need4speed Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 The head unit in my Touran (RNS510) has a slot for an SD card meaning I can download all my MP3 music to its memory. However my iMac doesn't have an SD slot. I am aware that you can get SD-USB adapters. Will I be able to download the music from my iMac to an SD card via one of these adapters? I know sometimes adapters can totally horlicks sound/video quality.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 It's all digital. An adapter will do nothing to sound quality. Yes, your Mac should be able to write MP3s to an SD card. Just make sure it's formatted as FAT32, and not some silly Mac format that your head unit won't be able to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shackleton Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 Ask for a card reader. They generally come with ports for all types of card [SD, CF, MicroSD etc] so one reader will serve any camera/device you might have in the future. Make sure it's USB 3.0 speed or higher, it's the speed of data transfer and it makes a big difference to amount of life wasted watching a progress bar. 3.0 is 10x faster than 2.0 os don't be fooled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted June 5, 2017 Author Share Posted June 5, 2017 Thanks guys. So something like this and I should be golden? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-3-0-SD-Memory-Card-Reader-SDHC-SDXC-MMC-Micro-Mobile-T-FLASH-/301705796531?hash=item463f111bb3:g:1PYAAOSw3ZRY-iub Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynic-al Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Just make sure you have an actual MP3 file on your mac you can copy and paste. If you use iTunes for example it might be embedded in the software in such a way that it will not let you just copy it as a file - I guess for copyright reasons. I can't remember what version of the VW stereo I have but I also have the option of Bluetooth streaming, USB connection and headphone jack if they're already on a phone or ipod. I had real problems with my wifes once when she changed devices, it ended up wiping her ipod as it had decided she shouldn't have it on more than one device. I ended up using a guide on the net to pull the files out manually. Since then it's also had another flap and wiped all her photos and videos from the device and the cloud. Apple support couldn't understand what had happened Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted June 8, 2017 Author Share Posted June 8, 2017 It is indeed iTunes I use. Bugger. What's the bet it doesn't let me copy the music... wow that's a real bummer it wiping all your wife's files! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted June 8, 2017 Share Posted June 8, 2017 Itunes does have MP3s normally, I copy them to my phone all the time.... Sometimes you find them in M4A format, but that's rare IME. Then I bluetooth to the stereo to save all that faffing about with cards etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted June 12, 2017 Author Share Posted June 12, 2017 Ummm to download files to the SD card wouldn't I need a reader/writer as opposed to just a reader? Surely if I bought a reader I would only be able to transfer files from my SD card to my Mac, rather than the other way about? Remember I'm looking to transfer music files from my iTunes account onto the SD card so I can insert the SD card into my head unit.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 Readers write as well, it's not like the old cdr's etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted June 13, 2017 Author Share Posted June 13, 2017 Ahh thanks buddy. I'm stuck in the dark ages....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 Right. Got myself armed with an SD card and an adapter in order to insert into my Mac. So inserted them into the Mac, opened up my iTunes and dragged a couple of songs from my iTunes library to the SD card. I noticed that the music files were in an m4a format. Now that in itself means nothing to me. However. When I inserted my SD card into my head unit, the head unit couldn't even "see" the 2 music files. Am I right in thinking this is because they are in m4a format? And if so, is it possible to convert theses files into a format that my head unit will be able to read? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 More likely the card has been formatted incorrectly by macos. If you open disk utility it should tell you what format it is in, either that or in right click -> get info. Likely it needs to be FAT32 as above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 The wireless mouse that came with my Mac doesn't have separate left and right buttons if that makes sense. I will have a looksee for this disk utility and try to see what format the SD card is. But will it be able to detect that seeing as the SD card isn't in the Mac directly but in an adapter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 Yep it will work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPendrey Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 10 hours ago, need4speed said: The wireless mouse that came with my Mac doesn't have separate left and right buttons if that makes sense. I will have a looksee for this disk utility and try to see what format the SD card is. But will it be able to detect that seeing as the SD card isn't in the Mac directly but in an adapter? That's the most daft thing Apple ever did, a single button mouse! Re. the music format, the head unit supports MP3, WMA or AAC. The good news, is MP4 uses the AAC codec so should work so long as the card is readable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Regards the single button mouse, hold the control key down and click, that gives contextual menus. .m4a is not normally recognised by head units in most cases, they may understand the codec but not the compression (mp4 part). It's very easy to use iTunes to convert to MP3 though. You can select your entire library or just a playlist, go to the file menu -> convert -> create Mp3 version If your music is copy protected then you won't be able to create an MP3 version though and you won't be able to play it on your head unit. You can then use File -> Show in finder, this will take you to the folders where your music is stored and you can simply copy them. Alternatively, as you have a CD burner, you can use the Burn playlist to Disc option and select MP3 as the format then copy that to your SD card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 Ok. This is beginning to hack me off. One reason I bought this expensive head unit was because it had SD slot and I stupidly assumed that meant I could play all my iTunes music.. Anyway here's some pics of what I've tried. As you can see, it appears the SD card is already in FAT32 format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 Then I noticed that 1 of music files was already in AAC format Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 So I dragged the file into my SD card and it appeared like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 Tried in my head unit. Nada. It doesn't see the SD card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynic-al Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 (edited) It should see the ad card and file name even if it can't play the song. Your head unit might have a limit on card size or if you've bought unknown brand that can sometimes cause problems or if they're an sdhc card rather than an sd card it can cause problems. Can you check in the radio manual? Do you have another sd card from a camera or something? Do you have an mp3 you can put on? Just download one from Tesco or Amazon or something for the sake of a quid. I'm afraid I can't help with mac or iTunes as I made the decision I didn't like them some time ago and refused to use them anymore so I'm a bit out of touch with them now. Edited June 23, 2017 by Cynic-al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 Thanks al. I will check that tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 22 minutes ago, Cynic-al said: It should see the ad card and file name even if it can't play the song. Your head unit might have a limit on card size or if you've bought unknown brand that can sometimes cause problems or if they're an sdhc card rather than an sd card it can cause problems. Can you check in the radio manual? Do you have another sd card from a camera or something? Do you have an mp3 you can put on? Just download one from Tesco or Amazon or something for the sake of a quid. I'm afraid I can't help with mac or iTunes as I made the decision I didn't like them some time ago and refused to use them anymore so I'm a bit out of touch with them now. Had a quick look. My card is a 16gb Sandisk SDHC. My unit is apparently compatible with SDHC cards up to 32gb. Dont know what's going on..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 You putting it in the slot the right way ? Kidding if course... Have you tried an MP3 yet? Does the manual say anything else about the cards etc? Did you dismount the card before removing it from the Mac? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8 Freak Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 Have you tried formatting in different formats and tested if the head unit can see that card? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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