Musiclink - RIP (Resurrecting Soon)

[Gonzo]

I have heard from several sources it isn't very good, but I have never heard of any specific complaints. I am curious as to what its faults are, and what improvements the new one will have.

[Dessa_8837]

Originally Posted by CameronJr9

Oh good. They finally realized it was crap.

Haha,
ShayneD.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by Gonzo

I have heard from several sources it isn't very good, but I have never heard of any specific complaints. I am curious as to what its faults are, and what improvements the new one will have.

http://nuxx.net/wiki/Honda_Music_Lin...Adapter_Review

[DNieves]

Originally Posted by definingmoment

I dont know why everyone whines about the music link, I have one and unless your a total dope its straight forward. I have 4000+ songs on my ipod and have no problems. Im not going to say its the best, but it sure beats the hell out of the crappy aux jack and the interface is easy to use

I have twice as many songs on my iPod and trying to find one song amongst all those is a pain akin to finding a needle in a haystack.... only harder. If you have an iPod with a few songs it's not such a big deal but you don't even get track data (which you do if you play a CDR w/ MP3s). That piece of crap treats the iPod like a cd changer and each disc is a different mode?! Come on, the reason I bought my first iPod years ago (and ditched my Creative Nomad) was for it's interface (along with size -sure wasn't the cost)!

The musiclink sucks so badly I've resorted to burning mp3 CDRs and playing my iPod through the aux jack.

When you have navi it's an even bigger waste of money and potential -you have that screen and all it tells you is DISC #. What a piece of crap and that stupid software that reads out the titles of the songs in that 80's robot voice (finding a replacement voice isn't worth the bother). You can't even use the voice recognition to find the song you want!!

[jjloresco]

ahhh i got the i-pod link too, my Si is ordered and its comming the first week of may, is it still possible to cancel it?

[VTecVoodoo]

I suspect it'll be backwards-compatible...it almost has to be, because iPods never stand still anyway, they're upgraded almost every year, five generations in five or six years. (disclosure: I used to work for Apple)
Also, I'm fairly certain the iPhone will be compatible with it as well, since an iPhone is (will be) essentially an iPod that can make phone calls and play movies, as well as music, it's a multi-function hand-held. Though you'd have to be using it primarily as a music player to want to have it plugged into your car's sound system, most people (I would think) would rather use the iPhone primarily as a phone, not as a substitute for, or replacement for, their portable music player. The storage for songs isn't that big. I do, however, think it'll be compatible, there's no evidence to suggest it won't be.

[kevzSi]

I have the MusicLink and I happen to like it...I just put about 50-70 songs I like into a playlist, and just listen to that playlist for a while...then i update it and so on...

Maybe i'm the only one that doesnt hate it?

[definingmoment]

Originally Posted by DNieves

I have twice as many songs on my iPod and trying to find one song amongst all those is a pain akin to finding a needle in a haystack.... only harder. If you have an iPod with a few songs it's not such a big deal but you don't even get track data (which you do if you play a CDR w/ MP3s). That piece of crap treats the iPod like a cd changer and each disc is a different mode?! Come on, the reason I bought my first iPod years ago (and ditched my Creative Nomad) was for it's interface (along with size -sure wasn't the cost)!

The musiclink sucks so badly I've resorted to burning mp3 CDRs and playing my iPod through the aux jack.

When you have navi it's an even bigger waste of money and potential -you have that screen and all it tells you is DISC #. What a piece of crap and that stupid software that reads out the titles of the songs in that 80's robot voice (finding a replacement voice isn't worth the bother). You can't even use the voice recognition to find the song you want!!

Well im sorry its hard for you to use. But i dont think you having twice as many songs makes a difference. My car treats the link the same way yours does. I mean you can search my artist, and you can do it by letter, and generally speaking I know which orders my albums are in then. But hey, maybe im just more organized then other ipods.

[DNieves]

Originally Posted by jjloresco

ahhh i got the i-pod link too, my Si is ordered and its comming the first week of may, is it still possible to cancel it?

Do anything you can NOT to get it installed by the dealer. Call now!!!!

[DNieves]

Originally Posted by definingmoment

Well im sorry its hard for you to use. But i dont think you having twice as many songs makes a difference. My car treats the link the same way yours does. I mean you can search my artist, and you can do it by letter, and generally speaking I know which orders my albums are in then. But hey, maybe im just more organized then other ipods.

As a person that doesn't have any intellectual deficiencies especially in regards to things electronic, it's not a matter of difficulty in usage of this inferior product. It's a matter of its cumbersome interface and pathetic implementation. The number of songs does make a difference especially when you have up to one hundred artists in one letter alone, the product is not designed for quickly jumping around to various artists in your song library. I don't see how anybody can defend this product unless the Scion (no offense to Scion owners, but don't you expect more from a Honda) and Pioneer iPod adapters never existed (especially the Harmon Kardon Drive + Play). The only thing it does well is recharge the iPod (which a $15 car adapter can also do). I bet (actually, I hope) the new version blows away the competition.

[c0nsumer]

Wow, it's good to see that this is finally going away. By the way, I'm the person who was one of the original HML purchasers, and the person who wrote the aforementioned HML review; the one which ranks on Google above Honda's official site when searching for "honda music link".

Anyway, mostly out of boredom I've been working for the past three or four days on a retrofit device which can sit between the HML and an iPod and, basically, turn it into an aux in adapter with next/prev track controls and such. The iPod's own interface won't be locked out, the crappy TTS software won't be required, etc. It'll make the HML into one of the decent aux in adapters.

I just need to finish up the software (an partial version of it testing the command sending procedure can be found here if anyone wants to see), test it, lay out the board, then look into selling them. It'll be called the HMLiberator and will be thoroughly openly documented on nuxx.net.

I'm thinking that I'll also sell them, as I'm sure there's a good number of folks who own an HML, can't really get a refund, and would like to use it as an functional aux-in adapter.

Look for more info to come later. I'm hoping that I'll have the breadboarded prototype running while connected to the car by next weekend.

-Steve

[c0nsumer]

Originally Posted by VTecVoodoo

I suspect it'll be backwards-compatible...

With the way the iPod Advanced Remote protocol works it's not difficult to make a backwards compatibility device. The protocol is pretty damn robust.

[lyric911]

Originally Posted by definingmoment

I dont know why everyone whines about the music link, I have one and unless your a total dope its straight forward. I have 4000+ songs on my ipod and have no problems. Im not going to say its the best, but it sure beats the hell out of the crappy aux jack and the interface is easy to use

It's certainly a bit cumbersome at times, but calling it difficult borders on lunacy.

I've had one in my 06 since I got the car, over a year now. Way better than an aux jack.

[c0nsumer]

Originally Posted by lyric911

It's certainly a bit cumbersome at times, but calling it difficult borders on lunacy.

I've had one in my 06 since I got the car, over a year now. Way better than an aux jack.

When it works it's not difficult, it's just absurd. Very, very poorly implemented. Honda could have done it way, way, way better. If the HML hadn't served as a springboard to other related projects I'd be far more upset about the loss of $180 on it.

[gliderguy]

I've been using the AUX jack in my 06 Civic EX to play an iPod for over a year. No need for that music link crap. Just buy a box of medium sized rubber bands (80 cents at Walmart), and use one band to hold your 30 gig iPod to the top of the parking brake handle. Set the iPod up so the bac is on constantly. Get a cheap cigarette lighter/iPod charger, and you're all set! I can quickly scroll through my 3000+ songs, or just set it to shuffle. Works great! So far I've only had to replace the rubber band once http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/image...s/biglaugh.gif

[robinsonda1]

The only thing I can get mine to do is play songs and go up and down between tracks. It doesn't disply any song data etc. The voice thing it came with , well I have no idea what that's suppoesd to do. I hope the next one is better and that it will work with the 06/nav.

[akai6]

I have been back and forth to the dealership at least 5 times to get this damn thing fixed. I now have to go spend a million hours there tomorrow, again to see what they can do. I am thinking about just asking for my dinero back. I am soooooo irritated!

[TigerDave]

Glad I didn't buy one for my 60GB Video iPod. After taking one look at the install instructions, I said , "Forget it!"

Seriously. NINE pages and FORTY-THREE steps to install!

Hope the replacement is easier to install.

[Shephert]

Originally Posted by DNieves

I have twice as many songs on my iPod and trying to find one song amongst all those is a pain akin to finding a needle in a haystack.... only harder. If you have an iPod with a few songs it's not such a big deal but you don't even get track data (which you do if you play a CDR w/ MP3s). That piece of crap treats the iPod like a cd changer and each disc is a different mode?! Come on, the reason I bought my first iPod years ago (and ditched my Creative Nomad) was for it's interface (along with size -sure wasn't the cost)!

The musiclink sucks so badly I've resorted to burning mp3 CDRs and playing my iPod through the aux jack.

When you have navi it's an even bigger waste of money and potential -you have that screen and all it tells you is DISC #. What a piece of crap and that stupid software that reads out the titles of the songs in that 80's robot voice (finding a replacement voice isn't worth the bother). You can't even use the voice recognition to find the song you want!!

I have a full 60 GB iPod and it is no harder to navigate than one with 5 GB. Its suck factor has to do with limitations when it comes to "seeing" what is playing, not being able to fast forward, the "hokey" voice that goes through the alphabet and artist/album names and finally, its inaccuracy when you sync the iPod. The last time I used it; I selected Megadeth and got Nickel Creek.

The MusicLink is just bad. Someone should be smacked around for coming up with it.

[NYDR27]

I assume this 2nd generation Music Link Accessory will be available as soon as the new 08 Civics drop. Does anyone know if this is the case? I would be really interested in this accessory if it could display ipod info on my screen.