Trying out audio and SD card formats..

I just bought a 2016 1500 LoneStar.. new member to the forum and first time poster after being a long-time owner of a Nisan Titan and a member of a forum for that truck. I've been experimenting with which audio formats are supported to find the best audio quality using musc on a USB stick or SDCard

The tl;dr; version of this post: Use WMA Lossless (best audio quality) with a 64 GB SDCard (NTFS) for the most space without slowing music navigation down too much.

More below:

I've been experimenting with the best way to listen high quality audio (ideally lossless but not crazy large file sizes) via SDCard or USB. I've tried out various music formats and SD card sizes and types, so I figured I'd report my results here.

First, some context:

1. I have UConnect 8.4A, currently up to date on all software updates.
2. For comparing sound quality, I'm just using my ears/personal preference. My truck does have the Alpine upgrade, and 192kbs or even 256kbps just didn't exercise the system the way I'd like. Sirius, FM radio, etc all sounded better (except for bluetooth, which was the worst.)
3. So, I have a bunch of CDs ripped to FLAC, and was looking for a way to listen to those at very high quality but with an SD card that wasn't so large it brought navigating the music on it to a crawl.

I tried two different types of SD Cards - both worked.

• 32 GB SD card - SanDisk 32GB Ultra Class 10 SDHC. Formatted using FAT32. This worked flawlessly but was a bit small. Navigating music was very fast, even with the card almost full.
• 64 GB Micro SD CArd - SanDisk Ultra 64GB microSDXC UHS-I Card with Adapter. Formatted using NTFS. Despite the manual claiming only 32 GB and hearing elsewhere only FAT32 was uspported, this worked as well. Navigating with the card nearly full of music was a bit slower but was good enough. I was expecting to use WMA Pro since the manual said that was supported.

I tried several audio formats. I am not an iTunes/iPhone user so no Apple formats. Surprising results here, don't match the manual.

• MP3 - 256 CBR, also VBR - these all worked great but sound quality was not good neough
• WMA - 256 kps worked just fine, similar sound quality to MP# but used less space
• WMA Pro - VBR - did not work (even though the manual says it will). Track info can be read but track can't be played.
• WMA Pro - CBR - I think 256 kbs - did not work (even though the manual says it will) - Track info can be read but track can't be played.
• WMA Lossless - worked! (even though the manual says it isn't supported) These are large files, but delivered by far the best sound quality (again, at least to my ears on my setup.. YMMV)
• FLAC - as expected, this did not work. would not even find the track info.

Anyone else have results to report? What is your format of choice and why? Anyone find one they like better for sound quality?

I've looked into the able formats before and was a little disappointed to see .wav files as the best quality option our radios could play. On other systems I was able to run .flac but I do have to admit, they are marginally better than MP3 CBR 320 and you really have to pay attention to hear the difference. With that said, I run MP3 CBR 320 and find song browsing on a 64gb card to be fast and acceptable with roughly 2800 songs currently on the card.

I just hooked up my iPod. Done.

I tried two approaches.

I have an Astell & Kern portable media player with a nice internal DAC. I loaded it up with FLAC files and hooked it up to the media center mini-RCA input (3.5mm RCA). It works pretty good.

I loaded up a 64GB USB stick with MP3 files and plugged it into the USB port in the media center. The sound wasn't as good (surprise surprise) but I don't have to worry about turning off the portable media player before I shut down the truck.

I can charge the media player while it plays, however, the USB option is much more convenient.

So, I switch back and forth.

That reminds me, it's time to refresh the songs on the media player and start using it again.

troutspinner said:

I've looked into the able formats before and was a little disappointed to see .wav files as the best quality option our radios could play. On other systems I was able to run .flac but I do have to admit, they are marginally better than MP3 CBR 320 and you really have to pay attention to hear the difference. With that said, I run MP3 CBR 320 and find song browsing on a 64gb card to be fast and acceptable with roughly 2800 songs currently on the card.

Click to expand...

I'm no audiophile or anything, but the MP3s just sound kinda flat relative to using WMA Lossless, or even Sirius XM. I hadn't tried 320 yet, but had tried 256kbs. I have no idea if that is highs or lows or whatever, the MP3s just don't seem to take advantage of the Alpine system.

I've noticed a couple of things about my solution I don't like, but overall still happy with it.
(1) Browsing 64 GB SD card is a little slower than I would like. I would not go any bigger than what I'm doing now (I haven't checked how many songs, will do so when I get a chance)
(2) I also like to organize music by artist and album for navigation, but if you play albums that way the UConnect system doesn't use the track information to order the files, I think it is alphabetical instead. Navigating by album correctly uses the track info, but that is a pain if I have a bunch of singles on the same SD card as I do a bunch of albums -- too many albums to navigate effectively.

Question, do you have to format these SD cards before ripping CDs? No luck with 64 gb sd card after spending alot of time ripping CDs, but an older 16 gb card I had worked, both going thru same adapter, tried Different formats. Will try 32 gb card next and use the info listed above. Not a computer type, but using windows media ripping. Got to have those tunes! First highway cruise today, so smooth at 70 in the crew cab, had to watch the speed. Customizing the dash guages also a nice option. Wonder how true the mpg reading is...

I use 320k mp3s and AAC files, shows album art etc. Sound great. I found it easier to just have around 3 memory sticks between 8 and 16gb, I put rap on 1, metal on 1, then more top 40 type music on 1. Easier to listen to certain music types that way.