Regular Radio vs 8.4" RADIO AND PREMIUM AUDIO GROUP

[elarse1]

I've never had an issue with any of my 8.4's reading from USB. Have used 16, 32 and 64 GB sticks, as well as a 100 GB USB hard drive. Now, I will say that when you stuff 80 GB worth of music on to a hard drive with 100's of folders, well, it takes it solid minute for the folder list to index and come up. And it's really annoying that any time you hit "Browse" to see the folder list it takes another minute. This was on an 8.4 in a '13 Ram, '17 Ram, '18 Durango, '19 Grand Cherokee.

Hands down the 8.4 is one of the best infotainment systems out there, and has been the best for quite a few years now. It is getting a little dated though. Domestic US vehicles it can't be beat, but that new Mercedes system is nicer.

I've never been impressed with the sub that comes with the Alpine system. While it does provide some low end, it lacks punch and is muddy as hell. I feel like after all these years that FCA has been using this system they would have upgraded the p.o.s. sub by now. In my friends Ram we took the sub out and installed 6x9 components with a small amp and get more, cleaner bass out of that setup than with the sub.

I've not had any issues with the 8.4's navigation. It's always worked to my expectations. Though if your roads change and your maps aren't updated it can be problematic. $150 to update the maps is a bit steep, in my opinion. We're paying a premium for nav, it should come with map updates for the length of the factory warranty. Though I suppose Car Play and Android Auto negates that, to an extent.

My only real complaint about the 8.4 unit is sometimes they're a bit buggy. Like your phone will connect via bluetooth, but there's no audio. Only way to correct is completely turn off the vehicle, wait 30 seconds, then turn back on and reconnect the phone. I've also had the screen go completely black while driving. Again, a reboot is needed to correct. And when they removed the Pandora and iHeartRadio apps out of the 2017 and older units, that down right pissed me off.

Did they do anything special to yours to make it work? Mine almost instantly reads my 64 GB USB stick (SanDisk, NTFS formatted) and the Browse is also almost instantaneous. That may be part of the problem. I'd be happy with longer load times if the bloody thing read the whole disk!

I do like the Alpine system and it's interface - MUCH better than Toyota's Entune and the bass is a lot deeper than the Bose system in my old RX-8 (the bass was a lot tighter/cleaner, but I prefer boomier).

-Erik

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[elarse1]

Hi Erik,

I was able to look into your case and it appears your case manager suggests you use a 32gb USB because that is what is compatible with your Jeep. Have you been able to try this?

Alison
JeepCares

Hi Alison!

My previous email to FCA said that I tried both 32 and 64GB USB sticks without success. I'll try another 32 GB (by SanDisk, NTFS formatted, default allocation size) and see what happens. Some other person responded in this topic that their 8.4 Alpine works with 32, 64 and even a 100 GB USB disk drive, so is there something wrong with mine? Are there any tricks or recommendations (format, allocation size, brands, etc.) for the USB stick? Thanks! @JeepCares

-Erik

 

[Riccochet]

Did they do anything special to yours to make it work? Mine almost instantly reads my 64 GB USB stick (SanDisk, NTFS formatted) and the Browse is also almost instantaneous. That may be part of the problem. I'd be happy with longer load times if the bloody thing read the whole disk!

I do like the Alpine system and it's interface - MUCH better than Toyota's Entune and the bass is a lot deeper than the Bose system in my old RX-8 (the bass was a lot tighter/cleaner, but I prefer boomier).

-Erik

Nothing special done.

My hard drive is a spinning drive, so makes sense that it's slower than a flash drive.

 

[VirTex]

Have you encountered the problem with it not being able to read all the songs on USB sticks greater than 16 GB? The end result is that some of the songs/folders will show up, but not all. This seems to be a known issue with the radio and FCA isn't doing anything about it @JeepCares. Ironic that my 2004 Camry with an old radio does not have this limitation.

So far I have only used XM radio, or streaming services through my phone, so I have no experiences to date with music on USB flash drives.

 

[elarse1]

Hi Erik,

I was able to look into your case and it appears your case manager suggests you use a 32gb USB because that is what is compatible with your Jeep. Have you been able to try this?

Alison
JeepCares

Hi Alison @JeepCares . I tried it with a 32GB drive and I had the same problem. On my computer I can see all the files and folders (roughly 4200 songs), but on the Jeep, I can only see folders A-L (the songs are sorted alphabetically in folders). So, the Al[ine can only read the first 16 GB and then it quits. Is this a problem with my radio, or is it a known issue with all Alpine radios?

Thanks!
-Erik

 

[DakotaBoy]

Also, Alison @JeepCares, any info/updates on the ridiculous car play resize on the 7" screen?

 

[JeepCares]

Hi Alison!

My previous email to FCA said that I tried both 32 and 64GB USB sticks without success. I'll try another 32 GB (by SanDisk, NTFS formatted, default allocation size) and see what happens. Some other person responded in this topic that their 8.4 Alpine works with 32, 64 and even a 100 GB USB disk drive, so is there something wrong with mine? Are there any tricks or recommendations (format, allocation size, brands, etc.) for the USB stick? Thanks! @JeepCares

-Erik

Hi Erik,

Please send us a private message. I would like to look into this more.

Alison
JeepCares

 

[mountainpass]

Can a base 5" be upgraded to 7", or is there an aftermarket solution?

 

[JeepCares]

Hi Alison @JeepCares . I tried it with a 32GB drive and I had the same problem. On my computer I can see all the files and folders (roughly 4200 songs), but on the Jeep, I can only see folders A-L (the songs are sorted alphabetically in folders). So, the Al[ine can only read the first 16 GB and then it quits. Is this a problem with my radio, or is it a known issue with all Alpine radios?

Thanks!
-Erik

Hi Erik,

Please send us a private message. I would like to look into this for you.

Alison
JeepCares

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