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OEM radio AUX input question

6K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  gregk2001 
#1 ·
I bought an '09 Mazda3 S hatchback 2 days ago,with an OEM radio. In 2 other vehicles I have owned, I was able to put music on a USB thumb drive, plug it into the radio, and play music from my home collection through the vehicle radio.


My Mazda3 has a 3.5mm input jack in the center console. I know I can plug in a music player to that, and it will pipe the music through the car radio.


My question is: Can I get a USB to 3.5mm audio plug adapter, and play my music from a thumb drive, through the car radio? Or does the AUX input require a music player on the input end (like a phone or MP3 player)? In other words: Can the OEM car radio actually just grab MP3 songs off of a thumb drive?


My owner's manual doesn't really specify anything other than plugging in a music player to the AUX input. I just wanted to check and see if anyone else has gone through this, before I possibly waste money on an adapter that won't help me.


I do not want to plug in my phone or have to screw around with plugging in / unplugging cords, etc. I want to just plug in a USB thumb drive and leave it there, switching from radio station songs to my personal music collection with the buttons on the radio face. I can do that on my other vehicles.


Sorry for my long post (very first post here). I was just trying to include enough information to explain my situation and question adequately.
 
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#2 ·
Update to my question, with further clarification:


I have found some items that adapt USB to 3.5mm Audio. They state that the car AUX input must have an MP3 decoder. I suspect that the Mazda3 OEM radio may have that, but I was hoping someone else had tried this, and can confirm that it works.
 
#3 ·
No. The aux input signal to the oem head unit is designed for an "audio" signal only, such as a headphone jack off the phone or other device. It won't accept a signal from a thumb drive or similar storage device because those require an application to read and convert the mp3 file into an audio signal. Unfortunately the 09's did not come equipped with that kind of technology.

It would be easier to have the oem deck be bluetooth capable but on those it is not.
 
#5 ·
After doing more research and noticing how my mp3 player works in this car, I had come to expect that. Thanks for confirming it before I wasted money on a USB adapter.


I sure like the $69 radio I got at Walmart and put in my 4Runner. It has a USB port on the front. I love being able to plug 8 hours of music into the front of it with a mini (or is it micro?) USB thumb drive. I wish I could do that on this car, instead of screwing around with a cord, and operating my MP3 player (which became illegal to do last year here in Georgia). I have to screw with the player before I get on the road, and not touch it, even at stop lights, to be legal.


That replacement radio linked above looks really nice, but unfortunately is way out of my price range. Thanks for the link, though. Since I don't have that kind of money to spare, I will just have to suck it up and live with what I have. I also don't feel like screwing around with dash face adapter kits to try to make a modern aftermarket radio setup look decent in the dash.



I am really loving driving this car. Talk about a sleeper, in terms of handling. Anyone who hasn't driven one probably has no earthly idea that the car can give a true sports car a run for its money. I drove a Miata for 7 years. This Mazda3 is no Miata, but is sure can still make me grin while pretending I am driving one.
 
#4 ·
Not long after I bought my '08 Speed 3, I bought a new head unit from EONON that is made specifically for the Mazda 3. It is so much better than the stock radio and is fairly inexpensive. With the head unit from EONON, I have navigation, backup camera, MP3/WMV player, DVD and video file format player, bluetooth hands free phone and bluetooth audio and so much more. It even has an additional video output so when we go on road trips I can hook up an additional monitor so the kids in the back seat can watch the movie playing through the head unit.

Here's a link to one of the current models for a Gen 1 Mazda 3:
https://www.eonon.com/Android-Car-G...screen-Support-Bluetooth-5-0-Bose-System.html
 
#6 ·
I have 2009 Speed 3 Hatch. I used a bluetooth/ audio device for many years, paired with my phone which was vent mounted. The center console has both the aux jack and power socket so it just hid away there. I did have to put in another device to reduce some hum/noise. I can provide the device details if needed.

Cheers, Greg.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk
 
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