Nissan Altima Audio Questions

djaesthetic · April 2009

Unfortunately this thread was citing the Bose *WITH* Nav system that they can't make work...

Almost a year after purchase and I'm still bitter over this.

maxima_tx · April 2009

Ok, here are a couple more things that I don't like about the Nissan iPod interface, and they're both biggies...

On my radio I have to hit the "seek" button to find a category, then hit the "tune" button to select the category (like "album"), then "seek" again to find a particular album and "tune" to select the album. If the album I'm looking for begins with "L" or "S" I may have to hit the "seek" button a couple hundred time to find it. I'm getting carpel tunnel syndrome from looking for stuff. Plus while you're looking for the album the radio keeps flashing the category name "album" so you can't see the album name clearly.

The second thing is that you can only drill down two levels--select category and then select item in that category. Then it starts playing everything for that item and you use "tune" to jump from track to track. So if you select "Artist" and then "Beausoleil" it doesn't let you pick a particular album, it just starts playing everything for Beausoleil.

I think I'm going to go back to using the AUX port, although I don't always get a good connection with the Aux cable and the sound crackles or fades from time to time.

maxima_tx · April 2009

Scratch that about having to hit "Seek" repeatedly. You can hold "Seek" down and go through the list of Albums, but it still displays the category name for every item before showing the album name, which is annoying.

Sorry about the Nav thing. I thought this was a general audio thread.

realmz1 · May 2009

I recently was given a set of Rockford Fosgate 12 inch subs in a box with a pretty nice RF AMP. I toyed with the idea of changing out my stock head unit for a bells and whistles aftermarket unit to mesh well with my new subs and amp.

I visited Best Buy and selected a nice $450 Pioneer touchscreen unit and the associate started asking me questions about the stereo system I had wondering if it was the Bose upgraded system. Well I bought this car a few months ago used and don't know if it is the nupgraded version. is there a way to find out visually without taking the car apart? I noticed on the rear deck grills that there is a NDSS marked on them. And in a little reading some newer model Altimas have BPSS.
I am hoping to have the regular non premium version it would help on Best Buys ripoff tactics on their wiring harness and install charges. I then can locate the correct wiring harness myself for alot cheaper.

Thank you in advance for any information!

whitall · May 2009

My son just got a Pioneer touchscreen installed today. He has the non Bose in a 2008. He almost was able to do it himself (first time) but I knew he wasn't 100% sure about where to ground it (turns out he was right, but I worry!) and had no idea where to hook the wire that is supposed to stop you from using it (DVD) while driving. He got the faceplate and wiring harness from a local car..whatcha call it, one of those places that does tint and audio and stuff....for a good price...ended up paying a guy to install it because of that pesky green wire..Oh yeh, the shop bypassed the safety feature, MOM is not happy about that.

He got the special ipod adaptor that lets you control the iPod from the head unit touch screen. That was $50 at Best Buy, but he got the head unit from Amazon for a much better price than B Buy. It came quick with free ship. Model AVH-P4100DVD, for only $425, way less than B Buy. That iPod thing is way cooler than the standard hookup where you control the iPod through the iPod.

I am nervous for when he hooks up his subs. His amp is way powerful (had a larger car before). I'm afraid he'll drain his alternator and battery....Does anybody know how hard to replace the alternator in these? In is old car it was a Bi#tch to get to. He's not worried, just me!

realmz1 · May 2009

I have been advised to install a capacitor to save the alternator and battery wear with my system. That might help. would your son happen to remember how they bypassed the safety feature on the unit. I am trying to find out how to do that with mine.

nissanaltima08 · May 2009

I have a 2008 Nissan Altima with NAV/Bose System with XM Radio. The radio never has experienced static. However, now whenever I go under something it cuts out. I called XM and they resent the signal twice and that did not fix it. I called again and they told me this is normal and to basically just deal with it. Is anyone else having this problem? The radio has worked perfect without static for 18 months, why now would I be getting static? Thanks!

whitall · May 2009

He has a capacitor, though I've read they don't help in reality, he seemed to think it helped in his old Taurus.

I didn't get to ask him about the bypass, but I've googled it (car dvd player bypass--try something like that) and seen many sites that explain it. He has a switch (like an on/off toggle) that is in the compartment under the unit. I think it is wired into the "safety" wire that is supposed to go to the parking brake. For some reason he can turn it on and off...I think after the safety warning comes up he flips it...

Be careful...I really think it can cause an accident. A girl around here just killed a guy when she drifted onto the shoulder, where he was parked getting something out of his trunk....and she wasn't even on the phone or high or drunk!!

realmz1 · May 2009

I passed on the capacitor as well. I found a bypass relay for the unit and it worked fine. No switches to toggle. I mainly got it for my daughter and long trips. I won't be viewing dvd's while driving personally. I have found out however with the unit that the radio stations are now fuzzy and static filled. So I guess I will be investing in an XM radio or purchasing the HD tuner unit for the deck.

whitall · May 2009

They sell an antenna adaptor. that may be all you need. He bought a dash kit (faceplate) a wiring harness with all those colorful wires and a separate antenna adaptor that has only about 2 wires, one plugs into the back of his radio. He got these parts at a place that installs auto audio, but we first heard of the antenna adaptor on crutchfield.com. Go to their site and look around. The antenna adaptor is part of their "install" kit. We didn't buy from them though because Amazon was cheaper.

realmz1 · May 2009

I bypassed that whole deal, I went to the store and grabbed an XM radio. It is perfect for my radio listening.

djaesthetic · August 2009

Yeah, but that's as loose of a solution as just plugging in to the AUX jack. :-\

Damn Nissan for lying to me -- saying the iPod interface will show up and be controllable on the Nav screen... *grrr*

gpb59 · September 2009

Is there any new information that nissan has this. And will it only work on non-navigation?

gpb59 · September 2009

I'm curious, by buying this touchscreen, do you have to replace the stock stereo?

researchqueen · September 2009

Does anyone know of a way to connect the iPhone 3GS to the Altima's Bluetooth? I've got the hybrid with NAV. The iPhone 3GS isn't supported by Nissan yet -- I don't even think it's on their test roster -- but I'm hoping one of you smarties has figured out a way. Thanks.

habiem · September 2009

Mine works fine. It's a bit slow to pickup sometimes versus my previous iPhone, but overall it works. I have an 08 altima 3.5 and iPhone 3GS. I did nothing special during setup.

mariet81 · October 2009

I just leased a 09 Altima 2.5S and the hiss on the stereo is very uncomfortable. I see a few people have had this issue. I haven't read all the posts yet and was wondering if someone would be so kind to let me know if there is any solution to this??

I went into the dealership yesterday and the Service Manager couldn't even hear the hiss, I think he thought I was crazy. Another service dept member did hear it and said it was normal. It's frustrating for me and if there is a way to fix it I would like to. The system shouldn't do that. I'm sure some people barely notice it but it is a problem for me.

marcin · October 2009

well, welcome to the club. see my posts on this topic. i gave up. we have 4 altimas and one quest in my family. and i will probably look somewhere else for my next car. i'm sick of nissan's customer service.

smarty666 · November 2009

Hi, I'm trying to find information out, I have a 2010 Maxima SV with the Bose Audio and if your sitting in the front seats the sound experience is wonderful; however, if sitting in the backseats the experience is the total opposite; there are four speakers in the rear, one on each rear door and two big speakers in the back window housing; low audio comes out of the speakers on the rear doors and absolutely no audio/sound comes out of the two speakers in the rear window housing

as a result, if sitting in the back the audio sounds low and distant because there is virtually little audio/sound coming out of the rear speakers, none of which is from the two speakers closest to the rear passengers head in the rear window housing

the altima has the same bose audio set up as the maxima and murano, 5 speakers in the front and four in the back; does anyone who has the bose audio have the same issues as I do with the rear seat audio experience? Nissan tells me the rear window speakers are only for bass and no sound but I just can't believe it because when sitting in the back seat you can barely hear any audio and I've never had a car like this before, I want to make sure this is indeed the bose setup or if there is something electrically wrong with my car

any information, opinions, suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

nascar9900 · February 2010

I have a 2010 Altima with the Premium Bose Stereo. I took it in today because there was no sound from the rear deck speakers.

The service guy told me they are sub-woofers only - so I did a search and found your message.

Conclusion - Nissan is sticking with the story and it apparently is the way it is supposed to work. And I agree that the sound is not good in the back seat.

smarty666 · February 2010

yeap you are correct, that is the idiotic way Nissan has the 9 Bose Stereo Speaker system set-up in the car, no audio comes out of the two huge speakers in the rear deck, its just for bass and tone!!

the audio quality in the back seat sucks big time; bottom line, try to sit in the front if you can because sitting in the back, the music sounds low and far away!

marcin · February 2010

yup, just like the hissing problem, it's a feature! @#$! never again will I purchase nissan with an upgraded radio or possibly never again another nissan. and let me say it again, we have 5 nissans at home and the way the last purchase turned out, nissan will lose a very loyal customer.

gooddeal2 · February 2010

marcin,

Most car manufacturers don't really care an individual customer. I bought 5 new Toyotas from 96 to 2002. A dealer sold me a car but later they backed out claiming they didn't have the car. I called Toyota corporate as well as wrote them a letter but they didn't care. That was when I changed to Nissan...(well, part of that b/c I like the 2003 Altima and the G coupe)

From 2003 to Jan. 2010, I bought 4 Nissans and 4 Infinitis. If I have a problem now and call Nissan, I highly doubt that they care even if I tell them that I will buy Hondas instead if they cannot help me.

marcin · February 2010

what bothers me now even more, i love the new Leaf!

but i hate nissan's cs. i have called, talked to "managers", went with a problem to 4 different dealers, they all seems like they care but they don't give a damn. they look at you straight in the eyes and lie. "i can't hear the hiss, you must have sensitive ears" - yet anyone one else outside of the nissan support can hear it and agrees it's annoying.... :mad:

smarty666 · February 2010

I don't have the hiss in my 2010 Max but I do have something similar in my 08 TL! I've spoken with Acura and they told me its a by-product of the sound system and that there is not much they can do but rip everything out and I don't trust them to rip my car apart and put it back together right without causing another problem

I noticed and Acura confirmed it, but the cold weather makes the hiss worse! I notice it is the worse when I first go to turn the audio system on and after a few minutes it gets less and less in intensity until the car is warmed up and I don't hear it until the next time I start the car cold! Plus, the radio has done a great job of drowning it out!

I don't know what to tell you but I don't think there is much Nissan is going to be able to do for you! Best of Luck!!

blizzieb · March 2010

I am purchasing the 2010 Altima 2.5 SL with everything but the NAV package. I got the premium audio which has the ipod control. I am trying to find out if the Iphone 3GS is compatible with this connection and I will be able to control my Iphone through the interface. Thanks.

altimainwi · April 2010

I also have a 2010 Nissan Altima S, with everything except navigation. Here's what I discovered while playing around with the Premium Audio package:
If you plug your iPhone into the USB port, the stereo will connect to it like it's an iPod. Once the music is playing from the iPod function, hit the home button on your iPhone, and go to the menu. I started up Pandora, and it played the audio through the stereo! The stereo screen still thinks it's playing an iPod song, but the Pandora audio came through just fine.
Cons: Other than volume, no control of the pandora through the stereo controls, or the steering wheel (but that is expected-you can just use your iPhone to select one of your Pandora "stations"). Also, I worry about whether the stereo screen could experience image burn-in, because it's displaying a frozen image of the iPod's last song, until you stop using your iPhone. I'm not sure if it's my cable, but I get an error message when I plug my iPhone into the car, saying that it isn't compatible--and it doesn't appear to be charging it. (I still have to test other cords.)
Pros: Audio from any App should come through. Plus, if you have your iPhone linked to your car with Bluetooth, and someone calls you, it will still pause the music and pick up the call. Once the call is complete, it goes right back to the last song playing on Pandora!
I'm online trying to find out if there is a way to upgrade the stereo firmware to accept the iPhone. (Will post if I find anything.) Hope this was helpful!

dicky6 · April 2010

I have an 08 Hybrid with the tech package. I am generally pleased with the XM radio but am irked by the fact that the display truncates song information, so for example, Somewhere Over the Rainbow is displayed as "Somewhere Ov". I don't believe there is a setting to have the display scroll v. truncate, but I was hoping the 2010 update to the Navigation might fix this. Anyone know? Are later model displays equally lame. My wife has a cheapo Sirius add-on tuner and it has a better display than mine. WTF?

1mrbig · April 2010

You may be picking up altinator noise . Not sure on your modle . but i have experienced the same problem in other viechles. I went to walmart and got me a noise insulator that connects between the radio and power supplie and it stoped the problem. If you are using a amplifier you may want to get one to run between your audio out cables and audio in on the amplifier

1mrbig · April 2010

most factory radios put out 50 - 100 watts and 4-6 0hms

1mrbig · April 2010

when you buy a wirring harnest kit the wirring diagram is on the package. if u cant find one hard wirring is no problem . yellow is constant hot , red is ignition, black is ground. blue or orange is power anteana. the other wires you can figure out by gettin a voltometer and checking for connuity . connect one wire and touch others to you get sound from the meter. and u can find out what speaker it is by putting sound through it. Keep on till you get them all done. Just thought I put a aftermarket radio in a 95 altima and it didnt have a ground. I had to ground it to the framing in the radio bay

wildthing · May 2010

".....the display truncates song information"

Thought I'd "bump" this post as I've been experiencing the same problem with my '09 Altima SL. I mentioned it to my Nissan service tech and he said the display scrolls right at the beginning of the song. I told him it did not but he was quite insistant.

Of course, he was wrong so as a next step I contacted Nissan Canada Customer Service and had them open a case for me. The Nissan CSR took my information and did some digging. He called back after a couple of days to tell me that the radio's are made by Bose and I should contact them about this problem.

So I contacted Bose. After numerous emails with Bose Consumer Relations Division, they emailed me back saying that Bose only supplies the speakers and amplifiers and that the radio portion of the sound system is supplied by Panasonic.

So, I contacted Panasonic, explained to them my problem. The latest email I have from Panasonic has them explaining that the radios Panasonic supplies to Nissan are based on Nissan's design and specifications. Panasonic has asked me for the radio model number or Nissan part number in order to "assist me further".

So, I went back to Nissan to ask for the radio part number which I will forward on to Panasonic.

The bottom-line is that NO ONE is stepping up to deal with this problem. I've had another XM radio in a previous car as an add on (eg. made by Delphi, Roady XT) and the display on that radio scrolled to display the whole song. The Nissan CSR said that 16 characters is what Nissan specified for their XM radio displays and since that's what I'm seeing, NIssan doesn't see this as a problem.

marcin · May 2010

same runaround with my issue, hissing speakers. after months and several trips to the dealer, my warranty has expired and I'm stuck with a lemon. oh sorry, Nissan claims no problem, it's a design and that's how it should hiss! with 4 Altimas and a Quest at home, we will look at another manufacturer when the time comes to replace one of the cars. soon.

wildthing · June 2010

Got what looks to be the final reply from Panasonic today...thought I'd post it to close the books on getting any resolution to this problem. Here's a cut 'n paste from the email I received today from Panasonic :

"... We have confirmed with actual unit CQEN2760X, in SAT mode display does not
show more than 16 characters. We did note that in CD mode you can push the
DISP button to see more characters if required.

Based on this discovery and a check of the specifications documents for this
unit, this is the specification for this model.

Panasonic is an OEM supplier to Nissan for audio units such as that found in
your vehicle. They are designed according to Nissan specifications.

Unfortunately I cannot solve this issue for you...."

Guess Nissan never envisioned a song name being more than 16 characters...:(.

xncman · July 2010

i have a 3.5 sr with nav system and am having problems with the itunes from my iphone 3gs working properly..i plug it into the usb and sometimes the car recognizes it and others times it doesnt..i always get an error msg on iphone screen saying this device compatable and my cause static/problems..the dealer tdy said i neeed a new radio which they would have to be ordered...when i got home and tried it again it worked...hmmm..i have pandora and never been able to get it to work..but have been told it should play through car radio..the bluetook works but the car want download my numbers from iphone..i was also told there was recall with nav system but dont know details..anyone with similar problems or know of anything to help is greatly appreciated...

woodsptw · July 2010

Did you find a firmware upgrade for the Bose? I can't find a bluetooth option under settings. I can connect my phone w/ Bluetooth, but can't find a way to connect my music w/ bluetooth? What am I missing.. is it that I don't have Nav (but I do have every other option).??

moonparty · October 2010

I'm not terribly car savvy and was wondering if anyone might be able to help me out here. I bought a 99 Altima with a CD player installed (from what I understand, the tape deck was the factory standard here) and I would like to replace this with a cassette player. I found a cheap Alpine TDM-7582 stereo on craigslist but I wanted to make sure it will work before I buy it. Any thoughts? Thanks for reading...

kpandya · November 2010

oh man! I share the same feeling, I got this car 3 weeks back, and my friends noticed the problem, and googled the issue, and found your post, so the issue is definitely there, mine is a 09 altima 3.5sl, dont know if the 2010's have the same problem.

-K

smarty666 · November 2010

Well, its not really a problem per say, just the way idiotic Nissan set up the Bose audio system. It is the same way with the Infiniti sedans unless you get the super expensive audio upgrade package in the M Sedan which gives you like 16 speakers or something.

You really want to know what the kicker is, when I've called Nissan Consumer Affairs about this and made a recommendation that they change the speaker set-up in the rear of their vehicles equipped with the Bose Audio system there response was, "We cannot accept advice or recommendations from our customers!"

I told the lady that she had some balls saying that to me and that other car companies in the past were more then open to listening to my suggestions, even if they didn't go with them, they at least were not so blantly rude to me.

I'll tell you this, Nissan customer service at HQs and stealership levels is pretty poor in my opinion (and JD Power agrees with me) and if I don't get another Nissan or Infiniti again, its not going to be b/c of the vehicles, its going to be from their piss poor customer service.

marcin · November 2010

We have 4 Altimas and a Quest in our family, but no more Nissan for me due to extremely disappointing customer service. My case was described previously and now since the car is out of warranty, I'm stuck with a defective audio system. Thank you Nissan!

smarty666 · November 2010

I hear ya! Its such a shame, b/c they make pretty nice vehicles but if their customer service sucks and is really piss poor, that can be just as bad as having a defective or problem filled car from them!

brunop · December 2010

Hello. My wife has a 2009 Altima coupe and has somehow managed to shatter the Nav screen. is there a way nissan replaces just the screen and not the whole nav system? or are there nissan specialists that would be capable of doing so in the northern new jersey area? many thanks in advance.

freddyttt · July 2011

anyone with an 2011 or 2010 or any year i guess with the updated radio 4 " screen with-out Nav....

question.

is there a way to get in to an XM set-up menu. im trying to figure out how to set a fav. artist so when that artist comes on on any XM station it alerts you. S-Seek Alert:

i know the Nav unit does this-

blognmk1 · September 2011

I am looking at buying 2010 Nissan Altima 2.5 S. Some review sites list MP3 player as standard option. But when I looked at the vehicle, the audio system doesn't show MP3. Does their standard audio system play MP3 or does it play only Audio CD?

gooddeal2 · September 2011

No MP3 for a base 2.5S.

Nissan Altima Audio Questions

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles