Has anyone used a 128GB USB flash drive successfully? I have a Kingston G2 and it's being ignored completely when I insert it. 64GB works for me (same brand and product line), but not 128GB.
ALAC is the Apple Lossless Audio Codec. Flac (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is probably a bit better supported since it is an open standard. Android supports it as standard and it is typically well supported by open source software. Encoding flac is a lot faster than ALAC.
Merrill
Merrill
Would it be possible for someone who is driving a MS and using a flash drive and has a Mac for music to take a screen shot of what the format looks like when you download your music from the flash drive to the touch screen. Maybe someone can help me with getting my music into the MS. Do not have the car yet but trying to have some music ready when I do get it. I took some of my CD's and ripped them into iTunes. When I plug in my flash drive it comes up on my desktop, I tried to export my library to the flash drive but when I access the music it comes up in a spreadsheet and there is nothing you can do with it. Then I tried to drag the albums to the flash drive and that seem to work. But obviously cannot see the format that would show up in the MS. I know there are many of you out there that are very IT savvy, so if anyone could help it would be appreciated.
Merrill
Merrill
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Al Sherman
It's about THIS car.
Sounds as though you got it. I'm not sure it matters how you put the albums on the flash drive. ON the MS audio screen you will choose "my devices"and then "usb drive." Then you can get a list by album, song, or artist but only in alphabetical order by what is on the usb. No shuffle, or playlist. Hopefully this is coming.
has anyone tried an ssd drive, say 256GB, in a usb enclosure? is there a possibility this will work, or is there a linux/tm file system limitation happening here? i tried a western digital passport drive (platter), won't work. i'd like to get more music than the thumb drives will hold in the s. so, ssd, anyone? i have a few lying around and thought i could just throw one in an enclosure and try that.
also, my library is apple lossless. has been for years. ain't gonna change now. i can't see why tm won't support alac, unless apple charges a ton for licensing which would be stupid on their part, but i don't know.. i do know my transporter/slim devices server (now logitech) serves up alac just fine. i did try mass converting a chunk of my lib to flac to test but haven't found a combo that works yet. loathe to buy a big thumb drive when i have so many ssd's here already. my library is probably 300GBs, would be great to have it all....
thanks for thoughts.
also, my library is apple lossless. has been for years. ain't gonna change now. i can't see why tm won't support alac, unless apple charges a ton for licensing which would be stupid on their part, but i don't know.. i do know my transporter/slim devices server (now logitech) serves up alac just fine. i did try mass converting a chunk of my lib to flac to test but haven't found a combo that works yet. loathe to buy a big thumb drive when i have so many ssd's here already. my library is probably 300GBs, would be great to have it all....
thanks for thoughts.
Merrill
Merrill
Turns out my 128GB flash drive was formatted with exFAT, which the Model S can't read. The Model S can read FAT32, which is capable of volumes up to 2TB... but Windows is deliberately crippled and won't format a drive in FAT32 if it's > 32GB. Found a third-party format tool, reformatted my 128GB flash drive with FAT32, put all my music back on it, and Bob's your uncle.
My thanks to someone on another thread who explained the solution to me.
Sandisk worked intermittently for me. I think the problem was its length meant that it would jostle in the plug.
Al Sherman
It's about THIS car.
My pleasure. It should work. If it doesn't, check back here and these smart people will get it up and running. Lots of really smart computer folks on this forum.
Incidentally, you know you can play the same format from your iPhone over bluetooth in the car at the same relative quality? If you're just copying MP3's from iTunes you might as well play them from the phone. This will also allow true random shuffling, playlist playback. Unfortunately (for now at least) controlled from the phone with the exception of Pause, Play and Forward or Reverse.
I think the reason people are using flash drives is to get the better (Lossless) formats. Everyone seems to agree that FLAC works on the MS. I've been playing with it and at first I didn't really think I heard a difference.Many friends who have listened to the exact track over the phone and then from the usb in FLAC format think the difference is very obvious. A lot of the audiophiles on here say that the upgraded sound is designed for these Lossless formats.
Jerry33 turned me on to a program called MAX earlier in this thread that will rip your actual CD's into the FLAC format and then you can just drop the created folders on the usb stick. It worked well for me (OS10.7.5) and is very easy to use. You DO need the actual CD's as I'm pretty sure it can't "upgrade" a format from iTunes.
While it can't upgrade the format, if you have been importing CDs into iTunes using Apple Lossless, you can convert to FLAC with no loss of quality (and it's easier that sticking in a bunch of CDs).
- - - Updated - - -
Sure can. That's how I did it. It will even delete the mp3a for you on the thumb drive.
Merrill
Merrill
Ok, you guys have lost me. I hate to seems so clueless, but please explain the Max conversion from ALAC to FLAC. In my previous thread I mentioned ripping my CD's into iTunes then dragging them to the flash drive. I have lossless set up. (Al, I cannot seem to do this even right side up).
1. Put the thumb drive in the USB port on your Mac.
2. Open Finder.
2a. Navigate to Users->Merrill->Music->iTunes->iTunes Music. Here you will see a number of directories such as Books, Movies, Podcasts (which you don't want) and Compilations, Unknown Artist, and directories named after the artist or band which you do want.
2b. Copy the directories you want to the thumb drive. (Note be sure to copy, not move. A copy will show a green plus sign).
3. Open MAX
3a. In Max->Preferences select Format and choose FLAC.
3b. In Max->Preferences select Output and select the thumb drive. Check the Delete source files after encoding.
3c. Close the Preferences and select File->Convert files
3d. Use the + and select the directories on the thumb drive that you copied in step 2.
3e. Click the Convert icon in the file conversion screen.
Merrill
Merrill
I haven't tried an SSD, but I am happily using a 1TB portable USB hard drive (platter) containing FLAC files. As long as you format the drive using FAT32 it should work. Most platters come with NTFS so you need to reformat them before using in the Model S. I have found no issues with car motion disturbing the disk drive and this option gives you a lot of space for relatively little cost ($70). The Model S can catalog the drive quickly and allows you to search a huge collection very easily. Just a shame it doesn't support the shuffle function.
huh. i tried this with a passport drive, 1TB, and it didn't mount. what brand are you using if i might ask?
I am currently using a Buffalo MiniStation Stealth 1TB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - HD-PCT1U2/BK. It was not recognized with the NTFS format but after I reformatted to FAT32 everything worked without a problem.
Al Sherman
It's about THIS car.
That's good to know.
Is "Apple Mpeg-4 audio" the same as ALAC? I'm guessing no. In which case I'll be inserting a lot of CD's.
I think it can be both ALAC and AAC.
Apple Lossless
you can do 'get info' and summary in iTunes and it tells you there. Also, look at file size. ~5-10MB for a normal length AAC song and probably 20MB+ for a ALAC song.
Al Sherman
It's about THIS car.
K thanks. Mine are AAC (3-6MB) so I guess I WILL be inserting a lot of CD's!:smile:
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