No More CD player?

Datsun1500 wrote:

Osterkraut wrote: They need to keep CD players in cars. I have to have a physical man-machine-interface. And if the CD players breaks I can still get my music out. I have done this many times. If a USB stick breaks the car may catch fire.

In 1989 this would have read: They need to keep cassette players in cars. I have to have something to play all of these things. And if the CD gets scratched I can still get my cassettes out. I have done this many times.... The CD player will get phased out just like the Cassette - 8 track - CB before it...

The humor may have been lost on you. It's hard to tell.

Datsun1500 wrote:

Osterkraut wrote: They need to keep CD players in cars. I have to have a physical man-machine-interface. And if the CD players breaks I can still get my music out. I have done this many times. If a USB stick breaks the car may catch fire.

In 1989 this would have read: They need to keep cassette players in cars. I have to have something to play all of these things. And if the CD gets scratched I can still get my cassettes out. I have done this many times.... The CD player will get phased out just like the Cassette - 8 track - CB before it...

Exactly (though I do think Osterkraut was kidding).

I do still use my CB daily though. and lots of other kids are putting them in their cars. Where else can I get live traffic, weather, news, and social networking for free while I'm driving?

Datsun1500 wrote: In reply to Osterkraut: I knew you were kidding, just had to add my attempt at humor....

Whoops!

All I need is an aux in and AM/FM, my phone holds more music than I really listen to, plus I can stream Pandora or NPR news all while running a sat nav program, why get a complicated in-dash system when my phone does all this?

Also, all these big, fancy radio things are going to break and look terrible when all these cars are ten years old and cheap enough to add to my collection.

Well, damn. I haven't even finished duplicating my cassettes to CD yet let alone LP's to cassette/CD. Gave up on my old 8-tracks. Even had a 4-track a lo-o-ong time ago. And now I have to get SD cards or thumb drives? Good thing I drive mostly kinda older cars. My 95 F150 still has a working cassette player. My 99 Miata & 04 RX8 have CD players. My wifes 2010 Sonata has both CD and USB along with serius radio. She was disappointed you can't get cassette players in new cars anymore as the 02 Camry we traded in had both cassette and CD player.

The last tape player just went into a 2010 Lexus, and you guys are trying to kill the compact disc already?! http://translogic.aolautos.com/2011/02/11/the-tape-deck-is-dead/

Go right ahead. I haven't used CD in the last 5 cars I've owned, or 5 years.

My mother on the other hand will use BOTH the cd player and tape player in her 02' Regal. Rock on Mom.

Derick Freese wrote: The next stereo I buy will be a digital only model. As it is, I have all of my CDs as mp3s on my computer. I have to burn mp3 CDs to take the music with me. I do love good music reproduction. A car isn't where I want to spend my money on it, though. Too much road noise for me.

...and yet when musicians are recording, they often take mixes into the car to see how they sound--generally a good car stereo is a very effective place to listen to the quality of a mix.

gamby wrote:

Derick Freese wrote: I do love good music reproduction. A car isn't where I want to spend my money on it, though. Too much road noise for me.

...and yet when musicians are recording, they often take mixes into the car to see how they sound--generally a good car stereo is a very effective place to listen to the quality of a mix.

Probably makes sense, but I bet they aren't in a Miata with an aftermarket exhaust

Tom Suddard wrote:

Datsun1500 wrote:

Osterkraut wrote: They need to keep CD players in cars. I have to have a physical man-machine-interface. And if the CD players breaks I can still get my music out. I have done this many times. If a USB stick breaks the car may catch fire.

In 1989 this would have read: They need to keep cassette players in cars. I have to have something to play all of these things. And if the CD gets scratched I can still get my cassettes out. I have done this many times.... The CD player will get phased out just like the Cassette - 8 track - CB before it...

Exactly (though I do think Osterkraut was kidding). I do still use my CB daily though. and lots of other kids are putting them in their cars. Where else can I get live traffic, weather, news, and social networking for free while I'm driving?

Tom, you mean a real old-fashioned Citizens' Band radio? I thought all you young folks had moved on to FRS.

And as far as CD players go, all three of mine have a jack to connect the iPod. Weird thing, even though I've never used it, just today I was thinking about picking up a cable because most of my Punk collection (both bought & ripped from CD) is on the iPod. I was bored with every single one of the 8 CDs I have stashed in the car..would tweaking the controls to find what I want to hear in that colossal pile of mp3s be any less distracting than trying to change a CD by hand while on the move?

Bring back my reel-to-reel!

friedgreencorrado wrote:

Tom Suddard wrote:

Datsun1500 wrote:

Osterkraut wrote: They need to keep CD players in cars. I have to have a physical man-machine-interface. And if the CD players breaks I can still get my music out. I have done this many times. If a USB stick breaks the car may catch fire.

In 1989 this would have read: They need to keep cassette players in cars. I have to have something to play all of these things. And if the CD gets scratched I can still get my cassettes out. I have done this many times.... The CD player will get phased out just like the Cassette - 8 track - CB before it...

Exactly (though I do think Osterkraut was kidding). I do still use my CB daily though. and lots of other kids are putting them in their cars. Where else can I get live traffic, weather, news, and social networking for free while I'm driving?

Tom, you mean a real old-fashioned Citizens' Band radio? I thought all you young folks had moved on to FRS. And as far as CD players go, all three of mine have a jack to connect the iPod. Weird thing, even though I've never used it, just today I was thinking about picking up a cable because most of my Punk collection (both bought & ripped from CD) is on the iPod. I was bored with every single one of the 8 CDs I have stashed in the car..would tweaking the controls to find what I want to hear in that colossal pile of mp3s be any less distracting than trying to change a CD by hand while on the move?

Yep, a good old fashioned CB. Eagle-eyed readers/ site lookers will have noticed the 2 foot firestik mounted through the E30's roof rack. Kids at school always see all the fancy electronics in the car and then say "WTB" when they see the CB mic, but I'd say it's almost more useful than a radar detector for highway driving.

As far as the stereo thing goes, I haven't used my CD player in months. My next HU won't even have one built in.

I've had a couple of very good car stereos. I'd rather spend my money on other things in the car, though. As of now, all of my car audio stuff is second hand. My subs are all side of the road finds, my speakers are Boston Acoustics from junkyard finds.

I have a Jeep Cherokee. That's a big cavern to fill with sound. When I had my Nissan HB, it worked well because it didn't take much power to put out enough sound to sound good.

I do have to say that a CB would be more useful in my Jeep than a cell phone, though.

Outlaw facebook status updating car audio/entertainment systems like in the Cruze and only outlaws will update their Facebook profile via their car while driving their car.

I find it sad that crap like that has become a selling point. It says a lot about the American public's view on driving and cars.

ShadowSix wrote: All I need is an aux in and AM/FM, my phone holds more music than I really listen to, plus I can stream Pandora or NPR news all while running a sat nav program, why get a complicated in-dash system when my phone does all this? Also, all these big, fancy radio things are going to break and look terrible when all these cars are ten years old and cheap enough to add to my collection.

Check out Alpine. They have a pandora head unit, and it's AWESOME. You plug you phone into it, and then the head unit controls will let you flip stations and stuff, while giving you the information of the station on a small LCD screen.

It's seriously slick.

My old '75 Vega came to me with no radio. Eventually, it had and AM/FM/8track in the factory slot, a 40-channel CB in the hacked-out spot above, and a cassette player under dash. I was set!

The Valiant still has the original Valiant Transaudio AM radio, but it's old and cranky. There's a $40 AM/FM/USB in the glovebox and four cheap aftermarket speakers on the kickpanels and rear deck. I do wish it had a remote USB port.

after my college roommates stereo was stolen, he just ran a headphone to rca plug straight to the amp so he could hook up his ipod, i'd imagine its still like that now.

I have thought of doing that to my 318ti.. mostly to save weight in the car. Headunits are surprisingly heavy

The aftermarket radio in my MR2 has knobs on it. How long with those last?

I haven't used a CD in the car since I had the original 6-disc changer in my LAST car, and that was in 2005!!! I've had an aftermarket radio and some sort of MP3 player since then (currently Ipod Classic 80gb filled to the brim with METAL!!!)

pinchvalve wrote: The aftermarket radio in my MR2 has knobs on it. How long with those last?

Knobs are going the way of the dodo as well, and i am sad. Nothing pisses me off more than trying to change the volume in a moving car with no knob.

Smart phones and thumb-drives may be the death of CD players eventually, but I still use CD's in my VW regularly. Of course, it still has the OE stereo from 2003, so there's no USB/MP3 capability or aux input (although the latter can be added).

Where smart phones can really be useful in in older cars where fitting a modern HU can be difficult. In theory, you don't need a HU at all - just an adapter to plug into a hidden power amp. If my g/f had a Droid back in 2009, I doubt she would have bothered with the retro-style HU for her '73 Volvo (which has a USB/mp3 player, but no CD player).

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

pinchvalve wrote: The aftermarket radio in my MR2 has knobs on it. How long with those last?

Knobs are going the way of the dodo as well, and i am sad. Nothing pisses me off more than trying to change the volume in a moving car with no knob.

I thought it was the other way around? 3-5 years ago Alpine was the old good brand with volume knobs and last year when I was looking they all seemed to have them.

Javelin wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

pinchvalve wrote: The aftermarket radio in my MR2 has knobs on it. How long with those last?

Knobs are going the way of the dodo as well, and i am sad. Nothing pisses me off more than trying to change the volume in a moving car with no knob.

I thought it was the other way around? 3-5 years ago Alpine was the old good brand with volume knobs and last year when I was looking they all seemed to have them.

You're probably right. That's about the time where i stopped shopping for new stuff because it all pissed me off. I don't want an alien growing out of my dash, and i want a volume knob. A REAL volume knob, not one with catch points. A REAL volume pot.

I haven't seen a pot for volume since I played with adding an input to my challenge car's stereo (an 80's Honda). Real volume pot cassette player. Really solid unit, but it's been rebuilt professionally since new (in 2003). Everything now seems to be rotary encoders. Any knob is far better than just buttons, though.

I want 2 knobs on my stereo! 1 for volume and 1 for tuning! as long as my radio receives FM signals I'm good. I have considered upgrading to HD radio, but haven't yet. I've still got radios lying around without cars.
I've got kids, I'd like to be able to find a new din or 1.5 din cd/cassette radio for the wife to use in the van. The one we have now (not installed) was hacked in by a chain store to the old van and I can't stand the thought of hacking up a dash for it.