Trouble re iTunes MP4a files playing on usb

[Lawsteve]

I have an 8gb Sandisk USB stick formatted FAT32. I have been trying to copy the mp4a (unprotected apple lossless format - I ripped my own cd's, not purchased from Apple). When I put the USB stick into the car, the system recognizes the album artwork and song titles, but will not play the songs.

I'm on FW 5.0, if that makes any difference.

the only way I have been able to play from USB is to do a new flac rip of a cd. No album art, but the songs play.

i just don't want to re rip all of my cds!

any suggestions?

 

[nrcooled]

A vast majority of my music is mp4a and plays it fine. Try a reboot of the screen and see if that will fix it.

I am on 4.5 so ymmv.

 

[dsm363]

I have an 8gb Sandisk USB stick formatted FAT32. I have been trying to copy the mp4a (unprotected apple lossless format - I ripped my own cd's, not purchased from Apple). When I put the USB stick into the car, the system recognizes the album artwork and song titles, but will not play the songs.

Tesla doesn't support Apple Lossless Format yet (but hopefully will at some point). AAC works fine though. You should be able to convert your Apple Lossless files into high quality AAC or there are programs to convert to FLAC that are free as well. FLAC conversion will result in no loss in quality since you already went through the trouble to rip them all.

 

[Schmo]

You can also have iTunes convert your songs to AIFF format. The Tesla plays AIFF fine.

 

[Lawsteve]

Tesla doesn't support Apple Lossless Format yet (but hopefully will at some point). AAC works fine though. You should be able to convert your Apple Lossless files into high quality AAC or there are programs to convert to FLAC that are free as well. FLAC conversion will result in no loss in quality since you already went through the trouble to rip them all.

thanks. I found a free converter and have begun converting the m4a files to FLAC. Re m4a support, I searched this and other forums and found numerous claims that m4a files were playing fine. I assume it was confusion between AAC and M4a formats.

- - - Updated - - -

You can also have iTunes convert your songs to AIFF format. The Tesla plays AIFF fine.

I may give that a try. How does sound quality compare between aiff and flac?

 

[dsm363]

This explains it I think:
ALAC to M4A: Convert Audio from ALAC(Apple Lossless) to M4A(MPEG-4 Audio) with River Past Audio Converter, ALAC2M4A converter, conversion


the m4a is a container that can hold either ALAC or AAC which are two different compression methods. Think I have that right. Either way, AAC plays fine, ALAC does not in the Model S.

 

[Schmo]

I may give that a try. How does sound quality compare between aiff and flac?

AIFF is the only Lossless format that both iTunes and Tesla recognize. It is uncompressed, but includes metadata. Sound quality should be the same, but some audiophiles prefer AIFF.

iTunes can convert ALAC and rip CD's directly to AIFF. I also have 24/96 DVD Audio songs in AIFF.

Why bother with creating a redundant FLAC version of each lossless song in your iTunes library when AIFF works on both your Apple devices and your Tesla?

 

[solar powered]

Hi Doug:
I have a library of ALAC files in my itunes library that I ripped from my CDs and CDs that I had borrowed from others. When I tried dragging the files from itunes onto a USB drive, it automatically converted them to Mp4a, just like Lawsteve. Appreciate if you could give some guidance on how to convert them to AIFF instead. Thanks!

 

[aaronw]

I think part of the problem is that ALAC is a proprietary audio format. Given that they're running Linux my guess is that it's just a lot easier to support the other open formats.

 

[Musterion]

Why bother with creating a redundant FLAC version of each lossless song in your iTunes library when AIFF works on both your Apple devices and your Tesla?

The main reason would be file size since ALAC & FLAC are ~50% smaller than AIFF but still lossless. On a computer it may not matter much, but it does with large libraries on USB flash drives in the car.

I think part of the problem is that ALAC is a proprietary audio format. Given that they're running Linux my guess is that it's just a lot easier to support the other open formats.

While originally proprietary, ALAC has been open source for years now, and has Linux implementations. Apple Lossless Audio Codec.

http://alac.macosforge.org

 

[dsm363]

While originally proprietary, ALAC has been open source for years now, and has Linux implementations. Apple Lossless Audio Codec.

http://alac.macosforge.org

Is that project still being worked on or is that something Tesla could use if they wanted to add support?

 

[Dukecat]

I've purchased several songs on iTunes over the last few months and after placing them on a USB drive, I noticed that a few were not being identified in my MS. I then converted a few to FLAC and they still aren't even showing up. Any ideas why they aren't?

 

[dsm363]

I've purchased several songs on iTunes over the last few months and after placing them on a USB drive, I noticed that a few were not being identified in my MS. I then converted a few to FLAC and they still aren't even showing up. Any ideas why they aren't?

I've seen that is well. The song is missing if you search by artist or album but if you search by song, is it still missing?

 

[Dukecat]

I've seen that is well. The song is missing if you search by artist or album but if you search by song, is it still missing?

Yes. Because I was concerned it may just be a search issue, I even set up a test folder that included one song I knew worked and four that weren't (or I couldn't find by searching). When the USB drive is plugged in, the only file in the test folder that is identified and available for playing is the one that's always worked. The other four didn't even appear.

 

[brianman]

Are the songs that are "not being identified" crappy songs? Maybe the car has standards and is doing you a favor.

 

[Dukecat]

Are the songs that are "not being identified" crappy songs? Maybe the car has standards and is doing you a favor.

Quite possibly, but if I want to listen to Hangin' Tough by NKOTB, then gosh darnit, my car should let me! :wink:

 

[brianman]

Quite possibly, but if I want to listen to Hangin' Tough by NKOTB, then gosh darnit, my car should let me! :wink:

I agree. Jokes aside, I don't want a nanny car either.

 

[Schmo]

Steps to convert songs from ALAC to AIFF

Several people asked me for the steps to convert ALAC to AIFF so I am adding them to this thread for reference...

Here's how I converted ALAC to AIFF using iTunes:

1) You need to first change your CD Import Settings in iTunes Preferences so it says "Import Using: AIFF Encoder."
2) Next, select all the ALAC songs you want to convert.
3) Then, right click on one of the songs you selected (or hold down the CTRL key and click on a Mac)
4) In the popup menu that appears, select "Create AIFF Version"

That's it! Changing the CD Import Settings to AIFF is a non-intuitive, but required step to continue.

As mentioned before in this thread, AIFF the only lossless format that works both in iTunes and in your Tesla. It is uncompressed so the file sizes are big, but the people that know audio like Reus Audio Systems prefer it to FLAC.

I can't tell the difference myself so I rip my CDs and DVD-As to AIFF so they are available in iTunes, but then I copy them to my Tesla's USB drive in FLAC so I can fit more songs.

 

[JPP]

I'm bringing this post back up because I am having a problem similar to another post above, and am hoping someone has some wisdom. My music is all on my Mac in iTunes, some 'ripped' and some downloaded. All is shown in files with the .m4a file name. I have copied my entire iTunes folder (drag & drop) onto a small USB drive (formatted FAT32). When I plug the drive into my S, I can see most but not all of my music. FWIW, 1 artist's music does not show up either by artist, album, or even by folder on my S. I can put the drive back into my Mac, and see the folders and files. I actually bought a new USB drive (had a small 32Gb one, bought a larger 64Gb one), and, same issue. What is it about these files that the S does not see? Note that I do not do any fancy file conversion, but leave music as per iTunes (I don't do FLAC or the like). Anyone have any ideas/solutions? Thanks in advance.

 

[Gizmotoy]

In iTunes, right click on one of the songs you think is missing when viewed on the Model S and select Get Info. Pay close attention here to Kind and and Bitrate. Compare to a file that works and note any differences.

In particular, look for "Protected AAC audio file." This means the file has iTunes' DRM (abandoned years ago) and will not be playable by the Model S. If not, it could still be a specific codec type or bitrate that's an issue. M4A files SHOULD be AAC, but maybe an incorrect extension is part of the issue. Apple's DRM-protected files SHOULD be M4P, but again, we're covering the bases here.