Here's one for our younger techies.

[caguy]

On the boat I have a Sony AM/FM CD stereo with a USB port and an audio input plug. I can play music from a memory stick but it is not organized very well. I was playing some nice 40's swing music when Greenday came on nice and loud and much to the discomfort of Novelman 80+. I would like to organize the music into categories. Can I put them into subfolders and will the stereo find them.
My grandson (leave it to a 14 yr old) suggested that why don't I just hook my HTC Android based cell phone to the stereo and then I can select the songs easier. I am concerned about running down the battery on the phone. Here is another question, can I run the phone through the USB cord and charge the phone at the same time. Another young man at the store suggested that if it was hooked up through the USB cord it would only see it as an USB drive and I would lose playlist features of the phone.
The boat and stereo are at the marina and I don't want to spend time organizing the data stick if it isn't going to work.

Any ideas and suggestions are appreciated.

Ok Ross, I'm probably going to regret the Old dogs, new tricks crack.

 

[Allan12210]

I second using the phone for your music library. Go to the Android Market and get Power Amp. Organize your music into playlists. Plug the double ended audio cord into the headphone jack on the phone and the audio input on the radio. Use a mobile charging cord from a 12V socket to the USB charging port on the phone. Or buy a 12V to USB adapter and use a USB cord to keep the phone charged while listening to your music.

Later buy a bluetooth stereo headset (Sony Ericsson). When you are not on the boat you still have your music with you and you can wirelessly stream the music to your headset and it will pause when you receive a call.

Finally, buy a bluetooth radio for your car. It will stream the music from the phone and you can answer calls with the radio hearing it through the speakers. The music will pause and resume when you hang up. Also the GPS driving directions will play through the speakers while listening to music from the phone or the radio.

And I'm not a young techie, but thanks.

Allan

 

[caguy]

Thanks Alan, I have bluetooth in the Mini Cooper and use it for the phone, but I dd not know that you can also blue tooth the music.

 

[weinie]

You can't sometimes. I have a GM car that although it has bluetooth for phone conversations using the stereo speakers, you can't stream mp3 or any other audio (ie sirius, pandora app) thru it.

 

[inarathree]

If you organize your music into folders on your USB stick, many new radios will allow you to select and play through the folders. But as mentioned above, use your phone, with the mini-RCA jack (AUX) plug. It will give you far better control. I use my iPhone for both music and GPS while out. The battery will get sucked dry in about 5 hours, but I plug it into the 12v power adaptor (like a car charger), and I am good all day.

 

[Tim R.]

I use my ipad or Droid Incredible to remotely play music to my stereo. I use Tinyplayer on my droid which allows me to organize my songs into folders like albums. I hate itunes. I also stream music from Pandora which is an awesome service. Or I can ply music from an internet based radio station. If the battery on either device runs low I can simply plug it into the charger while I am playing music.

To get the music to my stereo I use a Blubridge bluetooth receiver that plugs into the Aux jack on my stereo. I can control the music and the volume from the remote device and roam around my boat without a cord.

BTW, your device must have A2DP capability.

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

 

[Dan Johnson]

Or...

you could break down and buy an 8 gig MP3 player ($50 - $70) that plugs into the AUX jack on your boat's radio (a 4 gig one is about $40). Mine's got over 1,500 songs on it, with numerous playlists, plus access to all the individual albums and individual songs. When plugged into the USB port, the boat's radio went nuts trying to index alll the songs so I use the AUX jack only.

For the cars I use a cassette interface plugged into headphone jack on the MP3 player.

For me, jump sticks (memory sticks, etc.) work well for specific groups of selections (comedy, classical, etc.). The small capacity ones are getting harder to find as the larger ones' cost has come down so much.

 

[Kevin3447]

Here is another question, can I run the phone through the USB cord and charge the phone at the same time. Another young man at the store suggested that if it was hooked up through the USB cord it would only see it as an USB drive and I would lose playlist features of the phone.

I have a Kenwood that sounds similar to yours, and I can charge my phone with the USB cord, and use the headphone jack to play music. When I plug in the USB cord, the radio automatically switches to USB mode, but I just hit Source to change it back to AUX. Saves me from having yet another cigarette lighter adapter.

 

[kenn]

I have a Kenwood that sounds similar to yours, and I can charge my phone with the USB cord, and use the headphone jack to play music. When I plug in the USB cord, the radio automatically switches to USB mode, but I just hit Source to change it back to AUX. Saves me from having yet another cigarette lighter adapter.

Seconding this reply. You can play out of your phone's headphone jack into the deck's aux in, AND charge the phone via the USB. 2 cables, obviously....

 

[Ed Schenck]

No Allan, but you ARE and OLD techie. I never cease to be amazed at not only how much you guys know but how you have time to implement it! So you are downloading your own music into playlists? I simply plug my Sirus/XM in, put the antenna out through a hatch, and select a year or genre.

 

[Jeff]

I'm embarrassed to say we are "Old School" on my boat. My AM/FM stereo has a cassette player. I plug one of those cassettes in that has the input wire attached and play my IPod without a problem. I just can't bring myself to replace something that still works.

 

[Allan12210]

No Allan, but you ARE and OLD techie. I never cease to be amazed at not only how much you guys know but how you have time to implement it! So you are downloading your own music into playlists? I simply plug my Sirus/XM in, put the antenna out through a hatch, and select a year or genre.

Ed,

I know, once a techie, always a techie. I also have Sirius/XM but it only works when my wife isn't around and it is permanently stuck on channel 100.

Allan

 

[Bill Roosa]

Or buy smaller size geek sticks and organize by stick. The 3GB size is good for about a days worth of music so you don't get repeats. How many differnat types of music are you going to want to listen to any way? jimmy buffet and what else is there?
What is a play list?
sirius is a star
what does XM stand for?
When will 8 track come back? I still have some (just in case)

 

[Benny17441]

I thought about using Pandora through the phone but ten miles out I usually loose phone service so it does not help much. My MP3 does carry and organize the music I like.

 

[caguy]

Thank guys, I think using the audio jack and charging with the USB plug should work for me.
I also love Pandora, I play it in the background while at work. Most of what I know about Android I learned from my 14 yr old grandson who flips through his phone features with all of the speed and agility of a cyborg.
He's the one that got me started on Angry Birds, boy was that a tough addiction to kick.