How to save iTunes music to MP3 to play on other devices?

Question

How to save iTunes music to MP3 to play on other devices?

How can I save my iTunes music so that it will play on other devices?

I have imported music from CDs with the settings: MP3 at 160kbps. When I then copy the files from my iTunes media folder onto a USB stick or portable USB drive, they do not play on windows devices, or my car stereo.

Do I need to convert the original MP3 files somehow when I copy them?

Is there a different setting I should use when bring the original music into iTunes in the first place?

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013), OSX

Posted on Jan 20, 2015 11:42 AM

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Answer 1

Limnos

Level 10

411,163 points

Jan 20, 2015 1:00 PM in response to ginoandkaspar

Mp3s from iTunes should play perfectly well on other players. No special rip needed. Are you sure you are ripping as mp3? What do the other players say when they are complaining?

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Answer 2

Jan 20, 2015 7:05 PM in response to Limnos

Yes, I thought there wouldn't be a problem, Definitely ripping into iTunes as mp3.

My in-car stereo - reading from USB stick - says 'format not supported' (the manual says it is). My Windows laptop only has windows media player and it says that it doesn't have the right codec to play this media (other mp3s play ok).

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Answer 3

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,660 points

Jan 20, 2015 7:57 PM in response to ginoandkaspar

How are you putting the files onto the USB stick? What format is the USB stick?

Finder has a habit of 'barfing junk' onto FAT formatted drives in an attempt to keep 'Mac specific file metadata'. These end up as invisible '._filename.mp3' files (a.k.a 'dot underscore' files).

You may want to run the disk through http://www.zeroonetwenty.com/blueharvest/

Or you can use Terminal to find & delete the files. I don't recommend deleting via Terminal unless you think you are competent (& have backups).

See if the USB stick is better after clearing out those files.

If it continues to fail, change the settings in iTunes to see if it is choking on options like VBR.

Does Windows tell you anything else about the files that won't play? Can you isolate a couple & examine the originals on the Mac, iTunes will give detail on the encoding options in the Get Info dialog > options tab.

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Answer 4

Limnos

Level 10

411,163 points

Jan 23, 2015 9:28 PM in response to ginoandkaspar

It may not be fussing about file format but drive format. Did you reformat the stick at some stage? Most players use FAT format which is the standard format with which stick drives are supplied, but you may have reformatted it to Mac.

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Answer 5

Mar 2, 2015 11:50 AM in response to ginoandkaspar

Thanks folks. I tried different USB sticks and some work, others don't They are all pre-formatted FAT, but I suspect it may have something to do with the size - my in car player doesn't like big drives attached to the AUX in. Small capacity e.g.. 8gb drives seem to work, but larger drives don't, including a 500gb mini drive. Bummer, because I wanted ideally to whack loads of music into one place and take it with me to play in car.

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