S6BlueJacket

So, my S6 should be here in a few days....giddy with excitement!!!

My question involves which music storage method has a better interface. Can you control/view your music better with either the iPod interface or SD card reader?

I don't own an iPod but would buy one to load up and just leave in the car if the features were better than the SD card route. If not, like most, I have countless SD cards all over the house.

Thanks in advance for your time and input!

Go123

The interface will be the same. The SD card will sound better because it will use the B&O DAC.

S6BlueJacket

Thanks so much! Saved me an unnecessary purchase.

Delurker

So it's not converted DA/AD before it gets to the amp? It would seem a lot of unnecessary conversion to take digital from the SD card, convert to analog, back to digital over MOST, then back to analog in the amp. I have Bose, FWIW.

I guess the lack of FLAC (2013 s6) would be the deal-breaker. Probably better to run high-quality source material through an iPod DAC and back to digital in the MMI than to play crap quality files digital all the way back to whatever picks it up off the MOST.

vigilan388

Buy a hard drive and get the Audi MMI to USB connector. I've had a 250 gig portable HDD in my S5 and now S6 for about 4.5 years. It works great and is very simple to navigate while driving.

S6BlueJacket

I hadn't thought about the HDD route. Good idea, thanks!

Again, my primary concern is the interface....ease of use while driving, album covers making it easy to recognize, etc. Sound quality is important, too, but I just want to make sure I'm not losing functionality with one method vs another.

vigilan388

Sound quality won't be a concern, since you can keep everything digital. I rip all of my FLAC to 320 kbps MP3, since space isn't much of a concern. Audi's interface indeed supports album artwork.

I found the best method is to organize my music as follows:
Artist
--> Album [Year]
-----> ## - Title.mp3

Also, if you prefer to listen to all of your music on a shuffle mode, create a new folder called "ALL" and put all of your mp3s in that single folder (no subfolders). Use the Random Playback option in this folder for a jukebox mode.

plat27265

I use an iPod Touch I bought on Craigslist for cheap. I have an extensive iTunes music collection that has a mix of purchased AAC files and personal MP3 music files. Easy to operate and I can see the cover art. I can use the SD Card but I do not want to be bothered by audio file compatibility issues. Also, if you buy iTunes music online, Apple will not allow you to it back on your system without using an iPod. But, if your music is derived straight from CD and is saved in one of the accepted music file formats then using the SD Card may be the way to go. Especially if you have a lot of SD cards lying around in your home.

Delurker

That used to be the case with iTunes-purchased music, but you can copy the files around and play as you like now. I've moved music between iTunes libraries and I was just playing music I bought on iTunes from an SD card on my S6. Played 256K AAC songs fine, but ALAC (800-1100K) files were all reported as "damaged".

malutki

I have my music on the SD card in separate folders by Artist and the shuffle mode works fine. Just FYI...