Audi MMI - Supported media and file formats

(2014MY A4)
The following audio/video file specifications are supported by the DVD drive, the Jukebox, the
SD card readers and the connection for the USB mass storage device.
(MMI Version: HN+_EU_AU3G_P0767)
Audio files

Video files

Supported
media

SD cards: With a capacity of up to 32 GB

DVD drive: Audio CDs (up to 80 minutes); CD-ROMs with a capacity of up to 700 MB; DVDR/RW; standard video
DVD and audio DVD compatible with video DVD
Audi music interface: Portable players (e.g. iPod or USB mass storage device)

File system

SD/SDHC/MMC memory cards

USB mass storage device: FAT or FAT32 file system, max. 4 partitions
DVD drive: Joliet (CDs: single session and multisession; DVDs: single session only); UDF

Meta data

Album, track, artist, year, genre and comments

for MP3/WMA/ M4A files.
Embedded album covers with up to
800x800 px. (GTE, JPEG, PNG)

Format

MPEG-1/2
Layer 3

Windows
Media Audio
8 and 9

MPEG-2/4

MPEG-1/2

ISOMPEG-4;
DivX
3, 4 and 5;
Xvid

ISOMPEG-4
H.264
(MPEG-4
AVC)

Windows
Media
Video 9

File extension

.mp3

.wma;
.asf

.m4a;
.m4b;
.aac

.mpg;
.mpeg

.avi

.mp4;
.m4v;
.mov

.wmv;
.asf

Playlists
Specifications

Number of
files

.M3U; .PLS; .WPL

Up to max. 320 kbit/sec and 48 kHz sampling
frequency

Up to max.
2000
kbit/sec,
720x576 px.
and 25 fps

DVD drive: max. 5000 files per directory and max. 1000 files per playlist
Jukebox: max. 3000 files can be copied
USB mass storage device and SD cards: max. 5000 files per directory and max. 1000 files per playlist
Source: Audi A4 2014MY MMI Handbook

Notes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.

7.
8.
9.

V 5.2

Playlists are supported on SD cards and optical discs.

Playlists cannot be imported into the Jukebox. Playlists are supported, but only those automatically generated by the
Jukebox, such as Last Played etc.
Playlist files must not use the same name as any directory name that is in the same level of directory (will cause
incorrect playlist and directory operation)
With .mp3 audio files use ID3 tags (version ID3v2.3) for meta-data
ID3 Tag information displayed when playing tracks (if option selected in set-up):
Title
Artist
Album
Album Art thumbnail
ID3 Tag information displayed using the MMI Information function
File name (without .mp3 extension)
Artist
Album
Year
Genre
Comments
Invalid ID3 tag characters are displayed as
The MMI screen will only display approximately 27-33 characters of the file names, directory names and ID3 tags
The directory and file name limit is greater than 64 characters, however, they will be truncated by the MMI display, as
above

Page 1 of 6

December 2, 2014

Audi MMI - Directory & File Structure

(2014MY A4)

Audi MMI SD Card Directory and File Structure

A multilevel directory structure can be used for the MP3 files, with Playlist files located in the volume
root directory, such as:Artist1\Album1\Title1.mp3
Artist1\Album1\Title2.mp3
Artist1\Album1\Title3.mp3
.
.
Playlist1.m3u
Playlist2.m3u
.
.

Playlist files must not use the same name as any directory name that is in the same level of
directory.
Example of .MP3 files and directory structure:Adele\21\11 Someone Like You.mp3
Bee Gees\E.S.P\03 Live or Die (Hold Me Like a Child).mp3
Elton John\Love Songs [1995]\01 Sacrifice.mp3
Queen\Greatest Hits [2004]\01 Bohemian Rhapsody.mp3
Various Artists\60s Soul 90s Soul\12 Dreams.mp3

Example of SD Card root directories and files:Adele

Alison Moyet
Barbra Streisand
Bee Gees
Boyzone
Celine Dion
Chicago
Danny Williams
Diana Ross
Elton John
Elvis
Gabrielle
George Benson
Gloria Estefan
Heather Small
Hot Chocolate
Jon & Vangelis
Katie Melua
Lighthouse Family
Lionel Richie
M People
Michael Bolton
Michael Jackson
Phil Collins
Queen
Randy Crawford
Shania Twain
Simply Red
Soundtrack
Tina Turner
Various Artists
Whitney Houston
All Popular (Random).m3u
All Popular.m3u
Favourites-1.m3u
Oldies.m3u

V 5.2

Page 2 of 6

December 2, 2014

Audi MMI - MP3 Tags

(2014MY A4)

MMI ID3 Tags

MP3 file ID3 Tags are generally best created using version ID3v2.3 for widest device compatibility.
MMI can read, although display only about 27-33 characters, of the following ID3 Tags:

Title
Artist
Album
Year
Genre
Comments
Album Art

ID3 Tag Character Encoding

ID3v2.3 tags should be written using standard Windows-1252 character coding (identified as ANSI
Latin1 or Windows Western). MMI displays unreadable ID3 Tag characters as
- if any tags or
characters are not displayed check all characters for validity and convert to Windows-1252 coding
(try this online character set convertor for conversion to Windows-1252).
Suggestion: For Windows, use freeware AHD ID3 Tag Editor (AITE 2.1) to create and edit ID3
tags (download here)

Examples of ID3 Tags

viewed with AHD ID3 Tag Editor

V 5.2

Page 3 of 6

December 2, 2014

Audi MMI - Playlists

(2014MY A4)

MMI Playlists
For maximum compatibility on a range of playback devices always use Simple type M3U playlists.
Also, for maximum Playlist compatibility it is best to use Absolute playlist file paths, but omitting
the drive letter.
To simplify MMI music navigation, Playlists should be placed in the root directory of the storage
media (see note 2 below).
Use the Windows delimiter \ for sub-directories.
The following Absolute file paths will work with MMI:-

M:\Artist\Album\Track.mp3
\Artist\Album\Track.mp3
Artist\Album\Track.mp3

or,
or,

but, do not use relative paths in the root directory, such as:..\Artist\Album\Track.mp3

Notes:
1. The drive letter is not relevant to MMI and can be any letter - it is only relevant to PCs, MMI
will ignore it.
2. Relative file paths do not work in the MMI root directory, and although they appear to work
in lower level directories they may not be reliable.
3. MMI Playlist files must not use the same name as any directory name in the same directory
level.
4. When using Windows, playlists should be generated with standard Windows-1252 coding
(ANSI Latin1 or Windows Western).
5. If required, Windows users can edit the M3U file with Notepad.

M3U Playlist example:Adele\19\03 Chasing Pavements.mp3

Adele\19\08 Right as Rain.mp3
Adele\19\09 Make You Feel My Love.mp3
Alison Moyet\Alf\03 For You Only.mp3
Barbra Streisand\Till I Loved You\05 - All I Ask Of You.mp3
Bee Gees\E.S.P\03 Live or Die (Hold Me Like a Child).mp3
Celine Dion\Falling Into You\01 It's All Coming Back to Me Now.mp3
Chicago\Chicago 16\05 Hard to Say I'm Sorry-Get Away.mp3
Diana Ross\14 Greatest Hits\02 Ain't No Mountain High Enough.mp3
Elton John\Love Songs [1995]\01 Sacrifice.mp3
Gabrielle\Rise\02 Rise.mp3
Gloria Estefan\Cuts Both Ways\02 Here We Are.mp3
Queen\Greatest Hits [2004]\01 Bohemian Rhapsody.mp3
Simply Red\Simply Red_ It's Only Love\01 - If You Don't Know Me By Now.mp3

V 5.2

Page 4 of 6

December 2, 2014

Audi MMI - Playlists

(2014MY A4)

Suggestion:

For Windows use Playlist Creator to create Playlists (download here)

Example of Playlist using Playlist Creator

Playlist Creator can create playlists with absolute and relative paths compatible with both Windows and MMI.
For best compatibility with a range of playback devices, make the following settings in Playlist Creator:

Under Settings > Playlist Details > Saving playlist entries > select Absolute, without drive
Also, ensure that under Settings > Extended Information > ensure that Write extended information
is not checked.

The play-order can be sorted alpha-numerically by clicking on the top of the Folder column, or set to a
random play order by right-clicking on any line and selecting Shuffle playlist items.
All Absolute and Relative settings are compatible with Windows, however only the Absolute settings are
fully compatible with MMI. Playlists with Absolute file paths the playlist are best located in the root directory
for ease of navigation.

V 5.2

Page 5 of 6

December 2, 2014

Audi MMI - MMI Screens

(2014MY A4)

Jukebox Top Level Menu

Jukebox Album Browser

V 5.2

Jukebox Top Level Menu - cont.

SD Card Top Level Menu

SD Card Top Level Menu - cont.

Play Screen with Info on

Page 6 of 6

December 2, 2014