Listening in car


I recently got a new car with a pretty good audio system and USB input.  I want to use a memory stick/flash drive to give me access to many musical options.  What's the easiest and least expensive to load music onto a memory stick?  I have a Windows PC but, when I go to the music folder, there's not much.  I have lots of CDs (now in storage because I now use an Innuous Zenith). Is there a way to transfer the CDs I  previously burned onto the Zenith hard disk to a memory stick (I actually tried using  a USB  drive in my car made from the backup feature on the Zenith but my car would not recognize it).  I can load some CDs onto my PC (which does have a disc drive) and then transfer them to the memory stick but it's time consuming and my stored CDs aren't very accessible. 

brownsf

It is an export function that is required to load music onto a USB stick in order to play in your car. I simply use Microsoft Media Player on PC. 

Some caveats:

I have yet to find a car that recognizes the playlist. Even though a Chevy vehicle I tried had playlist capability it did not see the playlist file I created. 

Every car I tried recognized and played the .wma files - they all played them in the same order and the car media systems put artists in folders on their own. Car mfg dependent on how the music you provided is presented. Expect none of them to be identical. 

Have not seen a car media system that has a "random/shuffle" way of playing files, which is really what is needed. 

The 192/24 files I play in my car really shows how much better the source is to the system that you are playing them in. In other words, it is a bit disappointing when I play them in the Chevy or Fords I drive at work. Those stereo systems are just bad and your high definition music shows that off, although it sounds better than any other source you may use in those systems. My Mazda is Ok. What you really need is a great stereo in order to play high resolution files (duh!), and car stereos are generally not up too task. I would expect better results in higher end cars, but there are no guarantees. 

There is NO REASON to utilize anything beyond 192/24 files in your car. FLAC is not going to make your car stereo sound better unless you have an aftermarket system installed. Maybe someone will tell me that their FLAC files sound better in their McIntosh stereo In their Jeep Wagoneer than 192/24, but that would be a reach. That is if FLAC files are recognized by your car in the first place, which I would not deem in any way necessary. 

I have over 3 days of music in my Mazda which is great for long trips.

Use a USB like the Verbatim "Store n' Stay" nano which is extremely small and does not stick out of your car's USB port. Don't use a USB with function lights. Put it there and leave it. I used the 16GB version and 72 hours of 192/24 amounts to less than half of the 16GB, if that.

Yup. Just stream from whatever service you use. No need to rip unless the music is from some impossible to find disk. 

Thanks everyone...and especially GHDPrentice for all the advice.  I didn't know you could stream Qobuz in a car.  I thought you had to be in range of the Innuous to do that.  I'll give it a try and I now know how to transfer a playlist  on Sense to a USB stick.  As you probably can tell, I'm not that technically knowledgable.

When you create a playlist with your Innuos, you can create it as a Sense playlist or a Qobuz playlist.  If you use the Qobuz app on your phone and play music in your car, you will only see the Qobuz playlist.  

I had created a playlist using the Sense app.  I created a new playlist as a Qobuz playlist and copied the songs in the Sense playlist to it.  I did it one song at a time (I didn't have a lot of songs in the playlist).  There might be an easier way to do it. 

I use the Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt that's connected to my phone's USB C output via Dragontail, and is plugged in via mini jack into the AUX of my 2013 Toyota Tacoma. It's sounds a hell of a lot better than the stock CD or Bluetooth player that's in my truck that's for sure. I downloaded a USB bit perfect app to control both Tidal and Qobuz streaming services. You can listen to Hi Res FLAC/MQA music up to 96khz/24. I certainly hear the difference on the truck's JBL speakers.