Columbus audio formats?

[handandy]

Hi, can anyone tell me if the Columbus system in an L&K Superb will play .FLAC files?

[fj604]

Yes it will.

Edited 8 February, 2016 by fj604

[fj604]

It plays FLAC files but cannot read CUE files, so if you have a whole album as a FLAC file, you won't be able to change tracks unless you split it with Cue Splitter: http://www.medieval.it/cuesplitter-pc/menu-id-71.html

[Shhhkoda]

Interestingly I've only just discovered splitting flac files with cue splitter. But yes Columbus or Amundsen should both read flac files

ok, got a SD card already to go......just need the flippin' car now

[ukgnome]

If you rip a CD as flac files, is the quality any better than mp3, or are you all downloading your files from a site that supplies flac at a better quality than MP3, wma etc

[Shhhkoda]

If you rip a CD as flac files, is the quality any better than mp3, or are you all downloading your files from a site that supplies flac at a better quality than MP3, wma etc

I'm no expert but basically MP3 and WMA are lossy files so you do lose something. Now you can argue at a 320 bit rate it's hard to tell and even more so in a car with less than ideal listening conditions. But you can't argue with the end result in that you have taken

something out of the original you cannot put back.

FLAC is a lossless file, you don't lose anything and you can convert back to WAV, or burn to a CD with no loss of quality. As a storage and playing format it beats MP3/WMA. FLAC files are larger than MP3/WMA but let's face it storage is so cheap it's just not an issue.

[Neilmonstermell1]

I have no idea!!!! What is the best way in simpleton terms to put a CD onto SD card to play in superb??? I have read a few post and am new to all this. What size/type SD card should I buy and then what do I do?

Edited 8 February, 2016 by Neilmonstermell1

[Neilmonstermell1]

If there is an expert on here could they start from the beginning and state what type of SD card then how to get CDs into a playable format on it.

[JimK8]

Have both flacs and mp3s on my current car's Bose system. There is a difference in quality but not really worth the extra space flac takes up imo.

[Paul007]

I have a 32gig card class 10 sdhc and am busy filling it with cd rips. They're all wma (windows media audio) files and I can't tell the difference. I simply insert the cd, select autorip in wma and copy the rip to the drive where the card is.

[Neilmonstermell1]

So. Get myself a 32 gig class 10 card and copy CDs using WMA. Is it as simple as that? Thanks for the help. Will give it a go.

[Paul007]

Yes

[BillyJim]

If there is an expert on here could they start from the beginning and state what type of SD card then how to get CDs into a playable format on it.

I'm not an expert but a keen amateur.

 

The two most popular formats for lossy and lossless are MP3 and FLAC respectively, so I'll concentrate mainly on those.

 

MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer III) is the most common and ergo most supported audio format.

FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is the most common lossless format but has a more limited support in music playing devices.

 

Ripping

MP3 are easily created from your music CDs with Windows Media Player or Apple iTunes (it's known as Ripping). Both of these support MP3 and save your files to disc as an individual file for each song track and usually group an album in one folder, ready to copy to an SD Card.

FLAC will need additional software that is not included as standard with Windows or MacOS.

If using MP3 you should decide on bitrate versus file size. The lowest quality you should cogitate is 128. The highest quality is 320 at double the file size. A compromise is 196, 256 or VBR (variable bitrate).

If the audio files are only going to be used in your car then you may be happier just sticking with the default audio format of the software you are using. For Windows Media Player that will be Windows Media Audio (.wma) and for Apple iTunes MPEG-4 (.m4a). These are supported formats.

 

SD Card

There are primarily two types, type-4 and type-10.

Type-10 has a much higher read/write speed than Type-4. Aimed at devices that require high data rates (i.e. HD cameras, surveillance equipment, etc), you will gain no in-car advantage if only using audio. The advantage is primarily in how long it initially takes to copy your music onto the card. A personal choice if the higher cost of Type-10 is warranted.

Card size should be determined by the number of songs you want on the card and in which format.

My Columbus struggles with more than 10,000 songs (equivalent to about 600 CDs) so don't exceed it as the additional files won't show up.

As a very rough guide per 4 minute song...

5 MB for MP3 @ 128 (lowest quality you should consider). Max. card = 64GB

7.5 MB for MP3 @ 256 or VBR (medium quality). Max. card = 128GB

10 MB for MP3 @ 320 (highest quality). Max. card = 128GB

30 MB for FLAC. Max. card = as big as you can go.

 

Copying to SD

How you group your songs on the card is entirely up to you.

I prefer to keep it organised so I have a folder per artist that then contains sub-folders of each album by that artist.

Using random/mix in the car will play any songs in the folder where you select it and also any sub-folders. For that reason I also put a single audio file in the artist folder.

As an example:

I may have a folder "Queen".

Within that folder I have sub-folders for their albums - "A Night at the Opera", "A Day at the Races", "Sheer Heart Attack", "News of the World".

As it stands I can play tracks randomly from any one of those four albums, but I can't play random tracks from all four albums.

By adding an audio file into the "Queen" folder I can select this track and press random/mix and it will now play random songs from all the four (sub-folder) albums.

 

MP3 v FLAC

I've ripped the same track in both formats and played them over the Canton system to compare.

I'm no audiophile but the FLAC is far clearer to my cloth ears than the best quality MP3.

The disadvantage is file size, so I tend to have a mixture of audio file formats.

The Canton's base response from Shakespears Sisters track "Run Silent, Run Deep" is phenomenal in FLAC and almost lost in MP3 320.

 

Metadata

This is information embedded into the audio file. As a minimum it should include artist and song title. Ideally it will also include album, track number (so it plays in the correct order), and album artwork. All these will be used to display the music correctly in your Superb, but if any info is missing the infotainment has the Gracenote database that could find that missing info (new albums won't be found until you update the Gracenote database which can be done from the Skoda update web site).

 

As a final note, don't ever bother converting songs from a lower format to a higher format (i.e. MP3 VBR to MP3 320, MP3 to FLAC). Whatever was initially compromised cannot be brought back.

Edited 9 February, 2016 by BillyJim

[DonjSZ5]

So. Get myself a 32 gig class 10 card and copy CDs using WMA. Is it as simple as that? Thanks for the help. Will give it a go.

I get my cards from these,

 

http://www.mymemory.co.uk/

 

I now have 3 x 32 MyMemory SDHC Class 10's...very good prices

 

No affiliation.

Edited 9 February, 2016 by DonjSZ5

[RobertP]

 

The Canton's base response from Shakespears Sisters track "Run Silent, Run Deep" is phenomenal in FLAC and almost lost in MP3 320.

I don't know that track but I have noticed the same thing playing FLAC vs MP3 with regard to bass. Bass on FLAC music is so much more powerful. Until your post I thought it was just the particular music I was playing. may have to do some testing too.

 

Nice explanation post btw.

[Shhhkoda]

I'm not an expert but a keen amateur.

 

The two most popular formats for lossy and lossless are MP3 and FLAC respectively, so I'll concentrate mainly on those.

 

MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer III) is the most common and ergo most supported audio format.

FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is the most common lossless format but has a more limited support in music playing devices.

 

Ripping

MP3 are easily created from your music CDs with Windows Media Player or Apple iTunes (it's known as Ripping). Both of these support MP3 and save your files to disc as an individual file for each song track and usually group an album in one folder, ready to copy to an SD Card.

FLAC will need additional software that is not included as standard with Windows or MacOS.

If using MP3 you should decide on bitrate versus file size. The lowest quality you should cogitate is 128. The highest quality is 320 at double the file size. A compromise is 196, 256 or VBR (variable bitrate).

If the audio files are only going to be used in your car then you may be happier just sticking with the default audio format of the software you are using. For Windows Media Player that will be Windows Media Audio (.wma) and for Apple iTunes MPEG-4 (.m4a). These are supported formats.

 

SD Card

There are primarily two types, type-4 and type-10.

Type-10 has a much higher read/write speed than Type-4. Aimed at devices that require high data rates (i.e. HD cameras, surveillance equipment, etc), you will gain no in-car advantage if only using audio. The advantage is primarily in how long it initially takes to copy your music onto the card. A personal choice if the higher cost of Type-10 is warranted.

Card size should be determined by the number of songs you want on the card and in which format.

My Columbus struggles with more than 10,000 songs (equivalent to about 600 CDs) so don't exceed it as the additional files won't show up.

As a very rough guide per 4 minute song...

5 MB for MP3 @ 128 (lowest quality you should consider). Max. card = 64GB

7.5 MB for MP3 @ 256 or VBR (medium quality). Max. card = 128GB

10 MB for MP3 @ 320 (highest quality). Max. card = 128GB

30 MB for FLAC. Max. card = as big as you can go.

 

Copying to SD

How you group your songs on the card is entirely up to you.

I prefer to keep it organised so I have a folder per artist that then contains sub-folders of each album by that artist.

Using random/mix in the car will play any songs in the folder where you select it and also any sub-folders. For that reason I also put a single audio file in the artist folder.

As an example:

I may have a folder "Queen".

Within that folder I have sub-folders for their albums - "A Night at the Opera", "A Day at the Races", "Sheer Heart Attack", "News of the World".

As it stands I can play tracks randomly from any one of those four albums, but I can't play random tracks from all four albums.

By adding an audio file into the "Queen" folder I can select this track and press random/mix and it will now play random songs from all the four (sub-folder) albums.

 

MP3 v FLAC

I've ripped the same track in both formats and played them over the Canton system to compare.

I'm no audiophile but the FLAC is far clearer to my cloth ears than the best quality MP3.

The disadvantage is file size, so I tend to have a mixture of audio file formats.

The Canton's base response from Shakespears Sisters track "Run Silent, Run Deep" is phenomenal in FLAC and almost lost in MP3 320.

 

Metadata

This is information embedded into the audio file. As a minimum it should include artist and song title. Ideally it will also include album, track number (so it plays in the correct order), and album artwork. All these will be used to display the music correctly in your Superb, but if any info is missing the infotainment has the Gracenote database that could find that missing info (new albums won't be found until you update the Gracenote database which can be done from the Skoda update web site).

 

As a final note, don't ever bother converting songs from a lower format to a higher format (i.e. MP3 VBR to MP3 320, MP3 to FLAC). Whatever was initially compromised cannot be brought back.

Nice summary. I was pleased when I discovered the Amundsen player would play FLAC files which is my preferred format.

I'm looking forward to hearing how the Canton sounds when the car comes which I've just agreed to put back from a mid Feb to early March

delivery for a new plate.....not long now.

[Neilmonstermell1]

Fantastic responses from all involved. Thanks. One more question. If I want to give this flac system a go what software are people using to create files on the SD card?

[BillyJim]

If I want to give this flac system a go what software are people using to create files on the SD card?

 

I use Max

[Shhhkoda]

Fantastic responses from all involved. Thanks. One more question. If I want to give this flac system a go what software are people using to create files on the SD card?

Fantastic responses from all involved. Thanks. One more question. If I want to give this flac system a go what software are people using to create files on the SD card?

I use Monkey Media

[sandervdw]

If you rip from a cd, chances are you won't hear any difference between FLAC or MP3. There might be a small difference, but pretty sure 99.9% wouldn't hear it. However, you can find FLAC files which are based on different "masters" of the track. These are a huge difference as CD's are tended to be mastered on loudness while better quality tracks (mostly SACD-tracks) are more mastered on detail. You instantly hear the difference between these two, but they are really hard to find (mostly classical music).

 

But, considering you don't know all of this information, I assume you'll never really hear the difference, most people that say they hear it, are just psychologically triggered to think they hear it.

[Shhhkoda]

If you rip from a cd, chances are you won't hear any difference between FLAC or MP3. There might be a small difference, but pretty sure 99.9% wouldn't hear it. However, you can find FLAC files which are based on different "masters" of the track. These are a huge difference as CD's are tended to be mastered on loudness while better quality tracks (mostly SACD-tracks) are more mastered on detail. You instantly hear the difference between these two, but they are really hard to find (mostly classical music).

 

But, considering you don't know all of this information, I assume you'll never really hear the difference, most people that say they hear it, are just psychologically triggered to think they hear it.

FLAC is my preferred digital medium for storing and playing music because it preserves the best possible copy, i.e. you don't lose anything. But it in a car (unless it's stationary) it's not the best environment for listening so a high bit rate MP3 is perfectly good enough, only by doing side by side listening you might be able to tell the difference. But absolutely agree, the key thing is people shouldn't get too hung up on the subtle differences between MP3's and FLAC when the quality of the source has a bigger impact.

If you listen to first generation CD's from the 80's, to remasters in the 90's to modern high definition SACD or high resolution downloads of the same material there is a huge difference in sound, and it's not just about loudness you hear it in the bass, midrange etc.

[pstraums]

Have anyone tried high-res Flac files in their Columbus? 96/24 or 192/24? (Seems from the table in reply #2 it maxes out at 48Khz but perhaps it can still be played)

[Shhhkoda]

Have anyone tried high-res Flac files in their Columbus? 96/24 or 192/24? (Seems from the table in reply #2 it maxes out at 48Khz but perhaps it can still be played)

Have anyone tried high-res Flac files in their Columbus? 96/24 or 192/24? (Seems from the table in reply #2 it maxes out at 48Khz but perhaps it can still be played)

I would be interested to know that too, I have some high res flac files I'll be trying in the car when it comes. I use a media player on the home stereo and don't ask me why but some high res files it will play fine, others it stutters and some just won't play at all.

[philpix]

I'm assuming that Apple Lossless audio files are not compatible as I can't find any reference in the manual.

Is that the case?

[Shhhkoda]

I'm assuming that Apple Lossless audio files are not compatible as I can't find any reference in the manual.

Is that the case?

From the manual I can only see MP3, WMA, ASF, M4a, M4b, aac, FLAC, WAV, OGG so no ALAC. It should be easy enough to convert them though.