[ElBando]

I have a Zumo 450 and use it as an MP3 player ( connected to an audio amplifier ) and have a question. I load my SD card with about 600 MP3 files and I can listen to them as I ride, only problem is it takes about ten minutes for the files to be read. So for the first 10 miles I can't play them on the Zumo. Is there a trick to loading my SD card? Should I use folder and sub folders or what is the best way to handle this problem? Thanks.

 

[greywolf]

That's it. I have my files structured by albums. Also, the 450 and 550 have a limit of 1000 songs. I've stitched the songs together in some albums using Direct MP3 Joiner so they appear as a single MP3 file. I have well over 1000 songs in 72 subfolders and they take less than a minute to load. The Zumo thinks I have about 600 songs. It does take a couple of hours to play the compilation title in a Beatles album though.

 

[ElBando]

Thanks for the quick reply Greywolf. I think I'll make ten folders with 100 songs each and see what happens.

 

[greywolf]

I think you'll do better with under 20 songs per folder. Let us know.

 

[ElBando]

I'll let you know.

 

[ElBando]

Greywolf, I got daring and went right ahead and made ten folders of 100 files each. I turned the Zumo on and right away the Zumo showed all 1000 songs in the menu but I couldn't play them. Usually when I see the counter ( 31/805 etc. ) the Zumo will play. This time it didn't. I then just loaded five folders of 100 each, I also put two seperate files outside the folders for a root file. Now it works fine. I will experiment more ways of doing this. What a pain everytime I want to take the SD card out....have to remove that stupid slotted screw. On my Goldwing I have a J & M mp3 player mounted in my trunk and it has a USB cord extension that I use to connect jump drives to. It's real easy, I just stop somewhere and unplug the drive from the USB, insert another and on my way.

 

[greywolf]

I replaced the security screw with Zumo 550, 450 Quick Remove Locking Screw - Honda Goldwing Parts and Accessories

I take the GPS off every time I leave the bike.

 

[ElBando]

I just leave a hollow point bullet on my seat while I'm gone.

 

[garandman]

What do yall use for subscriptions?

Right now I record a bunch of podcasts from NPR in iTunes, then copy them to a playlist, them clipboard the playlist onto a memory card. There must be software that would do this directly with an MP3 player other than an iPod.

 

[greywolf]

Most of my stuff was originally CD tracks saved as .wav files and converted to MP3 with Media Player. I also have radio, cassette and TV audio recorded through the analog input on sound cards. Early on, the input was saved as .wav files with a Creative Live sound card. Lately, I use the Windows 7 sound recorder to record .wma files. Then I use a Jodix.com converter to turn the .wma files to MP3.