How to connect an external audio player to the CX-60?

[Gajdzin]

How will I be able to play music in CX-60 from an external player like my FiiO X5 with 1000+ digitized CDs?
- I can't use Line Out like I do in my Mazda 6, because as far as I can see CX-60 has no Aux input...
- I could buy a new player with Bluetooth, but I assume I can't connect BOTH my iPhone (for car play navigation etc.) and the music player?
Any ideas?

 

[theblooms]

Transfer your albums to a thumb drive and use that.

 

[Gajdzin]

In my Mazda 6 that's impossible, because the car doesn't recognize 1TB or even 256GB thumb drives.
I tried with a smaller thumb drive (64GB, if I remember correctly) and a small section of my library like a couple of hundred CDs converted from FLAC to 320kbps MP3, but it took forever to even read the table of contents, and that was happening every time I'd try to turn the music on...
No idea how this works in CX-60 Mazda Connect, though.

 

[theblooms]

The CX60 is a much newer vehicle. I'd assume that it would recognize a bigger drive, as well as flac.
If it doesn't, well that just sucks.

 

[Gajdzin]

I just wish it had an Aux In Am I right in assuming that it's impossible to connect 2 Bluetooth devices at the same time, an iPhone for calling/car play and an audio player for audio?

 

[theblooms]

Now that I couldn't even begin to answer. I don't use BT for music, just because it sounds so bad.

 

[Gajdzin]

I would also MUCH prefer Line In, or at least USB playback, but I have my doubts if the system can handle a really massive library on a thumb drive. The manufacturers also assume that consumers have a few dozen favorite albums, not a few thousand.

 

[BWJ]

Give USB a try, when the port can handle movie playback it must be able to handle fairly large storage sizes

 

[Gajdzin]

Give USB a try, when the port can handle movie playback it must be able to handle fairly large storage sizes

Found the answer in MazdaConnect manual online. Maximum 9999 files on a single USB device. That means I would need 3 thumb drives for my music collection. This sucks big time

 

[BWJ]

Found the answer in MazdaConnect manual online. Maximum 9999 files on a single USB device. That means I would need 3 thumb drives for my music collection. This sucks big time

It also says :
 (FAT32)
Maximum file size: 4 GB -1 byte
Maximum volume size: 2 TB (when sector size is 512 bytes)

 

[theblooms]

2TB is terrific.

 

[Gajdzin]

Yes, 2TB is fine, but the 9999 files limit is ridiculous. That's only about 750 albums.

 

[BWJ]

Yes, 2TB is fine, but the 9999 files limit is ridiculous. That's only about 750 albums.

Lets hear if it works for you

 

[Gajdzin]

Lets hear if it works for you

Well, it will have to, juggling 2 thumb drives (3 if I wanted to fit my entire collection, but OK, I can omit some rarities like the recordings of my own band ). Fortunately CX-60 appears to be able to treat 2 USB ports as 2 separate inputs that can be switched from the source selector.

 

[SteveMilner]

Give USB a try, when the port can handle movie playback it must be able to handle fairly large storage sizes

I didn’t know you could play a movie. Do you just put an MP4 or similar onto a thumb drive?

 

[BWJ]

I didn’t know you could play a movie. Do you just put an MP4 or similar onto a thumb drive?

From owner manual.
USB audio device:
The following data files can be played from USB memory and USB audio devices:
Audio files: MP3, WMA, AAC, MP4, 3GPP, WAV, FLAC, OGG
Video files: MP4, AVI, ASF
Files written under specifications other than those specified cannot
play normally, or file or folder names may not be displayed correctly.

 

[theblooms]

From owner manual.
USB audio device:
The following data files can be played from USB memory and USB audio devices:
Audio files: ... FLAC

FLAC! It's about time! MP3 is a garbage codec and should have died a well deserved and horrible death 20 years ago. That file format was created BEFORE Windows 3.1! It was made for 14.4kbps modems and 40 MEG (not gig!) Hard Drives. It has long, long outlived its usefulness.

 

[SteveMilner]

Maybe this, with a subs to c adapter would give you a line in. It doesn’t need a driver so perhaps

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07RS11PDD/

 

[Gajdzin]

Maybe this, with a subs to c adapter would give you a line in. It doesn’t need a driver so perhaps

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07RS11PDD/

Not sure how it works, but a USB port doesn't have any analogue signal, so it must be a DAC hidden in a plug? And can't be a high quality DAC being this tiny and costing this much...