Nothing beats the convenience of a digital music collection, that ability to carry a library of tunes around in your pocket. And it doesn't have to end there. These days it's easier than ever to bring your digital music files into the car, too. Whether you store your tunes on a portable music player like an iPod®, burn them to CD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW discs, or store them on a memory card, there are a variety of adapters and connection solutions available to help you get that music from your computer to your car stereo.

Consider the options:

• Play MP3, WMA, or AAC-encoded CD-R/RWs and DVD-R/RWs directly on a compatible stereo
• Connect an iPod® to a compatible receiver and get full control over your tunes and playlists right on the receiver's display, using the receiver's controls
• Connect another type of portable music player to your car stereo via a wired adapter or Bluetooth® connection, listening through your car speakers and often even controlling playback with the radio
• Use a removable storage device like an SD Card or a thumb drive to play your files on a compatible car stereo
• Take advantage of stereos with built-in memory that let you store songs directly onto a hard drive or flash memory

Digital media receivers, like Alpine's iXA-W404, don't play CDs and are geared toward your digital music collection.

Digital media receivers

Is your entire music collection digital? Check out our selection of digital media receivers. They're in-dash receivers that are geared toward digital music, with no CD slot. Instead, they have USB inputs, auxiliary jacks, built-in hard drives, or SD™-card slots — or a combination of those features. Many offer built-in iPod control and Bluetooth®. They're a great option if you know you won't ever be needing a CD player.

Be sure to check out the Peripherals Installation Guide for tips on how to connect many of these adapters and external players to your car stereo system.