Apple AAC Files Cover Art / Audio 20

[johnjch2]

Hi,

I've been using MP3 files for over a year now in my C250/2012 with no issues at all displaying art work on the standard Audio 20 with USB interface. (i.e. no COMMAND)

However I'm wanting to move to AAC files, but embedded artwork does not appear. I have tried different sizes and that doesn't work either.

Does anyone else use AAC files that DOES display the album art.

 

[Lexman8]

If you've copied the .aac files from iTunes they won't have the artwork embedded. Some time back, Apple changed how artwork is stored in iTunes and instead of it being in the file header it is now stored in a separate database in iTunes and cross-referenced from the .aac file. They seem to like making things difficult if you step outside the iDevice world.

However, if you've sourced your files from elsewhere, they might have the artwork embedded but the player may not be able to display it. You can try changing the file extension from .aac to .m4a and see if the player is better at recognising files with that extension. (.aac and .m4a are containers; the actual audio encoding is the same.)

As it happens, I've come full circle and I'm using good old .mp3 again because of its universal support in players. I wasted too much time messing around trying to get other formats to work in various players. It's true that below about 128kbps .aac is more efficient (i.e. produces smaller files for a given quality) but at higher bit rates the benefit is less pronounced and at 192kbps and above most people could not tell the difference in terms of sound quality. The .mp3 files will be slightly larger but these days storage isn't an issue.

I've started re-ripping my CDs to high bit-rate .mp3 using Exact Audio Copy (freeware). It produces superior results compared to normal rippers and played through my 'proper' hi-fi the .mp3 is indistinguishable from the original CD.

 

[johnjch2]

Thanks for the update, however I'm ripping mine with dbpoweramp and they do have embedded covers.

Can you confirm you have actually had aac files that actually show cover art on the c-class.

 

[Lexman8]

Sorry, I can't help because my CL is so old it won't even recognise .mp3!

Have you checked that the album art is being displayed correctly on another player? VLC on a PC is pretty good at playing/displaying almost anything you throw at it.

 

[roop_the_loop]

I've tried hooking up various Apple devices to my Audio20, everything from an old iPod Shuttle to iPod Nano (3rd gen) to iPhone 3GS to iPod Touch (latest). I always get the music playing, but that's where the common features end. One gadget gives me track names, another recognises playlists, etc., but no setup provides the full set of features. And in no case did I get covers displaying - in fact, given how hit & miss this whole thing seems to be (whether it is Apple or MB or both to blame), had I actually seen a cover I would have no doubt had a heart attack so wouldn't be writing this now...

 

[television]

Sorry, I can't help because my CL is so old it won't even recognise .mp3!

Have you checked that the album art is being displayed correctly on another player? VLC on a PC is pretty good at playing/displaying almost anything you throw at it.

Correct your comand is CD based, DVD based systems did not come till 2004 wide screen

 

[johnjch2]

Well still trying to get to the bottom of this, so far AAC files do not display album art or album name - but do play OK, however MP3 files do it all!

I don't really want to convert all my AAC files to MP3 to play for car use