USB memory stick into truck radio aux input?

GordonThree wrote:

DOTLDaddy wrote:
I suspect this will get a lot of "maybe" answers, but what the heck. Maybe one of you have tried this.

My 2013 Silverado has the bare bones AM/FM/CD/MP3 radio. No usb input, but it does have the 3.5mm "aux input" receptacle for an ipod or the like.

I know there are usb to 3.5mm plug adapters available, but would my radio recognize mp3 files on a usb stick if I stuck it into the radio using such an adapter??? :@

A lot of nay sayers out there, not sure why??

I have a USB to 3.5mm adapter, and it worked just fine in my older radio. It had a tiny screen, some buttons, a USB port, a 3.5mm port with a short cable and goes in the lighter socket. It also has an SD card slot.

All it was really is a tiny MP3 player - the car radio itself did nothing but playback the music.

If you want more control, capacity, etc, look at a refurb IPOD - buy it from Apple so you don't get scam'd.

A "PLAYER" is not what the OP was asking about.

OP wanted to know if there was a USB to3.5mm ADAPTER that would allow the indash radio play the music files.

The answer of course is no, you can not DIRECTLY play MP3 files DIGITALLY through the 3.5 mm connection which is for ANALOG audio only.

The OP WILL need to purchase a MP3 player then connect the headphone output of the player to the 3.5 mm input jack of the indash unit.

The OP CAN use ANY MP3 player that either has internal memory OR can accept SD/Micro SD or USB flash memory.

The downside is the OP can not "control" the songs on player from the indash radio AND the player will need to run off internal batteries or some can accept a USB 5V charger while playing.

HERE is a very basic MP3 player (no screen), runs off one single AAA battery for $2.85 that accepts micro SD cards although they do have a $7.00 flat rate shipping charge

The same place also has the same player for $7.95 which includes a 2 gig micro SD card and a micro SD card reader to USB (use the adapter to plug card into your PC to load the card). HERE 2 gig will give you about 20hrs of MP3 music at 128 kb data rate.

If OP wants to play directly from a USB drive then they will need to buy a new indash unit which has a USB port.

There are MP3 players that plug into the cig lighter jack that accept USB flash memory but they tend to have a FM transmitter and some may have a analog audio output which could be used to feed the indash unit. Do be aware that those tend to forget the last song played and you will have to mess around with them each time you start the engine. One brand to skip is Pyle, that brand name is garbage..

DOTLDaddy wrote:
I suspect this will get a lot of "maybe" answers, but what the heck. Maybe one of you have tried this.

My 2013 Silverado has the bare bones AM/FM/CD/MP3 radio. No usb input, but it does have the 3.5mm "aux input" receptacle for an ipod or the like.

I know there are usb to 3.5mm plug adapters available, but would my radio recognize mp3 files on a usb stick if I stuck it into the radio using such an adapter??? :@

A lot of nay sayers out there, not sure why??

I have a USB to 3.5mm adapter, and it worked just fine in my older radio. It had a tiny screen, some buttons, a USB port, a 3.5mm port with a short cable and goes in the lighter socket. It also has an SD card slot.

All it was really is a tiny MP3 player - the car radio itself did nothing but playback the music.

If you want more control, capacity, etc, look at a refurb IPOD - buy it from Apple so you don't get scam'd.

A straight usb flash drive will not work because the radio does NOT control the operation of whatever is attached via the aux outlet (ipods are a rare exception to this as many stereo manufacturers have added functionality for them). You can't tell the files to play using your radio controls - and a straight flash drive does not have its own controls to tell the files to play.

You will need an mp3 player, smart phone, etc., and use that and it will work fine. You can get a basic mp3 player pretty cheap nowadays as long as you only want a small storage amount (e.g., 4mb). The more memory you want, the more it will cost you.

NO. it will NOT
USB is a data connection,
headphone jack is an analog audio connection

No, it will not. USB flash drives require 5v power to work. Cannot get that from the 3.5MM stereo headphone connection. Plus, the adapter would need an integrated player.

You would have to buy a special Flash Drive that has a built-in player with 3.5mm headphone jack. These would require periodic charging the internal battery. Not to mention that they pretty much get poor reviews for quality. Better to get a dedicated MP3 player, and plug that into your stereo using the headphone jack. Or buy a Bluetooth receiver with 3.5mm and connect that into your stereo jack. Then you could use a smartphone with Bluetooth to for wireless playback of your music. Of course, you could just connect directly from the headphone jack.

Probably not. The decoding of the material is done by the device that's plugged into the radio. The usb stick is just a storage device and does not have the decoding capability necessary. Also the 3.5mm plug is just a audio jack and not a data input port.