t0mt0m

i use it more than my ipod, ya it has most of music on there but is kinda anoying going tghrew it all

also if you pick up a nicer hdsd card its reads faster than the ipod

Bond007_2010

When I first got my S4 I was connecting my iPhone in the glove compartment all the time, now it's more like 60-40 between the SD cards/juke box, and iPhone. The sound quality from the iPhone (using the ipod connector) is just as good as the same mp3/m4a files on the SD card. I usually keep my phone a little more current with music, but it's kind of a hassle to plug in the phone while in the driver seat. My only real dissapointment is with the sound quality of the Sirius radio. I've probably listened to it twice since getting the car because the data compression of the signal leaves the music sounding very tinny.

Cyniclaus

Standard CDs have a bitrate of 1411.2 kbit/s

Lossless codecs (i.e. still literally "CD Quality") can compress the bitrate to roughly half that (i.e. 700-ish).

The only reason they get away with marketing 192 as "CD Quality" is that some people on cheaper equipment can't tell the difference.

So it depends on you...if you can't tell the difference between a 192 MP3 and a lossless rip then it doesn't really matter does it?

Personally, I'd rather rip everything to lossless and not worry about it anymore.

DigiSage

This is the second time I've heard someone say this... can anyone confirm based on their own direct personal experience that this is the case? Even when playing lossless files?

srs

First, I'm sure everyone's ears are different, so your results may vary.

I sat in my driveway one winter Sunday and listened (loud) to the same music passages:

- from a CD;

- On my iPod Touch plugged into the glovebox;

- and on an SD card.

I think the difference has more to do with the format (and bit rate) than with the storage medium. I used Apple Lossless format on the iPod, but the only format I could consistently get to play on the SDHC card was Mp3 - and even at 320 kbps it sucked. The CD was cleanest, but the iPod wasn't bad, at least compared to the SD card.

So my take is that if I could get any lossless format to play from the SD card, I've no doubt it would be good sound too - but I can't, so I don't use the card much and stick to the iPod.

Those are my results.

DigiSage

Very interesting. You're saying that the lossless version of a song played through your iPod into the iPod connector didn't sound as good as the CD version of the same song through the car's CD player? How much of a difference would you say there was? A little, a lot?

I suppose it makes sense, as playing from the iPod still involves an analog->digital converter (iPods have no digital audio output AFAIK), whereas the CD should be digital the entire signal chain, until speaker output anyway.

NowIsGood

The iPod connection is good. If you're happy with the sound of your iPod when connected to any other amp/speaker/headphone system, you'll be happy with it in your S4. If you think compressed files are horrible, even at higher bit rates, the S4 won't magically improve them.

I use my iPod to play relatively high bit-rate files and I'm quite happy with it. I did a comparo in my own car and couldn't tell a difference from the same files copied to an SD card.

In theory, for equivalent filetypes, the SD card will be slightly better, as you're using the digital-to-analog converter (DAC) in the car's stereo, which I believe does more of the amplification at the digital level before converting to analog, whereas if using an iPod it uses its own DAC to produce an analog line-out which the car's stereo then amplifies. Again, I think the DAC in the iPod and the car stereo's analog amplification of the line-out signal is pretty good.

As srs notes, you can't use a lossless format on the SD card.

Your hearage may vary.

-Frank

m444

The WMA-9 is allegedly compatible with the Audi MMI & SD card.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...ecs/audio.aspx
""Windows Media Audio 9 Lossless;
The audio quality of content that is compressed using this codec is the best of all Windows Media Audio codecs. It creates a bit-for-bit duplicate of the original audio file so that no data is lost, which makes it ideal for archiving content masters.

Depending on the complexity of the original, content will be compressed at a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio. Although this is lower than the ratio achieved with other Windows Media Audio 9 Series codecs, it provides the same benefits of compression while leaving the data intact.

Like Windows Media Audio 9 Professional, the Windows Media Audio 9 Lossless codec also offers dynamic range control using the maximum and average audio amplitudes that are calculated during the encoding process. Using the Quiet Mode feature in Windows Media Player 9 and later, users can hear the full dynamic range, a medium difference range up to 12 dB above the average, or a little difference range up to 6 dB above the average.""

srs

Allegedly, indeed. I just tried - using dBpoweramp software (WMA-9.2 lossless is the version they support) to create the music file. No good. The player tells me the track is damaged and won't play.

Perhaps with different software it would work. If you can get it to work I would be interested in hearing about it. Thanks.


Steve

m444

It does not say compatible with any revison beyond WMA-9. The WMA-9.2
format may not be compatible, like the WMA-9 version.

Try downloading uSoft web site;
Expression Encoder 4

http://www.microsoft.com/expression/..._Overview.aspx

If you are using Win XP, before SP3 try;

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en