Nav Hard Drive - Load Songs Onto it?
 

One query I had. I really want the ability to load CD's into the Hard Drive so I can in essence remove the need to hookup my iPhone. I would just have several Gigs of songs on the Nav Hard Drive. Is this an option on the RX? Thank you!

The simple answer is no.

Simple solution.

Buy a thumb drive (cheap on amazon) and keep it hooked to the USB in the Lexus at all times.

I think your confusing the Lexus system with another. To the best of my knowledge the RX does not have a hard drive (for music).. Probably a good thing. My Infinity does but I never use it because it will only convert from cd WAV files and uses a very low bit rate (I believe 128). Like other have said, USB is the best way to go.

Nice feature to have, but no
 

It's a nice feature to have, which unfortunately is not available for RX.

My 2013 RX with Nav is all hard disk... There is no permanent DVD used for the maps as there was in previous Gens. The hard disk on our RXs are not customer accessible for storing music.

My former BMW had the capability of copying up to 30 (or maybe it was 40) GB of music from CD, DVD, and/or USB of certain music formats to the Nav hard disk which was then accessible at any time -- the function sounded nifty, but in use was problematic with the special process and "special" USB port that had to be used for the copying and trying to access the music and manage it over time was a royal pain.

I agree with the previous recommendation, especially with the price of USB memory these days, buy a cheap one and just keep it plugged in to your truck all the time. It's a simple solution if you don't want to have a permanent iPod in your vehicle like I do.

The down side with the USB is that the song will not continue where it left off. on my 2010 RX450H it always restart to the first song on the folder.

This another example of Lexus being behind the curve. The new RDX copies CDs to its hard drive as soon as it's finished reading them.

Bob, I made the suggestion to go hard drive to my sales guy recently. He said he'd submit the idea to Lexus. Maybe on the 4th gen.

Well, to be fair, a case could be made that CD technology is "going away," so even having a CD player/ripper in a vehicle might be passé in the not so distant future. My '08 has a cassette player for Pete's sake!! However, I imagine having a hard drive to copy your audio files to from some type of storage device will remain a worthwhile option.

Bob, I made the suggestion to my sales guy since Lexus moved to a single CD player. They should have at least offered something like a hard drive option in its place. But I'm concerned about the time it takes to upload a single CD. It was 10 minutes in one of my parents' cars. I actually like my CD player and use it often. That I hope doesn't go away. Hard to find a happy medium.

Yes I am disappointed with this feature lacking on the RX. It has so much else going for it.

But X3 for instance I understand will allow you to load CD's to Hard Drive and categorize playlists. I know I can play songs from a USB on both, but I much prefer the X3 system.

Digital age
 

Jim,

You are absolutely correct on everything except one QUIBBLING thing: I believe iTunes stores and plays music in MP3 or MP4 file format. These compressed files are inherently inferior "audio samples" to CDs, which are themselves inferior to optimal analog record reproduction systems. I'm not sure what you mean by "careful preparation in iTunes."

In a moving vehicle setting and to my 63 year old "musician ears," these differences are barely perceptible. I'm still dragging my feet on the switch to MP3 player gadgets, not because of the sound, but because there's no AUX input and it's just simpler to load up the changer in my '08. However, if and when I get a 2013, since it only has a one slot CD, I guess I'll have to load up my smartphone with some fav music....in that INFERIOR SOUNDING MP3 file format. :wiggle:

...and just think Bob, when you have that new ride, the discussion can then become if you can hear the difference between BT streaming from your smartphone or go hard wired for the better sound quality. ;)

For me, my hard-wired iPod is a great solution. I've found the trick is to create and store my tunes in 256 or higher bit rate ... Lower than that and quality is at times distinguishable with earphones, and perhaps in the vehicle with all the windows closed and minimal road noise. As an FYI, iTunes allows quite a bit of flexibility in recording different formats and bit rates beyond just generic MP3/4. Trade offs tend to be in sound quality and size of the file (therefore how many you can keep on your device), e.g. a rough estimate for a 3 min song at 128 bits is 3MB, at 320 it becomes 7MB, and if you save it in Apple Lossless format its then closer to 15MB if you really need to store CD quality. Lots of trade offs and decisions to be made (and they can be different for each song) for those that care. :D