Different audio formats on the SD card

[Svensken]

I am getting different answers from different sources when reading on the internet, so...

 

Which of the following formats are playable from the SD card through the car stereo (I will have the Columbus unit if that makes a difference).

 

1. .mp3 CBR =320 kbit/s

2. .mp3 VBR ~256 kbit/s

3. .m4a CBR =320 kbit/s

4. .m4a VBR ~256 kbit/s 

5. .m4a TVBR ~350 kbit/s

 

How is the track length display affected when playing VBR-files? Wrong track length or "VBR" displayed?

 

The thing is, I will be re-ripping my huge collection of music CDs and .m4a TVBR sounds best on my Sonos home system, but I'm not sure that format will work on the SD card since it's above the 320 kbit/s limit. My second choice would be .m4a VBR. I don't want to rip two versions of each file or convert.

I could wait a few weeks more and find out for myself, but I want to get started asap.  :sun:

[Shermo]

I got a 128Gb SD card and just put all my music on it in the FLAC format, then it's CD quality and no worries about this. But I would be highly surprised if MP3 V0 wouldn't work fine (V0 is pretty much VBR ~256kb/s), I'll see if I can try that tonight for you.

[Svensken]

Yup, non-lossy files are best quality and I could convert those to whatever format I want. But I have some trouble sending those big files through my home-WiFi to my Sonos system. And I really would like to have only one setup of files to use at home and in my car.

[aki78]

I am getting different answers from different sources when reading on the internet, so...

 

Which of the following formats are playable from the SD card through the car stereo (I will have the Columbus unit if that makes a difference).

 

1. .mp3 CBR =320 kbit/s

2. .mp3 VBR ~256 kbit/s

3. .m4a CBR =320 kbit/s

4. .m4a VBR ~256 kbit/s 

5. .m4a TVBR ~350 kbit/s

 

How is the track length display affected when playing VBR-files? Wrong track length or "VBR" displayed?

 

The thing is, I will be re-ripping my huge collection of music CDs and .m4a TVBR sounds best on my Sonos home system, but I'm not sure that format will work on the SD card since it's above the 320 kbit/s limit. My second choice would be .m4a VBR. I don't want to rip two versions of each file or convert.

I could wait a few weeks more and find out for myself, but I want to get started asap.  :sun:

I have Amundsen + Canton and I have a lot of .mp3s on an SD card from the internet. 128 kbps and above, both vbr and cbr.

No problem with playback but I can tell you the system is very sensitive to the files below 256 kbps. I mean they sound badly (like more compressed files). On my home stereo they sound much better.

320 kbps sounds very well, 256 kbps is okay (but I can hear the difference) and the files with lower bitrate aren't.

No time displaying problems with vbr.

I will try recoding a 256 kbps (or lower) file to 320 and see (hear) if there's a difference when played in the car.

I have no experiences with other formats I use only mp3 files.

[markytop]

Does anyone know the format that is stored on the Jukebox of the Columbus when you rip from the CD drive in the glovebox?

 

Reason for asking is that I ripped a CD in this way the other day, and the sound quality seems higher than anything I have imported or played from cards/USB etc

 

Most of my music is 320kbps mp3, but there seemed a noticeable difference. Am trying to avoid a day spent re-ripping CDs directly in the car (as it isn't the faster process)

[Yogi-Bear]

Can't you copy one of the files from the Columbus onto an SD card and then examine it on your computer?

[philhoward]

I'm playing a mix of m4a and mp3 off my SD card and it's fine..

[andyvee]

I haven't found a way of working out what format the Columbus uses if you rip directly to the HDD. I agree though, the quality is as good as the original CD, so I would expect it to be a lossless format.

[Svensken]

Thanks for replies. They have helped me decide which way to go about this.
I am going to rip my collection in .m4a True VBR ~256 (Quality Target 110). It seems this format is ok to handle for the car system and it sounds great at home.