With the growing popularity of MP3s and whole-house audio systems, it is important to understand a few basics. To help facilitate knowledge of digital audio, we have collected the most common questions below and offered our insight into how to get the most from your digital audio collection and distribution system.

Q.) How can I play iTunes music through my Control4 or other whole house audio system?

A.) Control4 and other audio systems natively support playback of MP3 audio files that are stored in digital libraries. Music that has been purchased through iTunes is not usually in MP3 format; it is stored in another format such as AAC or MP4. These formats are not usually compatible with standard equipment. To play this music, one of two things must happen:

1.) The music must be converted into MP3 format. If the tracks contain DRM protection and cannot be simply converted, this can be done by burning to a CD and then ripping the music into MP3 format. Alternatively, you may contact us and inquire about our rate for professionally converting your iTunes library into standard MP3 format.

2.) Your Control4 system must be augmented with an iPort, which allows you to mount your iPod and play any files on it. With this method, you are limited to a single session of music from your iPod at a time.

Q.) Why is song information (title, artist, album, genre, etc.) incorrect when I import songs into my Control4 system?

A.) MP3s use something called ID3 tags to organize all the information pertaining to each song. These tags usually include information such as the Artist, Album, Track Name and Genre. Nowadays, MP3s legally purchased through online music stores come with properly formatted ID3 tags and Control4 easily reads them and they are added to your Control4 music library seamlessly.

If you have MP3s traded from friends or purchased long in the past, it is possible that the ID3 tags are not properly formatted and Control4 cannot understand what each track is without you specifically filling in all the blanks. Filling in the blanks manually can be tedious and time consuming.

For updating ID3 tags, we reccomend that you use one of the free ID3 management tools available online, such as MediaMonkey. See this WikiHow article for more information about using MediaMonkey.

Alternatively, you may contact us and inquire about our rate for professionally importing and formatting your MP3 collection and ID3 tags into your Control4 library.

Q.) What can I do to standardize the volume of my MP3 collection? Some songs are louder than others and I need to constantly adjust the volume.

A.) We reccomend the freeware application MP3Gain to standardize MP3 volume. It allows you to make individual tracks louder or quieter without sacrificing sound quality. This ensures that transitions between tracks occur without the need for constant volume changes.

Q.) Why does it take so long to rip music off of CDs using my Control4 Media Controller?

A.) If you have a faster computer, you can rip music into MP3 format using a software program such as Windows Media Player, and then import the music into your Control4 library.

- Back to Tutorials -