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2018 Accord-Using A USB Drive For Music

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Songdog

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I don't think I will do this, but I was curious as how to actually make this work. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.

The USB drive needs to be formatted MSDOS/MBR (Found by trial and error on Mac)

The music files must be WMA, MP3, or AAC (2018 Honda Accord Owner's Manual, pg. 316)

Plug the USB drive into the Center Pocket or the Console compartment port (2018 Honda Accord Owner's Manual, pg. 245-246)

One issue with playing mp3s is that at least if you are using iTunes to convert the mp3s, (although, I'm guessing this happens with all converters,) the mp3s are not volume compensated. Which is to say when the files are played back, some are louder than others. There's a free program available called MP3 Gain for both PC and Mac that will equalize your mp3 files so they play at the same volume. This issue does not appear when playing other types (Apple Lossless, AAC) files from an iPhone. I can't remember if I ever played mp3 files from an iPhone, so I cannot tell you if they are volume compensated when played back from an iPhone.

I used a 16 GB USB stick (drive) that worked. It appears that as long as you can format the USB stick (drive) MSDOS/MBR it will work.
 
#2 ·
Some other tips that might help:


  • The USB stick can be up to 256GB - but must be formatted FAT32
  • Windows PCs won't format a USB stick above 32GB with FAT32 by default, so you'll need to use a standalone utility to do it
  • MP3Gain is an excellent tool to normalize the volume across an album or an entire collection. It uses a specific data field inside an MP3 to adjust the gain without altering the original music portion of the file. This is great because you can always undo any gain you applied and it doesn't re-encode an MP3 thereby further reducing quality (re-encoding a lossy format back into a lossy format again degrades fidelity)
  • When you have >10,000 music files, the infotainment will occasionally 'freeze' when switching tracks for 10-15 seconds while it re-indexes the folder structure and music files
  • Bonus you get when playing MP3/AAC/WAV files from USB or Sirius XM - the playback will pause while you take a call so you'll return to the exact moment the music paused once your call completes
  • Honda infotainment systems won't order tracks within a folder by track number - only random or alphabetically. Not a big deal for most music. But frustrating with classical albums when you expect all tracks to play in track order for symphonies and such
 
#4 ·
Can people post links to some of the 128 and 256GB flash drives they have working with their Accord.

I have tried 3 different ones all formatted to FAT32 with a few MP3 files and my Accord shows Unsupported for all of them.
 
#5 ·
thehater said:
Can people post links to some of the 128 and 256GB flash drives they have working with their Accord.

I have tried 3 different ones all formatted to FAT32 with a few MP3 files and my Accord shows Unsupported for all of them.
Click to expand...
My favorite brand, model and form factor. It's rugged, minimal and has a loop that is perfect to fit on a keychain or backpack loop.

 
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#7 ·
Thanks for the replies, ill keep them in mind.

I was really hoping to find a low profile flash drive so i dont accidentally bump it or break it when its in the middle console.

I had bought one of these and i was giving me an unsupported error unfortunately after reading reviews I am not the only one.

If anyone is looking avoid this one, as it shows as unrecognized. I dont have enough posts to post links, but here is the description.

SanDisk Ultra Fit 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive - SDCZ43-128G-A46
 
#8 ·
I’ve been using:

SanDisk Cruzer Fit CZ33 64GB USB 2.0 Low-Profile Flash Drive- SDCZ33-064G-B35

I couldn’t format it to FAT32 in Windows 10 since it is 64GB so I made a partition of 30GB, formatted it to FAT32 and put the mp3’s there. I don’t have a lot of music but it seems to be working really well so far.

I was surprised to see the cover art displayed since the covers vary in size, up to 1,280 x 1,280 pixels.
 
#9 ·
I got this one back when I got my 9th Gen in August last year and and am using it in my 10th Gen now. I liked the dual feature so I can plug it into my cell phone with the micro USB end and have more of a playlist option at the gym.

https://m.newegg.com/products/9SIA12K2MP5587

I also have two of these Cruzer models on my mixing board as a backup if my laptop fails while DJ'ing. A bit smaller design than the dual model.

https://m.newegg.com/products/9SIAF2778K1500
 
#10 ·
JHaney said:
I got this one back when I got my 9th Gen in August last year and and am using it in my 10th Gen now. I liked the dual feature so I can plug it into my cell phone with the micro USB end and have more of a playlist option at the gym.

I also have two of these Cruzer models on my mixing board as a backup if my laptop fails while DJ'ing. A bit smaller design than the dual model.
Click to expand...
I had to remove your links to reply :D

The dual feature one looks real nice, are you able to format it as a single 128GB drive? or do you need to make multiple partitions like AccordDr1ver did?

Im on windows 10 and am aware ill need to use a utility program such as the HP tool to format it.

Thanks for the reply
 
#11 ·
I didn't have to format anything since I only went with the 32GB model. I would assume you can format a larger capacity model but I don't know how that would translate when you plug it into the USB port in your car. Meaning, I don't know if it would allow you to navigate to each partition or not. Honestly 32GB holds a lot of music and much more would be a pain to sift through if you're skipping tracks to find one in particular IMO.
 
#12 ·
JHaney said:
I didn't have to format anything since I only went with the 32GB model. I would assume you can format a larger capacity model but I don't know how that would translate when you plug it into the USB port in your car. Meaning, I don't know if it would allow you to navigate to each partition or not. Honestly 32GB holds a lot of music and much more would be a pain to sift through if you're skipping tracks to find one in particular IMO.
Click to expand...


I wish I knew how to be able to do more than just browse folders. Lots of extra fields that are grayed out


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#13 ·
Requesting Albums via Voice Control

bauerdb said:
It will play in order if you browse by album.
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When selecting an album via voice control, I've noticed the system will first sort the tracks alphabetically, and all subsequent songs within the album by track number. For example, the first song to play from the album Abbey Road is Because, which is track number 8 of 12 and also the first song when sorted alphabetically. It will then play tracks 9, 10, 11, 12, etc.
 
#14 ·
jonathoncasey said:
bauerdb said:
It will play in order if you browse by album.
Click to expand...
When selecting an album via voice control, I've noticed the system will first sort the tracks alphabetically, and all subsequent songs within the album by track number. For example, the first song to play from the album Abbey Road is Because, which is track number 8 of 12 and also the first song when sorted alphabetically. It will then play tracks 9, 10, 11, 12, etc.
Click to expand...
Hit "browse" on the screen and sort by "album". The tracks will show in order and play in order.
 
#16 ·
How do you guys edit the details of the song. Itunes usually the program I use but since Ipods Classics do not really work with the car, I am looking for alternatives.
 
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#18 ·
MediaMonkey (http://www.mediamonkey.com/) is free and will allow you to sort, bulk edit and modify anything and everything about MP3s.

It also has macros so you can download missing ID3 tag info from the web for free too.
 
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#20 ·
I use .m4a files created on a PC running iTunes with my '16 EX Coupe so that's another useful format.

And if you want to sort tunes by other than alphabetical order, especially important for classical, after the tunes are in folders on the USB stick, just rename each track with a number in front of the file name in the order you want them to sort and play:

01 Sinfonia à 4 in C for Four Trumpe.m4a
02 Sinfonia à 4 in C for Four Trumpe.m4a
03 Sinfonia à 4 in C for Four Trumpe.m4a
04 Sinfonia à 4 in C for Four Trumpe.m4a

This ensures all tracks of the piece (or album) play in the right order...
 
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