itunes (on mac) to sd card workflow?

[markloch]

I usually stream off my iphone, but would like to give a sd card a try. If it works out (if navigating through albums doesn't drive me crazy)  I'll move up to larger a capacity device.  Can anyone recommend a workflow to get selected albums from itunes (on mac) onto an sd card, properly sorted, with album art?  I've done searches, found mention of drivesort (I can get to a PC) and making sure album artwork files sizes aren't too large.  

 

Thanks - Mark

[ptkdude]

For mine I went into my iTunes library folder using Finder and dragged over the albums I wanted.  The album art all went with it.  HOWEVER, the tracks don't play in album order.  Instead, I think they play alphabetically.  If you've asked iTunes to manage your library by including the track number in the file name, they may play correctly.

[Spankey]

There is an app for Mac called Playlist Export which will do this for you. Check the App Store. I believe it's free.

 

A few questions. Are you using iTunes Match? When you say "stream" does that mean you don't have any music physically copied to your drive and are using Match to stream?

 

Unless you decide to go lossless I don't see any advantage to and SD card for music. At 256kbps with iTunes Match you are getting Apple encoded tracks and album art will download if it's missing. If you go the SD route you will have to make sure your album art is embedded in every track and shuffling is not as great.

[bear25314]

I also suggest using Playlist Export (Mac).  I brought all my music (5000+ songs) over to a usb to play on my 8000nex.  Works fine complete with album art.  

[ptkdude]

There is an app for Mac called Playlist Export which will do this for you. Check the App Store. I believe it's free.

 

A few questions. Are you using iTunes Match? When you say "stream" does that mean you don't have any music physically copied to your drive and are using Match to stream?

 

Unless you decide to go lossless I don't see any advantage to and SD card for music. At 256kbps with iTunes Match you are getting Apple encoded tracks and album art will download if it's missing. If you go the SD route you will have to make sure your album art is embedded in every track and shuffling is not as great.

 

I loaded up an SD card and honestly prefer just to use the iPhone.  I use iTunes Match, so I have my entire library available to me instantly.  I don't really ever go outside good 4G LTE coverage, so accessing it isn't a problem.  Even if I do, all my favorite artists are saved on the phone so I can listen to those.

[Spankey]

I loaded up an SD card and honestly prefer just to use the iPhone.  I use iTunes Match, so I have my entire library available to me instantly.  I don't really ever go outside good 4G LTE coverage, so accessing it isn't a problem.  Even if I do, all my favorite artists are saved on the phone so I can listen to those.

 

Yep!

[gair1944]

I loaded up an SD card and honestly prefer just to use the iPhone.  I use iTunes Match, so I have my entire library available to me instantly.  I don't really ever go outside good 4G LTE coverage, so accessing it isn't a problem.  Even if I do, all my favorite artists are saved on the phone so I can listen to those.

Yes, but doesn't that also use up your data plan faster? No big deal if you have unlimited Data Plan. But I don't. ...then again, I don't have an iPhone. I have HTC One M8 Android. 

[markloch]

Thanks for all the replies.   By 'stream' I mean BT streaming.   The main reason I swapped out the COMAND unit from my recently acquired 02 CLK55 was so I could BT stream again.  Well, that and the ever-elusive CarPlay.  I use iTunes Match but I usually wait until I've got WIFI to fetch albums, and only occasionally downloading an album when LTE'd.  

 

My last car had a single-din Alpine unit and I never found navigating music all that practical - I used the phone. I've just (partially) installed the NEX6000 iand haven't played with it much - one this I noticed is that while I was getting album art when playing through the iPhone the other day, I'm not now.  That's what I was researching initially, then thought WTF I've got a 32gb mini sd card laying around, why not give it a whirl.

 

In any event, from what you all have written, I'm inclined to skip the sd card.     I did just get an hdmi cable and digi av adapter before my final install and will try appradio since it looks like CarPlay is a ways out yet ...

[tekki]

What's wrong with using the sd card. Filling it with music or videos, or both works just fine. With the 32 gig SDHC cards.

[Spankey]

For all the effort, having music on an SD card is not THAT worth it. I have my lossless music on a USB Flash Drive. That works just fine when I want to bumb the audio quality of a few albums. Aside from that, an iPhone or iPod will handle playlists and the file system better. An iPhone will pull down missing album artwork, allow access to all your music even when its not loaded to the physical storage of the device through iTunes Match and allows for Playlists. Add to that Pandora support as well. Using the SD card just becomes redundant. 

 

I'm also on T-Mobile so there is no charge for streaming music and the reliability has been great. 

[joemamma1954]

What's wrong with using the sd card. Filling it with music or videos, or both works just fine. With the 32 gig SDHC cards.

I am with you on this, You have a sdcard slot, why not use it. I have my favorite albums on sdcard, and on 480gb ssd, i have the rest of my library, 20000+ songs. I also have iTunes match, but that is for when i am not in my truck and not at home. I ripped 1200 songs in flac, for my ssd, along with 200+ ripped dvds. album art shows up, i just don't have playlists, but then i have never used a playlist except when burning a cd for one of my sons.

Add Pandora, siriusxm in the mix,  using my iPhone for music seems redundant. I am curious, what effort is there with music on sdcard. drag and drop onto sdcard and nex categorizes it all.  

[Spankey]

I am with you on this, You have a sdcard slot, why not use it. I have my favorite albums on sdcard, and on 480gb ssd, i have the rest of my library, 20000+ songs. I also have iTunes match, but that is for when i am not in my truck and not at home. I ripped 1200 songs in flac, for my ssd, along with 200+ ripped dvds. album art shows up, i just don't have playlists, but then i have never used a playlist except when burning a cd for one of my sons.

Add Pandora, siriusxm in the mix,  using my iPhone for music seems redundant. I am curious, what effort is there with music on sdcard. drag and drop onto sdcard and nex categorizes it all.  

 

As mentioned before, all album art must be embedded into each track for it to appear with an SD card or USB drive. Shuffle doesn't work quite as well as it does through an iPhone/iPod. File searching and album playback is more difficult as the metadata needs to be managed more closely. Playlists are not supported. 

 

For lossless audio it's a great solution. If you forget your phone its nice to have an SD card with you. Otherwise, plug in your phone and have everything at your fingertips.