2.5mm Audio Input

I guess the good news is that the car also supports ALAC. You could just copy your library to a USB drive and play it that way.

Most of my library is ALAC, so I can confirm it works fine.

Really?! I didn't know that the car played ALAC. I remember trying that a while back and thought it didn't work. I'll have to check again.

If it turns out you need to stay with FLAC, you don't have to rerip the CDs. You can just batch process the apple lossless files to produce a FLAC version of each. On a mac, you can use Max to batch process ALAC to FLAC.

Hm. You guys are making me question myself.

I looked at a couple of files and their actually lossless AIFF encoded. Let me make an ALAC and see what happens.

Okay, so you guys are absolutely right. Sorry about my error.

I converted an AIFF-C file (compressed / lossless) to ALAC / .M4P. The car wouldn't play the ALAC.

So, if you're willing to do a batch conversion, you could use something like XLD to copy the entire library from ALAC to AIFF.

XLD: http://tmkk.undo.jp/xld/index_e.html
XLD Direct Download: http://sourceforge.net/projects/xld/files/xld-20140504.dmg/download

I keep waiting for Tesla to support ALAC and shuffle play.

Until then, get something like mediamonkey that understands ALAC format and will convert to FLAC. Rip whatever you want and copy the results to a USB thumb drive.

bollar said:

I guess the good news is that the car also supports ALAC. You could just copy your library to a USB drive and play it that way.

Most of my library is ALAC, so I can confirm it works fine.

Click to expand...

Just saw your new post. Hope they support this at some point.

mgdurand said:

So don't laugh - but my entire classical CD collection in on an ipod classic which does not have bluetooth. The device is not recognized when plugging into the USB of the car. The files are in Apple lossless and I don't want to re-rip every darn thing to FLAC, it's a huge box of discs.

Sure, I love listening to Slacker's Trap and Hip Hop stations just to shake bugs off the mirrors (and convince my neighbors I'm a dope dealer - true story), but sometimes I'm in a more subtle mood. Has anyone added a 2.5mm input to the MS audio system?

Click to expand...

I use an iPod Classic and simply use an FM transmitter. Why not use that? You can also get a Bluetooth adapter for it, apparently. I found that out months ago in another thread here, but since I already owned the FM transmitter, I decided not to get the Bluetooth adapter. (Plus I'm not sure how well that would work...would it support shuffle, playlists, etc.) So I recommend an FM transmitter. Mine plugs into the 12v outlet (a.k.a. "cigarette lighter outlet"); a bonus is that the one I have charges as it plays.

An FM transmitter would ruin the audio quality that these owners are striving to maintain using these compression algorithms. It would also waste the quality of the premium audio system. That said, it's a cheap and easy solution.

SteveW25561 said:

An FM transmitter would ruin the audio quality that these owners are striving to maintain using these compression algorithms. It would also waste the quality of the premium audio system. That said, it's a cheap and easy solution.

Click to expand...

Steve: Somehow I figured people converted to good formats not due to the perfect quality of...car audio, of all things. Plus, the OP didn't say anything (till after your post) about striving for audio perfection--just that he/she wanted to avoid reconverting (nor having the premium system...not sure that would've affected my suggestions, anyway). Plus, I did mention Bluetooth, which is not FM. I thought it was better (is it not digital transmission of audio? I guess not? no idea), but I have no idea how it compares. But then, I'm not an audiophile, obviously. . . . ;-)

mgdurand: Good luck to you!

Sorry to be utterly pedantic but I think you mean 3.5mm rather than the super tiny 2.5mm used in some older mobile handsets?
Best of luck getting your collection to play!

Just for the record, I've tried various USB -> 3.5mm audio adaptors (mostly freebies with other stuff I'm buying from China), and none of them have worked in the Model S, unfortunately (and unsurprisingly, but you never know!).

kendallpb said:

So I recommend an FM transmitter. Mine plugs into the 12v outlet (a.k.a. "cigarette lighter outlet"); a bonus is that the one I have charges as it plays.

Click to expand...

FWIW, we have a similar gadget and my experience is that it doesn't work well in areas with many FM stations if your FM antenna is at the back of the car.