I haven't got my new car yet (Elegance 1.8 TSi estate - due Sept) but I have downloaded the manuals, including for the Bolero. Having noticed that a 1GB SD card will hold something like 350 tracks in *.wma format (better quality than *.mp3, I believe), plus of course podcasts, this is a faciltiy that I may wish to use. However I have never had this facility on a car 'radio' before and the manual is not especially helpful. Has anyone used it?

For example, what file structure can you use? Can you adopt a folder hierarchy like this

- Hendrix

- Album 1

- track 1

- track 2

- ... etc

- Album 2

- track 1

- track 2

- ... etc

- Led Zeppelin

- Album 1

- track 1

- track 2

- ... etc

- Album 2

- track 1

- track 2

- ... etc

If so - How can you select the album you want? What appears on the screen? (pics would be good if you can manage).

Any guidance will be helpful.

Edited 10 July, 201015 yr by the_brace

The answer is yes.

I use windows Media Player to put the music files into 'my music' then copy & paste onto the SD card.

Media player extracts the band name , album title and track title and arranges them as you suggest.

Some albums do not have all or any of the information so you will need to entitle them yourself before copying to the SD card.

The information displayed is transparent and usually is artist, album and track (not always) and there are folder symbols and return symbols, on the Bolero, much like windows XP. Tedious to stop one album and find another one at times. I use 1GB cards (~35 albums).

Edited 10 July, 201015 yr by gregoir

I'm also interested in SD card playback, never having had the function previously.

Will the Bolero unit read SDHC cards? What is the max card size?

I understand it takes some time for the Bolero unit to read the card and understand the file layout - is this only on the first loading of the card or every time you want to play music from SD?

Any screen shots of the Bolero display when playing SD?

Thanks

I'm also interested in SD card playback, never having had the function previously.

Will the Bolero unit read SDHC cards? What is the max card size?

I understand it takes some time for the Bolero unit to read the card and understand the file layout - is this only on the first loading of the card or every time you want to play music from SD?

Any screen shots of the Bolero display when playing SD?

Thanks

Yes, Bolero suport SDHC card. I have 6gb and works perfect. Time to unit read files is 4-5 sec..The reading time is only if you listen from anoder source ( cd, aux), vhen you listen radio and then music from SD, sound play imediatly.

Scren shots of the Bolero you can watch on youtube.

Matjaž

Edited 10 July, 201015 yr by maskoo

I am in the middle of a Rush Fest at the moment but here are some screen shots.

The maximum card size is 32GB but I am using an 8GB at present .

Windows Media Player to transfer to the card from CD to obtain song info etc in MP3 format at 320kbps.........one diddy card instead of loads of CDs rattling around.

Need to get the duster out it appears!!

Edited 10 July, 201015 yr by budgiebandolier

Thanks for the info/screenshots! Looks much better then I expected. Was dithering to specify MDI when ordering the car but seeing SD is so well supported, glad I didnt - prefer to use cheap SD cards rather then an expensive MP3 player.

Although I hope it plays stuff other then Rush Now where's my Val Doonican long players . . . .

MP3 format at 320kbps

Wow - at a decent bitrate also! Much better then a lowly 192kbps iPod

Now where's my Val Doonican long players . . . .

What a waste of a good SD card

Thanks everyone - just what I was looking for

PS - what a helpful place this is

Edited 10 July, 201015 yr by the_brace

I can't believe that no one has mentioned the pitfalls of not using playlists yet though!

The card will be slow between different albums EACH TIME. You can opt for smallish cards or sort your music out on a big card with the Bolero solely using playlists.

Do a search for playlists and you'll see what I mean.

And make sure you turn the touch beep or whetever its called OFF or the response is very slow.

I can't believe that no one has mentioned the pitfalls of not using playlists yet though!

...

Do a search for playlists and you'll see what I mean.

I had a look at "playlists" and it strikes me that it is a workaround to a problem that only arises with thumping great cards with zillions of tracks (maybe I exaggerate a little).

I have ripped a couple of CDs and it looks as though I can get about 20 albums on a 2GB card (at 256Kbps - not sure that the sound system or the ambient noise in a car will justify using 320Kbps - maybe 192Kbps would be enough (or 25 albums)). So I can carry 1 postage-stamp sized card rather than 20 CDs - looks like a 'win' to me. When the card is full I can get another for about a fiver, and however I value my time this makes more sense to me than messing about with playlists - especially if they need altering whenever new albums are added.

Can I ask a further question (and don't forget - I haven't got the car yet)? If I adopt the folder structure in post #1 and I play Hendrix\album1\track1 , what happens when it finishes? Does it move on to track2, then track3 etc? That is - can I just choose an album and play it from start to finish, or does it do something else?

I had a look at "playlists" and it strikes me that it is a workaround to a problem that only arises with thumping great cards with zillions of tracks (maybe I exaggerate a little).

I have ripped a couple of CDs and it looks as though I can get about 20 albums on a 2GB card (at 256Kbps - not sure that the sound system or the ambient noise in a car will justify using 320Kbps - maybe 192Kbps would be enough (or 25 albums)). So I can carry 1 postage-stamp sized card rather than 20 CDs - looks like a 'win' to me. When the card is full I can get another for about a fiver, and however I value my time this makes more sense to me than messing about with playlists - especially if they need altering whenever new albums are added.

Can I ask a further question (and don't forget - I haven't got the car yet)? If I adopt the folder structure in post #1 and I play Hendrix\album1\track1 , what happens when it finishes? Does it move on to track2, then track3 etc? That is - can I just choose an album and play it from start to finish, or does it do something else?

As you can get a 16gb card for about £17 then that in itself means you'll only need to have one card in the car at any time so saves 'swapping out' to listen to other music.

There is a marked difference (even in a car) when you move up to 320k or VBR so compare the rates and make your own choice - space is the only thing to factor in as the higher the bitrate, the bigger the file.

The Bolero does carry on playing one file after another so no need to re-select another track.

The program from danishviking here makes it all so, so easy to set out playlists that it's really a no-brainer to do.

The Bolero does carry on playing one file after another so no need to re-select another track.

Thanks for this.

Does it play one file after another, but within the same folder (album), or does it start 'hunting' other folders (albums)?

From memory, I believe it plays the tracks from one album before moving on to the next album. There is a 'mix' function but that doesn't work like on the ipod.

From memory, I believe it plays the tracks from one album before moving on to the next album. There is a 'mix' function but that doesn't work like on the ipod.

Thanks - no more questions now from me (on this topic at least) until I get the car

The program from danishviking here makes it all so, so easy to set out playlists that it's really a no-brainer to do.

Thanks for that - have down loaded and it looks useful. Although it does mention "no subfolders in subfolders" - does this mean you can't organise:

Artist 1 folder

- Album 1 folder

- - Track 1 file

- - Track 2 file

- Album 2 folder

- - Track 1 file

- - Track 2 file

Artist 2 folder

- Album 1 folder

etc?

It won't mean par se that you can't do that but obviously his program won't do it.

If you make your own playlists, or have none at all then that format can be done.

P.S. I've just checked what the_brace was asking and as I solely use playlists then it will just follow whatever is in that playlist and not move on to other albums without being told to do so. Hopefully a non playlist user will confirm what theirs does?

Edit: Typo

Edited 11 July, 201015 yr by john999boy

When not using playlists and selecting an album it plays that album and then repeats that album til you make a new selection

At the end of the day the Bolero is the biggest pile of dung going. If you genuinely want to play loads of music, then get the MDI installed + Ipod lead & Ipod, simple easy, no stupid playlists required.

At the end of the day the Bolero is the biggest pile of dung going. If you genuinely want to play loads of music, then get the MDI installed + Ipod lead & Ipod, simple easy, no stupid playlists required.

I disagree mate, the option you suggest is no doubt better but considerably more expensive. I have a couple of SD cards (Less than £10 each) sorted with Danish Vikings software and they work great for my needs. The Bolero also does my hand free phone (With bluetooth addon), reversing sensors indicator screen and gets me DAB radio (Using pure mini dab plugged into 3.5mm input)

Just my opinion of course!

Cheers

Brian

More expensive, Yes!

But far easier if you have 2,900+ tracks of music from 1,204 different artists, in 3,001 folders, which would play continuously 6,9 days, without repeating.

More expensive, Yes!

But far easier if you have 2,900+ tracks of music from 1,204 different artists, in 3,001 folders, which would play continuously 6,9 days, without repeating.

But on the SD card you could have much higher quality music to listen to @ 320Kbps

I don't need to worry about the bitrate, I've got a 64Gb Ipod attached + 160Gb Ipod classic as backup, so I can have a bitrate of my choice, not have to worry about a SD card & stupid playlists for a Bolero to use.

I just use the Ipod shuffle function and it does what the damned Bolero should do without any hassles.

You can have any bitrate on either the SD card or via the MDI but what Warren fails to realise is that no one else seems to care about the 'mix' function not working the same way as the ipod version. I actually like to listen to what I want to listen to and not what just happens to be randomly picked from a 64gb or 160gb ipod.

The Bolero mix function does work but in a different manner and will probably not actually be used by most people anyway! (danishviking has put in a 'every track mix' selection on his program though)

That just leaves the cost comparison (which has been pointed out many times before). Clearly a winner for playlist and SD cards methinks!

This is the proverbial 'bee in a bonnet' subject for Warren but costwise it just doesn't stack up.

Edit: Typo noticed!

Edited 16 July, 201015 yr by john999boy