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[vbphil]

My Library files are ALAC format and I "export" to AAC using the Nero encoder to a separate folder location. This is all working fine but I tried using device synchronization to a USB flash drive using the external converter and it doesn't change the format, only copied the full file over to the USB.

A Library Tools/Export and a Device Sync are 2 different processes in MC21. The external encoder configurations are the same for each process but they are in stored separately.

The Library Tools/Export is working but the Devices Sync is not working with the external encoder. It does work with a MP3 conversion using one of the internal encoders but not with the external encoder.

Any ideas?

thanks,  -phil

[vbphil]

I found a way to set this up so that it works. The file extension for my ALAC librfary files is m4a and I had the external encoder set to rename with the same extension. So I tried making that different and it worked..

1.  In the external encoder settings enter aac for the file extension instead of m4a that I had.
2.  In the device settings for the sync options set Supported Types to aac only. This is an option setting under Files, Paths, & more.

So now when I run the Sync the files are encoded correctly and ended up on the USB stick with the aac extension. The only problem was that MC21 was calculating the required space for the sync by using the full ALAC files sizes instead of the encoded aac sizes which are around 1/10th the size. So I had to run the sync several times to get all the files that were included in the Sync settings. As long as there's a little bit of head room on the USB memory this will suffice. If I was cutting it too close there would be some files it wouldn't transfer because it would think there wasn't room.

JRiver has some work to do on this functionality, unless I missed something along the way.

[blgentry]

Why convert to AAC to begin with?  MP3 is far more universal and should have similar sound quality at high bit rates.

I rarely convert to lossy, but these days it's just a no brainer (for me) to convert to 320kbps MP3.

Glad you found a workaround; just wondering why it's beneficial.

Brian.

[vbphil]

I don't really know. All the different formats has me confused most of the time as to what my ears could discern the difference between. I was reading somewhere that the AAC was a better choice given file size and performance. I'm setting up a 32 GB USB stick for my new Chevy Colorado truck that has the Chevy MyLink system in it. Sounds great to me. Needed to get as much as I can without sacrificing too much on quality onto the 32 GB. After all it is a vehicle so the listening environment isn't always the best. Here's the formats that the MyLink can support.

From Chevy......
We recommend using 32 GB,
also the formats will be as follow: FAT32, NTFS, HFS+ for the file format.

Supported File System Structure

Up to 11 folder levels
Maximum Number of Files Supported

10,000 (combined songs, pictures and playlist)
Supported Audio File Formats

MP3
MPEG 1 – Layer 3
MPEG 2 – Layer 1,2,3
CBR (Constant Bit Rate)
VBR (Variable Bit Rate)
Mono and Stereo
WMA (Windows Media Audio)
WMA 9.0
Bitrates between 5 Kbps and 384 Kbps
CBR (Constant Bit Rate)
VBR (Variable Bit Rate)
Sampling Frequency between 8 kHz and 48 kHz
WAV
Sampling Frequency between 8 kHz and 48 kHz
AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)
MPEG 4 Part 3
AAC+ V1 and V2
Sampling Frequency between 8 kHz and 96 kHz
Mono; Bitrates between 8 Kbps and 576 Kbps
Stereo; Bitrates between 16 Kbps and 1152 Kbps
LC Profile
OGG Vorbis (.ogg)
Sampling Frequency between 8 kHz and 48 kHz
AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format)
Sampling Frequency between 8 kHz and 48 kHz
3GPP (.3gp)
Sampling Frequency between 8 kHz and 48 kHz
Playlist Formats
M3U
PLS
WPL
ASX
B4S
XSPF

[blgentry]

I'm sure you'll be fine either way with that setup.  As long as your MyLink can recognize the files with an extension of .AAC .  Otherwise, you'll have to figure out a way to rename them probably.

Brian.