Hi all

Anyone know if we can upgrade the stereo (software patch or whatever) to be able to read mp4 files instead of just mp3? Just noticing that all the music I'm buying of late is mp4 as standard which means it's tough to play in the car without converting every file every time we download?

Cheers for any thoughts :-)

I thought mp4 was a video format and mp3 an audio format?

No doubt I will be corrected if that's wrong though!

I thought mp4 was a video format and mp3 an audio format?

No doubt I will be corrected if that's wrong though!

That's just what I thought. :think:

MP4 does equal Video

MP3 does equal Audio

Perhaps the OP is referring to the M4A/ M4B file formats used by itunes which are infact AAC format files.

Just going by what my instruction manual for the stereo says ie; can only play WMA or MP3 files. All of my downloaded music these days is MPEG4... so still have the questions folks.

Thanks for your contributions thus far :-)

Try renaming them to .MP3

Sometimes things like that just work.

I think you can convert MP4 audio files to MP3 in iTunes.

MP3 is just the third layer of the MP format, MP4 being the forth layer!!! So in theory, changing the name should work - as long as a common codec was used, and not some iffy Korean job.

MP3 or MPEG Layer three is different to M4A.

As already stated there are many tool, including itunes which will convert the M4A to MP3.

Thanks all. Judging by the consensus of replies there doesn't appear to be any software patch for the stereo itself and it's down to the user having to convert their music files manually before playing them in the car. I'm surprised there isn't a 'hardware' solution but hey ho.

Cheers again for your ideas, all appreciated and have a great day.

Well decoding an M4A requires more processing than an MP3 so you're going to have to have enough CPU for that.

When people build a radio, they don't stick in a load of extra CPU just incase, they put in the least they can get away with to do the job.

That means it costs less to build, uses less power and runs cooler.

As such you're unlikely to find a simple firmware upgrade for AAC.

For something like a satnav radio, that might be different, as there will be ample CPU for doing the satnav, but again it's what you can use at the same time.