MH62

I don't have my S5 SB yet but I'm preparing my music files. I'm first re-ripping all my CDs to WAV files then converting them to FLAC and copying them to SD media cards for lossless play. I got hold of a 2018 Q5 manual so I found some info but I do have some questions:

1- There are 2 SD card slots. If I have 2 cards inserted with music on both, do they appear as a single source of music in the MMI or am I forced to select one card or the other?

2- The manual recommends as few folders as possible to speed things up. Is it OK to dump all files in a single folder? I'm planning to go with the following file naming convention: ARTIST - ALBUM - TRACK NUMBER - TRACK NAME so one folder would be manageable from my end.

3- The manual shows a limit of 128 GB. Is this a per card limit or total limit?

Thanks in advance.

RengieMendoza

Can't speak for the S5 SB yet but on my Q7 I have 2 SD Slots and they are separate media sources - it does not aggregate the content.

As for your naming convention, why not just go ARTIS - ALBUM - TRACK? Why do you need the track number?

Lookout57

I'll answer based on what I've found with my 2017 Q7 which has a similar system.

1 - Each card slot is treated as a separate volume. In media you select the volume you want to listen to like you would chose any media device.

2 - The number of folders only impacts the initial creation or update of the media database. At least on the Q7 there is a hard limit of 10,000 media files (FLAC, WAV, MP3, etc). There doesn't seem to be a limit on directories. I have a directory tree that starts at the top with the letters of the alphabet, 26 folders A-Z. Then under each letter I have a folder for the appropriate artist. Then under that a folder for each CD with each track named TRACK NUMBER - TRACK NAME in it. What you need to know is that you don't have to browse by folder to find what you want to hear. The system automatically scans each file on the media for ID3 tags and extracts the artist, album and track names from it. Then you can browse by ARTIST, ALBUM or SONG in the media player.

3 - The manual states 128 GB but I'm using a 512 GB card with no issues other than the 10,000 track limit.

A couple of other things to be aware of.

1 - The manual says that it only supports audio files upto a 48 kHz sample rate. I have 24/192 kHz high resolution files that it plays with no problems. I don't know if it's using that sample rate or is downsampling to 48 kHz.

2 - If you have M3U playlists they are automatically scanned and listed under PLAYLISTS. The playlist will only play files that are on the media that the playlist is on.

Enjoy

MH62

Thanks for your answers.

The track number is just a way to sort the files in the same order as they appear on the album, nothing more. I know the file names have no bearing on how the files are played but I just like it that way.

MH62

Thanks for your answers and extra tips.

2- Good to know, so I'll just keep one folder per artist and one subfolder per album like I have them on my main computer.

3- Your SD card capacity is larger than the documented limit but does the content on the card actually exceed 128 GB?

Stankia

There is a SD card slot in the B9? I've been using the USB slots in the arm rest console.

Fdvigna

Check the glove compartment. Two SD cards slots and One SIM (Phone/Data) card slot.

Glisse

It will definitely be using a sample rate converter to re-sample to the DSP's native processing rate. Which in best case would be 16bit/48kHz. There are a lot of channels, there is a lot of phase manipulation going on, etc, and the price point for the entire system is way too low to have anything esoteric going on.

Doesn't mean you won't get some benefit from using a high resolution file, just means any difference between 320kbps compressed, Redbook, or 24/192 is going to be highly compressed, pardon the pun. A photocopy of the original is better than a photocopy of a photocopy. Haven't got around to testing this out, which isn't hard to do. I think in the acoustic equivalent of Dantes Inferno, which is what a car's interior is, bit depth and sample rate is one of the least important attributes. I suspect many may find the SD storage space requirements of a high resolution file isn't worth it.

To the OP, I didn't understand why you would rip to WAV, then transcode to FLAC. It is an additional step that can lead to metadata issues, as WAV does not embed metadata within the track as FLAC or AIFF do. Also, add the track number at the beginning of the track name, not as a separate field.

Lookout57

Without knowing what DAC chip they are using, it's hard to say what is the maximum bit rate is. They document that they support DVD Video and Audio which is 24/48 kHz. So worse case it's downsampled to 24/48. The most common DAC chips will support 24/96 kHz. Very few dirt cheap chips only support 24/48 kHz. So unless there is a way to get details on what is used or access to the Audi engineers we'll never know. Since I created my FLAC files for my OPUS #2 Digital Audio Player which supports 24/192 kHz and those same files play in the Q7 it saves me a bunch of time to have to encode the originals to a lower bit rate.

If you are archiving the CD as WAV then there is no issue. WAV is just a container for the actual data from the CD. If you only want to get FLAC files from the CDs then rip direct to FLAC using maximum compression and have it add the ID3 tags. One less step which will save a significant amount of time and disk space.

Lookout57

I think the maximum card size listed is Audi looking to save time and money by only documenting what they think is the most common size people would use. On my Q5 and A7 they say the maximum card size is 32 GB but I'm using a 256 GB card with over 200 GB used.

On the 512 GB card I think I'm only using 400 GB. Everything is accessible.