the unknown. My rant is now over lol

mrnick2

forgot to mention the wife wanted xm for the nav traffic

kb124

There is a lot of talk of a merge of Sirius and XM. Last I heard, one option being discussed (should the merge occur) would be to allow subscriber's to pick and choose a channel package. Should be interesting if this all happens. You may be able to get your stations back again. I believe Sirius is the buyer.

scottm123

Sirius definitely has more cash right now.
XM used to be the super-power, but not anymore, thanks to Stern.

No word on merging prices yet, but Sirius is changing their pricing a little.
I haven't seen final numbers, but it's going to cost less if you only want to listen to the original line-up, but will be the full $12.95 a month if you want to include Stern.

Personally, I like 1 or 2 stations on Sirius, 4 or 5 on XM and would like to have Stern as well.
I'm hoping the merger allows for al a carte ordering like that, but I doubt it.
It'll be more like mini-packages, like buying cable programming packs.
To get one channel, you'll need to pay for a few others that you have no use for.
Time will tell.

bbenson5

I had sirius also and I completely concur with your assessment. I went to xmfan.com's forum to ask what stations were like some of Siruis and the ones suggested just really weren't. Oh well, hopefully the merger will go through.

andrash

I own a 2006 G35x with no bells and whistles (no nav, no satellite radio, no premium package). I'd like to hook an iPod and my Garmin Nuvi 360 to the car's audio system. Obviously, there is no Audio-in plug in the car. I searched the web and found this 'PERIPHERAL PXNI' device. The description says it can be installed in any Nissan/Infiniti with a 'Satellite ready factory radio', with or without the actual satellite receiver. I know I don't have a receiver but how do I determine if the radio is Satellite Ready? Also, I'm not clear where exactly the audio in plugs are going to be located after installation. Can anyone shed light please?

coolguy8157

I had a similar setup in my FX35..and ..I believe if you have a SAT button on the dash then your radio is satellite ready...
this setup plugs back to the radio and it will give 2 AUX RCA inputs...you can connect the mp3 player thru an AUX(RCA to Stereo cable). Hope this helps!

sprinkler13

I was just wondering if anyone else here thinks that the sound quality with the factory installed XM is rather poor? I have never been an XM or Sirius subscriber, but I have other friends who swear by it saying how great it is. Their's is a removeable receiver and it plugs in thru a Line In input as opposed to being built in to the radio itself...could this be the reason? Or is it possible that maybe mine just needs to be adjusted? to me, the quality sounds worse than FM and sounds more like a low quality MP3 recording. There are digital artifacts and hissing all the time. And in case you are wondering, I have a full antenna signal showing....so I'd love to hear someone else's opinions of it. Debating just getting rid of it, or possibly buying a separate receiver to plug into the aux input (but that seems like a waste since it's built into the stereo).

searchguy1975

I have Sirius installed in my 1998 Jeep Cherokee, and have the same complaint. It's an after-market unit that I installed myself. The low quality was the first thing I noticed, and called Sirius immediately. They responded that they had never heard that complaint before. To me it sounds EXACTLY like a low-quality MP3! I'm a bit of an audiophile, and this drives me nuts. I have a buddy that plays in a bunch of bands, and HE had the same complaint. So does his friend that spent several thousand dollars on a hme system with XM (not Sirius). Ouch. I suspect this is the standard quality compression satellite music uses, and makes sense considering the distance it has to travel versus operating costs. I really hope this is addressed in the near future with the potential merger of XM and Sirius. I think the music selection is fantastic, it just hurts my ears...

too bad the best quality you can have in the Music Box in the 2007 G35 is 132K.. though for some reason I don't really notice it as much as I thought I would.

zekeman1

Had factory installed XM in my 05 Avalon, 07 ES350 and now G35x - superior reception, as good (if not better) than FM or a CD. I'm very pleased.
Z

sprinkler13

good to know...I'm kind of hoping that maybe there is something wrong so that I can get it fixed and enjoy it.

sweendogy

No word on merging prices yet, but Sirius is changing their pricing a little.
I haven't seen final numbers, but it's going to cost less if you only want to listen to the original line-up, but will be the full $12.95 a month if you want to include Stern

True the final numbers are not out yet but I would be surprised if they charged more for Stern.. You see they are fighting to get this deal done (with the FTC) and to do so with a proposal like that would not be smart.(see forbes 8/07) 7$ a month for 50 channels--if you want to add a channel it will cost you 25 cents each. So it looks like al a Carte will happen. I have both xm (in the G) and Sirius and cannot wait for the merger to go thru gov't. --

scottm123

we know nothing about AFTER the merger.
My comment was based on what was announced on Sirius radio.

Sirius radio - pre merger - will cost less if you choose music only.
You will pay the same $12.95 a month is you want to hear Stern.

I have no idea if this is currently available, or when the offer begins, but it was announced.

sweendogy

Here is the offical Sirius XM merger webpage and announcement --http://www.siriusmerger.com/site/page/a_la_carte/

it does not mention you would have to pay full price for stern/.. where was this announced again?? seems to me this merger will help the consumer while allowing 2 companies (both losing money) to survive.

scottm123

The full price for Stern/lower price for music only annoucement was talked about in detail on the Stern show.

It was talked about approx. 2 weeks ago and he did not have details on when the promotion would be annouced, but that it would happen.

scottm123

seems to me this merger will help the consumer while allowing 2 companies (both losing money) to survive.

Sirius isn't losing money... is it?
Last I heard, they were up some 7 million subscriber in the last year alone.

kb124

I has asked this once before but there were no response, therefore I am trying again.

Has any other iPod users noticed a considerable volume drop when connected via the Aux RCA Stereo inputs on the G35? I have to crank the volume up on the car system twice as much as other sources to get the same volume. I also have the iPod volume output set to about 80-90% of max, and I do not have the iPod volume limiter on.

I have transferred the same mp3 songs that were on the iPod to a Compact Flash card, and the volume from the Compact Flash is in the normal volumes ranges (as compared with the other source channels - CD, Music Box, radio). So it appears to have something to do with the Aux iPod connection. Maybe its the cable itself. I use a cable connected from the iPod headphone output, not the USB type connector on the bottom of the unit.

scottm123

It has to have something to do with your cable... I'd start there.

I've talked to a lot of people using IPods in the G, since I've been on the IPod fence. (Waiting for next Gen)
None of the other folks have any volume complaints.

sweendogy

july 31 Sirius Satellite reports Q2 EPS ($0.09) vs Reuters consensus ($0.10) - JUly 26 XM Satellite reports Q2 EPS ($0.45) ex-items vs Reuters consensus ($0.44)-- looks like a loss to me -- and could take sometime before they are both profitable even with a merger

crazyyakoo

So I've downloaded a bunch of CDs to the Music Box and am looking to create a playlist of my favorites. Is there functionality to do that in the car, or do i have to move all the files onto the computer, create a playlist, and then move them back. Thanks!

scottm123

The easiest way would probably be to flag all of your songs for one play list into one mood category, and then just access that category.
Not sure if a Playlist can be created... don't think so though.

g4me

I know i cannot record mp3 files to the Music box, however, if anyone has tips for this or what i messed up, it would be great:

1. Tested some music -- Journey for my Journey ;-) ripped from CD to iTunes mp4 format
2. Copied mp4 format to cd, then re-read cd into iTunes and copied it to local hard drive as mp3 format
3. Then using Windows Media player v. 11, i ripped the mp3 files to a cd
4. playing cd in the gracenote player in the G, it doesn't show the titles to the songs...just track1, etc..

anyone have a better way to copy music to a cd originally in iTunes so the track names, artists all show up?

thanks! i've had this car two days. i'm in love. nobody tell my boyfriend...

scottm123

There are a lot of programs out there that can go out and get the titles of songs.
I use Nero and it does this task very well.
Have you tried the program that Infiniti supplied?
You can go into the MusicBox and copy files to the flash card which require song names.
You then pop the card into your computer's card reader and run the Infiniti program.
It pings Gracenote, collects the song files and you then take the card back to the car.
It will then upload your song titles to the files which are missing info in the system.

Have you tried this?

You can get the program HERE

sprinkler13

Check under the settings for iTunes. I believe that there is an option you can check when converting the mp3s into a CD that will also copy the song titles. I had a problem with a couple of cd's that I made where I forgot to check that and when I saved them to the Music Box, it didn't show up with the track name. I deleted the album, and burned a new cd making sure to select add track names (or something to that effect). That time it worked.

slzweibel

Did you ever get an answer to this question? Thinking of buying a compact flash card but don't want to get too large a card if I can't use it. Thanks.

kb124

Not really. so I can't really respond on whether the 8GB card would be a waste or not.

I instead decided to take Scottm123 advice:

"Better to put your dough toward many smaller 2GB cards than toward 1 8GB card."

The 2GB cards aren't too expensive, and I believe 4 of them cost less than one 8GB (at current pricing).

scottm123

I've posted this before, but I'm putting it up again, as it should answer your questions as well...
The system will only recognize the first 512 MP3 files, and only 255 folders.
For that reason, the 8GB card is really a waste of money.
You're better off with a few smaller ones, and you can break your files up by mood, type, etc.
That way, you can have one CF card for when you're calm, and another for when you're road ragin'!

sprinkler13

Has anyone ever figured out if you can run Sirius for satellite radio while also using the XM Navtraffic? Currently, I am using the built in XM radio and XM Navtraffic, however, I would like to get the Sirius radio programming instead of the XM. I'm sure that once they merge it will be fine, but for now, I'd like to be able to listen to the NFL package that is only on Sirius. I suppose that I could just cancel the XM Radio service, keep the XM navtraffic and then run a portable Sirius receiver thru the aux input, but I'd like it to be integrated if possible. Thanks.

kb124

Anybody have difficulty ejecting their Compact Flash Cards? There is a button in the slot on the right side. I have trouble depressing it with my finger (slot is too small). I usually need some device like a thin pen or something to assist. And then when I do depress it, it is not like a 'springy' ejection, popping the card out. It just seems to loosen the card, then you need to 'tweezer' it out of the slot.

Is this normal?

hsw

Just picked up my car Wednesday with the Music Box. I recorded a cd of downloaded MP3's, and of course there was no track data. What would be the easiest way to get the text, Nero or the Infiniti program? I'm also getting my CF cards next week and wondering if the MP3's transferred to the CF card will also show not track data. Thanks for the help.

eddieg35

question is, how do you play video from ipod video on the G35?
i have the right cable(yellow, red, white) and i get the sound but i don't know how to play the movie on the Nav. screen.
if you know please let me know.
i've been trying to play video from the screen for 3 days and i just can't figure it out. lol...
please help me.
i don't know if i have to change the setting or not. but if i do,
change the setting on the car or the ipod?
i tried to play video through the TV by using video RCV cable (yellow, red, white) from my ipod video and it works just fine,
but i just can't do it on the G35.
please let me know ASAP.
thank you so much for your time.
have a nice day.

kb124

Make sure you are in Park, and the Emergency Brake is engage.

Video will not display without both of these conditions being met.

scottm123

I'm confused by your statement...
I recorded a cd of downloaded MP3's, and of course there was no track data.
If you have a CD full of MP3s, I wonder how you plan on getting them into your Musicbox.
If you ripped a CD into the Musicbox and the files are now missing titles, use the Infiniti program.

If you create a CF card full of MP3 files and if these files are missing titles... the issue is with the copying of files, and not with the car.
If the titles are on the car, they will appear in the car's display as well.

hsw

When I burned the MP3's to cd audio using Roxio instead of ITunes, the track data showed up. But I'd rather transfer all the mp3's & m4a's from my ITunes to CF cards. Is MP3 the only format that the CF card can play? Thanks.

scottm123

Yes

laur4

Has anyone tried a SanDisk Extreme® III CompactFlash card? I know you can use type 1 or 2 cards, but not sure about this.

scottm123

The Extreme 3 cards are known for their fast read/write speeds - 20 MB per second.
They designed for today's high end digital camera where the buffer cannot hold several high res pics as the camera writes to a slower card.

This card has little to no benefit when playing MP3s in your car.
You may see slightly faster write times, assuming your card reader even supports it.

With all that being said, user reviews state that their using them in camera models only documented to support compact flash 1 & 2.
If it works for them, it should work in the G as well.

But again, you're paying for the speed, and you won't be able to benefit from it.
You may be better off saving a few bucks and getting a Compact Flash II instead.

kandbert1

When I got my G35X in May it came with a free three months of XM. At the time I started the free service of XM, I purchased XM traffic at 3.99 per month for a year. My three months ended and XM cancels my XMTraffic. I call and the representative tells me that it was a mistake and they would turn on my XMTraffic service as I paidfor a year. Two Ddays later nothing. I call back and another rep tells me that they will turn on my service. Now XMtraffic is on as well as XM. I wait to get my credit card bill. I see that there is an additional charge for XM. I call argue thatI did not want XM and thatI paid for XMTraffic for a fullyear. A new rep tells me the 3.99 permonth is only good if I have XM service activated. I tell her that I was not told this and no where on their service agreement is this stated. After idle threats by me to sue and than being transfered all over XM, they relented and activated my XMTraffic at the agreed price without the XMService.

scottm123

Okay, I looked into this a little further.
Let me first say that SanDisk really needs to improve the information on their site. Looking for an answer to one particular question is damn near impossible.

The Extreme III is simply a new model of Compact Flash card they now make.
Again, it's designed for Digital Cameras needing cards with fast write speeds.
They also carry an Extreme IV, which now writes to 40MB per second (and you pay for that speed too)

The Extreme IV requires a new card reader, and must be connected via FireWire in order to get the same write speeds when connected to your PC.
This new reader's specs says that it supports Compact Flash I & II.

This tells me that the Extreme series are still Compact Flash II, with faster write speeds.

Buying these for just MP3 playback may be a waste of money, unless you've found a great deal.

Yes, it should work just fine.

laur4

Thanks for your help. Bought 4 type II 2 gig cards.

shov8

Hi everyone. My G35 has not arrived yet but I am getting ready by filling up a CF card with MP3s My question is, what bitrates does the player support? Most of my MP3s are high bitrate rips from personal CDs but some are lesser quality rips from the Internet. It might be impossible to tell what the max rate is until I can experiment, but if anyone has had any experience with MP3s _not_ playing I guess that would be a good start too. Thanks!

kc

scottm123

My question is, what bitrates does the player support?

shov8

Sweeet! Thanks Scott

kc

kb124

Initial post did not generate any responses. Trying again....

Anybody have difficulty ejecting their Compact Flash Cards? There is a button in the slot on the right side. I have trouble depressing it with my finger (slot is too small). I usually need some device like a thin pen or something to assist. And then when I do depress it, it is not like a 'springy' ejection, popping the card out. It just seems to loosen the card, then you need to 'tweezer' it out of the slot.

Is this normal?

scottm123

I have fairly big hands but did not have any trouble ejecting the card the one time I used the slot.
I had used it once to update some song titles.

The deeper youpush the eject button in, the further out the card comes.

I had no trouble using it at all.
I know this isn't the answer you were looking for, so I didn't respond the first time.

Sorry

kb124

Ignoring the problem of bigger fingers pushing the button (as I alluded to in the original posting), I still have the question of whether the card 'pops' out, or just kind of slides out when the button is pushed. From your response, it sounds to me like it kind of slides out, dependent on hard you push the button.

I only ask this because I am trying to determine whether this 'mechanical' type eject system is working correctly. or whether it is broken (car is still under warranty).

NOTE: For actually pushing the button, I have found a good flat-ended pencap that does the job very well.