Back in 2015 when I traded my 2013 which had system that let you download directly into it I ended up putting all my music, CDs and internet downloads onto an IPOD which I plug into the USP port. Still works on my 2023 Platinum.

 

Sounds like you just copied raw CD track data to USB. Easy to do that in Windows.

You'll need to convert from CD tracks to files. Called "ripping CD". Various programs can do the job.

My 2011 could read WAV, MP3, WMA files. I assume 2021+ can do same and might support more formats. Read the manual on truck screen. MP3 is the most lossy compression with quality loss but most don't care.

 

My 2015 plays MP3 and WMA. Haven't tried WAV.

 

Thank you. Very helpful.

 

Thank you.

 

I have considered Spotify and perhaps that's the best way forward, though I hate paying yet another subscription fee to listen to music on CDs that I have already purchased. If I was in the truck more hours each month then a subscription would be more attractive. For the few trips I take that are more than 10 minutes (only one or two each month), it may be what's necessary but it's not a bargain "per song."

I guess that I am learning that I paid a lot for a nice audio system that in itself has marginal utility.

 

This is absolutely incorrect - original commercial CDs are not "compressed" and provide the highest fidelity / lowest noise of any commercially available hard-media, limited only by the skills of the recording engineer (which would apply to all media versions of that recording).

Original CD's ripped to a "lossless" format on USB will do the best job of preserving that original fidelity. Typical MP3 format is not "lossless", it is compressed / compromised fidelity (which you may or may not be able to discern with your ear and playback equipment)

There are many ways to accomplish that, I happen to like and use the freeware "Exact Audio Copy" and rip to the popular FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) format which is recognized by my 2022 F150 SYNC system.

I have over 130GB of FLAC files on a USB stick arranged by Artist (folder)>Album (folders under Artist)>Track (FLAC files in Album folders). That's a total of 581 folders and 4618 files at the moment, and always growing.

With one steering-wheel button push and voice-command I can listen to any Album (with song playback in original recorded order) OR an Artist (random order songs from their library) OR a specific song title.

IMO the current SYNC voice-command playback feature is outstanding, rarely requiring correction.

The audio quality of the playback, even with lossless FLAC files, is a separate matter entirely; that's a function of the audio components (amp, speakers, etc), not a limitation of the recorded media. No question that the music on my USB stick sounds much better on my home system than my truck system.

 

I’ll take your word for it, as you seem to have considerably more music background than myself. I was only stating what other music nuts have told me. They wouldn’t go near CD’s.

 

You can call me Roolo the Caveman. I understood very little what you guys are talking about. But, I have a 2020 WITH an OEM CD player. It was easier for me to buy a module, can't remember what you illuminated people call it, anyway it's what the CD player is. Also had to buy the center stack bezel for an '18 to make everything look OEM. I also had to use Forscan to get it all to work, thankfully another member here helped me out with that. My SiriusXm also had to be reset with help from them.
Crap, just noticed I was in the '21+ forum, maybe what I did would work for you guys too.

 

If I could only figure out how to mount this to play my old vinyl!



Then I can work on my old 8-tracks and cassettes before I move onto my CD's!