My ‘newer’ VW Scirocco (Golf based) in a 2016 car and shared a lot with the equivalent Golf (and other VAG cars, too). So the Infotainment & Sat Nav was/is updated, compared to my previous 2013 Scirocco.
I have a collection of ripped CD’s on a USB drive plugged in to the car, which I have done on all my previous VW’s (A Golf and 2 other Scirocco’s). Works great… But…
The 2016 car is cleverer and can/will display the cover art from the CD. Only it wouldn’t on some of my rips… Hmm… A few worked just by recopying from my PC. Some were still MP3’s rather than MP4’s - so I re-ripped them (I now use iTunes for ripping - previously I used to use Window Media Player).
Where iTunes found or could be forced to find the Album Artwork all was good. It was the ones which had be to done manually which played up… mostly.
Seems that the size of the Album Artwork file is the problem. One CD which wouldn’t play, I had a c.750kB Album Art file. Changed this to a much smaller one (20kB) - and bingo… My VW now shows the Artwork…!!
So… beware the size of Album Artwork manually added. Smaller in this case… is better.
I have a problem with artwork not being displayed using Apple CarPlay and Roon Arc with a pioneer Audi system in my truck. I suspect it’s because I’ve turned off mobile data on my iPhone and I’m a cheapskate and only playing downloaded albums.
However, I recall having similar difficulties prior to using Roon Arc and just using CarPlay. I’ve given up looking for a solution.
@Cmax - My ‘problem’ Album Art file was around 650kB (*) - it was by far the largest - the next largest was about 350kB which worked fine.
In terms of px, checking what I have, several are around 700 by 700px max. Some are only 300 x 300. The smallest file size - which still works fine - is only 11kB…!!!
(* - it was Steve Hackett’s fault…!)
Definitely less is more, in this case.
And - try to fix anything in what you ripped in - so in iTunes in my case - before copying onwards.
@IanRobertM I use the following site for Album artwork https://fanart.tv it has most things on there that I’m ever likely to need, standard size is 1000 x 1000 i just resize down to 600 x 600 when Saving and before adding to artwork in iTunes.
@Cmax - My method now is to rip in iTunes - and then if the Artwork is not found, tell iTunes to go find it. If that fails (or iTunes gets it wrong) then I find the Artwork as a jpg, from either Amazon or Discogs, save to my PC, then add it manually in iTunes.
No special websites needed, for me. Keeping It Simple…
I will though, now be checking the size of the Artwork file…!!
When I ripped all my CDs to iTunes I scanned the actual artwork from the CD sleeve and have a constant update of artwork at 600 X 600.
Looks far better than some of the distorted guff on sites.
@IanRobertM@Skeptikal Done exactly the same as you both have done, and I’m 100% for the KIS method, I just find the Fanart Artwork to be a constant high standard, hence my choice
My 2017 VW seems to cope with anything up to and including 1200x1200 artwork on an MP3 file, but I had to go through a similar learning experience!
I have some files which refuse to show themselves as being part of the right album, despite the right album name being displayed on the screen, but I think it’s a problem specific to one particular (and rather old) memory stick. The same stick is unreadable in my FiL’s 2016 Jag E-pace so whevs.
I’m surprised no-one’s butted in with a smug ‘I just listen to the music’.
I fixed similar problems in my 2010 Golf R by replacing the head unit (with a Pioneer Wireless Android Auto/Apple Carplay option). Worked fine.
We’re about to switch to a Cupra Born (as the ID3 will still be another couple of years before they’re available in NZ), so I’ll get to compare the sound system next week…
And I’ve found that 300*300 is the best resolution for album artwork. I’ve had some very large image files that have caused problems in the past (from memory one caused problems with my SuperUniti which were only resolvable by saving smaller album art into the metadata).
