Missing CD player

All that information is still available. I'd argue there's actually immeasurably more info available now than album liner notes could ever provide. You just have to go to an artist's website, wiki, an internet forum of dedicated fans, YouTube, etc.

 

The real problem is books. Audio books are way behind music. I don't want to own the books, listen to them on long trips. I haven't found a free service as good as a library that can deliver audio books. Mp3 is gradually making it but isn't there yet. Problem I suspect is the length: pretty 10 hours or more is pretty much the norm. If you don't listen to books its not an issue.

I love it how this thread has transformed from a technical discussion, how to do deal with an issue, to a discussion of music formats and liner notes. One thing that is missing in the digital and the cd world is the art that was on album covers back in the day.

 

There's an app to make Android Auto wireless. I'd do that and save yourself all this hassle. Then your USB is still open for your thumb drive.

 

I don't pay for music streaming because I like owning CDs and rippiing them. But for audiobooks, Audible is pretty fantastic, especially if you're looking for the newer stuff.

 

Obviously, I have a digital library. I was comparing having one’s own library to merely streaming, which is not the same.

 

I mean... I have hundreds of CDs sitting on a shelf. They don't really do anything and I don't touch them but they are tangible, so there's that. I wouldn't say I benefit from them anymore. 20 years ago, absolutely.

 

Ah, as was the purpose of lala… musical taste changes and exchanging was a godsend. However the labels weren’t happy to not get a cut, and there isn’t a big profit in being a mailing mediator. Once the hook was in, the community formed and a way to make money AND develop new technology intertwined, poof sold and shut down…

 

step 1- buy a 5th gen iPod
step 2- swap the HDD with a Micro SD Card via iFlash.xyz kit
step 3- upload all the music you want to your new 256gb iPod
step 4- $$$

 

Okay, you win! Download a ripper to my PC, start ripping CDs to disk. Copy to Android. Six CDs taking about 2 hours. Fine. Plug my phone into the Taco and I see nothing. Put a stick in and it finds tunes. Back to the Android and it finds nothing.

Apparently for doing this I need to provide some player. So another hour downloading various players, and found a few which suffice. One doesn't get recognized by Android Auto. But okay, I have two which do. And it works. But wait, why doesn't genre pick up? Here too, I need to fill in that field for metadata when I rip so re-rip and now genre works.

This is reminiscent of cassettes to me. Keep the master copy at home and only take disposable copies in the vehicle. Oh sure, the options and size and convenience are all so much better with digital. But the time sink is the same in moving data from one medium to the other. Being a Luddite, I don't like technolgy change so much! Looking back I gladly moved from 8 track to cassettes. CDs I didn't like having my only copy with me but they were certainly better than anything before. Maybe I'll like this method too, having been forced to now move forward.

Thanks for all your suggestions! Looks like I'm on my way but perhaps talk radio is in my future and I just save music for home!

Bill

 

I'll trade you the radio from my 19 with cd player for your radio.

 

How about something like this?
Automotive Integrated Electronics OE Integrated Vehicle CD Player via USB radio connection (USBCDPLAY2

$168 (AIE)-USBCDPLAY2 - Integrated Car/Vehicle CD Player via USB Data Port Factory Radio Connection – (For Vehicle Compatibility - Review Fit Chart in Images)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DJ2FBJY

 

Does your company phone accept a removable micro SD card? If it does then load your ripped cds to that and use that for playing music, then if you change jobs you can just remove the SD card and save it for your next phone.

If all you want is a basic music player for your phone I recommend Musicolet. It's what I use and it's very simple to use, it doesn't connect to the internet so it won't work for streaming but its great for ripped cds. Also, it's absolutely free and best of all has no ads.

https://krosbits.in/musicolet/

Instead of re-ripping to change metadata you can just use "file explorer" in windows to change it. You will find that many band's names begin with "The" (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones,etc.) so they end up under "T" in folders instead of "B" and "R" respectively, and simply renaming the file won't change that. Also if you're like me you might want to change, for example, "Bruce Springsteen" to "Springsteen, Bruce" if that suits your filing system better. You can change the artists name, change or add genre, etc. Here's a link to explain it better than I can, skip (or not) the part about using "Groove Music" and scroll on down to "Using File Explorer".

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-edit-music-metadata-information-windows-10

About, maybe, 10% of the cds I've ripped don't have album art in the metadata. If you want you can add art to files that are missing it. I'm not gonna try to explain it myself but here is a link to how I learned to do it.

https://captainrookie.com/how-to-embed-album-art-into-digital-audio-files/

All of this seems awfully complicated at first but it really isn't that bad once you've done it a few times; Hell I'm old(ish), 68 if you must know, and a bit technology challenged and I learned to do it and even enjoy it.

I'm also resistant to change and at first hated to give up my cds but having thousands of songs at my fingertips is far, far more convenient. I'm keepin' the cds though, it's still nice to have that hard copy handy.

Crap that was a lot of typing, time for an adult beverage. Hope I've helped.

 

This product has been referenced in earlier threads and would make a neat solution. However I was and am reluctant to spend a couple of hundred on an experiment as our trucks are not referenced in the MITO fit list. And since it uses the USB port, using Android/ Apple carplay may be incompatible if these also need to use the USB port. I know that ugly as it is, a hockey puck player with an FM adapter doesn't interfere with Bluetooth use by other devices. It would be great if someone tried this out and reported.

 

On your phone, if you haven't tried it, foobar 2000 is an excellent music player. I've used it on iOS and Android and it has been no BS and reliable.

As far as ripping goes, I've had good luck with Exact Audio Copy. Does pretty good finding the metadata, although I tend to organize on my own by Artist/Album anyway. If you do need to edit metadata, EasyTag is pretty powerful.


I don't really miss having CD's in the car. Too much of a hassle. And then when I get on an airplane, I ain't bringing that big binder in any case. All on the phone is pretty darn convenient - once you get it set up.

 

It can be plugged into 3.5 mm Aux input.
I am going to do it, once I have my truck. I listen to a lot of books on tape/CDs

 

I don't think the 2020/21 trucks have an aux input, at least I haven't found it. Books on "tape" are my motivation as well.

 

Sometimes is on the back of a unit.
I am tearing mine apart, once I have it. Which could be 3 months.

 

There isn’t. My friend has a 2021 and replace the head unit. I helped him and it didn’t have an Aux input.

 

Okay, I've ripped enough CDs and loaded them on the Android. Painful. Downloaded a number of players to test but not all show up on Android Auto. But I can play music, that I want, when I want.

Now there is a volume issue. Yes, I've seen the threads but without any solutions. The volume, no matter what I do to try and set it, on the Android Auto apps just is about half of what I get from the radio and my 3 month Sirius trial. I mean a MAX on the Android Auto app, again it doesn't matter which player, compares to about a 35 on Sirius. I feel that this whole endeavor is for naught and I'm throwing in the towel.

At least I got a stick. That too is probably going the way of the CD player though.

 

I use Pandora problem solved . Or change out the head unit and go CD player .