Can our radio play mp3 files straight from the disc or do I need to convert the files? I didn't see any other threads with this question and I much rather not waste a disc....

thanks!

 

You have to convert the files.

 

What do you mean? Do you mean rip the music in MP3 format to a CD? I was just thinking about asking this same question, and I guess I'm not sure I have the answer, so here it goes;

If I rip or copy MP3 files to a CD, can I play that CD on my XF HU?

 

thank you very much

 

What I meant was taking my mp3 files and keeping in the mp3 format...thereby saving space and fitting more songs on the disc.

Also, ripping and burning are two different things:

ripping: pulling songs from a cd to your hard drive
burning: copying songs to a cd from your hard drive or other media

I have a burned cd in my stock radio so yea it works...i just wanted to know if I could skip the conversion process so that way i could fit more songs on a single disc.

 

What are you converting them to? I believe I have tried it, and used NERO to burn it to an Audio cd, but using MP3 tracks.. now i'm not sure if NERO converts them before it burns them to the disc.. curious now.

 

generally computers will automatically convert the mp3 files into a readable format for cd players to read. Programs like NERO, when you click the audio cd tab will convert the mp3 files as well. I can't remember what extension the readable format is for cd players - sorry

 

OK guys. It seems that you guys are having some techie confusion. I can help with that.

The Crossfire stock head unit will not play Data CDs. It only plays Audio CDs. Where you get the CD doesn't matter, only the format of the CD. It will play burned CDs, but only if they are Audio formatted.

You can burn an Audio CD on your computer (with Nero if you like, or a myriad of other software) from MP3 files. The burning software converts the MP3 files to Audio CD format.

However, if you burn the CD in Data format, all you're doing is copying the MP3 files to a Data CD - not converting them to Audio format - and that won't play in the Crossfire head unit.

Also keep in mind the difference between burning and ripping. Ripping is when you take an ordinary audio CD or DVD movie and convert its contents into a computer file, such as WAV, MP3, MP4 or AVI.

Burning is when you create a CD or DVD from a blank. This usually involves copying or converting files from your computer and putting them onto the disc. The format of the disc is not implied, and can be audio, data, dvd movie or even dvd data.

 

Right. Don't happen to know the extension of these "converted" .mp3 files, do you?

 

Actually, they aren't files anymore once you convert them to Audio format, they're an audio stream.

 

.wav

.wav is the non-compressed audio file format standard. Typically, an audio cd can hold about 80 minutes of .wav files.

Remember, as others noted, an audio CD is a unique format. If you place an audio CD in your PC, you will not be able to see any of the music files with a file browser like windows explorer. However, your PC will recognize it as an audio CD and allow you to play the music.

You cannot burn .wav files to a data CD and have it play in CD players that only play audio CDs.

You must burn an audio CD.

One last thing, you will NOT improve the sound quality of an .mp3 file by upconverting it to a .wav file.

 

It's a CDA File. This might explain how it works.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD_Audio_track_shortcut

 

If you are asking that if you use MP3 files and save 120 on a disc and will it play in the XF, NO tried that already

 

CDA is a small indexed file. Its not the music.

The wiki link does explain it....good post.

 

This is interesting. I have a Phat-Box in XF. The cartridge that you load on these systems are hard drives. All the music thats been loaded on this drive is MP3 format. The question for you Audio experts is; how does the HU play these MP3s?, because it does. I manage it all through my HU and it works great. Now, I have the NAV unit. Does this make a difference?

 

Pretty cool item FP. Never heard of it before.

Googled it and came up with this. The Phatbox converts your MP3s to an analog stream that gets sent to the HU via the CD changer plug on the back of the HU. This explains why your HU is "playing" MP3s. It really isn't playing them directly, the Phatbox converts the MP3s into something that the HU understands, analog.

Just think of it like plugging a set of speakers into a headphone jack of a MP3 player. The MP3 player is sending an analog stream to the speakers.

Just curious, does it display text on the Crossfires factory HU? How do you search and change songs?

Below is a portion of the link I found
Operation of the PhatBox is based on an internal embedded Linux computer. The device is primarily controlled by a 74MHz Cirrus Logic EP7212 system-on-chip processor. It also contains a 24MHz 8051 microcontroller, which is used to handle housekeeping functions including managing the interface to the car stereo's head unit. A 16-bit digital-to-analog converter produces the high quality analog audio that is routed to the CD changer input of the car stereo's head unit.

Your model may differ from this one, but I'm sure that it technically does the same thing.

http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT6469667521.html

 

Yes, it displays by text and audible. You search and select using all the buttons on the radio. Our NAV HU is really the Becker Traffic-Pro, so it maps the keys to the soft functions. Here's a pic of it in my trunk.

 

There may be more than just an analog conversion going on knowing now that there was a phatbox model made specifically for the Becker HU. Without looking at the specs for the exact models of the HU and Phatbox, It's hard to say what is being sent to the HU.

Regardless of that, music is coming through your speakers that originates from MP3 files. With text no less. Again, great solution.

I just received a Kenwood HU that I will be installing soon. It has a built it G-force analyzer that will graphically record and display the g-forces it detects. I had purchased an Alpine HU, but the Kenwood's G-force analyzer was made for a Crossfire. The Alpine will now be installed in my wife's Subaru.

Eventhough it wont be especially accurate, it will keep things entertaining while hitting the curves. I can see myself trying to set new g-force records each trip to and from work. Just as long as the G's aren't from hitting anything.

I also bought an Amp and new door speakers that will be installed as well. And I shouldn't forget the ipod connection.

 

Well guys, today I took a CD with MP3s on it and inserted it into my radio and it plays. I don't know if the fact that I have the NAV HU makes a difference. The NAV unit is the Becker Traffic-Pro.

For those of you saying MP3s don't play in your unit, do you have the base HU?

 

FP, That phat-box looks like a sweet unit!
The Nav unit Manual makes no mention of file types it will play, However,
it does say if a non music cd is inserted, it will not play. also says it will not harm unit.
G