Mobile tunes (ipod/mp3)

As always, I'm an electronics idiot.

Years ago (like 2002) I got an iPod. I spent days ripping all of my CDs, downloaded a bunch of songs, and spent what seemed like two years making amazing playlists. The first time I upgraded computers, I followed the instructions and copied all of the correct folder so I could keep my playlists. I failed. That was about 2006. Then my ipod died. I still have the music (somewhere north of 100gb) and have tried some of the free MP3 stuff like Media Monkey and I just don't like it. My thought was to use my Android phone as my MP3 player, but all of the freeware stuff (like media monkey) won't let Android connect to my laptop without a hack which doesn't work.

Should I just suck it up and buy a cheap used ipod? About 30% of my music is AAC protected anyway and won't play on some devices. If so, which ipod do I want? I'm not a fan of iTunes but I'm at least used to it. I don't need the latest and greatest, it will probably live in my glove box hooked up to the rear USB on my head unit.

Suggestions?

• ipod in the glove box?
• solid state HD with folders and playlists? (requiring some form of AAC conversion)
• some other idea?

I would say a lot depends on what sort of interface the head unit in your car uses. If it has USB of the sort that can read a thumb drive, I vote for that. Just leave it in the car, and never worry about something fancy being stolen.

But be advised... not all head units that can take USB can handle a 128gb flash drive.

If you have a usb, does the head unit support direct MP3 playback, folder access? If so,some kind of portable hd would be your best bet.

I love my 16 gig jump drive plugged directly into my jvc head units.

Other than that, the one iPod i owned was fragile and died quickly. The creative mp3 players I had before that took a hell of a beating, including one that was removed from the recesses of a dash after a nasty head on collision. Didn't do nearly the same amount of crap the iPod did, but all I need is a player and a shuffle button.

I use one of these and love it.

Phillips GoGear Ariaz

16 gig and bluetooth, I use it in my shop and my work van. In the house I usually use my tablet.

One of my concerns is accessing songs. I have tried the folder/playlist thing on my Android in the car and its worse than texting. Not keen on dying.

The head unit supports almost anything. It has Iheartradio, pandora, two USBs, ipod control, hd radio... everything. Not sure about max drive size. But again, reading the single-din display while navigating playlists, artists, and file trees is not convenient.

I would LOVE a solid state 250gb HD with folders into which I can copy playlists, but when you have 100+ gb of music, assembling those playlists isn't easy. I'm not very savvy with windows and the copy/move difference. I tried copying shortcuts and ended up moving my entire library.

That's the only real advantage to itunes for me is the playlist part. I guess I'm leaning towards ipod for two reasons: 1) considerable number of AAC files that only play with an authorized itunes, and 2) I'm going to be buying a flash drive, HD, or MP3 player anyway, why not just get the one that already syncs to what I'm used to?

In that case, just get a new ipod.

My last ipod was a $30 80gb classic or video (something with a clickwheel), when that E36 M3 the bed I bought a $40 32GB touch with a cracked screen. When this dies, i'm going back to something with a wheel, works better while in the car. I keep buying old ipods so I don't have to deal with another media player.

Sounds like a plan. Which ipods are good and which are bad? I had an older on with the freezing HD that you had to whack on a phone book to get it to work. The 6th gen classic had up to 160gb... good one?

You've got a few options here.

1. Use your android phone - You can store your music files directly on the phone or you can use a cloud service like Google Music or Amazon music to play. I use musicbee to load tunes onto my phone for use. You'll get connectivity by plugging your phone into the aux-in on your head unit with a cable or using a bluetooth receiver that you'll pair your phone with once your car starts. Power for the BT receiver can come from a usb adapter in the cigarette lighter with a power cable routed to the BT receiver. You then plug in the BT receiver to the aux-in on your head unit via a cable. The good thing about this setup is that you'll have tunes where you have a cell connection if you're using cloud services. With files loaded directly on your phone you can play anywhere obviously and no data usage during playback. You don't need a cable to the phone if you use the BT option unless you want power in which case cable count to the phone is one. If you use the aux-in cable and power you have two cables to the phone which can complicate mounting.

2. Ipod to the head unit - Get an older ipod and use that bastard. They work just about everywhere and take power from just about every usb cigarette lighter adapter out there. I like the classics because they have the click wheel, are easy to use, and durable. You can also load them with many applications none of which require itunes because that piece of sh!t sucks. Itunes is truly satans turd. You'll have to use a usb cable or an audio cable to the aux-in with this option.

3. smaller usb drive - if your head unit has a usb input you can try to use the interface on the headunit to navigate songs stored on a usb drive. This can be tedious as phones and ipods have great interfaces for this. Headunits most often do not. Also, there can be a limit as to the size of the usb drive headunits can access.

Xceler8x wrote: You've got a few options here. 1. Use your android phone - You can store your music files directly on the phone or you can use a cloud service like Google Music or Amazon music to play. I use musicbee to load tunes onto my phone for use. You'll get connectivity by plugging your phone into the aux-in on your head unit with a cable or using a bluetooth receiver that you'll pair your phone with once your car starts. Power for the BT receiver can come from a usb adapter in the cigarette lighter with a power cable routed to the BT receiver. You then plug in the BT receiver to the aux-in on your head unit via a cable. The good thing about this setup is that you'll have tunes where you have a cell connection if you're using cloud services. With files loaded directly on your phone you can play anywhere obviously and no data usage during playback. You don't need a cable to the phone if you use the BT option unless you want power in which case cable count to the phone is one. If you use the aux-in cable and power you have two cables to the phone which can complicate mounting. 2. Ipod to the head unit - Get an older ipod and use that bastard. They work just about everywhere and take power from just about every usb cigarette lighter adapter out there. I like the classics because they have the click wheel, are easy to use, and durable. You can also load them with many applications none of which require itunes because that piece of sh!t sucks. Itunes is truly satans turd. You'll have to use a usb cable or an audio cable to the aux-in with this option. 3. smaller usb drive - if your head unit has a usb input you can try to use the interface on the headunit to navigate songs stored on a usb drive. This can be tedious as phones and ipods have great interfaces for this. Headunits most often do not. Also, there can be a limit as to the size of the usb drive headunits can access.

I came here to post this.

I have two methods of listening to music in the car: my 80GB iPod Classic and my Samsung Galaxy S3 with 32gb of space. I have hundreds of gigs of music on my drives at home. I use the iPod in the garage and in the car, and I use the phone with my car's Bluetooth and some other Bluetooth devices I have at home. I have loaded tons of stuff to Google Music (highly recommended!) and I can switch out stuff on my phone when I want.