Audio and Connectivity Overview for 2016 Honda Civic Sedan

[LimeyDi]

I had many problems connecting my Samsung Galaxy Note 5 (having discovered for myself on one of these forums a fact not noted in the various manuals: that the connection will only ever work with the original cable that is supplied with the phone - no other USB cable will work) and then for a couple of months it worked almost all the time - still got occasional drops while navigating with the phone through the vehicle display. Then last week when i plugged in my phone to the (correct) USB - nada, zip, nothing - it was charging but did not "load". I tried all the obvious things, I hadn't loaded any new apps recently, hadn't changed any settings, and the Honda tech plugged HIS 5th generation Galaxy in to the same port ... and it worked. Finally by continuing to tweak and uninstalling and reinstalling Android Auto on the phone, I found that when I plugged the phone in, I woud open Android Auto and the opening dropdown alerts on the phone included one that said "connected for USB charging - click for other USB options" - and if I select "connect MIDI devices", voilà, the phone connects. The national Honda people have not responded (to any of my emails or calls, EVER) and the local Honda place where i bought the car simply doesn't have the expertise (or time?) to diagnose a problem that must be somewhere in the phone. So it seems that I will have to go through this little routine every single time I want to connect the phone via the USB port where initially - and surely, normally? - the phone just was recognized and loaded automatically. If anyone has any insight or suggestion, I would be most appreciative of hearing it!

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[dick w]

the connection will only ever work with the original cable that is supplied with the phone - no other USB cable will work)

I think that's an overcautious/simplfied way for them to say that it can't be a charging-only cable (not all pins wired) or some cheap small gauge wire/high voltage drop cable. There are tons of these out there. Amazon and Ebay are chock full of them. Any high quality charge-and-sync cable should work. (They cost $2 or $3 not $0.99…) The manual comment is because they know that the original cable is one of these and it's too hard to explain all of the ways a "USB" cable might not really be. Our phones work fine with a high quality 3rd party cable (Monoprice 109761.)

 

[LimeyDi]

I think that's an overcautious/simplfied way for them to say that it can't be a charging-only cable (not all pins wired) or some cheap small gauge wire/high voltage drop cable. There are tons of these out there. Amazon and Ebay are chock full of them. Any high quality charge-and-sync cable should work. (They cost $2 or $3 not $0.99…) The manual comment is because they know that the original cable is one of these and it's too hard to explain all of the ways a "USB" cable might not really be. Our phones work fine with a high quality 3rd party cable (Monoprice 109761.)

Thanks, i had in fact tried with a fully functional and pricier cable, but other sources made the same comment. This entire situation defies logic. Especially the conenction refusing to establish itself automatically from one day to the next.

 

[dick w]

Especially the conenction refusing to establish itself automatically from one day to the next.

The Honda infotainment definitely has some, uhh, software bugs. When we've had "no connect", rebooting the infotainment has always restored the connection when it came back up. We can only hope that one of these days Honda will make an update available some way besides buying a new car fresh off the assembly line. But I'm not holding my breath.

 

[LimeyDi]

The Honda infotainment definitely has some, uhh, software bugs. When we've had "no connect", rebooting the infotainment has always restored the connection when it came back up. We can only hope that one of these days Honda will make an update available some way besides buying a new car fresh off the assembly line. But I'm not holding my breath.

well Hallelujah ... or should that be "modified rapture"? An Android update a few weeks back got me a way to connect by scrolling down to "linked to USB, click for other options" - then that went away too - but last week I brought my Civic EXL to Madison Honda for a software update and now the phone connects first time, every time. For now, she added prudently. I may avoid any Android O/S updates from now on. I can't risk having to navigate from my phone propped in the well behind the steering wheel again ... now all I have to do is find how to connect to my 3M library books on the phone after it's connected to the car, not before.

 

[LimeyDi]

well Hallelujah ... or should that be "modified rapture"? An Android update a few weeks back got me a way to connect by scrolling down to "linked to USB, click for other options" - then that went away too - but last week I brought my Civic EXL to Madison Honda for a software update and now the phone connects first time, every time. For now, she added prudently. I may avoid any Android O/S updates from now on. I can't risk having to navigate from my phone propped in the well behind the steering wheel again ... now all I have to do is find how to connect to my 3M library books on the phone after it's connected to the car, not before.

But now another issue, research has not provided the answer: I have 3M Cloud Library on my phone, I can log in to my local library and "borrow" e-books. It works in the car through the sound system ... but only if i start it before connecting the phone to the car. Can anyone explain to me (in easy steps, in plain English, preferably, please) how to get 3M audio books player to work through the controls in the car with the phone connected?? The whole apps thing in the car is something i still don't get, but I'd like to ...

 

[bhorn]

But now another issue, research has not provided the answer: I have 3M Cloud Library on my phone, I can log in to my local library and "borrow" e-books. It works in the car through the sound system ... but only if i start it before connecting the phone to the car. Can anyone explain to me (in easy steps, in plain English, preferably, please) how to get 3M audio books player to work through the controls in the car with the phone connected?? The whole apps thing in the car is something i still don't get, but I'd like to ...

If you mean playing through Android Auto, then you will need to contact the app developer to ask them to add support for that feature.

You can leave them a review here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.txtr.android.mmm&hl=en
or email them: [email protected]

 

[David Harper]

I find the CD format much more convenient than MP3. And they sound better! I can pick any of my 1500 CDs to listen to in the car without having to transfer any of them to another device like a phone. I can play them at home over my good quality speakers, or over the Sonos if I want to multiple rooms.

So now I'd have to either get a USB- or Bluetooth-connected CD unit for the car, if there is one available. Or I could transfer hundreds of CDs to my phone, which is just cumbersome and restrictive.

get an ipod nano at best buy and rip your CD's for free on itunes which converts them to files. then download them into the ipod. The sound quality is exactly the same as CD if you rip the CD's into WAV files. Wav is 16/44.1khz, no compression. Trust me,if I can do this ,ANYONE CAN. Once you figure it out it's far superior to playing CD's. You can put only the songs you want on the ipod. I've got over a hundred songs on mine so far. It'll hold about 300 songs in WAV or about 1000 in ALAC or about 3000 in MP3. And the ipod nano has bluetooth so you don't even need a wire in the car.In fact, once you do this you'll stop playing CD at home-you'll just plug the ipod into a new reciever with a USB cord and listen to it. It's the best of all worlds. Like having a little tiny CD player with hundreds of songs available in CD quality sound available instantly.

 

[Slickone]

get an ipod nano at best buy and rip your CD's for free on itunes which converts them to files. then download them into the ipod. The sound quality is exactly the same as CD if you rip the CD's into WAV files. Wav is 16/44.1khz, no compression. Trust me,if I can do this ,ANYONE CAN. Once you figure it out it's far superior to playing CD's. You can put only the songs you want on the ipod. I've got over a hundred songs on mine so far. It'll hold about 300 songs in WAV or about 1000 in ALAC or about 3000 in MP3. And the ipod nano has bluetooth so you don't even need a wire in the car.In fact, once you do this you'll stop playing CD at home-you'll just plug the ipod into a new reciever with a USB cord and listen to it. It's the best of all worlds. Like having a little tiny CD player with hundreds of songs available in CD quality sound available instantly.

Some of us have 1000+ CD's.

 

[David Harper]

Some of us have 1000+ CD's.

yea but most of the songs on them aren't very good. Only maybe 20 or 30% are worth recording.

 

[Slickone]

yea but most of the songs on them aren't very good. Only maybe 20 or 30% are worth recording.

Huh?? Definitely not true with my CD's. Often, non-single tracks are better than the released singles.

 

[Silverocket]

I feel like I should add to the conversation here because this all strikes a chord in my heart and I'm one of the people who is wary of tech going obsolete on a car that is meant to last hopefully for a very long time. To keep it short, I agree with many here that I don't like the way these units are "baked in" to the cars and it often creates problems within a few years. I've been handed down several cars now with NAV systems that I wanted to rip out with my bare hands because they were so crap and restricted me from doing other stuff. I love my tech, but in the car I'm a "knobs and buttons" guy, and I'd prefer to take care of any tech stuff with my own phone, tablet, ipod, USB, etc....just give me the jack, Jack.

With all that said, I've heard so much bad stuff about the Head Units in the 2016 EX's and I have to be honest, it's all been pretty fine for me once I spent an hour or two dialing everything in. More than anything, I just don't understand all the empty space, why are there so many empty pages... it seems like the stage is set for serious customization and apps to be added in, but no one anywhere is talking about this? (Also, how the fuck do I delete that "Aha" garbage?)

That's the part that bothers me... the tech support seems non-existant (to be fair, I haven't asked Honda... I don't have any major problems or questions, just small curiosities, I want to know every inch of my system). These units are "high tech" components and lets be real here: the guys at the dealerships and garages don't know Jack Shit about operating systems, updates, coding, etc. They know the cars and how to get them running, they don't know why one menu does this and another does that or why the bluetooth is glitchy.

I guess I just wanted to say I totally get all the concern, but I plug my iphone in, run it in iPod mode can control the music from my phone or the unit at the same time, while using Waze, and using HFL/bluetooth to take calls. No major problems yet, knock on wood.

 

[MaidenFan]

Huh?? Definitely not true with my CD's. Often, non-single tracks are better than the released singles.

Ah, very near to my position on all of this. I would say I'm considered an old audiophile. While I couldn't choose the need to buy a new car (2009 Accord rear-ended at stoplight, totaled, ugh), I obviously could choose which one to buy. But I decided to stick with Honda...and chose the new Civic. Wanted the Civic when I bought my Accord, but hated the body style at that time.

Just bought it this past weekend in fact, as rental was ending. Anyways, this is one of the top reasons I chose the base LX. There just HAS to be an aftermarket solution with a CD player at some point, to throw in that area. At least I'm hoping...doing the USB flash drive thing is just not my cup of tea. Although it will have to be for awhile...and forget about anything else. I abhor digital music. New speakers are on my list very soon.

 

[David Harper]

I too am an old school audiophile. Also I'm pretty retarded on computers. So when I first got my 2016 civic LX I was kind of angry that no CD player was offered. I also felt the same way as you about digital music. I have a new Project turntable at home and a Marantz reference integrated amp and Martin Logan electrostatic speakers, so you can see where I'm at as far as audio. But after I taught myself how to convert CD's to WAV files on Itunes and download them into my new Ipod I have to say I've changed my mind about digital audio. I can play the Ipod on my home system by connecting a USB cord to my Denon AVR X 1100 reciever and the sound quality is excellent. Exactly the same as CD. If I can do this,trust me,ANYONE CAN. I never liked computer stuff. I'm 64 years old.My daughters laugh at me because I have CD's and vinyl LP's. I try to tell them and their husbands about sound quality of digital vs analog and they look at me like I'm nuts. You're right that MP3 is crap. But WAV files are not. They're actually equal to CD in sound quality. 16bits/44.100khz. Exactly the same.

 

[MaidenFan]

<snip> If I can do this,trust me,ANYONE CAN. I never liked computer stuff. I'm 64 years old.My daughters laugh at me because I have CD's and vinyl LP's. I try to tell them and their husbands about sound quality of digital vs analog and they look at me like I'm nuts. You're right that MP3 is crap. But WAV files are not. They're actually equal to CD in sound quality. 16bits/44.100khz. Exactly the same.

Yeah, I'll have no issues doing it, and I'm with you on the WMA file format. That's what I'll use until, crossing fingers, some aftermarket solution pops up that is also trouble-free regarding the back-up camera. Vinyl has been coming back strong, tell that to your daughters! LOL I just turned 51, and believe me...that guy took away not only this lady's great condition car, but my 6-CD changer and that irks me to no end.

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