Music solution
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,205
Likes: 67
From: Cumming GA
If all the data is encoded in the .mp3 files, it will show up in the infotainment screens. What program you used to create the .mp3 file will determine what info is encoded with the music. I use an encoding program called Exact Audio Copy, which has an album lookup feature, as well as varying bitrate encoding. I usually encode at 320kbps, and in an auto audio environment , it is indistinguishable from a CD to my ears. I have over 4600 songs on the 32GB SD card in my wife's C7, and it is less than 3/4 full.
From there, I just put all the mp3's onto an SD card and it works great. Has the album art that EAC attached. I started with my 32GB iPod touch, but found it completely unnecessary. Next step is to set up some playlists.
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,829
Likes: 45
From: Las Vegas Nevada
Racer
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 317
Likes: 2
From: Woodland Hills Utah
But you can fix that. If your computer's music folder contains MP3 files you can use mp3tag (free download) to get all your tags written to the music files. Then just copy the music library to an sd card (no larger than 32gb) & you're all set.
Mp3tag here
Last edited by Dooce; Dec 23, 2014 at 01:36 PM.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,939
Likes: 14
From: Baltimore Md.
I had a very old IPod Classic that had a battery issue with going dead overnight. The USB port only charges when the ignition is on. This resulted in various issues with connection like not continuing with the current song, or playlist, or even having to disconnect & reconnect for the IPod to be recognized. I bought a replacement battery off fleabay that solved the issues unless the car wasn't cranked for a few days. That 9 month old battery recently died & I opted to try the SD card. I can't think of any reason why the music quality of an .mp3 file from an SD card should be any different from an IPod.
Heel & Toe
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 18
Likes: 1
My solution may be neither original, smart, nor economical. It did, however, work for me.
I was always a little frustrated playing music from my iPhone in my 2014 2LT C7. I tried two different ways, both with issues.
First, I tried keeping my iPhone in my shirt pocket and playing music thru bluetooth, which worked, except the infotainment screen showed neither album art, nor playlists, nor songlists. Worse, if I used the arrows to skip forward or backward, the sound would mute.
Second, I tried putting the iPhone behind the infotainment screen and connecting via USB. This solved all the problems above, but created a new problem, which was the minor hassle of always having to connect and disconnect my iPhone each time I got in and out of the car. Worse, since the iPhone was out of sight, I kept forgetting to disconnect and take it with me when I left the car, so I often found myself without a phone when I needed one.
Solution: I bought an iPod Nano to keep behind the infotainment screen, connected via USB. Yes, it set me back $160 with tax, but it solved every problem. My iPhone stays in my pocket, the iPod stays in the car, the infotainment screen has full functionality, and Apple gets richer. I'm sure there are cheaper and better solutions, but this worked for me.
I was always a little frustrated playing music from my iPhone in my 2014 2LT C7. I tried two different ways, both with issues.
First, I tried keeping my iPhone in my shirt pocket and playing music thru bluetooth, which worked, except the infotainment screen showed neither album art, nor playlists, nor songlists. Worse, if I used the arrows to skip forward or backward, the sound would mute.
Second, I tried putting the iPhone behind the infotainment screen and connecting via USB. This solved all the problems above, but created a new problem, which was the minor hassle of always having to connect and disconnect my iPhone each time I got in and out of the car. Worse, since the iPhone was out of sight, I kept forgetting to disconnect and take it with me when I left the car, so I often found myself without a phone when I needed one.
Solution: I bought an iPod Nano to keep behind the infotainment screen, connected via USB. Yes, it set me back $160 with tax, but it solved every problem. My iPhone stays in my pocket, the iPod stays in the car, the infotainment screen has full functionality, and Apple gets richer. I'm sure there are cheaper and better solutions, but this worked for me.
The other annoyance was that when a song finished playing and advanced to the next song, the screen and dash wouldn't update with the information on the new song. If you hit the forward arrow during the playing of the song, there was no problem. The screen updated as expected. But if you let the song play out and advance on their own, the information did not update.
So, I replaced the iPod Nano with an old iphone. (For some reason, I still had my old iPhone 4). That worked fine and the annoyances mentioned above do not occur. You would think that an up-to-date iPod would work better than an old iphone. But....
