Music Playing/Storage in 57-plate 2008 S3

[CatDaddy63]

Hi

I'm new here so please be gentle with me....

A dear friend of mine passed away recently and I inherited his 57-plate 2008 Audi S3. My own car is a Suzuki Swift Sport and I'm going to garage that and test the S3 for a few months to see if we get along together. The S3 is having a service and cambelt change at the moment and I won't get to play with it properly until next week. Until I decide whether or not to keep the S3, I don't want to go spending large amounts of cash on upgrading the infotainment unit. However, I do love my music - which I normally carry around on a 256Gb USB stick - but the S3's old technology doesn't appear to cope with such large amounts of data. Looking at the infotainment unit's manual, it appears to support MP3 CDs and also SD cards but only up to a max of 256Mb.

I just wondered if any of you wise and seasoned owners knew of any tricks to get the existing factory-fitted infotainment unit to work with devices that carry gigabytes of MP3s instead of megabytes? Or would I be better off waiting to see if I want to keep her and upgrade the Audi infotainment head unit for a new touch-screen device if she stays? If that is the only option, I'd really appreciate some advice/links on what I'd need to get in terms of kit i.e. adapters, gizmos to retain control of certain functions using the existing steering wheel buttons. I'm not a 'car person' but have been looking on https://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/ - I wish I hadn't as I am now absolutely baffled.

Thanks

 

[92683]

usually when it comes to old tech, its really old tech. not worth upgrading but to replace it entirely. you'll notice when you look more into newer audio equipment, there will be way more advances to technology that putting a bunch of money into old to make it just barely work is not worth the time nor the money.

i would recommend going with a large brand name.
once you look through their actual sites you can learn more. decide on what specs you want. i would really put a dollar amount on things as that never satisfies you once you get into this upgrade scenario of yours.

the large names i think is worth it is sony, pioneer, alpine, kenwood.

the important piece you should invest into the most is the head unit. dont skimp out on that part of it. and look for the largest screen you can get your hands on. that usually is also the part that many wish they had aimed for.

start with that. research all those brands.

 

[CatDaddy63]

usually when it comes to old tech, its really old tech. not worth upgrading but to replace it entirely. you'll notice when you look more into newer audio equipment, there will be way more advances to technology that putting a bunch of money into old to make it just barely work is not worth the time nor the money.

i would recommend going with a large brand name.
once you look through their actual sites you can learn more. decide on what specs you want. i would really put a dollar amount on things as that never satisfies you once you get into this upgrade scenario of yours.

the large names i think is worth it is sony, pioneer, alpine, kenwood.

the important piece you should invest into the most is the head unit. dont skimp out on that part of it. and look for the largest screen you can get your hands on. that usually is also the part that many wish they had aimed for.

start with that. research all those brands.

Thanks for the advice.