What Format is Used for Car Music?
3 Answers
Most cars can recognize MP3 format songs from a USB drive, but MP3 is not the only format. Common music formats for cars: WAV format: A sound format developed by Microsoft long ago, compliant with the PIFF Resource Interchange File Format specification. APE format: APE is a lossless compression format provided by Monkey's Audio. MP3 format: The full name of MP3 format is Moving Picture Experts Group Audio Layer III. WMA format: WMA is the file format encoded by Windows Media Audio, developed by Microsoft, with better sound quality than MP3 and far superior to RA format. AAC format: AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is a technology provided by Dolby Laboratories for the music community. FLAC format: FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, which can be interpreted as lossless audio compression encoding in Chinese. Precautions when using a car USB drive: Generally, cars can only recognize music files in MP3 or WMA format, so when downloading music, be sure to pay attention to the file format. If the format is incorrect, it must be converted to MP3 or WMA format. Path: Try to place music files in the root directory of the car USB drive. If placed too deep, the car may not be able to locate the file. Capacity: Some car systems may not support large-capacity USB drives, especially older models. Since the main use of a car USB drive is to store music, the file space occupied is not large, so it is only necessary to choose a suitable USB drive for the car, without deliberately pursuing the maximum capacity.
Actually, current car audio systems support quite a variety of formats. I usually just use a USB drive with MP3 or WAV format songs, and most cars can automatically recognize them when plugged in. Although MP3 offers average sound quality, its small file size allows a single USB drive to store thousands of songs. If you're after better sound quality, FLAC format is a good choice, and it's super convenient to play lossless music from NetEase Cloud Music via Bluetooth connection to the car system. However, be aware that some older cars don't support FLAC—my friend's car couldn't read this format just last month. If you're using CarPlay with your phone, Apple Music's AAC format also delivers decent sound quality, and the best part is you don't need to worry about converting formats. Just use voice commands to select songs while driving—it's the most hassle-free option.
When it comes to in-car music formats, compatibility with your car's infotainment system is key. Having used Japanese, German, and domestic models, I found MP3 and WMA are universally supported - even decade-old vehicles can play them. Today's new energy vehicles are more capable; during my test drive of the Li L8, it could directly play DSD lossless audio. For daily use, smartphone connectivity works best: Android users can transmit FLAC via LDAC Bluetooth, while iPhones play AAC through CarPlay. I recommend keeping 320kbps MP3 files on a USB drive as backup - especially useful for mountain trips with poor signal coverage, plus WAV files stored on mechanical hard drives won't get corrupted during unexpected power outages.
