Missing CD player

Lol. Yeah. $40k+ and then another what $2k for a head unit. Not happening in my lifetime. Maybe a couple of bookshelf speakers, and old amp, and a CD player velcroed to it, plug it into the outlet in the bed, and I'm set!

 

I am a little more of an early adopter when in come to tech, but I have been through what you are going through. Back when I bought an ipod some 16-17 years ago, I had sooooo many CD's that had to be ripped to itunes to load on my ipod. I felt like it was several years worth of work sitting on the couch loading a CD and making sure the meta data is the way I wanted it. About 7 years ago I took the plunge and got a premium subscription to Spotify just to test it out. I love it because I can access any music at any time.

I was scared to commit for a long time because of what wasn't on Spotify. I figured I had about 500 CD's when I switched and I would say about 30 to 50 (5-10%) Don't exist on Spotify today. But my point is, figuring out how to curate a list of 30-50 discs is much easier and less daunting than a list of 500! (It would be more now because of new and old artists that I had never heard before that I would have gone out and purchased an album or two.)

I justify the cost by saying I would buy 1 album every 2 months if I didn't have spotify. Spotify also lets you upload music to your device and play it from a playlist, (it's not the best integration, but it works)

I have also tried Amazon Music Unlimited and Youtube/Google Music with a similar result. My wife likes the Spotify daily mixes and curated playlists, so that is why we stick with that.

I would suggest to get a free trial of spotify premium, or sign up for a couple of months and see if you like it, it couldn't hurt.

 

I’ve seen some nice head units way cheaper than $2000, even under $1000.

 

I think the point here is the OP is having a volume issue, not a problem with the source of music he wants to listen to. I do not have a Volume problem with Apple CarPlay, but I will see what solutions I can find for Android auto. Ripping your CDs is worth it, but clearly not with the playback issues you are experiencing. Don’t give up, a solution is out there. I had to rip about 1,700 CDs when the whole iPod thing started. It is great owning the physical copy and knowing you will always have it and at the same time, I like having my entire library of music that I thought important enough to purchase with me on my phone to stream from my phone to any Bluetooth device at any time. I repeat, don’t give up. The goal is worth it.

 

The OP started this thread looking for a Bluetooth CD player, and a month and a half later he was about to throw in the towel because he couldn't get any of the suggestions to work to his satisfaction. He even suggested trying a service like spotify in the quote below. I've been there... I've invested a lot of time and money in my purchased music collection from CD's to itunes downloads. I'll even buy vinyl records from some of my favorite artists because it is one of the best ways to support them even when you can hear it on Spotify.

In my situation Spotify works. The albums that I've purchased that are not on Spotify can be uploaded to my Spotify account and listened to through the app. It might be just me, but that seems like a best of both worlds solution that is worth giving a try. Especially when you can try it with a free trial of the premium service.

 

I do the same with Apple Music, and I don’t regret it.

 

Swap that fella four posts back for his previous model year OEM CD player and keep on keepin' on my dude.

 

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_530VR7HB/Soundstream-Reserve-VR-7HB.html?tp=72406

This or 100 other fairly inexpensive options could really help you out. They will even build your plug and play harness and it would take less than 30 minutes to install. Done it myself a handful of times. In fact this is the easiest vehicle I have ever changes a radio in.

 

Get Spotify and be done with it...

 

Sounds like you need a head unit from a second gen. I've not used my cd player even once

 

Will the aftermarket unit support all of Toyota's functions, like Terrain monitor?

 

Look, I am old like you. You either keep up with the tech or get left behind. That is solely on you. Times and tech change. You are the only one who can change with it. So far I am keeping up. Sounds like you are not. Prepare to suffer.

 

You're speaking my language..

Yup. I'm the type who wants the physical disc, the liner notes, the booklet, blah blah.

 

Not familiar with the 3G headunits, my 2nd gen came with just the AM-FM_CD and Aux/USB in.

I removed it and bought a $200 single DIN radio, dropped in with zero issues. Got my CD player and USB on that radio. Have my $100 Garmin GPS standalone anyways. My radio has Bluetooth if I ever decide to listen to a podcast etc online.

OP, there must be a way man..

 

I’m pretty sure they do. That’s a question for Crutchfield. When I look at radios it will say works with Toyota’s menu (or whatever) and some don’t.

 

“Spotify, Spotify…”
If you don’t pay for Spotify HiFi (if it’s available in your area) you won’t get the quality of a high quality CD.
Doesn’t matter to the boom box Millies I guess.
https://newsroom.spotify.com/2021-02-22/five-things-to-know-about-spotify-hifi/

 

That's the reason vinyl is coming back, I think.
It had better sound. Digital sampling by its nature eliminates some of the analog sound. Higher sampling corrects some of it, but not all. Cannot fit square to a curve 100%.

PS I miss my reel to reel. Best sound at 7.5"/s.
PPS How many kids now know what hi bias tape is? And at one time Dolby NR controversy was worse than 9mm vs 40 S&W.