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Non-streaming Music Sources?

mbelanger

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Greetings all,

Wanna-be R1S owner here posting after lurking for a while.

I don't want to restart the CP/AA battles, so assuming that won't be an option any time soon if ever, is Bluetooth the only option for getting music into the Rivian's head unit from an external device? I have an extensive music collection, which is why I still run a 160G iPod Classic in my primary vehicle. When in a rental, I tend to connect my Android phone, which has the same library installed on it, via a USB cable. In this scenario, the iPod or phone are essentially hard drives with the head unit acting as the user interface. From what I've read, this isn't possible in the Rivian entertainment system. Is that correct?


Thanks much,
MB
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C.R. Rivian

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Not currently...there's been some talk about a future OTA upgrade. For quality and reliability, a cable solution beats streaming, for sure. Even satellite is a bit flakey the further north you go from the equator...

That said, the sound system via Bluetooth is really, really good. I wouldn't have believed how good it is.
 
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mbelanger

mbelanger

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That said, the sound system via Bluetooth is really, really good. I wouldn't have believed how good it is.
But in that scenario, aren't I forced to use my phone as the user interface with the car only providing speakers? I will do that in a pinch, but it's far from an ideal solution.

-MB
 

C.R. Rivian

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I'll check on Alexa's truck/phone interaction to refresh my recollection on calling up an album/track. For sure the volume, next/previous track, and pause functions on the steering wheel work with the Bluetooth connection.
 

CrazyOne

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No real options except Spotify and Tidal I believe. Quality while using Spotify is pretty good. Bluetooth is slightly worse, but not too bad.

Overall sound system is flat and good at default settings. Trying to increase bass caused distorted. It's never boomy like the Bose systems in some cars. It also won't sound like a SVS sub tuned with REW. From what I remember, it is comparable to B&O systems in Audis.
 

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electruck

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No real options except Spotify and Tidal I believe. Quality while using Spotify is pretty good.
For completeness, there is also Amazon Music and most any other streaming option with Alexa integration. But these are all streaming options which isn't what the OP was asking about.
 

CommodoreAmiga

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Only non-streaming options are FM radio and Bluetooth.
 

CommodoreAmiga

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Quality while using Spotify is pretty good. Bluetooth is slightly worse, but not too bad.
STRONG disagreement, from me. Spotify is a massive disappointment. It sounds terrible. Apple Music streamed over bluetooth beats it by a country mile. And that really drives home how disappointing Spotify is, to me, because Bluetooth shouldn't beat a native stream... But Spotify is THAT bad.
 

popoga

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That's interesting, spotify for me has been fine to good. Do you have a compression setting ticked somewhere, maybe?
 

godfodder0901

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That's interesting, spotify for me has been fine to good. Do you have a compression setting ticked somewhere, maybe?
Doesn't matter much. The maximum bitrate that Spotify supports is 320kbps.
 

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popoga

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Doesn't matter much. The maximum bitrate that Spotify supports is 320kbps.
Pretty sure any Bluetooth connection is going to be gated near that as well, so it doesn't necessarily explain the BT > Spotify preference stated above. If you're looking for >320kbps (well, it's all VBR these days so who knows what you're getting, I guess) and want a FLAC source or whatever, yeah, you're gonna be left with... amazon music premium? I hadn't thought much about it because I'm just not that picky these days but I can see the lack of media device integration being a bit of a bummer. OTA prayers I guess.
 

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But in that scenario, aren't I forced to use my phone as the user interface with the car only providing speakers? I will do that in a pinch, but it's far from an ideal solution.

-MB
This would need to be confirmed by an owner, but all BT capability in modern cars has the ability to at least change tracks and adjust volume via the car's interface. It's not AA/CP, but it get's the job done. You still need phone's interface to change apps, but once the app is streaming through BT, you have basic streaming controls via steering wheel.
 

CommodoreAmiga

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This would need to be confirmed by an owner, but all BT capability in modern cars has the ability to at least change tracks and adjust volume via the car's interface. It's not AA/CP, but it get's the job done. You still need phone's interface to change apps, but once the app is streaming through BT, you have basic streaming controls via steering wheel.
Last I checked, the only controls were pause, back, next, and volume. That's it. And that is not good enough, imo.

My Volvo let's me browse playlists/artists/albums/songs and request artist/album/song/whatever -- all over bluetooth.

It's all possible without CarPlay. Rivian just needs to actually invest some dev effort into their system.
 

electruck

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Rivian just needs to actually invest some dev effort into their system.
Yeah, Rivian's definition of a Minimum Viable Product infotainment system and the consumer definition aren't quite the same.
 

the_mace

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STRONG disagreement, from me. Spotify is a massive disappointment. It sounds terrible. Apple Music streamed over bluetooth beats it by a country mile. And that really drives home how disappointing Spotify is, to me, because Bluetooth shouldn't beat a native stream... But Spotify is THAT bad.
I liked the sound of Apple Music better but the lack of control has me trying out my daughter's paid spotify account. Tesla has native Apple Music integration but its buggy and the lack of native integration in the Rivian means i'll probably switch. So far the sound isn't bad in spotify just a bit better with apple music.
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