Just when I thought computer stuff was okay....

Hi Lindsay, does you car support playing MP3s off an SD card or USB stick? I’ve found this to be a better solution. Rip, convert the FLAC or WAV to MP3 using one of the many file converters, copy onto a SD Card and insert into car. I also had loads of odd sort orders when I used iTunes. 

Dave - I can only use a stick.  I’m sure iTunes is the problem.  

I've found this stuff very car dependant & it seems there is no common stnd.     My BMW plays WAV from USB but not FLAC,  it also plays any/all forms of MP3 player from the 3.5 jack.  The Honda won't play anything from USB & its clearly set up for Apple applications & only facilitates navigation on the audio/radio panel controls with an iPod/Phone.  It will play a non-Apple MP3 player via AUX,  but not using the audio system controls.  

Mike - mine is a BMW and it seems okay with WAV.   

Hi Lindsay,  it might be iTunes that’s causing the problem.   I’m not more than 50% sure but recall issues with Apple not accepting MicroSoft WAV licence conditions, I’m probably barking up the wrong tree but it was a long time ago & apart from a abandoning iTunes I don’t remember the detail.

Whatever I’m off on a week away tomorrow & have my USB loaded with a playlist of WAV tracks all ready to go 

I hate iTunes with a vengeance, and only use it when I have no other option like putting things on my iPhone/iPad, when it always takes so much more time and effort than it would if I could simply copy files across. Then playing on said iDevice is not totally intuitive, and easy to set in random mode, or st least not manage to play entire intact albums, at least if, like me, it is only done infrequently.

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Dave - I can only use a stick.  I’m sure iTunes is the problem.  

So why do you use it? Just copy your files to the stick using the finder or the command line and everything will be fine!

nbpf posted:

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Dave - I can only use a stick.  I’m sure iTunes is the problem.  

So why do you use it? Just copy your files to the stick using the finder or the command line and everything will be fine!

That’s exactly what I’ve done but its some how  inserted the Benjamin Britten midway through Jeff Beck!

Errm I seem to recall the suggested listening environment as not including USB stick in car scenarios........(!!)

best

David 

The Strat (Fender) posted:

That’s exactly what I’ve done but its some how  inserted the Benjamin Britten midway through Jeff Beck!

I suspect what has happened is that your car is just reading and playing the files in file name order... so 01 Track 1 from album 2 follows 01 Track 1 from album 1.

David Hendon posted:

Errm I seem to recall the suggested listening environment as not including USB stick in car scenarios........(!!)

best

David 

Rest assured David I went back to Radio 3 on FM

First things first, did iTunes perform an online metadata lookup when you ripped the CDs? What format was it set to save the rips to? Also, were the albums each put in a folder named with the artist or album? I suspect your car views the folders rather than the metadata, so this last point may be the key?

I suspect everything you guys have said applies.  Thanks chaps.  I’m getting a new iMac soon, after that I’ll see about some better software. In the meantime FM is good!

I can sort iTunes on my PC quite well but this doesn't apply to any devices when you transfer music.

Chaps,

Thanks again.  I’ve tinkered a little more - in the car.   

It’s a configuration, cataloging, listing issue because some tracks are listed 1, 2, 3, 3-1, 3-2, 4 etc and the some don’t have a number at all and it refuses to play them at all!  But I shouldn’t be surprised this was a gash attempt by yours truly on an old iMac and old iTunes.  Combined with the user hardly being digital savvy it was never likely to end well.  

The good news - the BMW recognises WAV and it actually sounded very reasonable.   I’ll start another thread (yawn) at some point on my way forward. 

Regards,

Lindsay

Innocent Bystander posted:

I hate iTunes with a vengeance…

At least it handles compilations properly unlike…

My guess here is you could have the option to play within a folder, and I would assume that itunes has put jeff beck and benjamin britten into their own separate folders.

If using a different option for playback, your car stereo might need playlist files for each album and if these are missing, youll get mixed up tracks as the software tries to find track 1 etc using file names.

Try to see if you have the option to play using folder structure rather than by album.

Mike B, others -- what is your preferred flac-to-mp3 conversion software? I want something that'll do bulk conversion (preserve folders and contents in the new mp3 library) so that I don't have to do it album-by-album.  Oh and has to be for OS X.

I have a very old iTunes library, but we've acquired so much more music since I made it.  Both my wife and I are tired of the same collection in the usb sticks we use in our cars.  I want to build a bigger mp3 library but want to do it bulk.

If only BMW and/or Tesla supported flac.  But then OTOH filesize compression in the car isn't such a bad thing.

You can, as you probably know, set the US to keep a ‘parallel library’ of MP3s for portable use, although I think it may only be for CD rips, not downloads. 

Personally, I dislike MP3s, even for car use. Since I converted my US library to FLAC, I now use XLD to convert them back to WAV for the car. These go onto a cheap 256Mb USB stick which lives in the car. You could, of course, do the same with MP3s if you wanted to. 

Bart posted:

Mike B, others -- what is your preferred flac-to-mp3 conversion software? I want something that'll do bulk conversion (preserve folders and contents in the new mp3 library) so that I don't have to do it album-by-album.  Oh and has to be for OS X.

I have a very old iTunes library, but we've acquired so much more music since I made it.  Both my wife and I are tired of the same collection in the usb sticks we use in our cars.  I want to build a bigger mp3 library but want to do it bulk.

If only BMW and/or Tesla supported flac.  But then OTOH filesize compression in the car isn't such a bad thing.

dBpoweramp. Use the Batch converter, point I at the source directory, select what you want and run. I’ve been using it for years.

Or a small dap like HiBy r3 

I've got Tidal streaming off my iPhone through CarPlay - which works fairly well with playlists.

Also WAV/FLAC files on SD cards taken off my Unitiserve, which also works fine - just picking which tracks and albums I want to play.

I've not bothered with iTunes as there always seem to be too many gotchas with that app.

Richard Morris posted:

Innocent Bystander posted:

I hate iTunes with a vengeance…

At least it handles compilations properly unlike…

Hmmm.  Does it ?

Back in the day when I actually used iTunes, I recall it ripped a compilation CD to my hard-drive scatter gun style, with each track (40 odd) under a separate artist folder !  Imagine the horror of trying to copy that album to a stick......  ;-(