Maximum Limit on number of MP4 songs on USB Stick?

Hello,

I have a Mazda CX 5, 2021 Touring Edition. I have a large MP4 music collection (about 17 thousand songs) that I put on a 512 GB USB stick, formatted as FAT 32. It's about 131 GB in total size. The entertainment system reads the USB stick and I can play the songs, shuffle them, etc. However, not all of the songs are appearing. A large number of songs (not sure how many) don't appear. So I'm wondering if there is an upper limit on the number of songs the entertainment system can handle and will actually read and let you use. If anyone has any information on this, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!
 
Not sure what the limit is for your 2021, but a previous Kenwood radio I had, had a limit of 65K songs - maybe the Mazda has a 16K limit? Also, are all your songs in a single folder or root folder? If so, try splitting over several folders.

Good luck!
 
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My owner's manual says something about 32gb (formatted w/FAT32) being the limit on the size of the USB drive. I've never had an issue using that size.
 
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We have a 256k flash drive with about 1k CD's burned in 256kbps MP3. No issues at all.

Edit: Now that I re-read the OP's post, I see the real question. I had the same issue in my Lexus. There is a file limit on what it can see. I actually never checked on the Mazda, since it's my wife's vehicle. The Lexus was determined to have a 255 file per folder limit. It may be the same here. If I get a chance, I'll check it later this week.
 
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I have several 16gb USB sticks loaded with songs burned in FLAC format, That is supposed to give the highest fidelity. I have not tried any 32gb USB sticks yet in my 2019 CX 5, but I tried a 64gb stick that works in my other car and the Mazda system won't recognize it, with the USB 1 and USB 2 selections on the screen grayed out.
Since I record only the songs I like from each CD that I burn, I have found that you can put a heck of a lot of songs on even a 16gb USB stick. I buy those packs of multiple colors which helps me identify which artists are on them.
 
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I have several 16gb USB sticks loaded with songs burned in FLAC format, That is supposed to give the highest fidelity. I have not tried any 32gb USB sticks yet in my 2019 CX 5, but I tried a 64gb stick that works in my other car and the Mazda system won't recognize it, with the USB 1 and USB 2 selections on the screen grayed out.
Since I record only the songs I like from each CD that I burn, I have found that you can put a heck of a lot of songs on even a 16gb USB stick. I buy those packs of multiple colors which helps me identify which artists are on them.
The CX-5 does not play FLAC files.
 
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Thanks everyone! As far as how I have the USB stick set, I have a separate folders by artist, so it's split over many folders. It sounds like I've hit an undocumented maximum and I may have to get several USB sticks to get what I want. Or, decide what I "really want to listen to" when I'm driving and just put those artists/songs on the stick. I'll test it and figure it out. Thanks!
 
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I have several 16gb USB sticks loaded with songs burned in FLAC format, That is supposed to give the highest fidelity. I have not tried any 32gb USB sticks yet in my 2019 CX 5, but I tried a 64gb stick that works in my other car and the Mazda system won't recognize it, with the USB 1 and USB 2 selections on the screen grayed out.
Check the formatting of the 64GB drive, the radio only recognizes FAT32, I'm guessing your drive is formatted as NTFS.
 
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I stand corrected. I use a program called EAC (Exact Audio Copy). When I have a new USB stick I first format it, which defaults to FAT32 before I transfer the audio files that are saved in a folder on my desktop. The files are recorded from the CD drive using the EAC program and I select Copy Selected Tracks (Uncompressed) and it transfers them to the desktop folder in WAV format. I then transfer those WAV format files to the USB stick.

But my 2019 CX 5 still won't recognize a 64gb USB stick, and from Section 5-36 of the owners manual:
This unit does not support a USB 3.0 device. In addition, other devices may not be
supported depending on the model or OS version.
The recommended capacity of the USB memory is 16 GB or less.
USB devices formatted to FAT32 are supported (USB devices formatted to other formats
such as NTFS are not supported).
 
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I stand corrected. I use a program called EAC (Exact Audio Copy). When I have a new USB stick I first format it, which defaults to FAT32 before I transfer the audio files that are saved in a folder on my desktop. The files are recorded from the CD drive using the EAC program and I select Copy Selected Tracks (Uncompressed) and it transfers them to the desktop folder in WAV format. I then transfer those WAV format files to the USB stick.

But my 2019 CX 5 still won't recognize a 64gb USB stick, and from Section 5-36 of the owners manual:
This unit does not support a USB 3.0 device. In addition, other devices may not be
supported depending on the model or OS version.
The recommended capacity of the USB memory is 16 GB or less.
USB devices formatted to FAT32 are supported (USB devices formatted to other formats
such as NTFS are not supported).
The manual seems to be incorrect, as my 256GB flash drive is 3.0 and plays fine. I'm not sure if I formatted it to FAT32, though.
 
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The manual seems to be incorrect, as my 256GB flash drive is 3.0 and plays fine. I'm not sure if I formatted it to FAT32, though.
Note that it says "The recommended capacity of the USB memory is 16 GB or less." - not the maximum capacity.

USB 3.0 drives are always backward compatible with USB 2.0, so that is not an issue.
 
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The CX-5 does not play FLAC files.
That's the main reason to dump the factory head unit. There's absolutely no good excuse in 2021 to still be using a file format from the Windows 3.1 days which was designed to send music over 14.4 kbps dial-up telephone lines.
 
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That's the main reason to dump the factory head unit. There's absolutely no good excuse in 2021 to still be using a file format from the Windows 3.1 days which was designed to send music over 14.4 kbps dial-up telephone lines.

There's also the argument that an mp3 encoded above 256kbps is indistinguishable from a CD in a vehicle like the CX-5. The stock audio system is the weak link here.
 
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1. Ripped my CD collection (1,100+ discs) into FLAC w/dbpoweramp (took a month)
2. Picked up a 500gig external solid state
3. Formatted drive to FAT32 (guiformat)
4. Transferred over all FLAC files, and many MP3 files/folders
5. Installed into '21 CX-5
6. Listened to music

Note: I'm pretty sure that there is a folder or track limit, as some of the MP3 files/folders aren't showing up. But I'm confident all the FLAC files are there and work great. Only issue is that the volume level is pretty low compared to streaming services/radio.
 
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The low volume is because the flac files aren't compressed! This is a good thing, a good thing indeed! You can actually hear details in the music that aren't drowned out by the louder parts.

It only took a month to rip 1100 albums? Dude, you're FAST! :ROFLMAO: it took me 2 months using EAC and dual drives for my 400-ish albums. The dual drives was an absolute necessity.
 
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1. Ripped my CD collection (1,100+ discs) into FLAC w/dbpoweramp (took a month)
2. Picked up a 500gig external solid state
3. Formatted drive to FAT32 (guiformat)
4. Transferred over all FLAC files, and many MP3 files/folders
5. Installed into '21 CX-5
6. Listened to music

...
If the '21's can play FLAC's, that's awesome! It's about time Mazda came around.
 
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It's about time. Is there any documentation on this? I would like to see what the resolution limitations are.

Not sure what you're referring to, but here are the properties of a random track I ripped into flac.

1633271597849.png
 
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