Audio Files and Thumb Drives for SYNC 4

[Squatch]

I had an older Sync and in order to get audio onto the internal hard drive you had to put the physical CD in and it ripped it to the internal drive--took forever.

Also, the music industryis just now startingto get what's coming to them. They've been screwing artists for decades. Won't it be nice without the Taylor Swift-like empires that only serve to choke out any innovative competition?

Yea, I honestly think that's over kill, you're never going to hear that kind of quality in a Bronco, and the tech in these things isn't really up to the challenge of handling that much data. I save that for my home system only.
It's a lose / lose.

No, it's lossless.

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[DriveAllNight]

This was the reason for my OP. I was surprised myself how well it works with WAV files. You would think indexing would be slow, but it is truly instantaneous with the drives I tested and gave links to. There is no reason to worry about the file sizes.
Maybe I don't need WAVs in the Bronco, but I do in the house and in my studio. Thank goodness the Bronco is not my only listening environment. If I am going to spend the time to rip, it's going to be WAVs. The only reason I can think of as to why anyone could want MP3s today is so they can share them easily. The bass is so hollow. Rip a track to a WAV or m4a. Then rip the same track to an MP3 and listen in your Bronco. You will never look back. The satellite services use heavy compression also, which is one reason I am not a fan.

Huh! I'm amazed the head unit is indexing that much data fast enough so that you don't get a lag ... interesting

 

[Karl_in_Chicago]

Yea, I honestly think that's over kill, you're never going to hear that kind of quality in a Bronco, and the tech in these things isn't really up to the challenge of handling that much data. I save that for my home system only.
It's a lose / lose.

OK, not sure why you are responding to me with this.. I only responded to your comment "The one factor is the compression you use . . ." to inform you that the OP doesn't use compression (because WAVV) and shared that in the first post. I know how audio compression works but, thanks, I guess?

 

[HoosierDaddy]

OK, not sure why you are responding to me with this.. I only responded to your comment "The one factor is the compression you use . . ." to inform you that the OP doesn't use compression (because WAVV) and shared that in the first post. I know how audio compression works but, thanks, I guess?

I appreciated it though, LOL.

I'll often do something similar (info overkill) because here in an open forum, there may be a tech/tire/suspension/audio/whatever noobie reading along that needs the extra info or different point of view.

It's not personal.

 

[DriveAllNight]

OK, not sure why you are responding to me with this.. I only responded to your comment "The one factor is the compression you use . . ." to inform you that the OP doesn't use compression (because WAVV) and shared that in the first post. I know how audio compression works but, thanks, I guess?

I didn't mean anything negative about it, just having a conversation and seeing other's points. Actually the OP posted and clarified something for me, that I probably missed in his first post because of it. I appreciated your post and was just continuing down that path at the time.

thanks

 

[Johnny Mo]

I would love to re-rip all my old cds that I just copied over out of my iTunes library...I just don't have the patience for it - the thought of no or least amount of compression is appealing - especially with the speaker upgrades I did.

 

[dgorsett]

Since I am not at all impressed with the satellite radio service packaged with the vehicle (You know who I'm talking about), I have been working on getting my extensive CD collection ripped to a thumb drive for the Bronco. I thought I would share some of what I have learned.

I was surprised to find that SYNC 4 will recognize a 128 GB drive and even a 256 GB drive. This opens up a whole new world for the mobile audiophile.
These drives have been tested on my '24 Wildtrak with the LUX package with SYNC 4. If you don't have SYNC 4, I can't say for sure that these drives will be recognized.
They access quickly, play smoothly and work flawlessly, even with huge uncompressed files. I am very impressed!
Here are some links:
128 GB: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015CH1PJU?ref=product_details&th=1
256 GB: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XG9XP49?ref=product_details&th=1

The SYNC 4 player will play a multitude of file types. Apple Lossless, FLAC, WAV Lossless, of course, the lowly MP3 and others. All my files are lossless WAV files. Those are as true to the original as you can get. Apple Lossless is also a very good format, but it is not yet as universally recognized as the WAV format, so I am sticking with that for now. Forty minutes of WAV music is usually around 400 MB. So, the 256 GB will hold about 640 standard LP length albums! That's about 426 hours or nearly 18 days of non-stop music in uncompressed WAV format! Why would anyone want to use MP3s? Memory is so cheap now, the crappy MP3 should be becoming obsolete. Plus, WAVs really bring the B&O system to life!

FYI, I have used the dBpoweramp CD ripper in my home recording studio for years. https://www.dbpoweramp.com/cd-ripper.htm All my old masters were archived on CDs. This program makes it easy to retrieve my older stuff. It's absolutely the best out there for too many reasons to go into here. They offer a 21 day free trial. You can rip a lot of music in 21 days! If you want to buy it, it's reasonably priced. P.S. I have no affiliation with the dBpoweramp people.

If anyone has tried different size drives in SYNC 3, let us know what you have found that will work.

Idk what alot of the words you used mean but I currently have ripped/synced about 1700 songs, used about 9 G, to a San Disk Sport n Go and love it. The Bronco handles it well. Shows album art, selectable by artist, album etc. Takes all kinds of files

 

[ArizonaGreg]

I agree with all that's been posted here. I use a 64GB drive that's only using about 44GB so far. Woks great, EXCEPT...
My issue is album art. My folders are by artist with album folders within. All my album folders contain album art, BUT only a small percentage of them show up on the display. The balance show generic album art (guitars, etc.). Any ideas why? I have the art and would like it to show on the display.

 

[BroncoDave24]

I agree with all that's been posted here. I use a 64GB drive that's only using about 44GB so far. Woks great, EXCEPT...
My issue is album art. My folders are by artist with album folders within. All my album folders contain album art, BUT only a small percentage of them show up on the display. The balance show generic album art (guitars, etc.). Any ideas why? I have the art and would like it to show on the display.

Yes. Each track/file has the metadata embedded into it. That includes the cover art that is displayed when the track is played. There are several ways to edit it. This method is specific to a Windoze box... Right click on the file name and click on "Edit ID Tags". Scroll to the bottom and you will see the cover art that is currently embedded. There are options to change it. I am sure Apple OS has an easy way to edit also. Maybe someone can post how it's done with that OS.
Better rippers will embed the cover art into every track on the album if you choose what you want BEFORE you start ripping. You can also select different art for each track. Much easier than editing each track later. If they are already ripped you are stuck editing them one at a time. There is special software that will edit them in bulk. I have never tried it. BTW, the preferred pic size is 800 x 800.

 

[ArizonaGreg]

Yes. Each track/file has the metadata embedded into it. That includes the cover art that is displayed when the track is played. There are several ways to edit it. This method is specific to a Windoze box... Right click on the file name and click on "Edit ID Tags". Scroll to the bottom and you will see the cover art that is currently embedded. There are options to change it. I am sure Apple OS has an easy way to edit also. Maybe someone can post how it's done with that OS.
Better rippers will embed the cover art into every track on the album if you choose what you want BEFORE you start ripping. You can also select different art for each track. Much easier than editing each track later. If they are already ripped you are stuck editing them one at a time. There is special software that will edit them in bulk. I have never tried it. BTW, the preferred pic size is 800 x 800.

If you're talking about Windows 11, there is no "Edit ID Tags" option available when right-clicking a file. Where can I find this option?

 

[BroncoDave24]

If you're talking about Windows 11, there is no "Edit ID Tags" option available when right-clicking a file. Where can I find this option?

I bet that app was added by installing dBpoweramp. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[BroncoDave24]

I found another thumb drive that is TINY, holds 512 GB and works great!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083ZS4HYD?ref=product_details&th=1
At the time of this post they are selling for $32.99

 

[GBHeritage]

I primarily use a thumb drive for all of my music as well... has anyone else had the issue with sync skipping tracks randomly? The issue pops up once in a while and is super frustrating... and I haven't been able to identify the issue, nor have I seen anyone else complain about it. Tried a few different thumb drives to no avail. I listen to music by the album, so it is noticeable when tracks are skipped. Not being able to search for music while driving is also a huge limitation.

I will say sync4 has been a disappointment in functionality and stability when compared to sync3. Using carplay hasn't worked well for selecting music, and only seems useful for navigation.

 

[PowerBronco]

I am curious if anyone is using playlists with their thumb drives, and how you are creating those playlists?

 

[zuke]

I've been doing this for over a decade now, using various Music playing devices and car audio systems. Sync 4 does an admirable job, although last I checked it can't deal with WMA's which I digitized a fair number of my CDs during a period when that was the Windows Media Player default format.

Many of my tracks are in 128kbps and 192kmbps formats, from when digital storage wasn't pennies per gigabyte. I really need to pull out all my CDS again and re rip them, but I have well over 5000 tracks, and just can' get motivated to do it... (I have couple hundred vinyl records too, but I originally digitized all those at 256kbps, so not in a hurry to do those)

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