# Best way to play music in Cruze?



## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

I have a thumb drive. Yes, it take a bit to initialize after starting the car, but otherwise works fine.


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## txcruze26 (Jul 7, 2015)

ChevyGuy said:


> I have a thumb drive. Yes, it take a bit to initialize after starting the car, but otherwise works fine.


what brand of flash drive do you have? and what's the max size flash drive that the car supports?


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

txcruze26 said:


> what brand of flash drive do you have? and what's the max size flash drive that the car supports?


Sandisk Cruzer. (Cruze for the Cruze) seems to be the brand of choice. Others don't always play well.

I've used a 64GB and it worked OK. I'm not sure as you can push for more than that. But you could have a USB for every "mood" you want. (Like one for Christmas, one for mellow, one for pumped up, etc.)


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## txcruze26 (Jul 7, 2015)

ChevyGuy said:


> Sandisk Cruzer. (Cruze for the Cruze) seems to be the brand of choice. Others don't always play well.
> 
> I've used a 64GB and it worked OK. I'm not sure as you can push for more than that. But you could have a USB for every "mood" you want. (Like one for Christmas, one for mellow, one for pumped up, etc.)


thanks! I'll be picking one up tomorrow and see how it works


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## ssnscruzeeco2015 (Dec 29, 2014)

I think the spec is 10000 songs for the playlist from the stick to load into the Cruze.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

I use a USB for when I go tripping in the country, but both AM and FM radio work fine for me within 100km of the city. I have kept the standard aerial on the roof because I have no trouble with it. The USB is 8 GB as I only have about 1 GB of music on it. Leaving it alone it lasts a 4 hour trip without repeating songs.


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## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

Wait wait wait. I got the answer. It's genius. 

3.5mm


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## chevrasaki (May 1, 2015)

Snipesy said:


> Wait wait wait. I got the answer. It's genius.
> 
> 3.5mm



No steering wheel controls using this method. 

I just leave my old iPod 160GB Classic in the center console. No time to initialize, and the music seems to be much louder and crisper compared to XM or CD.


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## pL2014 (Dec 29, 2013)

Not sure how similar the non-mylink systems are. With my MyLink setup, bluetooth worked pretty close to perfectly with my iphone 5s. I gave up on usb because I got annoyed with it switching to my phone when I didn't want it to (like when I just wanted to charge the phone but was listening to something else), so I switched to using a 12V-> USB adapter for charging and bluetooth for music. I did have to re-pair my phone with the radio maybe 2x in over 2 years, but all in all, it worked well. It also worked better if I didn't leave the radio on. If I left the radio on or turned it on right away after starting the car, it wouldn't see my phone and switch to FM radio. If I just kept the radio off, and turned it on after putting the car in gear and starting to move, it would find my phone and pick up where it left off.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Snipesy said:


> Wait wait wait. I got the answer. It's genius.
> 
> 3.5mm


The 3.5mm jack is the worst input you can use for music. It's designed for human speech ranges (3.5KHz) and not music. Music generally uses about 15KHz of the human audible range.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

txcruze26 said:


> What's up fellow cruze owners, I wanted to ask, what is the best way to play music in your cruze?
> 
> Radio- the signal and static on ANY radio station makes it unbearable, is this something everyone experiences? I've seen some posters post some shark fin antennas, is the quality significant?
> 
> ...


I think your radio is bad. Unless the radio station is weak you shouldn't get any static or popping (AM with lightning - yes; FM - never). I have a sharkfin and there was no noticeable change in reception when I installed it.

The Bluetooth in my Cruze is the "aftermarket" GM PDIM and is very stable. I get an occassional hickup but that because the PDIM is a Bluetooth 3 device and my phone is Bluetooth 4 that doesn't quite handle Bluetooth 3 streaming properly.

I rarely use my CD and never use the USB interface.


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## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

chevrasaki said:


> No steering wheel controls using this method.
> 
> I just leave my old iPod 160GB Classic in the center console. No time to initialize, and the music seems to be much louder and crisper compared to XM or CD.



Well me, I surrendered to spotify. I used to hold hard drives full of music, and I still do somewhere. But i dont worry about it anymore. The quality is par to a copy off of iTunes or a CD copy. Trust me, I tested it.

Using it however, throws USB out immediately. Bluetooth is finnicky at best. Therefore, the only option is with the good old 3.5mm. Sure you need to fiddle with your phone or tablet or what have you to chage songs, and then crash into someone. But that's the price to pay I guess. Sue GM for not adding USB support (you'd probably win, and I wish I was kidding).


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## TheDog (Mar 27, 2014)

My experience is based on the MyLink system.

For me, the built in USB plugged into a phone/iPod is the best. To me, it's hard to beat the combination of a high quality audio connection with charging and full control from steering wheel/touch screen. Bluetooth is not great audio quality and it more rapidly depletes the battery compared to USB which (albeit not rapidly) charges it. As for the two USB annoyances:

Music source always switches when device is plugged in... Just press source to hop back to the one you want. It's a tiny bit annoying to me but as many times as not I DO want it to switch to iPod when i plug in and is a convenience.

Long time indexing... A bigger irritant. One work around is that you can open the music app on the phone and pick whatever song/album whatever you want while MyLink is still initializing and begins playing immediately. Since you usually plug the phone in when getting into the car, fiddling with the phone (or using SIRI) to start something desirable playing isn't a big problem and by the time the first song is over the index is probably done.


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## Orion215 (Mar 11, 2016)

I use the 3.5mm connection for my phone, playing pandora or random music videos, and I have to crank the volume on my phone all they way up as well as turn the volume on the radio up to 30 or 35.

I didn't think about using the USB for my phone but will definitely be giving that a try. The bluetooth only works for hands free calling for me but then again I haven't really played around with it.


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## 03glgold (Jan 26, 2016)

Using my ipod with usb it occasionally freezes and the newest thing that has happened is that it will get a bunch of static and/or start popping. I have to use the knob on the dash and skip forward about 10 songs and it goes back to normal.


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## Wickman (Sep 1, 2015)

I usually listen to XM, Hair Nation and Blue Collar Comedy are my staples.


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## Chris Tobin (Feb 23, 2016)

Is the CD a single or multi-disc player on the Cruze? AND will it play MP3 encoded CDs? Will it play DVDs and MP3 encoded DVDs? For mass volumes of music storing MP3s on a CD or DVD works well. That's what we do in our VW TDI with its 6-disc CD changer than plays encoded MP3 CDs and in our Tahoe with an aftermarket Kenwood DVD receiver that plays MP3 encoded DVDs (talk about fitting a ton of music in a small package)...

BUT, for sound quality nothing beats playing a CD or DVD. I know the iPod generation looks at quantity of music more than quality, but playing from an iPod thru USB or 3.5mm (which by the way is a simple connector and should not be bandwidth limited in any product) verses playing an MP3 from a CD vs playing the original CD will EASILY reveal that the CD has the best sound quality.

MP3 even when ripped at high bitrates is still a compressed format and there is loss and degradation of Sound Quality when playing MP3 from any source.

I showed the difference to my son in his car after we installed a Kenwood Excellon head unit and he was so happy that it would USB control his massive iPod collection. He was blown away by the sonic differences and how much better the original CD sounded than playing a high bitrate MP3 from his iPod. He still listens to his iPod a lot, but when he wants sound quality he turns to an original CD!!!

I installed high end car audio and electronics for many years and competed in IASCA for years as well. I was also the Executive Editor and Technical Director at Car Audio & Electronics magazine as well as the Senior Editor and Technical Editor at Car Stereo Review magazine. So I do know the topic of sound quality pretty darn well even if I am not as familiar with the intricacies of some of the newest factory sound system offerings lately...

I hope this helps! If you have more questions feel free to ask...


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## Chris Tobin (Feb 23, 2016)

obermd said:


> The 3.5mm jack is the worst input you can use for music. It's designed for human speech ranges (3.5KHz) and not music. Music generally uses about 15KHz of the human audible range.


I am not sure what the bandwidth is for the 3.5mm input on the Cruze, but as a blanket statement you are wrong my friend. 3.5mm is simply a connection method and a convenient size for automotive and portable electronics. The size and shape of the connection does not determine the range of the input or output from the system.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Chris Tobin said:


> I am not sure what the bandwidth is for the 3.5mm input on the Cruze, but as a blanket statement you are wrong my friend. 3.5mm is simply a connection method and a convenient size for automotive and portable electronics. The size and shape of the connection does not determine the range of the input or output from the system.


He's talking about the 3.5mm in the Cruze. I haven't tried it myself, but others have reported significant sound quality issues. And these are guys who may not be able to hear the difference between a CD and a good MP3.

Also, the Cruze is quite happy with M4P, I think that's the AAC format. I have both on my USB and they work equally well as far as operation.


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## chevrasaki (May 1, 2015)

Snipesy said:


> Well me, I surrendered to spotify. I used to hold hard drives full of music, and I still do somewhere. But i dont worry about it anymore. The quality is par to a copy off of iTunes or a CD copy. Trust me, I tested it.
> 
> Using it however, throws USB out immediately. Bluetooth is finnicky at best. Therefore, the only option is with the good old 3.5mm. Sure you need to fiddle with your phone or tablet or what have you to chage songs, and then crash into someone. But that's the price to pay I guess. Sue GM for not adding USB support (you'd probably win, and I wish I was kidding).


I have spotify too for most of my music listening, but I use my old music stash as you mentioned just to have in the car at all times so I just get in and go. No connecting my phone or spending time selecting music. I agree, apple play and android interfacing should be pretty much standard on all vehicles now. It's a major distraction, not that anyone would quit texting and driving even if the radio was integrated. But that's a separate rant. I switch between my iPod and XM when I'm driving. When I do take the time to connect my phone to the 3.5mm for some spotify, I use my playlists on shuffle and repeat all. When I want to change songs I just hit the unlock button on my phone and tap the next button that comes up on the lock screen right next to it by feel, don't have to look at it.



03glgold said:


> Using my ipod with usb it occasionally freezes and the newest thing that has happened is that it will get a bunch of static and/or start popping. I have to use the knob on the dash and skip forward about 10 songs and it goes back to normal.


Actually, I have experienced this issue multiple times. I just thought it was a side effect of buying an amazon basics ipod cable. I fix it by just unplugging and plugging it back in. Goes right back to where it was with no popping/crackling. Very weird. Again, integrated android, iphone, and windows phone should be standard, it would make things so much easier.


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## sparkman (Oct 15, 2015)

I use a SanDisk Cruzer. No problems yet! Enjoy hundreds of bluegrass songs on the way to classes.


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## BU54 (Nov 24, 2014)

How do you get the volume from defaulting when turning the car off? Mine defaults to 13 and I'd like to set it at 18 if possible?


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## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

BU54 said:


> How do you get the volume from defaulting when turning the car off? Mine defaults to 13 and I'd like to set it at 18 if possible?


It's in the "config" buttons menu, radio settings, and you'll see it in there.


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## txcruze26 (Jul 7, 2015)

So I ended up going with a 32 gig Sandisk Cruzer, works perfect! I loaded ALL my music (20 gigs) and it works flawlessly. It takes NO time to load, as I leave it connected all the time. Easy to use and no complaints, Sound quality obviously better than bluetooth and radio


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## Eddy Cruze (Jan 10, 2014)

There was only one way to play your library in style!


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Radio was great in the 40's, commercials were short and sweet, part of the program and entertaining. 50's, radio was stuck on WLS in Chicago, yes, rock and roll will never die.

60's introduce FM radio, had one in my 65 Buick, had many commercial free stations playing great music, but that didn't last very long, only finding crap on FM stations today. WPR has a classical music station, but love to play music from unknown composers, guess why they are unknown. 

Late 60's gave us 8 track, had to get one of those, took my radios apart to add a jack to plug them into with an automatic switch, when on would switch from radio to 8 track. But had to spend hours recording my LP's to them. And more than once, those 8 tracks would dump their load into the player. Doby with cassette was far superior, but again hours to record what you liked.

In late 80's CD's came out, this went on to more recently, five disc CD players, very expensive and constant problems, but which five CD's to load, so when back to single with a stack of them, not really good to find one when driving, especially in the dark. Kids had CD's laying all over the floor, had to be careful where you stepped or be in big trouble.

Really love MP3's, was very easy to convert our huge collection to MP3's, make folders and subfolders, really like the Cruze for this feature. Over the last eight years or so, played with many MP3 players, most are gathering dust, Cruze has one of the best MP3's players we ever ran across.

Could plug in the smart phone into that aux jack, need a line amplifier to hear most of them, were in for liability suits for blowing kids ears out. But if caught holding a smartphone while driving, would lock you up in jail and throwaway the key, also love hands free calling the Cruze has. But at times that lady locked into the radio and I have a battle, but she always wins. She will hang up on you.

A 16 GB Sandisk Cruzer can hold around 5,000 MP3's, the high quality ones, that is more than enough for me. When I add more songs to it, will play the last one okay, but has to index whatever that means. So have to wait a few minutes while it does its thing. Really not a problem. Can always switch to FM while its doing this, but will get my ears blasted off with stupid commercials.


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## Greggul8r (Apr 20, 2016)

I link up using android auto and stream i heart radio if i am not listening to XM. I have not have any reception issues but i do have the sharkfin antenna with the antenna amplifier in the back window (factory on the gen2)


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## guuyuk (Nov 12, 2015)

I''m usually alternating between USB and Bluetooth from my iPhone 5S on the MyLink radio (mostly if I feel like plugging it in to charge it and want album cover art).

I still have a little time left on the XM subscription but it's annoying when I drive near some lead-lined trees or under shielded clouds and lose the signal. Plus, the quality isn't any better than AM/FM.

(OT: Either the forum likes IE or it wants javascript to put line feeds in a post)


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## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

I would love to be able to use my 7th gen Ipod Classic to it's pull potential but the Playlists on it never load fully or correctly, despite it only having like 1,800 songs on it. The Chevy Mylink Team states that it's because the Ipod's 160GB capacity exceeds the 32GB capacity of the Mylink system. In this case I think it's likely more of a formatting and firmware version issue between what's on and supported by the Mylink system and what's on my ipod classic.


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## Evofire (Oct 3, 2013)

i use my ipod classic.. only initailizes if i unplug it. over 30000 songs


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## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

Evofire said:


> i use my ipod classic.. only initailizes if i unplug it. over 30000 songs


In the 2015 Chevy Cruze Infotainment System Manual, only the 6th gen ipod Classic is mentioned and listed as a supported Classic. I guess the 6th gen Classic runs the firmware that's compatible with the Mylink system at the time they were built/designed, where as my 7th gen ipod classic doesn't because it's firmware is newer?

Do you have a 7th gen ipod Classic or earlier one? Do you mean it only indexes when you unplug it?


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## UpstateCruze (May 14, 2016)

Ok, I have a question for you guys....I too have been using the USB drive, but I feel as though much of the music (when played on random) is being skipped over. Like I am going over my limit in music. I have maybe 15-20 artists with none of the having their own full discography. So way less than 500 songs. I can play them as I chose, but once again, in random it seems to play a select few bands and songs over and over. 

But aside that, does anyone know the configuration for the USB? Meaning, would there be any benefit from moving up to a 3.0 drive as compared to the standard 2.0 USB? Just curious.


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## dhpnet (Mar 2, 2014)

Most of the time I use a 16GB USB stick. It has thousands of songs on it. I rarely take it out. It only indexes for a couple seconds if you leave it in the car all the time. 

I also use the CD occasionally for some of my old CDs. I also have an MP3 CD that I pretty much leave in the car all the time as a backup in case I get bored with the stuff on my USB stick. 

I do listen to XM frequently, but the sound quality sucks. I have tried canceling it several times but they keep offering me super cheap prices ($5/month) when I try to cancel it, so I still have it. 

I listen to FM sometimes, but I do get sick of the commercials, so I usually end up switching back to USB or XM. I also listen to AM sometimes - mostly for traffic and weather, but occasionally I like to see what they are saying on the AM political radio channels. 

I had a VG sharkfin for a while, but I removed it because it looks more like a big blob than a shark fin. I am now using a stubby antenna. I haven't had any reception problems with either one. 

I have never tried connecting via bluetooth, the Aux jack, or plugging a device into the USB port. 

I have used the bluetooth for turn-by-turn directions on Google maps. Works great, but the woman in the car says "call ended" after every direction. Turn left, call ended. Turn right, call ended. A little annoying, but a lot better and cheaper than Onstar. I wonder what the woman in the car looks like. I know what Siri looks like. They had her on an episode of Big Bang Theory. I wonder if the woman in the car gets jealous when I tell her I want to speak with Siri.


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## Evofire (Oct 3, 2013)

Starks8 said:


> In the 2015 Chevy Cruze Infotainment System Manual, only the 6th gen ipod Classic is mentioned and listed as a supported Classic. I guess the 6th gen Classic runs the firmware that's compatible with the Mylink system at the time they were built/designed, where as my 7th gen ipod classic doesn't because it's firmware is newer?
> 
> Do you have a 7th gen ipod Classic or earlier one? Do you mean it only indexes when you unplug it?



i have whatever the newest gen classic is, and yes it only indexes if i unplug and plug it back in...and it only takes a few seconds.


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## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

Evofire said:


> i have whatever the newest gen classic is, and yes it only indexes if i unplug and plug it back in...and it only takes a few seconds.


Do you have playlists on your ipod Classic or just the songs? I think all my songs tend to show up, it's just that all my playlists don't fully load and many are missing once the indexing in complete. Like previously stated, the playlists on my ipod Classic that actually do show up, always have the wrong songs listed under them when I click on one of them to view/listen to. It's quite frustrating.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

UpstateCruze said:


> I can play them as I chose, but once again, in random it seems to play a select few bands and songs over and over.


I've noticed that as well. But I do a lot of short trips. I think it re-does the play list each time I start the car. While it usually remembers what song I'm on, I have noticed it changes the "prior" song. 




UpstateCruze said:


> But aside that, does anyone know the configuration for the USB? Meaning, would there be any benefit from moving up to a 3.0 drive as compared to the standard 2.0 USB? Just curious.


I'd be surprised if it runs 2.0. The car's design is way too old for USB 3.


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## Evofire (Oct 3, 2013)

Starks8 said:


> Do you have playlists on your ipod Classic or just the songs? I think all my songs tend to show up, it's just that all my playlists don't fully load and many are missing once the indexing in complete. Like previously stated, the playlists on my ipod Classic that actually do show up, always have the wrong songs listed under them when I click on one of them to view/listen to. It's quite frustrating.



yes and they all show up no problems...


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## txcruze26 (Jul 7, 2015)

2.0 & 3.0 flashdrives worked fine in my cruze


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## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

Evofire said:


> yes and they all show up no problems...


Must be nice! What's your secret? Haha! Do you have the 120gb or the 160gb Ipod classic? From what I've read there might be different software running in the 6th and 7th gen ipod classics.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

Starks8 said:


> Must be nice! What's your secret? Haha! Do you have the 120gb or the 160gb Ipod classic? From what I've read there might be different software running in the 6th and 7th gen ipod classics.


I use an IPod for a short while back in 2012, but I soon replaced it with a flash drive, which worked better for me.


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## txcruze26 (Jul 7, 2015)

sparkman said:


> I use a SanDisk Cruzer. No problems yet! Enjoy hundreds of bluegrass songs on the way to classes.


Yup! that's what I ended up getting and it works flawlessly


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