[WGH]

I have owned a 2023 Subaru Outback for only 9 months and still discovering new tricks it can do.

A free 6 month SiriusXM subscription was included with the car. SiriusXM was new to me so I listened to it exclusively on a trip to California. I have been spoiled by our local independent radio station so for me Sirius has a rather limited music selection even with 400 channels. There is a lot of excellent new music that will never make it on a Sirius Channel. I let my subscription expire although I will renew it for an upcoming trip... $1 for 3 months and cancel anytime.
https://www.siriusxm.com/


The Outback has Bluetooth that automatically connects to my phone, this is nice because the USB port can still be used for charging while staying connected. Smartphones have always played music but finding a song or album on the tiny screen at 84 mph is slightly dangerous. Subaru's have automatic lane centering and adaptive cruise control but I don't feel comfortable poking at a small screen.

The Outback has a 11.6" big screen with big buttons so I got to thinking... can a music app appear on the screen too.




The answer is yes. I'm trying the Musicolet app on my phone. I converted 47 flac albums to a 3GB mp3 folder using the dBpoweramp Batch Converter (it only took 1/2 hour) and copied the files to my phone. I have a lot more music I can add too. This is way too cool.







dBpoweramp Batch Converter took a little time to figure out but once I got the Dynamic output configured it works beautifully. I made a "Car Music" folder to keep the mp3s separate from the flac files. Inside "Car Music" a new folder is automatically created for each album (all naming is retained), inside the folder the music tracks are listed correctly and album artwork is retained. I used the DSP function to convert all the hi-res music to 16 bit/44.1kHz saving even more space.




And it really is 78° F outside this Feb. 23rd.

[Jeff_From_Michigan]

Just used wireless AirPlay for the first time with a rental car for the drive from Michigan to Florida and back.  It was amazing - Qobuz, Tunein stations, podcasts, my complete audio portfolio at my fingertips.

[mix4fix]

I just got a Crosstrek. What music formats will the USB play?

[WGH]

I use the Subaru Android Auto app on my phone to connect via Bluetooth. The USB is only used to keep the phone charged on long trips. I convert the flac files to mp3 to save space and copied the music to my phone. Still using Musicolet. It all sounds good to me.

I suppose the car will play whatever format the phone's music app will decode, the player is in the phone, not in the car.

Once your phone and car are connected via Bluetooth you are literally sitting inside your phone. You can do anything using voice commands, I say "Hey Google" and it will do anything I ask from answering the phone, finding directions without having to stop the car, show text messages on screen, cancel navigation when close to home and probably more stuff I haven't discovered yet.

[mix4fix]

Will it play Flak from USB?

[WGH]

Will it play Flak from USB?

Someone else will have to answer about playing music via USB, I only have used Bluetooth. Does a Subaru have an internal DAC and music player that will play flac via USB like a home stereo? Dunno but kind of doubt it. You'll have to put flac files on a thumb drive, plug it in and see what happens.

[won ton on]

Does anyone know if i will hear a difference between listening to spotify or if i download a flac file off of a cd to my phone via bluetooth in my car.

[aldcoll]

I carry a few thousand songs on my phone as Flac files.  A usb cable gets me to about any car.  My current ride dosent even have a cd player.   But the exhaust sound make up for that.
And here is some Subaru info.
https://www.subaru.com/owners/vehicle-resources.html

[won ton on]

aldcoll       How much storage do you have on your phone.

[won ton on]

aldcoll   I did that years ago on an i pod 160 gb and it used up a lot of storage , not sure i could get too many songs using flac unless i got a phone with 512 or 1 tb storage.

[WGH]

My Google Pixel 7 phone has 128 GB of storage. The 107 albums I converted to mp3 is 6.36 GB. The flac file size of the same 107 albums is 115 GB. I doubt I could hear a difference between mp3 and flac in my 2023 Subaru Outback. In some other cars maybe, but the low level Outback exhaust purr obscures the low level music details and spatial ques that are present in higher quality flac files.

[WGH]

I just got a Crosstrek.

New Subaru's come with a free 4-month SiriusXM subscription, sign-up, it's fun to check out. SiriusXM was all I listened to on a 2500 mile road trip. I marked my calendar to end the service just before the automatic renewal date, it was easy and painless to cancel.

If I wanted to get SiriusXM again for a long trip then new subscriptions are $1 for 3 months and cancel anytime with no penalties. SiriusXM works all the time everywhere, even when there is no cell service which is almost everywhere in the remote regions of the desert Southwest. SiriusXM for your CAR uses the Subaru's satellite receiver and is linked to your car's I.D., it still works even if you leave your phone at home.

[aldcoll]

aldcoll       How much storage do you have on your phone.

when moving to phone I batch ripped / converted with a 50% compression and I have a 1 tb micro storage ( could be more). I don't have it with me now)

My good car is a 2011 and only a I pod works .  No index capabilities for car.

[mix4fix]

Will it play Flak from USB?

After playing around a couple of nights, I have 32GB USB that plays Flak on the Subaru when formatted to FAT32. I have two of them (one at a time): one has nothing but Flak albums, and the other has Flak compilations, MP3 compilations, and some random Flak and MP3 albums that were not as important to be on the first USB. I am set for music (XM, USB, radio).

[WGH]

Fantastic! Do the albums or artists show up on the screen so you can scroll and pick a tune?

[mix4fix]

Fantastic! Do the albums or artists show up on the screen so you can scroll and pick a tune?

I am not familiar with the Subaru screen, but somehow I did get it to show albums.

[Digi-G]

I've got a 2019 Cadillac XT-5 that I can play MP3 files from a USB drive.  I tried flac and couldn't get them to work.  The manual is absolutely no help.  It doesn't tell you anything.  Lots of trial and error to figure out what would work.  I don't mind the MP3's - honestly, I don't think I can hear a difference (usually), but it is kind of a pain to maintain 2 sets of files.

[mix4fix]

After playing around a couple of nights, I have 32GB USB that plays Flak on the Subaru when formatted to FAT32. I have two of them (one at a time): one has nothing but Flak albums, and the other has Flak compilations, MP3 compilations, and some random Flak and MP3 albums that were not as important to be on the first USB. I am set for music (XM, USB, radio).

Can Subaru (or any other car manufacture) use a USB hub and have more than one USB connected?