Kor

Hi! I'm a new 991 owner and although Bluetooth is great, I'd ideally like to also put some my music collection onto a drive and hook it up through the Jukebox/USB/iPod support.

My question is, what's the best device for this? I know that PCM supports iPod Touch/Classic/Nano and USB Keys or a "USB MP3 Player".

I'm hoping to get the best possible integration with the PCM controls as well as fast track switching / access times. On other vehicles I've owned, the performance of say an iPod vs USB Key was night and day.

I can imagine a USB Key / Memory Stick has the advantage of not needing to charge.

However I have noticed on other vehicles with USB key support that sometimes the interface / controls don't work so well with USB sticks.

When it comes to an actual USB MP3 Player / DAP, I noticed MassDrop has a good deal right now that I could also buy and use with a high performance 256GB SD card. But this will cost more than just buying a USB Stick.

If I use a DAP like this, I presume it can play more codes/formats than the PCM can when reading off a drive? Or is it the same?

Al.Fresco

This thread may be of interest to you...

https://rennlist.com/forums/991/8447...y-for-pcm.html

Dan Nagy

If this is a new 991, 2017, and you have CarPlay, I'd suggest switching to an iPhone. I have a classic iPod connected via USB, but the library on my iPhone is so much easier to access.

Kor

Unfortunately its the 991.1 model! But I got a great deal

I think the new engines and the new steering wheel are sweet though...

Dennis C

What about the jukebox hard drive in the PCM? Won't that do the trick?

kayjh

I'm constantly adding albums or tracks from the iTunes store. Connecting my iPod to the car gives me all of my music without any other steps. I wish the 911 would connect to Apple Car Play via USB. I find it a nuisance to have to plug it into the USB port under the arm rest. Then, when I get out of the car, despite the warning on the PCM screen, half the time I leave my phone in the car and have to go back for it. In the BMW I test drove, I just left the iPhone in my pocket.

There are some PCM changes for 2018, maybe that is one of them. Too late for me though.

AndyR911

I have a 991.1, I use bluetooth with spotify from my phone and my iPod.

DocOrtho

Hi, can talk for a PCM 3.0 (w/ Bose), did a lot of trail and error regarding USB sticks and playing music from it. Started with a lot of reboots, new PCM software, finally a replaced PCM 3.0. iPod classic works fine. With USB sticks, mp3 and aac/m4a have less quality comparing to CD or iPod. Sometimes indexing the USB stick takes very long (>15 min). Ended up with a 128GB USB Stick in FAT32 (formated on a mac, but there are tools and PC commands for windows as well to overcome the 32GB limit...) with .wav files. The wave files (xxx.wav) are uncompressed and have the same quality like a CD. You can ripp them via iTunes or other programs on Mac or Windows. Organized them in Folders by artist name, than initial numbers 01, 02, 03..., followed by "artist name - song title" (e.g. "01 Michael Jackson - Thriller"). Created play lists with VLC media player. No id3 tags, no cover art in .wav files possible, but the sound is amazing, similar to CD and iPod. Will try a 2TB USB stick as well.


PS: Just tested, 2TB USB stick works! So enough space even for a lot of large .wav files.

Gus_Smedstad

.WAV files are huge, but I guess that doesn't matter as much as it used to with relatively inexpensive flash memory. Typically 5.3 mb per minute vs. 1.4 mb per minute for a 192 kbps MP3 for essentially CD-quality audio.

With a 128GB stick you're talking 400 hours vs. 1500 hours. My own music library is only about 380 hours (600-ish albums) so it'd fit on a stick that size in .WAV format.

DocOrtho

Just make a test: compare a song in mp3 format with the same song in wav format. You probably will hear the difference! Much more dynamic range, better spatial diversion, a complete different impression (a least at my bose system...).


Reference: http://www.leidl-online.de/wordpress/?p=226


=> "Of course you can play your standard MP3 files, kick in some surround effects and enjoy your Bose or Burmester speakers. But to me that’s like eating french-fries in a michelin-star restaurant. So we want something better than MP3. Preferably some lossless codec..."

9ELOVIN

DocOrtho hits on an important point, above. Most music downloads are mp3 format which is what they play on SiriusXM an many FM stations, now. The music files are highly compressed but sound okay for most ears or playback systems. The harshness of the sound will wear on you whether you realize it or not, however. Compression results in harsh or shrill highs and muddy bass. Wav files are not compressed and will give you CD quality sound. The better your playback system, the more pronounced the difference in quality. Combine that with high end amps and speakers and your car will sound like a concert hall. If that matters to you...

USB sticks come in various qualities and speeds. They last so get a good one. A 256 GB stick should be about $70. I get full functionality of the Porsche system with these, including search.

I have an extensive CD and had an extensive LP collection (finally sold them). I use a program on my laptop called "Exact Audio Copy" which gives the option of converting / "ripping" CD's into various file formats, Wav being the best as they are exact replicas of the CD (uncompressed). Download from http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ and be careful as there are a number of counterfeit sites. For Wav ripping, you create a separate folder for each CD and fill in the CD artist and track title which takes a couple of minutes but the audio result is well worth it. Save each folder to the music section of your hard drive. You can then transfer the files to as many sticks as you want and also save them to a cloud.