Since I have had my G35S, I have not yet used the Compact Flash to play MP3's. All of my Music options up until now have been a combination of CD's, Music Box recordings, and XM Radio.

Over the last couple of days I have been trying to acclimate myself to using the Compact Flash to play downloaded music. Since I don't currently own an IPod or an MP3 player, this is somewhat new to me, so I am on a learning curve here (and no I am not computer illiterate - just a little behind in the technology).

Anyway, here are my questions (frustrations):

(1) Do any of you think that the whole process of downloading MP3's and transferring them to a CF card is too complicated? It seems like there are too many steps here to make it worthwhile. For what is supposed to be a "state-of-the-art" audio system, it seems to me that this option was not very well designed;

(2) What music services provide the ability to directly download MP3 files - i.e. instead of having to download AAC files and converting them to MP3's?;

(3) How do you convert the files? I downloaded the Xilsoft Audio converter, but it couldn't read the M4P (protected file) I had downloaded from iTunes;

(4) As part of this process, do you have to burn MP3's to a CD first (once you retrieve or convert them), and then transfer them to a CF Card? From what I can tell from reviewing several music services, none of them provide the ability to save the files to any media other than a CD or DVD. If this is the case, then why even bother?

(5) Lastly, what music services do you guys use/recommend?

I would greatly appreciate any assistance you can provide.

Regards,

 

It Should Be Simple Like A Drag And Drop Rite In To The Cf Card.
Not Sure What Format Plays In The Car.mp3s I Would Assume.

 

If you purchased you music from iTunes in Apple's proprietary format, I believe you have to burn audio CD's of songs and then rip it back to MP3. Then you can load them on the CF card and play it on the SOW. You can also take that audio CD and record it onto the Music Box to play in the G.

 

All you do is drop and drag your MP3s onto the CF card. If you downloaded your music in MP3 format, there is no need to convert file types. The CF can also except WMA format files as well.

I am not sure I understand when you say the CF card option wasn't very well designed. I use the CF car almost entirely just because of it's simplicity.

 

Garnet Canuck,

I have been unable to find any music files that can be downloaded directly as MP3's. Again, keep in mind that I currently don't own an iPod or MP3 player.

First I tried Yahoo Music. After downloading an entire album to my CF card, I see that these files are in a Yahoo proprietary format. When I tried playing them in the G, I got a message that the file format was unreadable.

Then I tried iTunes. I purchased one song and downloaded it to my flash drive (I was going to transfer it to the CF later). It downloaded as a M4P (protected AAC file). The iTunes software has a built-in file converter. so I am thinking I am almost done. I then run the converter, and I get an error message stating that you cannot convert a protected M4P file to an MP3.

So now, I am back to 'square one'.

Bottom line - where do I go to directly download MP3 files?

Thanks.

 

http://www.torrentspy.com/
go there and search for your albums and you will get results.
next go and down load this free program called utorrent, youll ned this to open up the torrents from your search results. just open them and they will start to down load...http://www.utorrent.com/

 

Actually I personally prefer the CF cards over the music box. It's easy, compact (two-three cards fit in the ashtray), and the process is pretty straight forward - I think that the editing process on the CF card is much easier as the computer treats it as a simple storage device. Don't like the naming convention? - no problem pop that sucker into a card reader and rename the files.

As to your questions, here are my personal answers:

1. Not a lot of steps at all. If you already have MP3s then it's just a matter of copying them to the card. If you don't have MP3s, you either download them or rip them from CDs.

2. Napster is one that let's you download MP3s. If you purchase them, the file is downloaded with DRM protection which you can remove with a good software (can download it off the net).

3. If you want to rip audio CDs straight to MP3s, the easiest software by far is "CD to MP3 converter" - easy and fast. 5 minutes max, and you have your whole CD in MP3 format.

4. That's true with files that are DRM-protected - which was designed to prevent the redistribution of MP3 files. Again, if the files are protected, use a DRM removal software (tunebite is a good one) to get rid of the protection. The latter works on WMA files.

5. Don't really use any services. Most of my music came from ripping the CDs I owned. If there is something new that I don't have on CD, I usually hop on Napster and download the song.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

As long as they are not DRM-protected. I actually came across this very same problem two days ago. I copied a whole album of the Gypsy Kings in WMA format onto the card but the SOW did not want to play it. I couldn't figure it out for the life of me, until I realized they were protected. I used Tunebite to remove the protection, and in the process, also converted them to MP3 - and vualla - The Gypsy Kings are now in my car.

 

Thanks to all! This information is very helpful.

Regards,

 

Checking this Tunebite out right now. If this works... maybe I wont need to keep using my mp3 player in my car all the time?!?! I will just have to buy some CF cards. Hello eBay?!?!

EDIT* I was meeting my gf somewhere yesterday, and she was running late (as women usually are ), so I throw the car in Park, and watched an episode of Entourage I have on my MP3 player, it was pretty sweet! Of course, she arrived right as it was getting good- oh well!

 

Hmm- Looks like you have to pay for Tunebite? The trial version seems to only convert the first 31 seconds of each song...