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MP3 Audio CD in a Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by hoferchr, Nov 26, 2011.

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  1. hoferchr

    hoferchr Junior Member

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    Hello! Got a question for anyone who uses MP3 audio CDs to listen to music in their Prius. I'm getting a new 2011 Toyota Prius on Monday (with navigation system). I know that the stereo system/CD player supports MP3 files. If I wanted to create/burn a CD full of MP3 files for use in my Prius, is there a good folder structure I should set up on the CD so that all my songs are organized by band and CD title? I tried this once before with just a few songs when I had my 2009 Prius, but I never created a full CD of MP3s. Would appreciate help from someone more knowledgeable than me in this area. Thanks.
     
    #1 hoferchr, Nov 26, 2011
  2. johalareewi

    johalareewi Member

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    Create a folder for each band then in each band folder, create a folder for each album by that band. In each album folder, put the MP3 files. The Prius CD player can also play WMA files (but not lossless WMA) so if you have the music in Windows Media Player already, you can just copy the folders over to the CD with no conversion.
     
    #2 johalareewi, Nov 26, 2011
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  3. hoferchr

    hoferchr Junior Member

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    Thanks johalareewi! So, just for clarification, the root folders on my CD can just be the band names? I don't need to first have one folder as my root (for example, called "music"), and then put my band folders in there...followed by album name sub-folders in those?
     
    #3 hoferchr, Nov 26, 2011
  4. johalareewi

    johalareewi Member

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    Correct. Just create the band folders as the first level of folders on the CD.
     
    #4 johalareewi, Nov 27, 2011
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  5. hoferchr

    hoferchr Junior Member

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    Sweet! Thanks a bunch! I'll give that a try! Countin' down the hours now! Tomorrow at 11 a.m. I should have my new 2011 Prius!
     
    #5 hoferchr, Nov 27, 2011
  6. hoferchr

    hoferchr Junior Member

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    Well, I tried a few MP3s on a CD today, and it works great! Here's some notes (sorry for the pun) for the community:

    • Using iTunes, I imported music from a CD I already purchased. I imported the tracks as MP3s (128-bit audio).
    • If you look at the folder structure once the files are imported, iTunes typically puts the track number within the file name. When I tested my burned CD of MP3s in my '11 Prius, the touch-screen display showed the actual file name... such as:
      • 1 01 Name of Song.mp3
        2 02 Name of Song.mp3
        etc.
        *NOTE: The first number, for example "1" you see is what the Prius displays as far as a track number. The second number, for example "01" is coming from the actual file name of the MP3. This means that since iTunes already adds the track number to the MP3 file name, I'm going to have to remove those numbers from the file name so that in my Prius, the song title just shows up like:
        1 Name of Song.mp3
        2 Name of Song.mp3
        etc.

    • Also, based on the folder structure recommended above, I can scroll through a list of album titles in my Prius, but I cannot scroll through a list of Artists/Bands.
     
    #6 hoferchr, Dec 3, 2011
  7. RRxing

    RRxing Senior Member

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    I don't exactly remember where I found this info, but I put it in a text file for a reason. This for the Gen III.

    View attachment 33560
     
    #7 RRxing, Dec 3, 2011
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  8. hoferchr

    hoferchr Junior Member

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    good info...thanks!
     
    #8 hoferchr, Dec 5, 2011
  9. JoelIrwin

    JoelIrwin New Member

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    If you are on windows checkout:

    1. Tag And Rename which is a powerful utility that lets you define the ID tags in various ways including automated ways to create various parts of the tags from the filename or create a filename based on the tags. It will help you get your job done more quickly. I use it all the time
    2. Since the Prius reads the contents of a folder in the order physically written, you may want to check out a free utility called "DriveSort" which will allows you to either manually put the files in the order you want or sort the folder physically in various ways. I regularly use it before I use a flash drive in my Prius (containing various folders).

    I know on hard disks and flash drives, I am limited to 255 files/folder, you may want to check to see if that restriction also holds for MP3s on a CD.

    If you are getting the navigation like I have (2011 IV), then you have in your center console, both a USB port (where you can connect a flashdrive or external hard disk) and an AUX connector. CDs with MP3s are somewhat limited in space. With flash drives being so cheap ($5 to $6 on eBay for a 4 gb drive), I would think you may want to consider them for your MP3s versus using CDs.

    Joel
     
    #9 JoelIrwin, Dec 6, 2011
  10. phoenixgreg

    phoenixgreg Senior member

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    Sorry for hijacking this thread, but it comes close to my question. I just created MP3 songs on a CD under 3 separate file structures which look like this:

    (Folder name) (song name)
    Music mix V1
    song 01.mp3
    song 02.mp3
    etc....
    ​
    Music mix V2
    song 03.mp3
    song 04.mp3
    etc...
    ​
    Music mix V3
    more songs.mp3
    ​
    There is no "root" folder per se, but when I try to play this CD, the player only finds Music mix V2 and Music mix V3. Even though it's not specified in the manual, do I need a "root" folder on the CD for this structure to work? It kind of looks like it, but I don't want to burn any more "coasters" until I'm sure :rolleyes:. Thanks.:)
     
    #10 phoenixgreg, Dec 7, 2011
  11. johalareewi

    johalareewi Member

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    That structure worked on my CD player but looking at hofechr's response
    It would seem that a root folder is needed.
     
    #11 johalareewi, Dec 8, 2011
  12. hoferchr

    hoferchr Junior Member

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    Thanks for this additional information. Yeah, maybe a USB drive is the way to go...now that I think about it. I actually have a generic 16 GB USB drive (which I was previously using as a storage device for my Xbox 360), but now that Microsoft has give us a whopping 512 MB of cloud storage to save games (sorry, I'm getting off topic), I can use the 16 GB drive to store MP3s. And, if I don't like the order or display of the music on the USB, I can just change things around whenever...compared to a CD...which can't be changed after it's burned.
     
    #12 hoferchr, Dec 11, 2011
  13. Alex Sorokoletov

    Alex Sorokoletov New Member

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    Would you be kind as to attach this file again? I can't open it :(
     
    #13 Alex Sorokoletov, Jan 23, 2014
  14. RRxing

    RRxing Senior Member

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    Hope it helps...
     

    Attached Files:

    #14 RRxing, Jan 23, 2014
  15. Alex Sorokoletov

    Alex Sorokoletov New Member

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    Thanks. Though from context I think that was a different file. For example, description of all tracks.
    The file you attached is a part of Prius 2010 book.
     
    #15 Alex Sorokoletov, Jan 24, 2014
  16. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    CDs are so 20th Century. I used the CD player a few times but 4 discs don't last long. It will take you a long time to listen to 16GB of music and when you tire of something just delete & replace.

    FINDING something on a 16GB drive is a PITA but I just listen to everything in sequence.
     
    #16 JimN, Jan 24, 2014
  17. hoferchr

    hoferchr Junior Member

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    Hi. Resurrecting this thread a bit. I recently purchased some music on iTunes and then used the File >> Convert >> Create MP3 Version so that I could put the music on my 2GB USB. I have three folders each containing a soundtrack to either a movie or video game. The first two folders have 7 and 12 tracks respectively. The third folder has 32 tracks, but my '11 Prius is only showing the first 12 songs from the soundtrack album. I don't understand why my Prius can't "see" the other tracks (13-32). Could that be an issue with the 2GB USB?
     
    #17 hoferchr, Oct 16, 2016
  18. C. Davis

    C. Davis New Member

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    I have a 2011 Prius. I have used a 64GB USB and it plays all the songs randomly within album folder in the shuffle. Now, I want to shuffle songs in genre folders (like jazz and rock etc) in album folders. I created genre folders as the top layer, then albums in the second layer with songs in the album folders. It does not recognize the genre folders, so I cannot shuffle within them. Any suggestions?
     
    #18 C. Davis, Feb 24, 2017
  19. asrab.ali.7

    asrab.ali.7 Junior Member

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    Hi there n good morning I have a quick question it's been doing my head in since buying a 2010 pruis I love everything on the car just nowhere to use a USB stick is there anyway I can do that n if so plz could u tell me how will thank u all after it's all done


    iPhone ?
     
    #19 asrab.ali.7, Mar 9, 2017
  20. Maarten28

    Maarten28 Active Member

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    Depends what kind of audio you have in the car. I have the Touch Pro like the one in the picture and it has an option to add a USB connector. You will need the dealer to do that for you and it will get mounted in the space under the arm rest. However, Toyota's audio system is quite stupidly made: it will see it as a 6-CD changer and will not display proper MP3 tags.
    You can also use bluetooth with this radio, but it is even worse: I can not select any song from my phone, I can only go to the next song, which is random.

    [​IMG]
     
    #20 Maarten28, Mar 10, 2017
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