[simpsdc]

Picking up a new 428i GC in september with HK sound and I'm looking for the best possible audio quality.

I will be playing lossless or very high bit rate mp3's. Do I purchase a high quality 3mm male to male cable? Or should I find a USB cable? What's the best in terms of audio quality?

Any help is appreciated. Thank you!!

[Fronzdan]

Your best quality would be over USB. Using the cable is the easiest and cheapest. You can get a snap-in adapter, and that'll give you an additional feature or two, plus another port, but nothing major besides the obvious....it looks neater and allows you to connect without looking. It does have its drawbacks as well.

I suggest go with the USB cable first.

[knockout]

Another option is to plug in a USB flash drive with all your songs on it.

[Fronzdan]

Ohh, I missed your comment on lossless. I think there might be a limit on the throughput when using the USB interface. I recall reading a post where someone had done some experimentation and reached a limit. Then again, you may get better sound using reduced bit rate over USB vs. higher bit rate over analog input.

Given the "quality" of even the HK system, the acoustics of the car and road noise it may not even be worth using lossless.

Edited to add...just read the other active thread here on FLAC files. Should find the answers you are looking for there.