2020 - No CD Player - The Solution

I was a bit bummed when I learned that my new 2020 TDR OR was going to strand me with no way to play my CD's. I'm an Old Audiophile, with deep Analog Roots, and a 16bit 44.1kHz WAV file is already bad enough for me; so I just can't listen to MP3 files. I can hear that missing 90% of audio data that has been deleted from the original WAV file when it is converted into an MP3, so no MP3 music for my audiophile ears.

Fortunately for me, I read in the Manual (ya, I read the whole thing, both of them!) that the new Entune 3 system would recognize and play WAV files. All I had to do was put my WAV files on a portable USB (Thumb) Drive, plug it into the USB port, select the USB port as my Audio Source, and play my music that I 'ripped' from my CD's - problem solved.

Well, it wasn't quite that easy, but almost. And the purpose of this thread is to ensure that it is easy for all of you new 2020 owners who want to play your CD's in your new truck.

The most important part of this process is to make sure that your USB Thumb Drive is formatted as 'Fat32', otherwise it will not be recognized by the Entune system. This was my problem; and Windows 10 no longer has the option to format a drive as 'Fat32'. Some of these drives come formatted as 'Fat32' right out of the box, so some people won't have any problems with them. But what if you need to format one of these drives as 'Fat32', or perhaps you just wish to do so to remove any OEM junk & clutter from the drive before you use it - how do you accomplish this? After much frustration, struggle, and searching, I found the solution:

https://fat32format-gui.en.lo4d.com/windows

The free Utility Program available on this webpage will format any drive as 'Fat32'.

So then, plug your USB Thumb Drive into your Win10 Computer, double-click on this Utility, be certain that you select your USB Thumb Drive in the dialog box, and then format it as 'Fat32'. It's that easy.

I used a 64g USB Thumb Drive for my CD WAV files. I used the Windows Media Player to rip the WAV files from my CD's; and I put all of the WAV files from each CD into their own separate folders, named 'ArtistName&CDTitle', with the individual files named as 'Track01', 'Track02', etc. I initially ripped 30 CD's, so I had 30 individual folders on my Drive. Entune recognized the Drive, and immediately read all of the individual folder Names. I could select a folder on the Entune screen to open it, select the first Track in that folder, hit play, and all of the Tracks in that folder would then play in sequence - just as if I had a CD Player in my new Truck.

Ya, it's a lot of work, but at least I can listen my CD's in my new Truck. And one nice advantage is that I can now conveniently have about 150 of my favorite CD's on this one 64g drive, with me in my truck all of the time (I put 30 CD's on my drive initially, and it only used about one-fifth of the space available).

So there you have it: the solution to playing your CD's in your new 2020 Tacoma without a CD Player. Hopefully this information helps someone, and saves them from the frustration and struggle that I experienced.

Rock-On Fellow Tacoma Owners/Enthusiasts!

 

Thanks for the write up & Welcome to TW

 

Welcome to the future my man! I'm also an audiophile but vehicles are probably the worst sound stage for music enjoyment... not to mention the quality of oem amp/speakers....

Glad you got your music transferred to a USB!

 

Glad to see I'm not the only one. I had a similar problem with my Subaru that eliminated CD players for my 2018 but put them back in for 2019 (not kidding). My collection is too big and I have no interest in converting/downloading my CDs, too much time, hassle, and chances for ruining the sound quality. I bought a $25 portable CD player and plug into the aux jack. The sound was better than I expected, it never skips, and not getting converted is usually a good thing. My Subaru has a great sound system so no need to mod but my Tacoma is different, rear speaker delete and it just doesn't sound good in any way. If only I could find a way to get my Rega Turntable to work in my truck it would be awesome.

 

I'm curious, have you ever sat in a Porsche, Aston Martin etc that had a high end optional system? I've seen car systems offered by Harmon Kardon, MacIntosh, Levinson, and others and always wondered how good they are. The only time I paid for the optional system was in my 2015 Wrangler Willy's but that one sounded like crap with a big subwoofer, wasn't even that great for Rap. Just asking because the only time I had a chance to hear one I couldn't figure out how to turn it on (Rolls Royce Phantom with the dreaded BMW iDrive system). The standard system in my Impreza Premium is the best I've ever owned and it's not even the optional Harmon Khardon system, I was pleasantly surprised. I'm spoiled as my home system is fully spiked, carefully set up, and about $5,000. I worked in a Hi Fi store so I got really spoiled. I'm Mid-fi at best, HiFi starts around $10,000 IMO.

 

Will entune play flac? That would save some space.

 

Also, Exact Audio Copy is a better cd ripper.

 

1985 called, and they want their shit back.

 

I still use my old 160GB iPod classic in the USB port, plays great no problems.

 

OP, Nice write up!

One warning for those not highly computer savvy .... Be SURE you are POSITIVE which drive is being formatted when you format a device. You can format your computer's drive(s) and will wind up with a useless PC and lose all your data (unless you are able to reload your device).... JMO

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those that know binary and those that don't ...

 

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those that know binary and those that don't ...[/QUOTE]


Hilarious! Sadly most probably didn't even get it.

 

I have. Premium audio upgrades are almost never worth the $. You can pretty much always take that $ and build something much better yourself if you are so inclined.

 

I had an Acura that played DVD-A 5.1, and it was the best sounding vehicle I have ever owned. I don't personally see the point of going to higher quality audio files with the stuff that's in our trucks, but to each their own.

 

Ha!

OP, good write up.

 

Also, its hilarious that Win10 can't format to Fat32 natively anymore. Sure it may be an "obsolete" format, but so many things still use it.

FWIW, if you have a linux box laying around, it can probably format fat32.

 

From page 149 in the 2020 manual. I'm currently using MP3s. I have FLAC files, so I will probably try that and listen for a difference.

 

This is also a viable alternative, and one that I considered.
Which one did you get?

 

Any of you guys want CD I'll trade my 2017 HU plus cash for your 2020 with android auto

 

I am curious, as I am no where near being an audiophile type person...

But what you just did is digital music, no different then a loss-less format digital music. Something like Amazon Music Lossless or Tidal.. you can then have almost unlimited songs and much....... much, much less work.

 

The key word is lousy COMPRESSED music.