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Better car audio, Tip #12: Select a lower level of compression for your music files

Crutchfield Hi-Fi 2.0Yes, you can store more music files on your iPod® or other MP3 player with more compression, and they'll sound OK when you're listening through earbuds. But you lose some high- and low-frequency information when you compress your music, along with some of the details that make your music interesting. And, on a good car audio system, you can really tell that something's missing. Don't settle for the default setting when creating your files. If you want to use your iPod or MP3 player in your car, try using as little compression as possible. The higher the bit rate, the better your music will sound through your car's system.

Learn more about MP3 and other formats.

This post is excerpted from a recent article in our Learning Center, Jeff's Tips for Getting Maximum Sound Quality in Your Car.


Posted Fri, Apr 3 2009 9:38 AM by Jim R

Comments

Edgar H wrote re: Better car audio, Tip #12: Select a lower level of compression for your music files
on Tue, Apr 21 2009 12:15 PM

I'll like to know if there's a car stereo that can play FLAC audio files that has better audio quality

William Hook wrote re: Better car audio, Tip #12: Select a lower level of compression for your music files
on Fri, Jun 19 2009 7:34 PM

If you have a ton of FLAC files, and want to sync them with an iPod, you could always convert them to Apple Lossless first. You can do so using either Max (on Mac OS X) or dBpoweramp (Windows).

It's not the best solution, but converting them to Apple Lossless will work with any iPod and, more then likely, any iPod compatible head unit too.

Also, a word of note to anyone who's playing around: don't convert lossy to lossy, eg, don't convert a 192kbps MP3 to 192kbps AAC. You'll lose quality.

WAV -> Lossless (FLAC or Apple Lossless)

FLAC to Apple Lossless (and vice versa)

WAV -> MP3

FLAC or Apple Lossless -> MP3/AAC

^All perfectly fine.

MP3 -> AAC, AAC -> MP3, MP3 -> WMA, and so on = bad!

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