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      08-31-2009, 01:49 PM   #1
rai
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What program should I use for the USB music drive?

Hi, I have a 08 with the USB media port and I am using a corsair flash drive.

I am using Windows Media Player and it's not able to recognize my favorites or play-list.

For example I have some songs on my play-list on the computer but in my car they just show up as duplicate songs on the album, so there is no 'favorite folder' at all just a list of artists and under each a list of albums and if I had any songs in a forvorite folder it will just be listed twice during the album play.

I am willing to re-load all my songs if there is a good media player that will work with the M3 USB input.

Thanks

Sorry posted in wrong forum, could it be moved to the Audio forum

Last edited by rai; 08-31-2009 at 02:52 PM..
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      08-31-2009, 04:27 PM   #2
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I haven't started messing with mine yet, but when I asked, I was told it couldn't be done. That the best way to do it was to just copy the files into the USB drive using Windows Explorer (no folders). That way at least I could play all the files randomly. I'll be watching this thread . Good luck.
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      09-01-2009, 03:27 PM   #3
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Ive used winamp and it as worked perfectly, transfer your desired songs to the flash drive, create the playlist in winamp from the flash drive files, save it as a m3u file and your all set..
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      09-01-2009, 03:50 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elp_jc View Post
IThat the best way to do it was to just copy the files into the USB drive using Windows Explorer (no folders).
I use a mix of folders and single tracks on my USB drive and idrive recognisies them all.
Secondary question: If you select "Random" play for the USB drive music, does "Random" remain selected after you switch the car off and then on again later?
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      09-01-2009, 07:48 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jct0518 View Post
Ive used winamp and it as worked perfectly, transfer your desired songs to the flash drive, create the playlist in winamp from the flash drive files, save it as a m3u file and your all set..
Need to learn about that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SenorFunkyPants View Post
I use a mix of folders and single tracks on my USB drive and idrive recognisies them all.
Secondary question: If you select "Random" play for the USB drive music, does "Random" remain selected after you switch the car off and then on again later?
So no need for 'winamp' then?
As to your secondary question, haven't used the USB drive on my car at all, so can't answer that... yet .
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      09-01-2009, 10:14 PM   #6
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That was one of the little extras I was looking forward to in my car.

I first started with a PNY 4GB Flash drive, and I had much the same trouble. I found it annouying to load songs on to it, and then more annouying to get it to play them, I eventually found the best way (as elp_jp said) was to just use Windows Explorer and dump all the songs into the main folder on the drive. BUT after a few weeks I noticed even on "Random" it still only cycled thru about the same 30 songs on the flash drive, which really annouyed me.

I eventually went and bought a new iPod Nano (4th gen) just for use in the car and it works a LOT better. The biggest difference right off the bat is that when you hit Next Track, it instantly changes to the next song with the iPod, where as the Flash Drive took up 30secs to change songs and for the read out on the iDrive to change. On top of that it's a LOT easier to get songs on there and even playlist and the sound quality is a lot better than the Flash drive too. The only odd thing about the iPod Nano was I had to turn on the "Shuffle" option on the iPod itself in order for the "Random" function to work in the car.

I know it's a bit more, but if you really want to listen to your own stuff in the car and half the option, I highly recommend getting/using an iPod. Plus if you order online you can get the free cool engraving I got!

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=238532

Oh, not to jack the thread, but one thing I've noticed recently. . . my iPhone was almost dead so I hooked it up on the way home to charge it, and while listening to songs, I noticed that they sounded even clearer (and the bass was more pronouced) with my iPhone over the iPod Nano, not sure if anyone has experimented with this or noticed that, I wonder if a bigger iPod would produce better sound?


Quote:
Originally Posted by SenorFunkyPants View Post
I use a mix of folders and single tracks on my USB drive and idrive recognisies them all.
Secondary question: If you select "Random" play for the USB drive music, does "Random" remain selected after you switch the car off and then on again later?
Yeah, it saves the Random option when you turn off the car. It usually only forgets it when you unplug the device from the car and plug it back in.
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      09-02-2009, 03:37 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elp_jc View Post
So no need for 'winamp' then?
I just drag and drop files using windows explorer...I guess you could drag and drop a playlist as well but I haven't tried that. Mine is an 09 model year car which may make a difference.
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      09-02-2009, 04:19 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dizman7 View Post
That was one of the little extras I was looking forward to in my car.

I first started with a PNY 4GB Flash drive, and I had much the same trouble. I found it annouying to load songs on to it, and then more annouying to get it to play them, I eventually found the best way (as elp_jp said) was to just use Windows Explorer and dump all the songs into the main folder on the drive. BUT after a few weeks I noticed even on "Random" it still only cycled thru about the same 30 songs on the flash drive, which really annouyed me.

I eventually went and bought a new iPod Nano (4th gen) just for use in the car and it works a LOT better. The biggest difference right off the bat is that when you hit Next Track, it instantly changes to the next song with the iPod, where as the Flash Drive took up 30secs to change songs and for the read out on the iDrive to change. On top of that it's a LOT easier to get songs on there and even playlist and the sound quality is a lot better than the Flash drive too. The only odd thing about the iPod Nano was I had to turn on the "Shuffle" option on the iPod itself in order for the "Random" function to work in the car.

I know it's a bit more, but if you really want to listen to your own stuff in the car and half the option, I highly recommend getting/using an iPod. Plus if you order online you can get the free cool engraving I got!

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=238532

Oh, not to jack the thread, but one thing I've noticed recently. . . my iPhone was almost dead so I hooked it up on the way home to charge it, and while listening to songs, I noticed that they sounded even clearer (and the bass was more pronouced) with my iPhone over the iPod Nano, not sure if anyone has experimented with this or noticed that, I wonder if a bigger iPod would produce better sound?




Yeah, it saves the Random option when you turn off the car. It usually only forgets it when you unplug the device from the car and plug it back in.

It's possible that it sounds better because it's bigger and has more room for better quality components.

FWIW, my iPhone sounds better in my GTI over BT than plugged in.
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      09-02-2009, 04:37 AM   #9
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30 secs between tracks?! have you got 1st gen idrive or the new one? I have the new one and its instant.

i use windows media player. You need to select to use m3u playlists otherwise the car won't play them. It works perfectly. Only issue I'm having is ensuring that the tracks are labeled correctly so that you can play by artist, so for example all U2 plays all U2 tracks. Problem I have is that WMP has detected some albums as "The Red Hot Chili Peppers" and others as "Red Hot Chili Peppers" the cars sees this as two artists. Occasionally it detects some albums as vario artists too.
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      09-02-2009, 04:44 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Neil McRae View Post
Problem I have is that WMP has detected some albums as "The Red Hot Chili Peppers" and others as "Red Hot Chili Peppers" the cars sees this as two artists. Occasionally it detects some albums as vario artists too.
Hey Neil
You could try using something like Mp3tag (Freeware) to reset all the mp3 tags to the correct artist name and to make sure all the album names are correct too...its a great little program I use all the time for that and to add artwork. I also use Mp3gain (freeware again) to equalise all the track volumes to a default of 95db (program default is 89db)...another great prog.
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      09-02-2009, 06:06 AM   #11
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will check that out cheers.
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      04-28-2010, 11:13 PM   #12
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how big is the built-in hard drive? do you guys just leave the usb plugged in all the time or you transfered the songs to the hard drive? will it even play songs in the usb eventhough the songs arent transfered to the hd?
thanks
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      04-29-2010, 01:09 AM   #13
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I find that the easiest way is to just organize the songs manually using folders. The whole album/artist/genre etc categorization never really works well. Unless you get all of your music from one source.
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      05-13-2010, 06:54 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roller View Post
I find that the easiest way is to just organize the songs manually using folders. The whole album/artist/genre etc categorization never really works well. Unless you get all of your music from one source.
Windows Media Player Playlists DO work with USB sticks and mini hard-drives plugged into the armrest USB.

The Playlist files must be located in the root directory of the USB stick / mini hard-disc.

The contents of the playlist must point specifically to where each file is located on the USB stick / mini hard-drive. Remember that on your PC, the Playlist will refer to locations on your PC's hard disc, so these will need to be changed to work correctly in your car.
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      05-14-2010, 07:44 AM   #15
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I used the Windows Media Player SYNC function for moving music and playlists to my USB drive in the armrest, and iDrive recognized it immediately.
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