Introduction
Production for the 2022 Ford Maverick is expected to begin in January 2022. If you are planning to purchase a Maverick, this page provides links and information to useful resources.
Playing Music and Audio from USB
The Maverick is expected to have the standard Ford SYNC feature. This is explained in general terms on Ford’s website. [View] The description states: “When a device is plugged into the vehicle’s USB port, SYNC will try to read the contents and determine if any supported music files are found. The system will index any supported music files that are found.”
This means that you can take a CD collection and put it on separate USB flash drives or on a single USB flash drive. Whatever you plug in, the system will attempt to read the media and present the song list on the display. The navigation would likely be listed by artist, album, song title, and perhaps genre.
Choosing One or More USB Flash Drives
You can use a single USB flash drive for all your music, or separate ones by song collection. Keep in mind that each time you connect a USB device, the Ford Maverick will need to scan the device and index it, which can take some time. So putting all the songs on one USB drive can make things a little easier as long as the on-screen navigation does what you need it to do.
Getting Your Music CDs Converted to USB
You can probably find a techie person to help with this process, some equipment and skill is needed as listed here. The general steps are as follows:
- You will need a desktop or laptop computer with a CD drive. You may be able to borrow one from a tech person for this task, or have them do the work for you.
- Be sure to have the computer connected to the Internet. This is important to obtain song and album information later in the process.
- Install the Apple iTunes audio software if it isn’t installed already.
- In iTunes, adjust the import settings to your desired file format. For example, 192K quality with MP3 should be very compatible with most MP3 players.
- When you insert your music CD, the iTunes software will ask if you want to import the CD. Choose yes and wait for all the audio tracks to import.
- The iTunes software will consult with an online music database to identify each CD. This is usually very accurate, so the album, artist, song names, and the album art will be obtained and displayed for you. This information is embedded in each song. So, later when you play a song in your Ford Maverick (or other MP3 player with a display), the information should show, including the colorful album art.
- For each CD you have, return to step 5 above and insert new discs until all your music is imported.
- When you are done, the computer will have created a folder system that contains all of the music you imported. It will be in C: \ USERS \ Your Name \ MUSIC and in the iTunes folder you will find a collection of folders by artist name. Copy these folders to a USB Flash Drive. Depending on how many CDs you have, a USB with 16GB or 32GB might be sufficient. A 64GB or 128GB device would hold thousands of songs. It depends on the quality of the file and the length of song. Plan on about 100 to 200 songs per GB of storage.
Getting Your LP Vinyl Records to USB
For reference, Amazon has a list of LP record players that can connect to your computer and convert albums to MP3 audio files. [View List] A good choice would be the Sony PS-LX310BT belt-drive turntable for about $230. [View]
Creating MP3 audio files from LP records is a little more complicated than converting store-bought CDs because you will typically need to manually edit and save separate audio tracks and songs. Special software can try to detect the gaps of quiet between the songs, but sometimes that software doesn’t work.
Here is the general process needed:
- Setup your LP turntable and connect the USB to your computer.
- Download and install Audacity software for audio import and editing.
- Press Record in the Audacity software and then press play on the turntable. Some turntables will automatically start, and lift the needle for you, placing it at the beginning of the first track on the album.
- Record Side A of your LP record.
- Using Audacity, separate out each track and save each track as an MP3 file.
- When you export an audio file from Audacity, you will be asked to type in the song title, artist name, album name, track number, and some other information. In other words, the information that might automatically be entered by the Apple iTunes software for a store-bought CD will need to be manually entered by you for an LP record.
- The MP3 files you create can be placed in folders by artist name, and within each artist folder, create a folder for each album. This will help the Ford Maverick automatically index, sort, and present your songs for selection and playing on the car display.
- Copy all of the song folders to your USB flash drive and it should work in the Ford Maverick.
Getting Your Cassette Tapes to USB
This process of converting cassettes to MP3 files is similar to the LP record conversion mentioned above. For a cassette conversion, you would need a good home stereo cassette deck, and a converter device for about $20. [View Example]
Q: Can I Combine CD, LP, and Cassette Music?
A: Yes, if you have used the processes described above to convert your CDs, LPs, and cassettes to MP3 audio files, you could combine your entire music collection onto a single USB flash drive. The Ford Maverick will search the USB flash drive, find all the songs, and organize them by artist, album, and perhaps by genre.
Playing Music From Your Smartphone
People wanting to play music in their car will typically use their smartphone with the bluetooth configuration. This is something to consider if most of your music is available with Spotify, Amazon, Google, or Apple Music subscriptions.
