So, I made 2 MP3 compilations for testing in my 2005, and here is how it went.

First off, I use Windows XP, so all I did was put in a blank CDR, and drag and drop about 600MB of Beatles albums into the CD. When you are done dragging and dropping, you just right-click on the CD and choose "Write these files to CD" and you get the CD Writing Wizard. This is cool for simple jobs where you don't need the control that better software gives you.

The wizard asks if you want to make a HighMAT compatible disk. HighMAT is a format that lets devices that understand HighMAT show you more info about the CD, including navigating it sort of like you navigate a DVD video with your DVD player.

Anyhow, HighMAT is supposed to also be compatible with non-HighMAT devices (like other MP3-ready CDs, etc), so I decided to cut the Beatles to HighMAT.

The XP Wizard normalized my MP3s down to 160kbit MP3s (mine were VBR in the 220+ range), and burned the CD.

For my second CD, I explicitly left it NON-HighMat, and used 330kbit VBR encoded MP3s (fwiw, this was a Led Zeppelin collection).

The Mustang MP3 player understood my LedZepp CD (non-HighMAT), while it had an error and ejected the HighMAT.

While I haven't tried more HighMAT CD's, my assumption is that it cannot read them, even though it's supposed to be backwards compatible. Oh well!

I like using the Folder setting rather than the Track Setting. With Folder, you navigate folders (in my case, one album per folder). The display can be set to default to Album, Song, or Artist, and hitting the TEXT button will cycle through those. Very nice for a simple MP3 player. In fact, the manual for the car doesn't even hint that it can read the ID3 tags embedded in the files, but it can. Nice.

 

Cool, good to know. Thanks for the info!

 

Why would you wanna re-encode a VBR track to a fixed rate? Not only is this particular fixed rate poorer in sound quality but encoding a track that was already encoded once sure will detiriorate the sound quality. Same thing as copying a cd to a cassette and the copying the cassette. Well actually not that bad, but you get my drift. MP3 is a great technology, but it does destruct the original datastream, so it should only be used once on a full digital audio file.

 

Don't ask me, Microsoft did it. Maybe it's part of the HighMAT standard, i don't know, I'm only the messenger.

I'm keeping my MP3 collections at 200+kbit.... and not going to attempt HighMAT again.

 

Thanks for the info. I am new to MP3s. I look forward to reducing the CD book I have, and carry only a few discs. I love being able to put a collection from one band onto one dic. Makes it easier to decide which disc you want to bring along.

 

i don't know about HighMat, but i wouldn't trust xp to do my burning for me. I just fire up Nero and add my files to the compilation.

 

Depends on what you want. If you don't need any special control of the CD, the XP wizard is just fine.

If you don't trust XP, why are you running it? LOL.

If you want the extra control Nero gives you, by all means, use it. But the wizard WORKS for what it was intended for, so what the heck. The way I look at it, why use 25 mouse clicks to do what you can do in 4?

 

Nero :notnice:, Roxio

Never did like Nero... Especially the NeroXpress that comes with the burners now a days.

 

Where is the option to set what it displays on default? The text button changes what it currently shows but if you change songs it goes back to the song name.\

-EDIT

On getting a chance during break at work, to go out and play with the this option I discovered how to set the default text display. You hold down the "TEXT" button when the text you wish to be default is displayed.

 

I've hear that WMA format work in the Shaker 500/1000. Is this true? Anyone try this?

 

Works just like setting a radio station on most radios:

Use the TEXT button to cycle through the display types (Filename, Artist, Album, Song). When you get it to the type you want, HOLD the button down until the display blinks. Then it is set to default to that type (Artist, for example).

When I picked mine up, it didn't default to Song, it defaulted to Filename (and my files are like "01 - Whole Lotta Love" while the song name that is embedded in the MP3 id3 tag is "Whole Lotta Love".)

 

Works just like setting a radio station on most radios:

Use the TEXT button to cycle through the display types (Filename, Artist, Album, Song). When you get it to the type you want, HOLD the button down until the display blinks. Then it is set to default to that type (Artist, for example).

When I picked mine up, it didn't default to Song, it defaulted to Filename (and my files are like "01 - Whole Lotta Love" while the song name that is embedded in the MP3 id3 tag is "Whole Lotta Love".) [/b][/quote]
Thanks, Actually I got impatient and during my break at work today went out and just figured it out on my own.

 

Huh :scratch: You lost me here. How can something work with something it is not compatible with????

 

Check out iTunes, Apple users have been loving it for a couple of years now, and it has great drag and drop playlist capability and quick searching.

 

Huh :scratch: You lost me here. How can something work with something it is not compatible with???? [/b][/quote]
Backwards compatible. Meaning that HighMAT adds extensions to the file system that are over-and-above the standard iso9660 file information. CD players that understand MP3 files ~should~ be able to read HighMAT discs, because they are a regular disk PLUS extra information.

But the Ford/Delphi MP3 player doesn't seem to be able to, based on my limited testing.

No matter, I have no need for HighMAT. I was just trying it out.

According to the HighMAT website:

 

Just getting off topic for a second. I wonder how many times I'll be going out to sit in my 'stang at work cause I can't bear to be away from her.