AUDIO SYSTEM
170
NOTICE
To ensure correct audio system op-
erations:
Be careful not to spill beverages
over the audio system.
Do not put anything other than ap-
propriate discs into the CD player.
The use of a cellular phone inside
or near the vehicle may cause a
noise from the speakers of the
audio system which you are
listening to. However, this does
not indicate a malfunction.
Radio reception
Usually, the problem with radio reception
does not mean there is a problem with your
radio − it is just the normal result of condi-
tions outside the vehicle.
For example, nearby buildings and terrain
can interfere with FM reception. Power
lines or telephone wires can interfere with
AM signals. And of course, radio signals
have a limited range, and the farther you
are from a station, the weaker its signal will
be. In addition, reception conditions
change constantly as your vehicle moves.
Here are some common reception prob-
lems that probably do not indicate a prob-
lem with your radio: FM
Fading and drifting stations — General-
ly, the effective range of FM is about 25
miles (40 km). Once outside this range,
you may notice fading and drifting, which
increase with the distance from the radio
transmitter. They are often accompanied
by distortion.
Multi path
— FM signals are reflective,
making it possible for two signals to reach
your antenna at the same time. If this hap-
pens, the signals will cancel each other
out, causing a momentary flutter or loss of
reception.
Static and fluttering — These occur
when signals are blocked by buildings,
trees, or other large objects. Increasing
the bass level may reduce static and flut-
tering.
Station swapping — If the FM signal you
are listening to is interrupted or weakened,
and there is another strong station nearby
on the FM band, your radio may tune in the
second station until the original signal can
be picked up again.
AM
Fading — AM broadcasts are reflected by
the upper atmosphere — especially at
night. These reflected signals can inter-
fere with those received directly from the
radio station, causing the radio station to
sound alternately strong and weak.
Station interference — When a reflected
signal and a signal received directly from
a radio station are very nearly the same
frequency, they can interfere with each
other, making it difficult to hear the broad-
cast.
Static — AM is easily affected by external
sources of electrical noise, such as high
tension power lines, lightening, or electri-
cal motors. This results in static.
Audio system operating
hints
AUDIO SYSTEM
171
MP3/WMA files
MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer 3) and WMA
(Windows Media Audio) are audio
compression standards.
The MP3/WMA player can play MP3
and WMA files on CD−ROM, CD−R
and CD −RW discs.
The unit can play disc recordings com-
patible with ISO 9660 level 1 and level
2 and with the Romeo and Joliet file
system.
When naming an MP3 or WMA file, add
the appropriate file extension (.mp3 or
.wma).
The MP3/WMA player plays back files
with .mp3 or .wma file extensions as
MP3 or WMA files. To prevent noise
and playback errors, use the appropri-
ate file extensions.
The player can play only the first ses-
sion using multi −session compatible
CDs.
MP3 files are compatible with the ID3
Tag Ver. 1.0, Ver. 1.1, Ver. 2.2, and Ver.
2.3 formats. The unit cannot display
disc title, track title and artist name in
other formats.
WMA files can contain a WMA tag that
is used in the same way as an ID3 tag.
WMA tags carry information such as
track title, artist name.
The emphasis function is available
only when playing MP3/WMA files re-
corded at 32, 44.1 and 48 kHz. (The
system can play MP3 files with sam-
pling frequencies of 16, 22.05, and 24
kHz. However, the emphasis function
is not available for files recorded at
these frequencies.)
The sound quality of MP3/WMA files
generally improves with higher bit rate-
s. In order to achieve a reasonable lev-
el of sound quality, discs recorded with
a bit rate of at least 128 kbps are rec-
ommended.
Playable bit rates
MP3 files:
MPEG1 LAYER3—64 to 320 kbps
MPEG2 LSF LAYER3—64 to 160 kbps
WMA files:
Ver. 7, 8 CBR—48 to 192 kbps
Ver. 9 CBR—48 to 320 kbps
The MP3/WMA player does not play
back MP3/WMA files from discs re-
corder using packet write data transfer
(UDF format). Discs should be re-
corded using “pre −mastering” software
rather than packet− write software.
The m3u playlists are not compatible
with the audio player.
MP3i (MP3 interactive) and MP3PRO
formats are not compatible with the au-
dio player.
The MP3 player is compatible with
VBR (Variable Bit Rate).
When playing back files recorded as
VBR (Variable Bit Rate) files, the play
time will not be correctly displayed if
fast−forward or reverse operations are
used.
It is not possible to check folders that
do not include MP3/WMA files.
MP3/WMA files in folders up to 8 levels
deep can be played. However, the
start of playback may be delayed when
using discs containing numerous lev-
els of folders. For this reason, we rec-
ommend creating discs with no more
than two levels of folders.
It is possible to play up to 192 folders or
255 files on one disc.