Which iPod music format is best in the car?

[tdi guy]

I have an iPod nano and the VW iPod adapter (glovebox).

I've found that iPod MP3 format songs played in the car sound better (more rounded, more detail) than songs in 'standard' iPod AAC format? Perhaps it is because the CD player is also an MP3 player.

Have you had any similar (or different) experience?

TG

[The_Hawk]

AFAIK the iPods (in all their variants) basically output a line out (so stereo sound) to the head unit but also drag the song info and allow control of the iPod. So in short I don't think it matters that your head unit is MP3 compatible.

Anyway, if you think it sounds better, why not stick with that. I prefer MP3 myself since it's more compatible with more things (says the person with a house of iPhones and iPods).

[shogun2]

The quality you hear will have more to do with variation from the encoding algorithm used than the ability to play MP3's. I use the apple lossless codec to ensure the quality of the music. When I first had my Ipod I could not understand why the music sounded sh*t compared to the CDs. It's only when this happens that you truly start to understand the differences in compression methods, bits and sample rates.

[SoVeReIgN]

If they are songs you have imported bump up the bit rate in the itunes importer - Atleast 192kbps.