Ford to stop putting CD players in cars.

Digital distribution is way cheaper than CDs. The thumb drive is just the medium to get it to the car and is dynamic in terms of what is on it. You could bluetooth it from computer to your phone then to your car. No thumb drive to worry about or CDs to get scratched. The thumb drive is moot point in my opinion.

Or just buy it on your phone and sync it to you car. Done. You don't even have to get out of the car, but you might want to pull over !

As for vinyl albums sounding better than CDs or mps... it's hard to argue (analog v. digital). Some mp3 are low quality and others are high, its all about the settings. Now Primus' Hallucino-genetics tour DVD with the sound done by Skywalker Sound has a-maz-ing sound. The studio albums can't hold a flame to the live sound on that disc.

<--- can't hear any of this "high fidelity" crap. especially while riding in a modified car.

Then again I drove around for 1/2 the year with no speakers in the front of my car because I was too lazy to install them.

Brittle "ice-pick-into-the-eardrum" highs will never be cancelled out by any car.

RossD wrote:

Salanis wrote: Am I the only one out there who still enjoys the act of purchasing and listening to an Album? Is there something crazy about thinking musicians might have an artistic vision that extends longer than a single track?

You do realize that on a tiny thumb drive you can have many full albums of music?

But how do you buy your music? Do you trust some DRM'd 3rd party like Apple, or do you a buy a permanent physical copy straight from the source?

See, I buy CD's. The cover it is cool, they usually have extras, and sometimes they're cheaper than the digital versions. I download the songs to my PC so I can copy to the thumb drives and/or music-players, and then the CD goes into storage. I never have to worry about not being able to listen to a song I paid for, because I can always re-download it right off of my CD.

All that being said, there's not really a point for a CD player in a car. I barely ever use mine in the 5 and I wouldn't pay extra for it. AUX/USB is the future for sure.

Javelin wrote: All that being said, there's not really a point for a CD player in a car. I barely ever use mine in the 5 and I wouldn't pay extra for it. AUX/USB is the future for sure.

I put a radio in my saab that had a USB jack right in the front.. I have NEVER used the CD player on it

All that being said, there's not really a point for a CD player in a car.

There are lots of uses for the CD. I use mine all the time, just not for music. Some of us work in our vehicles.

Salanis wrote: Am I the only one out there who still enjoys the act of purchasing and listening to an Album?

Must be, today's music (for the most part) sucks and is full of one hit wonders. I haven't bought an album in ages... the last albums I've bought and can listen to continuously was one of the Offsprings albums (not the lastest) and SOAD's first and second album.

I have a 120 gig MP3 player. I might need to buy a 3.5mm adapter but all of my vehicles have a cassette player.

z31maniac wrote: I think it's crap. I like CDs. It's sad that so many think that MP3s sound "good."

YAAAWNNNN. There's other codecs than mp3 out there, you know...non-lossy stuff like FLAC. Good E36 M3.

In a vehicle, access is more important to me than fidelity. My philosophy on audio is the same as my philosophy on video - if, 5 minutes in, you're still dwelling on the reproduction, then what you're watching/listening to is crap. If it was any good, you'd be lost in the sound or picture and not paying attention to the fidelity. Obviously there are limits, but would you rather be watching Transformers 3 in 3D with the sound cranked up in a theater, or watching Psycho in black and white on a TV?

I've got a good audio system. Not the sort where I have $300 cables, but good enough to satisfy this musician when he's got the time to sit down and listen. But you know what? I spend most of my time listening to music where I am, not where my big audio system is. And it's usually off my iPod, which contains all of my music so I can listen to Beethoven or Bjork as my whims take me.

All of my cars are set up to play from the iPod, whether it's a built-in factory interface, an aftermarket interface or a simple cassette adapter shoved in the tape deck. Because to me, what I'm listening to is more important than how I'm listening to it.

I buy my music from eMusic, by the way. No DRM.

guess there won't be any NEW cars in my future... I have hundreds and hundreds of vinyl and even more cd's ... to move them to a mp3 or what ever... would take literally weeks... ( I realize I'm not very bright about the modern music era, but with a thumb drive / mp3 player how do you know what songs are coming up next ... my albums / cd's all have lists of the songs that I can access at a glance

I have never purchased an MP3. I own zero CDs. My Iphone is the only portable music device I have, and its empty aside from a few free podcasts.

I do stream music in my car though. I use "the radio". Its free and there are lots of stations to choose from. I'm surprised how much people NEED to be listening to music of their choosing anytime they are driving.

as has been mentioned... a STOCK car audio system isn't exactly where people go for high fidelity sound reproduction... especially if you are cruising with an exhaust and intake... and open windows...

but I suppose there are always snobby audiophiles just like there are elitest wine drinkers (spend some time watching james mays wine show :)

... the family car has a tape deck with a 6 disc changer out back... i wouldn't be surprised if the aftermarket comes out with some sort of CD changer type thing... but personally I much prefer an mp3 player... I have a 100cd case that was full and still didn't hold all my stuff... it was a pain to carry around and switch CD's and it still didn't hold as much music as that thing that fits in my pocket...

wbjones wrote: ...but with a thumb drive / mp3 player how do you know what songs are coming up next ... my albums / cd's all have lists of the songs that I can access at a glance

If the files were downloaded from a reputable source or ripped from the CD properly each file will contain info about the song title, band, album, track number etc. When it's loaded onto your MP3 player (or other device) you can sort by the artist, album name, genre etc. On my ipod (and I assume most other devices) I select 'Music' then seletc 'Artists', then select the album I want to listen to (or I can just hit play and it will start playing the first album in the list and continue through to the last), then it gives me a list of the songs on that album. I can hit play to listen to the whole album or select just one song from the list. The screen even shows the album cover or other graphics the band wanted to include. If I don't want to choose something specific, I can just hit 'shuffle' and it will randomly play songs. I listen to my music a lot more since I got an ipod than when I just had CDs. It really does make it a lot more convenient (aside from the ripping part).

Bob

I have to admit I bought an iPod Touch simply so I could run Pandora in the garage. It's awesome.

ProDarwin wrote: I do stream music in my car though. I use "the radio". Its free and there are lots of stations to choose from. I'm surprised how much people NEED to be listening to music of their choosing anytime they are driving.

Dunno where you live, but around here "the radio" is either playing commercials or idiot hosts talking. Once in a while, they'll play some music but it's usually the same old classic rock and roll that's been played to death. I swear, the only qualification you need to be a radio DJ these days is the ability to talk on demand. Radio is good if you just need some noise, but it's not good if you need music.

I actually listen to audiobooks most of the time when I'm driving. It's great, especially on long trips. You can either get them from the library or from places like Podiobooks.com.

mndsm wrote: I find this funny, since Lexus just stopped putting tape decks in cars with the 2010 LS.

One of the happiest days of my life was borrowing my friend's LS460 and popping in my Van Halen 5150 cassette. I hadn't listened to it for a long time.

Pretty good trade: Rusty hillbilly Dodge truck for a LS460, if only for a few hours.

Keith wrote:

ProDarwin wrote: I do stream music in my car though. I use "the radio". Its free and there are lots of stations to choose from. I'm surprised how much people NEED to be listening to music of their choosing anytime they are driving.

Dunno where you live, but around here "the radio" is either playing commercials or idiot hosts talking. Once in a while, they'll play some music but it's usually the same old classic rock and roll that's been played to death. I swear, the only qualification you need to be a radio DJ these days is the ability to talk on demand. Radio is good if you just need some noise, but it's not good if you need music.

I still use the radio myself. I guess I'm lucky in that there are several good local stations to choose from, depending on what I want to listen to. Or, I turn it off and drive in silence. I haven't listened to a CD in probably two or three years now.

ProDarwin wrote: I'm surprised how much people NEED to be listening to music of their choosing anytime they are driving.

Not just when driving. I see it all the time at work. Watch a dealer come off the floor, they reach into their pocket as soon as the door closes, pop in the ear plugs, and turn on the MP3 player... there are people who cannot exist without music

I haven't used a CD in my car for a few years now, all of my music travels by way of USB. I can't stand a line-in on the front of a head unit so I found a radio with a rear USB input a few years ago and never looked back.

BUT

In my 68' Ford I long for a factory am/fm radio with real tuning KNOBS.

In other news, Apple has also given up on CD/DVD drives in most of their laptops.

ProDarwin wrote: I have never purchased an MP3. I own zero CDs. My Iphone is the only portable music device I have, and its empty aside from a few free podcasts. I do stream music in my car though. I use "the radio". Its free and there are lots of stations to choose from. I'm surprised how much people NEED to be listening to music of their choosing anytime they are driving.

Nearly half the stations where I live broadcast in Spanish. The rest broadcast political screeching, endless professional sports coverarge, hip hop music and too many damned commercials. I don't care to listen to any of it, so all of my cars have satellite radio and a connection for my Ipod. When I finish with my Honda Goldwing, the stereo cassette player built into Vetter Faring will be replaced with an in dash unit with the same capabilities, but the CB will remain, just because it looks cool there.

stuart in mn wrote: I haven't listened to a CD in probably two or three years now.

I have SRV in the CD player

I still use the radio in my workvan, only because it has an AM/FM. But I agree that radio stations suck at least in the Chicago area. All the stations I used to like became extremely repetitive or got axed. The only station I listen to now is a classic rock station out of Indiana and it's nice because it's all local to Northwest Indiana (where I spend a lot of my leisure time).

I have gotten somewhat out of the MP3s and moved over to Pandora. I want to get the $30 package because the free version is driving me nuts right now.

Like I said I'm waiting for future versions of Pioneers App Radio.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: I still use the radio in my workvan, only because it has an AM/FM. But I agree that radio stations suck at least in the Chicago area.

Agreed.

Listen to FM radio to and from work to get traffic and weather reports. Now use CD's for long distant driving. Haven't even converted all my old cassettes to CD yet. And now I have to start thinking about converting the CD's to digital media. Can't keep up with this technology changes. Yeah I still have old vinyl LP's but I also have means to convert them to CD.

mtn wrote:

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: I still use the radio in my workvan, only because it has an AM/FM. But I agree that radio stations suck at least in the Chicago area.

Agreed.

Seriously,

XRT - Used to like them, but I don't know when I started to not, the newer hipster music I didn't care for.

The Drive - Great music at one point, but got waaaay to laid back for my taste. Also got repetitive.

Q101 - Hasn't been the same since the 90s.

B96 - Hip Hop and Party music, not my cup of tea.

Kiss FM - Top 40 music, wife likes it, end of story.

The Mix - Descent new music, wife likes it

104.3 - Used to be a popular oldies station now I have no clue.

94.7 - used to be a good classic rock station, changed to modern alternative, went country, went 80's, back to alternative, then to top 40, now it's an oldies station.

US-99 - Used to be a great country station, now they just harbor all the new pop country that I hate.

97.9 - Classic Rock gone wrong, they play everything that sucks. Sorry, I can only take Metallica and AC/DC in small doses, not every hour on the hour.

100.7 - Joliet Classic Rock station that used to be good, now is the same 97.9

I listen to 103.9 XRock out of Indiana. Great Classic Rock, bearable Djs, and they have Bob and Tom in the morning and that usually helps my slow mornings.