CD Players disappearing from new cars

**Gandolph13** · 05-26-12 at 04:10 PM

Quote:

Oh no! Next you're going to tell me that cars won't come with cassettes or 8-track decks either!

Just pick up a Discman at a thrift store or yard sale for a couple of bucks, and plug that into the 3.5mm stereo jack. If all else fails, buy a Belkin Tunecast FM transmitter at a thrift store, hack it to improve the output power (out of the box they are nearly useless, which is why they turn up in thrift stores so often).

Car MP3 is very 2001. I want lossless audio playback, like I get from a $40 Sansa Clip+, but with support for USB thumbdrives rather than teensy microSD cards that are way too easy to lose.

Oh, I miss my 8 track in the car. I put one in back in the 70s and despite their popularity in the ?US they were rare in Australia. I could time my tracks, measure the tape accordingly and have absolutely no dead spots on the loops.

Now to the FM transmitters and such, they still need the basics of a car stereo to work and since I already have a good cd player which plays mp3 format, why would I change....

luvlivie · 05-27-12 at 03:13 AM

From the topic title I thought someone had been stealing them therefore they were "disappearing".. Because at my dealership there were complains about sales personnel not locking the cars and result in loss of mats, cd player, DVD controllers etc.. I guess I wasn't quite expecting this to be what you meant.

**Noledox** · 05-28-12 at 12:06 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Gandolph13

Oh, I miss my 8 track in the car. I put one in back in the 70s and despite their popularity in the ?US they were rare in Australia. I could time my tracks, measure the tape accordingly and have absolutely no dead spots on the loops.

Now to the FM transmitters and such, they still need the basics of a car stereo to work and since I already have a good cd player which plays mp3 format, why would I change....

MP3 CD players are a great option, but I tend to like when the stereo has an AUX in jack so I can plug in whatever cheap MP3 player I might have (Read: non-Apple). Then I can change my collection without burning a CD (even an RW one). Plus, AUX jacks sound much better than the FM transmitters I've encountered. No point in changing what works for you though.

**Gandolph13** · 05-28-12 at 05:58 PM

Mine has got aux input but it's buried somewhere deep in the dash (behind the unit, not on the front) and I spent enough time putting the system in, I'm not pulling it back out to access the aux port.

**markxace** · 05-28-12 at 06:10 PM

CDs no way, Vinyl is king, of course when you hit a bump it leaves a couple of scratches but just drive more carefully. No seriously when i'm driving I change my mind about what to listen to and taking a CD collection isn't a good idea, so I use my Ipod it has all my CDs (320 kbps) so I listen to what I feel like when I want (it also saves changing the CD).

05-28-12 at 06:10 PM	#19
markxace Apprentice Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 449	CDs no way, Vinyl is king, of course when you hit a bump it leaves a couple of scratches but just drive more carefully. No seriously when i'm driving I change my mind about what to listen to and taking a CD collection isn't a good idea, so I use my Ipod it has all my CDs (320 kbps) so I listen to what I feel like when I want (it also saves changing the CD). Last edited by markxace; 05-30-12 at 10:54 AM.

05-26-12 at 04:10 PM	#15
Gandolph13 Legendary Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Australia (GMT+10) Posts: 12,353	Quote: Oh no! Next you're going to tell me that cars won't come with cassettes or 8-track decks either! Just pick up a Discman at a thrift store or yard sale for a couple of bucks, and plug that into the 3.5mm stereo jack. If all else fails, buy a Belkin Tunecast FM transmitter at a thrift store, hack it to improve the output power (out of the box they are nearly useless, which is why they turn up in thrift stores so often). Car MP3 is very 2001. I want lossless audio playback, like I get from a $40 Sansa Clip+, but with support for USB thumbdrives rather than teensy microSD cards that are way too easy to lose. Oh, I miss my 8 track in the car. I put one in back in the 70s and despite their popularity in the ?US they were rare in Australia. I could time my tracks, measure the tape accordingly and have absolutely no dead spots on the loops. Now to the FM transmitters and such, they still need the basics of a car stereo to work and since I already have a good cd player which plays mp3 format, why would I change....

05-27-12 at 03:13 AM	#16
luvlivie Newcomer Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 11	From the topic title I thought someone had been stealing them therefore they were "disappearing".. Because at my dealership there were complains about sales personnel not locking the cars and result in loss of mats, cd player, DVD controllers etc.. I guess I wasn't quite expecting this to be what you meant.

05-28-12 at 12:06 AM	#17
Noledox Bad command or file name Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Terra Incognita Posts: 2,709	Quote: Originally Posted by Gandolph13 Oh, I miss my 8 track in the car. I put one in back in the 70s and despite their popularity in the ?US they were rare in Australia. I could time my tracks, measure the tape accordingly and have absolutely no dead spots on the loops. Now to the FM transmitters and such, they still need the basics of a car stereo to work and since I already have a good cd player which plays mp3 format, why would I change.... MP3 CD players are a great option, but I tend to like when the stereo has an AUX in jack so I can plug in whatever cheap MP3 player I might have (Read: non-Apple). Then I can change my collection without burning a CD (even an RW one). Plus, AUX jacks sound much better than the FM transmitters I've encountered. No point in changing what works for you though.

05-28-12 at 05:58 PM	#18
Gandolph13 Legendary Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Australia (GMT+10) Posts: 12,353	Mine has got aux input but it's buried somewhere deep in the dash (behind the unit, not on the front) and I spent enough time putting the system in, I'm not pulling it back out to access the aux port.