How to connect a flash drive to a car radio via the cigarette lighter

We listen to music in the car through the cigarette lighter and don’t strain

Did you know that there are special adapters through which you can listen to music in the car through the cigarette lighter! This method, of course, is inferior to more “advanced” ones, such as wireless Bluetooth or battery-free USB, but it allows you to enable playback from any modern media, even on the most “ancient” cassette player. Do you have one like this in your car? Great, then the article is just for you!

Why the flash drive doesn’t play in the car but plays on the computer: solved

Sometimes the flash drive opens on the computer, but refuses to play in the car - let’s find out how to solve this problem...

If a flash drive plays on the computer, but not in the car, then this does not necessarily indicate a malfunction of the drive.
The problem may be either in the disk drive or in the radio itself. Most likely, the flash drive is simply formatted in a file system that the car radio does not support. Of course, there are other reasons why a flash drive does not play in a car, but works on a computer.

How to listen to music through a cigarette lighter?

To understand how an adapter for music into a car cigarette lighter works, you need to delve a little deeper into the theory.

If the car radio does not support Bluetooth, does not read a flash drive and does not have an AUX connector, a special device called an FM transmitter will come to the rescue.

Its main function is to convert a digital signal into radio waves. All you have to do is tune the desired wave, catch it on the radio, and you can listen to music from your phone as if through a radio.

Thus, music from a car cigarette lighter works like this: you turn on the FM adapter, connect a media with music to it (via Mini Jack, Bluetooth or AUX), select the broadcast frequency, turn on playback and catch this wave on the radio of your radio.

There are different types of FM modulators, below we present the TOP 5 most popular ones on Yandex Market. What capabilities can such adapters be equipped with?

It’s clear that the more functionality a transmitter is equipped with, the more expensive it is.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth connectivity is the latest in modern electronics and is by far the most advanced wireless technology available today. However, not all radios can support this function. This method is available mainly on touchscreen multimedia systems.

Of course, such a connection does not require any cords - and this is a big plus. To connect, you need to start Bluetooth on both the radio and the phone, and then pair them.

As a result of pairing, absolute integration between the radio and telephone occurs. For this reason, the mobile phone can be removed - control is carried out from the radio. In addition, the radio will use Bluetooth to read not only audio, but also videos from your mobile phone.

How to connect and how to listen?

So, you bought an FM adapter, unpacked it, and brought it into the car. Now let's figure out how to use it to listen to music in the car through the cigarette lighter. The device must come with instructions and an AUX cord. If the latter is not available, it must be purchased separately.

Let's look at how to connect music in the car through the cigarette lighter step by step:

Now you know how to turn on music in the car through the cigarette lighter. Note that this transmission slightly degrades the playback quality, but you can always adjust the sound on the radio. Other disadvantages include the phone draining. If you consider that the cigarette lighter is occupied, you won’t be able to use the car charger. You will have to carry a removable battery in the car or buy a special adapter for the cigarette lighter. Playback is controlled via the phone, which greatly distracts the driver from the steering wheel. The radio only allows you to adjust the volume level. However, if you buy an expensive FM adapter with Bluetooth, you can receive incoming calls through the headset. Consequently, this leads to another disadvantage - the cost of the device, which is directly proportional to its functionality.

But the connection is absolutely simple and very fast. Using an FM modulator, you can listen to your favorite tracks even on the oldest radio, which is not suitable for any other method. Often, a car cigarette lighter adapter for music is the only affordable alternative to completely replacing the car radio.

How to play music

Immediately after connecting, the radio will start FM radio - do not pay attention. The way you control songs depends on the year the player was produced. On older radios, this can only be done using the built-in buttons. And on newer models it is possible to listen to songs directly from your smartphone.

Just launch the built-in Music and select the tune you want. Within a few seconds, the selected song will play from the radio.

As you can see, the cable method works great, but it has one huge drawback - the cord constantly gets in the way while driving. It is best to record musical compositions on a regular flash drive and insert it into the radio. Of course, you can’t control the player from a smartphone here, but you can improve driving safety. You can also install a navigator on your phone and listen to driving directions from the car speakers. Another way: How to connect a phone via Bluetooth to a radio tape recorder Thus, after reading this material, you can easily connect your smartphone to the radio tape recorder. It is worth noting that when you connect your phone via a USB cable, you can select the charging function, then the device will gradually charge the battery.

Installing a USB adapter

A USB adapter is a device that connects directly to the audio outputs of a car radio, equipped with a USB port, which allows you to connect a flash drive, mobile phone or other gadgets.

The radio itself does not require additional configuration, but since the principle of operation is based on emulating the operation of a CD, in order for the radio to be able to see and play recordings from a flash drive, you should create folders on it with names corresponding to the playing format of the radio: “CD1” , "CD2", "CD3", etc. The files should be saved in a folder called “CD7”. Without creating folders with these names, the radio will not be able to detect the necessary file entries.

Installing an FM transmitter

The FM transmitter broadcasts music from external sources, but you can also connect a flash drive to it on a given radio wave, which must be caught on the car radio. The device is very easy to install. It is enough to connect it to power the car's cigarette lighter, and there is no need to connect wires and adapters. Connecting only to the cigarette lighter is also a disadvantage, since the power socket will always be occupied, and you will have to give up powering other devices and charging your mobile phone through it.

The main advantage of installing an FM transmitter is the attractive price, but the sound quality during playback may be worse than the originally recorded tracks. This is due to the nature of the broadcast. You can switch tracks using the keys on the device itself. Also, most models are equipped with mobile control panels. In addition to the USB port, most devices also include slots for MicroSD cards. The device automatically detects music files from media, the user only has to select a free wave and tune the radio to the specified frequency on the transmitter. Unfortunately, the performance of most devices is limited to processing 32 GB of flash drive memory and 2000 titles. But still, this is quite enough for the musical accompaniment in the car to be varied.

Source

Why connect USB

A flash drive is a reliable storage medium with greater capacity compared to cassettes and CDs. Another advantage is fast access and high speed reading and writing of multimedia.

Understanding how to connect USB to the radio is necessary in order to read and listen to files recorded on a flash drive or mobile phone. For ease of use, the socket can be placed in the glove compartment or ashtray in the car, if the adapter connected to the radio without USB is located separately from it.

How to record music onto a flash drive for a car radio

It all starts with preparatory activities. Of course, the recording itself is very important, but preparation also plays an important role in this case. To make sure everything works, you should take care of some little things. One of them is the file system of the storage medium.

Step 1: Select the correct file system

It happens that the radio does not read a flash drive with the NTFS file system. Therefore, it is better to immediately format the media in “FAT32”, which all radios should work with. To do this, do this:

In “Computer”, right-click on the USB drive and select “Format”.

Specify the file system value “FAT32” and click “Start”.

If you are sure that the desired file system is used on the media, you can do without formatting.

Basic DIY connection methods

The easiest way is to use an FM transmitter with a player. Using this device, you can listen to music from a flash drive or memory card on a cassette or disk radio, even in the absence of an AUX connector. It is necessary that the tuner can receive a signal in the range 87.5 - 108 MHz.

Another way is to install USB in the standard radio. In this case, rework will be required. As a reading device, you can use a portable MP3 player or a special set-top box with a player and tuner, which has all the control buttons. These audio devices are connected via AUX.

Connecting the phone via AUX

This method of connecting a smartphone to a radio is carried out through the AUX connector. This was one of the first opportunities to connect a car radio to an external media. Such connectors were even on cassette players and were used to connect third-party devices.

The cord is connected simply: using the appropriate connectors, we connect the radio and telephone with it - that’s all, you can listen to music. However, this connection requires a smartphone player for control.

The radio in this case will only be an amplifier, and with its help you can only adjust the volume.