I need a Better Way...

[Randy]

to manage my music on my boat stereo.

I have a Kenwood BT558U which has USB, Bluetooth, ipod, I heart and Pandora capabilities.

I am currently running my music off of a 64GB flash drive which is a bit clunky.

Any suggestions. I don't know if I want to buy an Ipod because of my semi official Iboycott. But I will consider all options.

I'm all ears.

 

[Barney]

Boat ? Sorry Randy, I hear boat & start thinking fishing.

 

[CMonster]

to manage my music on my boat stereo.

I have a Kenwood BT558U which has USB, Bluetooth, ipod, I heart and Pandora capabilities.

I am currently running my music off of a 64GB flash drive which is a bit clunky.

Any suggestions. I don't know if I want to buy an Ipod because of my semi official Iboycott. But I will consider all options.

I'm all ears.

Set the radio dial to WIL and crank it! :happy-smileygiantred:

 

[Randy]

You're both crackin me up!

 

[CMonster]

I'm guessing you don't want to have to micro-manage your music in that setting - you just want to have a steady stream of shit you like queued up. Answer me this, er, these: do you have a Bluetooth capable smartphone or music device? Established Pandora stations? Pandora One account? Amazon Prime?

 

[lulimet]

iPod classic with 120 or 160GB :mrgreen:

 

[Akula]

Yeah, you're probably looking for some kind of MP3 player, but lately it seems like phones have been taking over that segment of the market. There's no shortage of non-Apple options, but I can't really recommend one in particular since I'm not all that sure of what's out there.

And since 96.3 turned into yet more of that damned top 40 crap there's just that much less to listen to on the radio anyway.

 

[CMonster]

If he isn't already using the POS that is iTunes then there are probably better alternatives. The thing is once you dip your toe into the Apple pond you might as well dive all in. Holy shit, I just realized we have eight iDevices. DAMN YOU BATMAN AND YROMJ!!!

 

[Flint]

Here's what I do...

When I am out on my "boat", as you call it, my sound system is controlled by my man-servant, Henri (the French pronunciation). Simply put, I shout at him, "Put on some megadeath!" and he does it. If he puts on the wrong music, I hit him with my cane. The second time I he fucks up, I beat him with a whip and send him to bed without dinner. There are more than enough servants on my yacht... er, "boat." to cover for him if he screws it up badly enough. Jeeter the chef's assistant has a pretty good idea of what I like to listen to while making passionate love to whatever socialite or super-model I happen to have with me on the sea.

 

[CMonster]

^ :laughing-rolling: Please tell me the jaw surgery and new job won't keep you from attending Batman's GTG this year...

 

[jomari]

Cof reminds me of Fernando Martinez from vice city...

Hawaiian shirt with some khaki shorts and of course Birkenstock sandles with champion socks.

Of course some shiny chest hairs, arms and back that would make tom selleck look like a six year old.

 

[Flint]

to manage my music on my boat stereo.

I have a Kenwood BT558U which has USB, Bluetooth, ipod, I heart and Pandora capabilities.

I am currently running my music off of a 64GB flash drive which is a bit clunky.

Any suggestions. I don't know if I want to buy an Ipod because of my semi official Iboycott. But I will consider all options.

I'm all ears.

I use my phone via bluetooth in my car and in my hotel rooms. I also use it with headphones when working out, walking, sitting in my office cubicle, and so on. I have 144GB of capacity on it and probably 75% of my entire collection converted to 192kbs WMA audio, which sound very, very good for most recordings. The classical and jazz recording are converted to 256kbps WMA. Since I use the same device everywhere, I have mastered the music player interface and know how to get the right playlist, album, genre, or even "mood" and "tempo" using the cool tools in the built-in native Android app. I love it.

 

[Flint]

There are two drawbacks to using a phone as your sole music playing device:

1) Notifications from apps interrupt the music briefly (If I get a Facebook Messenger note from my wife, the music will quickly fade out, pause, then fade back in, for example).
2) You cannot take a call while your guests get to continue listening to the music.

 

[Randy]

If he isn't already using the POS that is iTunes then there are probably better alternatives. The thing is once you dip your toe into the Apple pond you might as well dive all in. Holy shit, I just realized we have eight iDevices. DAMN YOU BATMAN AND YROMJ!!!

^^^This^^^

I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 with Bluetooth. I do have a couple of Pandora stations that I listen to in my office but I only use the free version.

I cant remember what size the SD card in my phone is. I have a 64GB flash drive full so I don't know that the phone is the way to go for that.

Didn't I read somewhere that the higher capacity cards don't work well in phones for some silly reason.

Ya, I really just want an easier way to navigate my music without having to scroll through folder 1, folder 2, folder 3... etc. Especially since I cant remember which folder is which.

Also, to piggyback on Flints post re: drawbacks to the phone, many areas where I boat have poor phone service so the damn thing is roaming like crazy anyway. I often shut it off to save battery and turn it on a couple of times throughout the day in areas where I know I have service. I have no way of charging my phone on the boat, no cigarette lighter on this one. That is one of the many things on my list of items my next boat WILL have.

 

[Akula]

You're probably getting close to being SOL. If you want to bring along more than 64GB of music (and apparently the S4 will only support a 64GB micro SD card), there's not many options. Even the large storage MP3 players are getting pretty thin on the ground. Apple has discontinued their iPod Classic, which even though was an Apple product, was kind of the king of the big storage players.

You could look into a new head unit that would support a better file structure, but otherwise there's not much you can do that's going to be economical.

 

[Randy]

It's a brand new head unit.

I did not realize my phone would only support a 64 GB card.

Looks like it may simply be time for a new boat. My buddy has a cruiser and he simply takes his laptop along and uses that. My boat is more of the "go fast" style and has limited room so the laptop option is out.

I may have enough points on my credit card for the 160GB Ipod classic.

 

[Akula]

Looks like it may simply be time for a new boat.

 

[yromj]

If he isn't already using the POS that is iTunes then there are probably better alternatives. The thing is once you dip your toe into the Apple pond you might as well dive all in...

Yes, the power of the Dark Side is VERY VERY strong.

...Holy shit, I just realized we have eight iDevices. DAMN YOU BATMAN AND YROMJ!!!

THAT is your own damned fault. I stay way away from the pool that is the Dark Side. In fact my only contribution to your current state (at least the only one I own up to bscene-buttred: ) is not having any of that stuff, particularly an AppleTV.

[TANGENT] Maybe I REALLY understand the Apple logo now? [/ENDTANGENT]

John

 

[Yesfan70]

I used to have a Kenwood and while it was slow, it was manageable. It would show 3 lines of text, so that's what mattered most instead of viewing the content as folder 1, folder 2, etc.


If your current radio makes viewing/scrolling through media disdaining, why not look for another headunit that's more to your liking? You'll probably pay the same in price when compared to a large dedicated MP3 player. Until then, you can use the Samsung to stream via Bluetooth.

 

[Randy]

When using USB it only displays "folder1" etc.

Did I mention it is a brand new head unit???

Ok seriously, boats are a weird deal when doing audio. I had to stick with Kenwood Marine because the boat already had 2 Kenwood remotes installed. The remotes are proprietary and I was not willing to change remotes. Changing remotes requires cutting holes in my boat and holes in boats are generally not good. One of the remotes is at the helm and one is on the transom at the swim platform.