revelator1969

I recently bought my usb adapter cable for my AMI, i had some problems getting it to work with a usb memory stick i had, i thought there a problem with the cable but it turns out the AMI does not support every usb memory stick. I was able to prove it works with another device.

I have a lot of FLAC files on my pc but they dont work with the AMI from what i have read, i also have all my music in the mp3 format which is just over 8000 songs and about 40gb in size. I read the AMI only supports 4000 songs, so basically i will only be able to use about half of my library but im still happy with that, its more than enough. So it looks like a 64gb stick is a waste of time. Can some of you guys recommend me a branded 32gb memory stick that i can buy in the UK and you know its compatible with my AMI.

Oh and can the MMI display album art or is it song titles only?

richard-tx

First things first. To make sure that your AMI will read all available formats, be sure that the unit's firmware is up to date. I don't know what the number of files limit is with the latest firmware.

I gave up on memory sticks. Do not even attempt using SSDs. They just don't work. I use a 1TB USB hard drive. They are cheap and reliable. Cost? $55
You will likely never fill it, but who cares.

Any storage media has to be formatted to FAT32. NTFS will not work.

File formats. While the AMI will not read FLAC, it will read AAC/MP4 I use fre:ac to rip CDs. MP3s sound like crap in the A8 no matter what the compression or bitrates are. Just say NO to MP3. AAC/MP4 sounds pretty good and is near lossless. The exception is rap or hip-hop. It doesn't matter what encoding format you use. It all sounds bad.

No cover art...just file and directory names.. The AMI supports playlists so that is a plus I suppose..

revelator1969

Thanks for your reply. I have already updated the MMI to the latest firmware although i have no idea if this changes the amount of songs the MMI can play.

That hard drive is £50 here in the uk. I guess i would need to ensure there is no 4000 song limit before buying a large portable hard drive. It does seem overkill as i could get a flash drive for a lot less money, finding out which one will work is another matter.

I will give AAC a try as it is a format i have never used it has all been FLAC and Mp3s. I did read one of the MMI updates introduced the ability to play WAV files, again i dont know if this is true. I will give that converter a try so many thanks for the link.

richard-tx

$50 for a 1TB USB hard drive is about as cheap as it gets. Consider the cost per gigabyte and compare it to any high capacity thumb drive. 1TB = 1000GB Sure there are 1TB thumb drives for $30, but the AMI has real problems with a SSD. It just won't read them correctly. Thumb drives may exhibit the same sort of behaviour. Then there are some high end $250 500GB thumb drives.

If you want to experiment, download and install FREAC. That software will allow you to tweak settings. https://www.freac.org/

I use the FAAC AAC/MP4 encoder. I have tried WAV files and could not get the AMI to recognize them as a valid format.

A limit of 4000 songs isn't so bad. If you calculate 10 songs per CD, that means that you can put 400 CDs on a drive. I am not sure if I have 400 CDs of music.
WIth 20 songs per CD that means 200 CDs. With a maximum of 80 minutes per CD, that equates to 200-500 hours of music. If you listened non stop 24 hours a day, you would not repeat for 22 days. Assuming you are driving 4 hours per day. that means that you won't repeat a song in 132 days or a little over 4 months.

Now if you rip the entire CD to a single file, suddenly the numbers really change. 5333 hours or 222 days non stop. Assuming 4 hours of listening per day, you will go for 1332 days or 3.6 years without a repeat.

TSHong

I think the key is to format the usb thumb drive in FAT32. I don't think the brand matters. I used a local sourced cheap 32G thumb drive all in MP3 format in high bitrate with my B&O with addition of a JL Audio sub. I'm pretty discerning about my stereo reproduction and this setup sounds great. My AMi has all had no problems with this setup.

richard-tx

You can't be all that discerning is you are listening to MP3. Either that or the program material is crap. Try listening to some well recorded orchestral stuff. Like what you may ask? Grieg or Schumann's piano concerto on the DG label. Do NOT listen to anything on the Naxos label. If you want to hear some bass response, listen to the soundtrack to "Undercover Brother". MP3 just can't handle it.

TSHong

Almost all of my MP3 are ripped into 292K bitrate or above and you cannot tell the difference on the same song as a cd. Now a cd is not as good as some of the lossless technology formats but in stereo mode, the high bitrate MP3 does sound good. B&O does not like bad formats. Also with the addition of a JL Audio sub, I can reproduce some lows. Not sure of what setup you have but I can assure you I can go toe to toe with 20 to 20k reproduction at very high levels. Most people who have listen to my setup can't believe it's factory setup with a addition of a single sub.

If your ever in ATL, let me know and you can hear what I'm talking about.

richard-tx

If you are ever in Dallas, I will show you the difference. A CD is as good as it gets unless you are talking the ill fated SACD. While lossless is as good as a CD, a lossy compression like MP3 just doesn't equal lossless or a CD. I have been there, done that. I gave up on MP3. Now if you have hearing damage, then you won't be able to hear the difference.

If you do come by I will let you listen to my McIntosh audio setup in the house.. Yes, I am that into music.

TSHong

Now a home setup vs a car set up is vastly different. I can say that in a home setup, you can tell the difference in sound between a cd and a good MP3. But in my setup, the same same rock or hit song sounds the same. Now I don't listen to a lot of classical so I can't say for that type of music. Most people with Bose setups especially wont be able to tell the difference since Bose can't even reproduce near 20 to 20 anyway.

richard-tx

I am not going to argue the point any further. All I can tell you is I tried and A-B comparison between file formats in my Audi A8 with Bose and the difference was obvious to me and my wife. There is only one reason to use MP3 anyway. To save disc space. Since that is no longer an issue, MP3 doesn't make sense anymore. Besides, ripping to MP3 takes about 4-10 times longer to accomplish than MP4/AAC. In the end, it is your car and your music but I can plainly hear the difference, my wife can, and my son can too. If you get a chance to visit Dallas, let me know and you can hear his D2 S8. His car is equal to and in some ways is better than the B&O.