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CD player for a C7?

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Old 05-05-2016, 02:35 AM
  #21  
sunsalem
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Originally Posted by Trios
How are you going to connect it to the car's stereo?
That would be the plan.
It might be wishful thinking the car's entertainment interface system would recognize it, but simply hardwiring it to the speaker/amp setup with a wireless remote would work for me.
Do you see a problem?

Last edited by sunsalem; 05-05-2016 at 02:35 AM.
Old 05-05-2016, 12:37 PM
  #22  
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Originally Posted by sunsalem
That would be the plan.
It might be wishful thinking the car's entertainment interface system would recognize it, but simply hardwiring it to the speaker/amp setup with a wireless remote would work for me.
Do you see a problem?
Hooking up a second full car stereo to the same speakers is a very bad idea; it's possible it could feed back into the factory head unit and blow it out.

It sounds like a lot more work and a lot more expense than sitting at a computer for a couple hours to get 20-30 discs onto a thumb drive which we know your car will recognize, and which definitely won't blow it up.
Old 05-05-2016, 02:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Trios
How are you going to connect it to the car's stereo?
The same way rear speaker wires are connected (under the carpet and/or trim).

Last edited by sunsalem; 05-05-2016 at 02:30 PM.
Old 05-05-2016, 04:06 PM
  #24  
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Originally Posted by Trios
Hooking up a second full car stereo to the same speakers is a very bad idea; it's possible it could feed back into the factory head unit and blow it out.
I'll check with an installer before I try anything.

It sounds like a lot more work and a lot more expense than sitting at a computer for a couple hours to get 20-30 discs onto a thumb drive which we know your car will recognize, and which definitely won't blow it up.
And then I'll be stuck with a lesser quality of sound.
Old 05-05-2016, 04:46 PM
  #25  
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Originally Posted by sunsalem
And then I'll be stuck with a lesser quality of sound.
If you burn the CD's to MP3 at 128k there is no way you'd ever be able to tell the difference between that and direct from CD once it goes through any part of the stock setup.

If you end up using a portable CD player of any type it would definitely be best to connect it to the 3.5mm headphone jack in the armrest cubby. Going straight to the rear speakers would also require an amp of some type, and I can guarantee you that it won't sound near as good as if you played through all speakers via the 3.5 jack. If you use a portable player just adjust the headphone outlet volume to the lowest distortion. If you use a player with an available line-level (RCA) output, it would be best to use that.

But I still say that IN A STOCK C7 AUDIO SYSTEM, 128k MP3's on a usb will sound just as good, if not better, than a portable CD player wired into the headphone input
Old 05-05-2016, 05:26 PM
  #26  
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Originally Posted by markcz
If you burn the CD's to MP3 at 128k there is no way you'd ever be able to tell the difference between that and direct from CD once it goes through any part of the stock setup.

If you end up using a portable CD player of any type it would definitely be best to connect it to the 3.5mm headphone jack in the armrest cubby. Going straight to the rear speakers would also require an amp of some type, and I can guarantee you that it won't sound near as good as if you played through all speakers via the 3.5 jack. If you use a portable player just adjust the headphone outlet volume to the lowest distortion. If you use a player with an available line-level (RCA) output, it would be best to use that.

But I still say that IN A STOCK C7 AUDIO SYSTEM, 128k MP3's on a usb will sound just as good, if not better, than a portable CD player wired into the headphone input
But, if he wanted to play it safe, he could rip at 192k and be absolutely certain he'd lose no quality. I think 128 is the bare minimum for an MP3 myself.

Last edited by Trios; 05-05-2016 at 05:37 PM. Reason: darnit mark, now you had me using burn instead of rip...
Old 05-05-2016, 06:20 PM
  #27  
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OP, get this below. Mount it into your cubby or near your center console.
The output of this will be connected to your mini aux in. Hardwire power to it.
Includes a remote eye so technically you could mount it anywhere.

Surprised no experts suggested it yet. Pretty simple solution.





http://www.qualitymobilevideo.com/dv...gAJhoCfVXw_wcB
Old 05-07-2016, 02:43 AM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by sunsalem
the Mrs. gave me her recently departed Daddy's little player to shut me up.
Gave this a go tonite.
Awful...frickin' horrible.
Old 05-07-2016, 02:43 AM
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Originally Posted by bb996+r1
OP, get this below. Mount it into your cubby or near your center console.
The output of this will be connected to your mini aux in. Hardwire power to it.
Includes a remote eye so technically you could mount it anywhere.

Surprised no experts suggested it yet. Pretty simple solution.





http://www.qualitymobilevideo.com/dv...gAJhoCfVXw_wcB
I'll check this out....thanx.
Old 05-07-2016, 11:53 AM
  #30  
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With elevated blood pressure and grinding my teeth I have decided to record a CD to a USB drive as a test.
Using Windows 10 Media Player and having never ripped a CD before, should I choose 192k or 128k?

Last edited by sunsalem; 05-07-2016 at 11:54 AM.
Old 05-07-2016, 03:49 PM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by sunsalem
with elevated blood pressure and grinding my teeth i have decided to record a cd to a usb drive as a test.
Using windows 10 media player and having never ripped a cd before, should i choose 192k or 128k?
192.
Old 05-07-2016, 06:12 PM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by Trios
192.
Thanx...that's what I opted for.
Although I'm not sure exactly how I did it, I managed to copy the CD soundtrack to Batman by Prince.
Sounded decent, but I'm going to compare it to the disk on my Grand Cherokee's system to be sure.

As an excuse to drive the car, I drove to Tualatin for lunch with the Mrs.
She wasn't too happy about having to shout over the tire noise when trying to talk me.
Admittedly, the tire noise from I5 was almost deafening.
I had to turn the music WAY up to help drown it out.

Since no one here in town does it anymore, will be checking into finding someone in the Portland area to do some undercoating.
Old 05-07-2016, 08:07 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by sunsalem
I'm going to compare it to the disk on my Grand Cherokee's system to be sure.
In a quick test, I couldn't distinguish a difference.
Still a PITA though...
Old 05-07-2016, 08:32 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by sunsalem
In a quick test, I couldn't distinguish a difference.
Still a PITA though...
In the long run it would be less work than changing a CD in your car EVERY time you want to listen to something else. Put each CD in your computer ONCE, then it's available at the push of a button FOREVER

Eventually you'll have all 5000 albums in your car all at once. How much of a PITA would that be with real CD's
Old 05-08-2016, 02:41 AM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by markcz
In the long run it would be less work than changing a CD in your car EVERY time you want to listen to something else. Put each CD in your computer ONCE, then it's available at the push of a button FOREVER
It requires an investment of 417 hours.
At my age, 417 hours is highly valuable.

Eventually you'll have all 5000 albums in your car all at once. How much of a PITA would that be with real CD's
With the cataloging system I have, not much.
I know what I have and can pick it off a shelf in seconds.

Regardless, I've resigned myself to thumbdrives...so it goes in life.
Old 05-08-2016, 03:32 PM
  #36  
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You may want to come up with a way to mark each CD so you know which ones have been burned to MP3 just by looking at them on the shelf
Old 05-08-2016, 05:45 PM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by sunsalem
It requires an investment of 417 hours.
At my age, 417 hours is highly valuable.


With the cataloging system I have, not much.
I know what I have and can pick it off a shelf in seconds.

Regardless, I've resigned myself to thumbdrives...so it goes in life.
417 hours may be very valuable, but it's still just 5 minutes per disc. Normally you'd take 1-3 discs with you when you go out to the car, right? So you take 15 minutes instead to rip it to the thumb drive.

You're going to get a *whole* lot more listening/driving time than time waiting for the discs to rip, especially since you can put the disc in and go do something else for a few.

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Old 05-08-2016, 07:14 PM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by markcz
You may want to come up with a way to mark each CD so you know which ones have been burned to MP3 just by looking at them on the shelf
Good idea.


Originally Posted by Trios
417 hours may be very valuable, but it's still just 5 minutes per disc. Normally you'd take 1-3 discs with you when you go out to the car, right? So you take 15 minutes instead to rip it to the thumb drive.
On short trips, yes...but most of my driving is local and of small duration.
Not unusual for one disk to last several "trips."

You're going to get a *whole* lot more listening/driving time than time waiting for the discs to rip, especially since you can put the disc in and go do something else for a few.
True.
Unfortunately, CDs are downstairs and my computer is upstairs.
I'm at that point in life when stairs become enemies.
Old 05-16-2016, 06:31 AM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by Trios
I should also say that you're trying to force an audio format created in the 1970's into a 2016 model vehicle. CD audio is literally 37 years old.

The C7 is just the first of a wave of vehicles that won't support your CD collection; you'd really be better served by learning how to use the new (and frankly, much, much better/easier) methods of playing music NOW, instead of trying to force each new car you buy to go back 40 years.
As an audiophile that I am and the CD collection to prove it, he is right. My Grand Sport name with the Alpine Ilx007 in dash media video unit and if you rip under the proper format (flac, lossless and whatever else they call it) you have CD quality sound at your finger tips without packing around those CD's taking up space and falling out of your glove box or getting scratched in the soft cases. I have apple products only so iTunes is my best friend now. It's so nice to be able to buy albums in the car, on the go, and have immediate gratification.
I know your struggle, I've been there and trust me, you'll be kicking yourself for not doing it sooner.
My old 73 mustang mach1back in 1989, I spent a boat load of money on the state of the art Sony pull out CD player and the Sony tape drawer because I just couldn't let the cassettes go. Lol, I was a die hard. Just try it. Thumb drives are stupid cheap and a 32 gb holds a lot of music. Find someone computer savvy and just try it. All the artists and albums and all the endless possibilities.

\
Old 05-16-2016, 06:45 AM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by markcz
If you burn the CD's to MP3 at 128k there is no way you'd ever be able to tell the difference between that and direct from CD once it goes through any part of the stock setup.

If you end up using a portable CD player of any type it would definitely be best to connect it to the 3.5mm headphone jack in the armrest cubby. Going straight to the rear speakers would also require an amp of some type, and I can guarantee you that it won't sound near as good as if you played through all speakers via the 3.5 jack. If you use a portable player just adjust the headphone outlet volume to the lowest distortion. If you use a player with an available line-level (RCA) output, it would be best to use that.

But I still say that IN A STOCK C7 AUDIO SYSTEM, 128k MP3's on a usb will sound just as good, if not better, than a portable CD player wired into the headphone input
Not without buying an expensive DSP. (Digital Sound Proccessor)
The easiest solution is to get someone to rip the CD's for him.
On a side note, I'd challenge him to listen to a cd in my truck with all aftermarket equipment, and then through my kenwood with Bluetooth from my iPhone and tell me he can hear a difference. I've been an audiophile for as long as I can remember, I'm 49, and I can't.
There's a aftermarket system in everyone of my vehicles. I'm in Arlington and would drive to him to prove the point.


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