USB and AUX input technologies

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I have just gotten a CD player for my vehicle which has USB and aux on the faceplate. I am usually way late to new technology and this is no exception.

I have understood the aux if for plugging in an iPad or iPod or iPhone. On my shop receiver I have used a 2RCA to aux jack to plug up the iPod to listen to my speakers thru the reciver.

But what about the USB. I understand this port is for a thumb drive that can store tons of music and at a high quality level. Can anyone explain further? Mostly how to get a quality download legally from the computer/internet. There is a CD that is no longer made that may be available online that I may wish to play on my head unit in the future.
 
Many headunits nowadays are iPhone compatible by default (wish I could say the same for Android). Using your charge cable, connect the USB port to your phone and in "iPod" mode, you can listen to whatever music you have on your phone. You should also be able to stream off YouTube, etc.
 
Originally Posted By: FordBroncoVWJeta
There is a website called clipgrab.com. It downloads youtube videos. Thats how I do all my music.

he asked for Legal ways... that is not one.
 
Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Mostly how to get a quality download legally from the computer/internet.

Amazon gives you the option to buy most of the music in digital/MP3 format. You can download the mp3 files to your computer and then just copy them to a thumb drive.

The stuff I bought off Amazon was in 256 kbps mp3 format, which is decent quality, indistinguishable from CD to most ears.

Also, when you use the USB connection, your deck should be able to display track name/artist/album information.

As far as overall sound quality, USB vs aux, one isn't always better than the other, but I suppose background noise will be lower with USB. When you use USB, you rely on your deck's DAC (digital-to-analog converter) to convert audio from digital to analog and then amplify it. When you use aux, you rely on your source's (your iPod, for example) DAC to convert audio from digital to analog and then your deck to amplify it. DAC quality can vary greatly in various phones and audio decks.
 
USB is nicer than AUX for iPods because not only does the head unit display the artist, album, and song name, but you also control the iPod using the head unit's controls. All of my cars have aftermarket head units with a rear USB input. The USB cable is routed to the glove box where I put my iPod. I don't have to touch or look at the iPod at all. You don't see the iPod or any wires with the glove box closed and everything is controlled from the head unit.
 
Google Play Music is what I would recommend you pay for. Cheap subscription and you can listen to any song you want.
 
My head units use Bluetooth for both the hands-free phone operation and for music. No need for wires unless I need to charge at the same time, and even then its generally easier to just leave the head unit set to use the Bluetooth link for the audio than to switch over to the wired USB link.

If you can get your music in .mp3 or .m4a format, then you can copy it to a USB drive and play. Some head units have SD card slots too. If all you have access to is .m4p format, that is DRM protected and the head unit may not play it. Some music services sell .mp3 (Amazon), most offer .m4a but may charge a little more for "DRM free" copies than they would for .m4p. Many head units even provide track/album/artist indexing and searching on the USB or SD card.
 
If that USB port is for a thumb drive, then you just copy your mp3s and m4as onto a drive. My friend still uses Windows Media Player to convert his CDs to mp3s. I know iTunes does that as well. Both will create a subfolder in your music directory in Windows that you copy onto the USB stick. Yes, it's legal to rip CDs you own. It's what you do with it afterwards where things start to get legal and differ. But with how cheap music is these days no-one will bother you until you start to make money or draw too much attention.
 
My Tundra has a USB port, and I tried putting music onto a USB thumbstick. It works, but the old non-LCD display kinda sucks. [Dunno what it is--but it's not one of the fancy touchscreen LCD's so common today.] The navigation through folders etc on a small display isn't fun while moving. As a result, I just use the AUX jack if I really wanted to listen out of my iDevice in that vehicle. Pretty simple, although navigating while moving is still kinda sucky. Not knowing what vehicle you have, if the display&support of the USB isn't that great, AUX may be better.

I tried Bluetooth, but it gave a warning about possibly disconnecting my phone if I did that--I guess it doesn't like having two different devices connected.

I ripped much of my CD's onto a PC, which then can be transferred to my iDevice. I downloaded podcasts, which are in the free and legal world also (at least the free ones!). Its my understanding that if you own a copy of an album, you can make copies for yourself--so if you buy a ratty old cassette tape, and then copy someone's digital copy, then you are in effect copying what you already own. Or you could just buy CD's at Walmart when they go on sale. YMMV.
 
Originally Posted By: earlyre
Originally Posted By: FordBroncoVWJeta
There is a website called clipgrab.com. It downloads youtube videos. Thats how I do all my music.

he asked for Legal ways... that is not one.


And cutting off your cat is illegal too. But every one cuts that off...
28.gif
 
Just one thing to add.

Somebody mentioned Bluetooth as a way to connect your phone to your Head Unit, when doing that in my experience has resulted in a reduction in sound quality.

Not a huge difference of course, but something to consider.
 
Originally Posted By: FordBroncoVWJeta
Originally Posted By: earlyre
Originally Posted By: FordBroncoVWJeta
There is a website called clipgrab.com. It downloads youtube videos. Thats how I do all my music.

he asked for Legal ways... that is not one.


And cutting off your cat is illegal too. But every one cuts that off...
28.gif


Exactly get over it.

Don't make this hard. Go to YouTube..copy the address of the song.
go to http://convert2mp3.net/en/

Copy it on a flash drive..plug it in. Unless you have a $2000 tuner and speakers in your vehicle. It will be fine.
 
Originally Posted By: bigjl
Just one thing to add.

Somebody mentioned Bluetooth as a way to connect your phone to your Head Unit, when doing that in my experience has resulted in a reduction in sound quality.

Not a huge difference of course, but something to consider.


I can't tell the difference between Bluetooth and USB with my iDevices and head unit combo. Both are better than plugging in the analog headphone cable to the "aux" input, though.
 
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