# MIB2: Export your iTunes library to SD card or USB stick for perfect functionality



## KevinC (Feb 16, 1999)

When I first bought my '16 Golf R last June, I put an iPod Nano semi-permanently in the center cubby, thinking I'd found the ideal solution for having complete access to all my music and playlists all the time, without having to plug in my iPhone and use CarPlay. This solution works quite well, however there are a few downsides. One, I don't want to leave any iPod hooked up in my car 24/7, especially during the summer months here in Phoenix, when car interiors reach surface-of-the-sun-like temperatures. Second, you lose the "Coverplay" functionality, which I think a lot of people don't even realize is a thing as it's not documented in the manual. It's a really cool feature. More on that later.

Below is the file layout you want on your SD card or USB stick. Later I'll talk about how I exported mine via a MacOS program called Export for iTunes, which sells for $7.99 in the App Store. Very reasonable price for all its capabilities. 

Format your media as ExFAT. No matter how you move your files to your media, arrange them like this:










The shot above shows my m3u playlists in the root directory, and a "Music" directory, under which all your files will be stored like this:










I exported my files with track numbers added, though they aren't necessary for the songs to play in the correct order - the id tags on the files themselves identify where they belong. I also exported the album artwork in its own file, though again this shouldn't be necessary as the artwork will be found with the individual tracks.

Here's how I exported my playlists & albums using Export for iTunes as mentioned above:










I checked only the playlists I wanted to bring over - leaving out iTunes default stuff like "all music", "no lyrics" etc. The options I chose are shown. I see one error in that screenshot - you want to include the playlists, not just the files as I have checked here. Whoops. They will be exported to the root directory.

Next I exported all my albums, as shown here:










No converting going on here, what you want is the original AAC (m4a) format.










Another gotcha on the (first) above shot - I redid the export without the "save m3u files in the same folder with tracks". If you do this as shown, all those playlists for each individual album will show up as playlists in your library view on your MIB2 screen, which is completely redundant, and they're not needed for the albums to play correctly. So don't do that, uncheck that box.

Yes, all this can be done manually, but it's pretty tedious, and this program is cheap IMHO at $8 and totally automates the process. It also has a bunch of other capabilities like converting formats that aren't necessary here but might be of use to you at some point.

I mentioned Coverflow - you get this feature when using SD card or USB media, but it does not work with an iPod connected, for whatever reason. While playing music, when you move your hand close to the screen and the menu labels appear, your album art also fan out like this...










Tap the album cover, and voila, you get this...










Now you can simply swipe through your albums, and go directly to one by tapping on the cover you stop on. They are in alphabetical order by album title, and there's no way to sort them differently, unfortunately - I'd prefer by artist - but it's still really cool and immensely useful IMHO.

Free up your USB port and go SD card, it's slicker than snot. I use a Class 10 card from SanDisk. Any non-crappy card at that speed should work fine.


----------



## Boosted_Bunny (Apr 23, 2003)

KevinC said:


> When I first bought my '16 Golf R last June, I put an iPod Nano semi-permanently in the center cubby, thinking I'd found the ideal solution for having complete access to all my music and playlists all the time, without having to plug in my iPhone and use CarPlay. This solution works quite well, however there are a few downsides. One, I don't want to leave any iPod hooked up in my car 24/7, especially during the summer months here in Phoenix, when car interiors reach surface-of-the-sun-like temperatures. Second, you lose the "Coverplay" functionality, which I think a lot of people don't even realize is a thing as it's not documented in the manual. It's a really cool feature. More on that later.
> 
> Below is the file layout you want on your SD card or USB stick. Later I'll talk about how I exported mine via a MacOS program called Export for iTunes, which sells for $7.99 in the App Store. Very reasonable price for all its capabilities.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the post!! Will be doing this soon. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## frankiedubbz (Aug 4, 2016)

Excellent post! Definitely will give this a try. Do you have the link to the SD Card you bought for this?

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk


----------



## KevinC (Feb 16, 1999)

frankiedubbz said:


> Excellent post! Definitely will give this a try. Do you have the link to the SD Card you bought for this?


It's a couple of years old, so no. But here's one for $13 (32gb) with equivalent specs, this should do nicely...

http://a.co/6QQR688


----------



## Sump (Jul 14, 2006)

Great write up. :thumbup:

For any android converts that stumble on this thread that still use Itunes I recommend iSyncr.
(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jrtstudio.iSyncr&hl=en)

Apparently it's $10 now (I got it back in the day for a few bucks). But does 2 things, syncs your android wirelessly through itunes but in regards to the VW radio you can also sync to any USB/card. Only 'trick' is you need to copy the isyncr folder from your android phone (just the very first time for some xml settings files it can be empty of music). Then the USB device is recognized as a syncable device with isyncr. It auto does the folders and image art like in the OP so it looks correct on the VW interface. Then anytime I get new music I just plug the SD card into my PC, fire off isyncr and my libraries are updated. 

I typically sync playlists but you can do by artist/album/etc.


----------



## Palouse (Aug 20, 2013)

Thank you Kevin. Your instructions and "export for iTunes" worked flawlessly!


----------



## KevinC (Feb 16, 1999)

Palouse said:


> Thank you Kevin. Your instructions and "export for iTunes" worked flawlessly!


That's awesome! 1st success story. Isn't it great to be using SD (or USB) and getting perfect results? So awesome how far the technology has come in the last decade.


----------



## Palouse (Aug 20, 2013)

KevinC said:


> That's awesome! 1st success story. Isn't it great to be using SD (or USB) and getting perfect results? So awesome how far the technology has come in the last decade.


Yeah! I remember doing all kinds of strange contortions and lots of trial and error to copy music to a SD card for my 2012 Passat. Only did it once and never added more. Of course, that car had a 6-CD changer. but SD cards are so much easier to cart around!


----------



## Sharpenologist (Mar 13, 2017)

*MIB1 ? - Does this work for a 2015 GTI S ?*

Just got a great deal on a 2015 GTI S 2door ... I'm pretty sure it's MIB1 ... and I'd love to be able to do this ...

Using iTunes for Windows, have access to Android phone ... tried iSyncr, but can't seem to get it working right.

Any suggestions for how to do this with my oldie [but new to me] ?

Thanks in advance!

-dmm


----------



## JLCVDUB (Apr 11, 2007)

There are some good bands in there. I should mail you an SD + cash to send me your list. :laugh:


----------



## puma1552 (Jul 6, 2012)

Bumping this, I also am someone who has never used anything but a permanently docked iPod in any of my cars, as it really is the best solution. However, my new Tiguan's USB port is not hidden, and I don't really like the idea of my old nano which is like a $30 iPod on its best day out in sight for thieves to smash a window over. So, I started looking at the SD card slot method and came across this thread. This method works pretty well, but wanted to make a couple comments:

1) I couldn't find any way to export tracks without the track number. It kind of sucks that when viewing the tracks on a playlist in list format, you are stuck having to view the track number as well as the .m4a extension (but at least it doesn't show either of these things on the main screen when playing). Not a big deal, but kind of dumb that the tracks have this extra info only when viewed through the playlist.
2) For whatever reason VW decided to withhold voice commands for selecting playlists, have to do it through the head unit. Kind of dumb when I can use voice commands for choosing artists, tracks, etc. Why can't I say "Play playlist XX"? Well, voice command didn't work at all with an iPod plugged in, so I was happy to find a lot of voice command support for the SD card method. Nice surprise even if no voice support for playlists.
3) Quite a few of the album artwork doesn't show up. They show up on the iPod and in iTunes, as these are even on songs purchased recently through iTunes, so there is zero reason for the artwork not to show in the head unit. No idea on this one, seems like a lot of people have this problem.
4) I think the sound quality is ever so slightly better.

All in all kind of a pain in the ass to set up, and I may struggle a bit the first couple times I want to take the SD card out to add songs to it, but overall it's actually a little improvement over a plugged in iPod due to the voice command support and slightly better sound quality, even at the cost of some of the album art.


----------



## KevinC (Feb 16, 1999)

Puma, I too had some missing artwork originally but have now cleaned it all up and have 100% covered. I'm not sure what the resolution limit is - I'd read 500x500 someplace, but I've got some that is 600x600 that works. Check yours that are missing on MIB2 but present in iTunes and see what the resolution is. If high, replace them with 500x500 versions, which are typically super easy to find with a Google image search. Those should display just fine.

Another quirk - if you do replace artwork in iTunes, and if you use iTunes Match, wait about 10-15 minutes to do the transfer back to your SD card. iTunes screws around uploading the change to the cloud, and the original change doesn't seem to "take" until this is done.


----------



## puma1552 (Jul 6, 2012)

KevinC said:


> Puma, I too had some missing artwork originally but have now cleaned it all up and have 100% covered. I'm not sure what the resolution limit is - I'd read 500x500 someplace, but I've got some that is 600x600 that works. Check yours that are missing on MIB2 but present in iTunes and see what the resolution is. If high, replace them with 500x500 versions, which are typically super easy to find with a Google image search. Those should display just fine.
> 
> Another quirk - if you do replace artwork in iTunes, and if you use iTunes Match, wait about 10-15 minutes to do the transfer back to your SD card. iTunes screws around uploading the change to the cloud, and the original change doesn't seem to "take" until this is done.


I don't think the resolution is the issue, since all the artwork works when the source is USB and my iPod. Also, I think artwork from Apple is 650x650 by default, so in a world of ever increasing phone resolutions etc., I definitely wouldn't want to downgrade my artwork resolution...but even still I am not sure that's the problem since other artwork from Apple works, as does all of it when the iPod is plugged in.


----------



## KevinC (Feb 16, 1999)

puma1552 said:


> I don't think the resolution is the issue, since all the artwork works when the source is USB and my iPod. Also, I think artwork from Apple is 650x650 by default, so in a world of ever increasing phone resolutions etc., I definitely wouldn't want to downgrade my artwork resolution...but even still I am not sure that's the problem since other artwork from Apple works, as does all of it when the iPod is plugged in.


Strange problem for sure. I'd examine those that are not showing up vs ones that work. Compare resolutions (you can simply drag the artwork out of the info screen in iTunes and then check resolution). Even if resolution doesn't seem to be the problem, try replacing the offending artwork on one track or album and see if it then works.. even if you keep it at say 600x600 or 650x650. That problem would drive me nuts too and I'd keep after it until solved. Good luck!


----------



## puma1552 (Jul 6, 2012)

So, all these years later, a permanently docked and hardwired iPod still reigns supreme.

I bought 7 new songs off iTunes today and put them on a playlist, and moved it to both the SD card and my iPod. iTunes now uses 1400x1400 resolution for artwork, I had no idea they bumped it up so much but that's awesome.

None of these fresh-from-iTunes songs displayed artwork on the MIB-II unit when played from the SD card. All of them did when I hooked up my iPod. Before buying these 7 songs, I looked at a couple tracks I had that were and weren't showing the artwork via the SD card to see if I could identify any differences, and I couldn't - I just didn't see any reason why some songs would show their artwork via SD card and others wouldn't, especially since they all show up when using the iPod. I looked at some tracks that were 600 x 600 and some that were 1400 x 1400, some of each worked, some of each didn't, so that wasn't the issue.

Ultimately I decided that I'm not interested in looking any further into this, primarily because I've been religiously maintaining my iTunes library with extreme OCD for 15 years and I'm not interested in starting to screw with it just for this MIB-II unit, which I won't have forever, unlike my iTunes library which I will have forever and which will always be supported natively by Apple devices.

I also still feel that while the menus/directories etc. are pretty clean with the SD card, they are still just a tad cleaner when the iPod is docked, and I don't have to see playlist .m3u extensions or track numbers when viewing the tracks on the playlist. 

I also thought when I went to the SD card that the sound quality was marginally better, so I pulled up a couple tracks with crisp highs and low lows and flipped back and forth between the iPod and the SD card and listened to the same parts back to back, over and over. No sound quality difference at all thankfully, so I guess that was just a placebo effect in my head when I went to the SD card.

For me, while the SD card was nearly as good as a docked iPod, in the end it just wasn't, even if I have to give up voice command (and cover flow, but I've never used it so no loss there). I'll just have to hope nobody looks in and sees my iPod sitting there and decides to break in and steal it.

***

Unrelated, there is one thing that is dumb with the MIB-II when the iPod is plugged in (and maybe SD card too, don't remember) - if you want to listen to an artist or a playlist, on both repeat all AND shuffle (usually how I listen to music), you simply can't do that. You can select repeat all, and it will stay in that selected artist or playlist (or album I suppose) and play the songs in order over and over again, but as soon as you hit that shuffle button, whether or not the repeat button is selected it will shuffle all the tracks in that artist or playlist once, and then it will back out and start shuffling your entire library from the track directory. Pretty dumb you can't repeat and shuffle an artist or a playlist but whatever.


----------



## KevinC (Feb 16, 1999)

I've had almost zero issues taking iTunes-purchased albums to SD card, or Amazon tunes either for that matter. Usually if I do have an issue, it's just one track for whatever bizarre reason, and is easily fixed. I haven't seen the 1400x1400 thing yet.

I still prefer SD card for the "coverflow" effect it provides, which for whatever reason isn't available via iPod.


----------



## Reedysgti (Jan 31, 2014)

I have the early model R 2014 so I don't think I have the MlB2. I'm quite confused as to what infotainment system I have. I think when I update maps it's Discover Media. I've found that the only way to get the art work is to copy the picture and edit it to make it 500x500 or less then put it back into iTunes for that song then drag it to the SD card. Does anyone know if there is an easier way using iTunes and widows 10. 

Cheers


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## 2k14 mk6 jetta tsi (Aug 3, 2014)

Hey guys, sorry to bring this thread back from the dead but I wanted to thank you guys for the info provided and had a question about using SD cards for music. I just installed apple carplay RCD330 and I love it. I am currently using an old 4gb SD card and it is flawless. No art work but I haven't fiddled with it and just copy/pasted the music I wanted to test it out. Not even sure if I have the artwork anyways. My question to you guys is....What is the max SD card size I can use? I am looking at a 32gb or 64gb and want a smooth system so if 64gb is doable but super slow I will just get two 32gb and call it a day.


Thanks in advance.


----------

