ex-quattro PETE

And that's true for majority of people. Most can't tell the difference between source CD and VBR2 MP3 in blind tests, even though they think they can. A lot depends on the quality of the hardware as well (DAC).

My hearing has also deteriorated over the years. I can't hear anything above 16-17 kHz anymore. Long time ago, I used to be bothered by the sound of 128 kbps MP3. Nowadays, if a good codec is used, I typically can't tell. MP3 codecs have also improved greatly over the years.

Redd

Pete-
While software options will vary, I don't worry much about codec choices. I just pick "highest quality" and if the computer has to work a little longer, tfb, it will just have to work a little longer.
I agree with you about people thinking they can hear things when a truly blind a/b test shows they can't. (Or, can.) Played that game in the audio salons way back. Heard a lot of nonsense [pun intended] along the way.
I have good, but not exotic, headphones and earsets to use for critical listening these days and even then, I found myself really doubting whether a VBR-4 was any different from a VBR-2. So I told myself, if I can't be SURE there's a loss...I'll assume there might be one, and I stuck to -2.

http://www.goldenears.philips.com

Try the Golden Ears challenge from Philips. The interface is a bit confusing but once you get past that, well, by the second level "challenge" is an appropriate word.

ex-quattro PETE

That's cool. I don't have my trusty Audio Technica headphones with me that I use for critical listening, but when I do, I will check this out.

petercw2

I finally got one of the cables and tried this in my '15TDI. Straight copied my iTunes folder over to a 250G seagate pocket sized drive. The MMI saw the drive and all the folders, but will only play the mp3 files and not any of the .m4a files (apple lossless) and I swear I read in this thread or somewhere else MMI would read those.

When it finds a .m4a file, it shows the title, but tries to read it and I get an error on the screen that says something like "file is damaged or unreadable".

thoughts? thanks.

ex-quattro PETE

It'll play m4a/aac but not lossless. The mmi is limited to something like 320 kbps max bit rate and lossless has much higher bitrate than that.

Redd

Speaking of AMI mysteries. With the base AMI radio system, I've got a USB stick plugged in the glove box. The files (MP3-VBR2) are organized on the stick as:
-Top Folder
--Artist Folders
---Album Folders
----Indiividual tracks--the only music files.

So the top level contains folders by artist name, and each artist folder contains individual albums, and each album contains the usual tracks. A fairly conventional way to do things.

I *know* that at one point I had the system set to play a random mix from the whole "media", so it would randomly grab individual tracks from all folders. Then one day I wanted to listen to some albums, and now I can't get the damned thing to play a random mix from the media again. All it will do, is stay in one album and randomly repeat the tracks in that album.

Duh? I've got it set to random mix "from media" on the shuffle setting. I'm sure of that. But I can't get it to randomly skip around all the music anymore. Anyone know what the "it's something simple, stupid" thing I'm missing here?

[SOLVED! 11/02/2014]
Found the answer to this. While the "MIX" setting gives the deceptive choices of "Media" etc., it does NOT CONTROL THE MIX! You need to scroll around to the REPEAT tab, where you can select the folder, or the media, etc. to randomly pull the tracks in a mix from. The tab implies a choice of how or where to repeat from, but it is totally deceptive. It chooses where the tracks to be MIXED will come from.

It could be worse, Audi could have displayed all the choices in Old High German in a blackletter (gothic) script.

snagitseven

Random play only works within an album from an SD card or USB drive. Files played via an iDevice via AMI cable or imported into the Jukebox from an SD card (and USB drive?) can be randomized by song. Makes no sense but there you are.

dscline

That's strange, because when I try to use random play, it randomizes the entire media, and I would rather it only random within the current folder.

Redd

"Random play only works within an album from an SD card or USB drive."

See, that's the funny thing. There are two different settings on "SHUFFLE", offhand from memory they are something like SHUFFLE MEDIA and SUFFLE (album?) and both selections are doing the same thing, shuffling within one folder only, for me.

To make it clear, this is from a USB stick on an AMI cable.

I wonder...if that SHUFFLE MEDIA setting is also dependent on whether the USB stick is FAT32 or exFAT?

I think I must go to Germany with a section of rubber heater hose and discuss the radio system with an Audi executive. At length. Anyone for a road trip?(G)