Can i put my music in separate folders so i can choose a specific playlist? 

I don't know why you couldn't.  The only downside I can think of is where you have the same song in different playlists... using up storage space multiple times its "normal" size.

i have a 32 gig SD card and only 9 gigs of music total... i can afford a bit of wasted space  

when you select the usb for music when you go to the 4 bars to change a song there will be 2 boxes on the left. it will say TAG and FILE. 

when you select the usb for music when you go to the 4 bars to change a song there will be 2 boxes on the left. it will say TAG and FILE. 

Can you elaborate a bit more.  Keep in mind I do not have my 8000 installed yet.

I would use the highest sample rate (lossless if possible) and get two cards. One for each playlist. Actually, I use my iPhone for playlists at 256kbps and a 128GB flash drive for lossless albums. Lossless is great to have as my in car CD collection while I still get great quality from my phone. 

Lossless is pointless in a car

Lossless is pointless in a car

It appears you have either never experienced a SQ system in a car or have a hearing deficiency.

It appears you have either never experienced a SQ system in a car or have a hearing deficiency.

Nope, I'm a sound engineer. I could give you the technical reasons but it'd bore you. Trust me, it's pointless. Do a blind ABX test to prove it to yourself.

It appears you have either never experienced a SQ system in a car or have a hearing deficiency.

I agree, although my experience with MP3s in my car consists of creating audio CDs made from MP3s.  Perhaps MP3s will sound closer to FLAC quality when playing directly from USB, but I would doubt so.  I don't know if there is some quality issues introduced by converting MP3s to WAV for inclusion on a CD, but I found that the MP3-based CDs were clearly lacking compared to actual CDs of the same music, when played in my Eclipse head unit.  I have a pretty decent SQ setup, with a lot of sound deadening added to the car, which helps.  Now, driving at freeway speeds with the windows down may mask the differences, but I always go with the highest rez I can get and that my equipment can play back.  And since I've already ripped 1,000+ CDs to my PC in FLAC format, I'm not about to revisit that monstrous task in order to gain smaller file sizes by going to MP3! 

Placebo effect. Have you done a blind ABX test? However the last part of your comment makes sense, no point in converting if you already have the FLAC files and don't need the space savings.

However people who swear they can hear the difference are either bats or believe that they can hear something because they think they should hear a difference.

It may be that the conversion process to make the CDs affected the SQ in some way or if the MP3s I used had issues of their own, but I played both CDs in my car for a couple of people without telling them anything about the sources, and they both picked out the MP3 based disk as inferior sounding.  Not perfectly scientific, I admit, but it was discernible.  I think ABX tests have a great deal of merit, but aren't the sole measure of perception/fidelity differences.  The pros/cons of ABX have been elaborated upon many times by many sources, but my default is to use the highest resolution sources I can.  Now, had I have ripped my CDs to MP3, I would be conducting tests to see whether I could hear the difference in order to decide whether to start over again.  But since an MP3 will always contain less data, by some percentage, than a FLAC file, at least I know I'm getting the maximum fidelity to the CD source, whether I can always hear it or not.  Without question, an MP3 is lower fidelity format than a FLAC file.  Whether that drop in fidelity falls within the limits of my hearing or my system's ability to reproduce it is subject to debate, but I'd rather play it safe with FLAC.

And yes, since I've already labored through making the FLACs, I'd rather just plug it in and play it. 

Nope, I'm a sound engineer. I could give you the technical reasons but it'd bore you. Trust me, it's pointless. Do a blind ABX test to prove it to yourself.

Perhaps not ABX but at least AB... though not under controlled conditions.  It's pretty easy.  Just put the same song on a drive in two or more different compression formats (at least one in lossless format) and listen to them, switching from one to the other.  I can definitely tell the difference.

I agree, although my experience with MP3s in my car consists of creating audio CDs made from MP3s.  Perhaps MP3s will sound closer to FLAC quality when playing directly from USB, but I would doubt so.  I don't know if there is some quality issues introduced by converting MP3s to WAV for inclusion on a CD, but I found that the MP3-based CDs were clearly lacking compared to actual CDs of the same music, when played in my Eclipse head unit.  I have a pretty decent SQ setup, with a lot of sound deadening added to the car, which helps.  Now, driving at freeway speeds with the windows down may mask the differences, but I always go with the highest rez I can get and that my equipment can play back.  And since I've already ripped 1,000+ CDs to my PC in FLAC format, I'm not about to revisit that monstrous task in order to gain smaller file sizes by going to MP3! 

I have done the mp3, aac route (better than mp3 at same bit rate IMO).  Even the so-called better type, can't recall the name... mp3+?  Not going to look either, as its a waste of time.  Trying to get original quality out of an any lossy compression format is never going to happen.  The age old idiom comes to mind: can't get blood out of a turnip.

...

 

However people who swear they can hear the difference are either bats or believe that they can hear something because they think they should hear a difference.

Consider me to have bat hearing then

I can even tell the differences in recording quality... so saying you're a sound engineer means nothing to me.

Perhaps not ABX but at least AB... though not under controlled conditions. It's pretty easy. Just put the same song on a drive in two or more different compression formats (at least one in lossless format) and listen to them, switching from one to the other. I can definitely tell the difference.

You're proving nothing apart from that you've succumb to the placebo effect.

Humour me, and be honest. Rip a FLAC and a 320k MP3 from the same source CD, use the ABX plugin in foobar and tell me the % over say 20 tests as to how many times you pick the lossless file.

You may well surprise yourself...

Humour me, and be honest. Rip a FLAC and a 320k MP3 from the same source CD, use the ABX plugin in foobar and tell me the % over say 20 tests as to how many times you pick the lossless file.

 

You may well surprise yourself...

Cool, I've never heard of that plugin.  I'll play around with it when I get a chance, and will post my honest results here.  I'll only be able to test it via my computer's on-board analog output, attached to an older, lower-end Kenwood receiver and 26 year old Energy speakers.  I'd rather test it on my modified full-range electrostatic speakers back home in California, but I won't be back there for several months, at least. 

I'll be interested in the results, because going back to my original post "Lossless is pointless in a car", if you need your "modified full-range electrostatic speakers" to tell the difference, then you certainly wouldn't notice it in a moving, noisy vehicle with sound absorbing materials, road rumble, wind noise etc   

Don't have foobar.  Not going to install it either.

As to succumbing to the placebo effect, I'll offer the following and you can draw your own conclusions.  I did the "AB" test I mentioned with my eyes closed and had another person switch between the formats, randomly.  I picked the the correct format "10 out of 10 times" (<-- I wasn't actually counting).  Yes, I really have to listen for the distinguishable characteristics... but those of us with trained hearing can discern those characteristics... and the reproduction system must be capable of reproducing those subtle differences (so I'm not saying there is a major difference).

FWIW, I'm not totally against lossy compression.  In fact, I listen to iHeart radio on my HTPC-based home theater system (of course you have no idea of the quality of my system, and I'm not going to elaborate).  BTW there's a big difference in audio quality  of web-based iHeart radio compared to iHeart mobile that I get in my car.

Beyond the preceding, I'm not going to argue the point.  You can believe what you want.

I mentioned the electrostatics because I'm also curious to see (hear) what the results would be in a truly revealing home system.  I do realize this is all about the context of a car environment.  Compared to my car system, the computer sound system I have with me here in NC is less dynamic, less detailed, and hasn't nearly the low-end extension of my car rig.  Of course, you're correct that the overall noise floor, which increases the faster the car moves, is higher in the car.  That being said, since I don't need to get on the freeway to go to work, the majority of my driving is done at 40MPH or below, and outside noise is pretty low in most situations.  Also, my computer room is subject to heat/AC noise along with noises from outside the house, so it is also not particularly quiet, so it actually should be a decent test in comparison to my typical car environment.  Unfortunately, my current Eclipse AVN5435 has no audio inputs, so I won't be able to give the ultimate in-car test until I dive in with a new head unit, probably the AVH-4000.

There is a difference. How noticeable that difference is depends on the listener and the mix. While not every album will benefit from CD or greater quality it's nice to have the option to listen to those that do in their uncompressed glory.

I don't have every song I own on my flash drive but a good number of great sounding albums.