Playing music.

[pillred16]

Being older I am finding the constant changing of media in cars a bit difficult, first there was radio, then 8 track players, then cassette and CDs, my current car has none of these except radio, (Civic) so I was glad to get my head around being able to playing music through a USB stick, now I have just found out I can't do that with the Prelude I have on order, what is the best way of listening to music in the Prelude? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Alex_Waverley38]

You can play music from your phone using Android Auto or Apple Car Play.

 

[rexracer2]

Being older I am finding the constant changing of media in cars a bit difficult, first there was radio, then 8 track players, then cassette and CDs, my current car has none of these except radio, (Civic) so I was glad to get my head around being able to playing music through a USB stick, now I have just found out I can't do that with the Prelude I have on order, what is the best way of listening to music in the Prelude? Any help would be appreciated.

The streaming services are great. Stream with Apple Music or one of the other music streaming services. Tidal is another great service. It is only about $12/month here in the US. You literally have tens of millions of artist to select from. It is like owning an entire record store and being able to play just about any artist and song on-demand.

 

[El Chorizo21]

I'm a huge fan of Spotify, and really like their discovery engine. That's how I find most of my new music. Other people's playlists and the Spotify radio on my playlists.

 

[pillred16]

You can play music from your phone using Android Auto or Apple Car Play.

Looks like I'm going to have to learn all over again. Let's hope this old dog can learn some new tricks, lol.

 

[El Chorizo21]

Looks like I'm going to have to learn all over again. Let's hope this old dog can learn some new tricks, lol.

How sure are you that the car you ordered won't play from USB. I see it on almost every new car, they just don't talk about it much. I'd be surprised if the Prelude didn't support it actually.

But, with something like Spotify I definitely think it's worth it to learn it. I have discovered so much new music/bands, etc. in the past few years because of it, it's pretty much all I use now.

 

[pillred16]

How sure are you that the car you ordered won't play from USB. I see it on almost every new car, they just don't talk about it much. I'd be surprised if the Prelude didn't support it actually.

But, with something like Spotify I definitely think it's worth it to learn it. I have discovered so much new music/bands, etc. in the past few years because of it, it's pretty much all I use now.

I went online once I had ordered it and asked if UK-spec Preludes could still play music through a USB. It said no. I really hope you are right, as it's a very convenient way of listening in the car; otherwise, it's time to move with the times and join the 21st century, lol.

 

[El Chorizo21]

I used to love to browse my music by Folder, so I understand where you are coming from. You can do Spotify now too, on your computer and phone and get a head start.

Here's a good playlist that I learned a lot of music from:

 

[rexracer2]

Looks like I'm going to have to learn all over again. Let's hope this old dog can learn some new tricks, lol.

I was the same way. You will wonder what took you so long after the first 15 minutes of signing up for a music streaming service. You will never go back. Most services have a complementary free trial period of one month so you can try different services without any out of pocket cost. I would recommend Apple Music if you have Apple products.

 

[GoZoner16]

I think a USB drive in the USB data port will work

 

[Alex_Waverley38]

I think a USB drive in the USB data port will work

The US model is supposed to work that way but tried I four different sticks and none of them were recognized. I use them in my Subies with no problem. I use a USB wireless Bluetooth adapter and it works like a charm. The other advantage of a using a phone is that the ability of the car systems to create a library tends to be limited to about 5000 songs.

 

[pillred16]

I think a USB drive in the USB data port will work

Have you tried? If not, just for me, could you see if it actually does? Knowing my luck, the UK spec will be different. I really hope that it does, though, as it's such an easy way of accessing music in a car.

 

[Passfeller31]

I think a USB drive in the USB data port will work

It does work fine in my car (EU version). I put all (!) my music in MP3 format on one single micro USB stick and browse through hundreds of folders daily without any problems. (Honestly, i cannot imagine any new car that won't do it. No need for a dedicated data port if it does not take the most rudimentary data.)

 

[pillred16]

It does work fine in my car (EU version). I put all (!) my music in MP3 format on one single micro USB stick and browse through hundreds of folders daily without any problems. (Honestly, i cannot imagine any new car that won't do it. No need for a dedicated data port if it does not take the most rudimentary data.)

Well, that sounds promising. I asked the question online, and it said it didn't. I hope you are right; I'm glad it does for you.

 

[Alex_Waverley38]

I think our Prelude has two ports and one is charge only.

 

[Passfeller31]

Well, that sounds promising. I asked the question online, and it said it didn't. I hope you are right; I'm glad it does for you.

What also may be of importance (and what many people tryIng to use data sticks in their cars miss) is that the infotainment system may demand a certain kind of formatting. All Lexus cars I've driven over the last 8 years would only accept USB sticks formatted to FAT32. If my Prelude would not have accepted my USB stick in the first place, I'd have checked the manual to see if there is some kind of special format the stick *must* have in order to be read properly.

 

[Passfeller31]

I went online once I had ordered it and asked if UK-spec Preludes could still play music through a USB. It said no. I really hope you are right, as it's a very convenient way of listening in the car; otherwise, it's time to move with the times and join the 21st century, lol.

Whom exactly did you ask? Honda UK or random Google/AI? The latter would most probably not have sufficient data/info yet on a subject as new (and niche) as the 2026 Prelude.