Just put a second hand Pioneer CD player in the Magna. Got it working on all 4 channels despite no manual, and no connector plug. Took a while to figure out the clock adjustment steps.

Next thing I want to do is cook up some mp3 CDs, using Nero. 10 hours of music on one CD appeals a lot!

Couple of questions, hope someone knows -

How deep can the file system be? Is it limited to one layer, ie all the mp3 files need to be visible at once in Windows Explorer, or can they be in their own folders, one for each original CD? Is it possible to have folders within folders? Will the presence of CD cover art on the burnt CD be tolerated?

Model is Pioneer DEH-2850MP.

It should be fine to have mp3s sorted into their own folders and depending on the headunit, folders within folders should be possible. Folder art in the folder will not cause an issue as it will simply overlook the file as an unrecognised format.

Great!

Not so great - put 17 CDs worth of mp3 tracks in it, and error 17 came up initially. Tried it again and it decided to work, but wouldn't look at playing the first folder. Cooked another CD and same thing, won't play the first folder. Any ideas? Both discs were verified after burning.

Could try lowering your burning speed. And is the Cd session closed?

Yep, closed properly. Might try a different brand of CD tomorrow and burn slower.

Sounds stupid, but does the pioneer HU actually support MP3's?

Also, are they saved as MP3 or do you use iTunes and they save as m4a?

I have always burnt MP3 cds for the car in the following way:

ROOT FOLDER (the top level so to speak)
|-MP3 folder
|-MP3 folder
|-MP3 folder

you can put 'loose' mp3s in the root folder, and then what i do is put the MP3 CDs folders.

IE:
ROOT - Loose songs
|- Nickelback The Long Road
|- Nickelback Dark Horse

etc etc etc

Having MP3 is great - i love being able to put 6x mp3 cds into the stacker.
and then putting another 1x mp3 DVD into the head unit
The trouble is - i can never find what i want to listen to through so much choice! I always know what songs are on what disc at any time.

The above file system, is as written in my Alpine Head Unit hand book too :)
Its also how i have had to burn MP3 cds for all my other head units too...

I have a DEH-6850MP - same series as yours, just a higher end model. I have no issues with multiple folders/levels - most of my CDs look like this and work perfect:

-Album 1
--Disc 1
--Disc 2
- Album 2
--Disc 1
--Disc 2
Album art doesn't seem to affect anything. I've used different discs all written at full speed and have never had any issues whatsoever with MP3 CDs.

Thanks for all the info guys. I will have to experiment with this unit to get the best out of it. If it likes to skip the first folder I can always make up a dummy folder with one track in it that I don't like! lol

I have to say that I'm very impressed with the Pioneer, sound quality is so much better than the Sony it replaces. I might be a convert!

I have a Pioneer head unit also and it tolerates a lot of files. I used Media Player, created a playlist and synchronised to a cd (wmv files). It works a treat and the head unit displays the file name, artist etc depending on your preference. Use a quality CD though as they get very hot after a while. You can download a manual from the net and it will tell you all about file support. My setup is Artist/Album X etc so it's only two folders deep.

Yep, finally found the manual through a link on FixYa. Folders can be nested up to 8 levels, but they recommend a maximum of 2. It won't play mp3s encoded with MP3pro, maybe thats my problem - will look into it. Thanks fellas!
Did I mention I'm impressed with the Pioneer way of doing things? Lots of functions to play with!

I usually just Burn my MP3 Folders as they are So each Album has their own folder... So much easier to have just folders as you click up to change folders and sideways to move tracks.
So Literally on the CD is Just Folder names, each on their own with all the songs relative to that folder.. Not a folder inside a folder..

Ive always like pioneer head units.... great functionality.

Does the head unit have a USB input ? If it does, just put all your mp3's on a flash drive and leave it plugged into the head unit. I have about 3GB worth on my Pioneer unit and no need to burn/change CD's.

Forget that, found the user manual for your head unit ( http://www.pioneer-latin.com/downloads/crd4029a.pdf ) and it doesn't look like it has a USB input. Page 15 says: folders can be up to 8 tiers but then say practical tiers should be 2 (whatever that means)

I dont leave it hanging in the head unit.. I rip the USB out and take it with me