Car CD Players no more? how are you coping?

[Flaquad]

My 21 RDX has an AUX jack that I plug my Sony Discman into. Unfortunately the only negative to the 22 RDX and MDX is that they eliminated that jack. Get a 19-21 used if this is important to you.

I do the same. In one of my cars the aux jack no longer works so I plug my Discman or cassette Walkman into a FM transmitter.

 

[The Rang]

No disc player when we bought our “loaded” RAV4, four years ago (the lower models still had a CD player IIRC, but the Limited trim package dumped it for a larger Nav unit).

How have we coped?
We haven’t

Tried loading files with CD rez onto a USB stick but the player doesn’t recognize half the files. Neither of us inclined to mess around with the phone. Easy for 99% of the population, major PITA for us, LOL

Really need to figure out the USB thing, because the radio is crap

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Tried loading files with CD rez onto a USB stick but the player doesn’t recognize half the files. Neither of us inclined to mess around with the phone. Easy for 99% of the population, major PITA for us, LOL

Really need to figure out the USB thing, because the radio is crap

Assuming the files you tried are all the same format, there is no reason for half of them to be unrecognized. Are they WAV, FLAC, MP3, something else? 16/44.1 is CD rez. Are they all formatted like that?

 

[M-D-Z]

I just tried to “build” on-line the exact same vehicle that I bought last year, a Durango SRT with optional single disc CD player in the center console glovebox, 19 speaker Harmon Kardon system upgrade with extra amp and sub. But apparently there is not going to be a CD player available for 2022.

I depend on CDs, so I try to make sure I can play them when and where I choose. I keep an older portable Sony Discman around (known to have a great DAC) that I can plug into 1/8” jacks for convenience.

my Caddy CTS wagon has a very nice sounding OEM system w/six CD in-dash changer, my Lexus GS400 has a Nakamichi 6-CD magazine sound system, even my 96 SS Impala has a modified OEM head unit that has a CD player and a hidden 1/8” input jack, but yeah, it sure looks like CDs are going the way of those other vehicle based formats, 8-tracks and cassettes, the dust-bin.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I just tried to “build” on-line the exact same vehicle that I bought last year, a Durango SRT with optional single disc CD player in the center console glovebox, 19 speaker Harmon Kardon system upgrade with extra amp and sub. But apparently there is not going to be a CD player available for 2022.

I could have purchased a single disc CD player to fit the center console cubby of my 2000 Grand Cherokee (the model twin of the Durango). The cost was close to $1000 I believe and it would have precluded the usage of the two USB inputs that reside in that space. All considered, I'll make do with the USB drives.

 

[par4ken]

Assuming the files you tried are all the same format, there is no reason for half of them to be unrecognized. Are they WAV, FLAC, MP3, something else? 16/44.1 is CD rez. Are they all formatted like that?

My Pioneer deck for one only accepts mp3 and wma on the USB drive. I thought fine then, I'll use wma lossless; well that didn't work lossy format only! At least that deck does have a CD player. I only use burned CD's, most of those are trashed already (I'll just burn some more). I would never use keep/use my good CD's in the car.

 

[Bill B]

I have a 2013 Nissan truck with a cd player in it. It has less than 50K miles on it. My plan was to keep it another year or two and then buy something new. About a year or so ago I realized that cd players were no longer available in vehicles so my new plan is to keep this truck as long as it is reliable and the cd player works. When the time comes, I will deal with it. As long as there is a standard input jack I can work something out even if it is cumbersome.

 

[The Rang]

Assuming the files you tried are all the same format, there is no reason for half of them to be unrecognized. Are they WAV, FLAC, MP3, something else? 16/44.1 is CD rez. Are they all formatted like that?

That’s what I need to figure out.
They got transferred to the stick from iTunes on our home computer.
I suspect there are a variety of file types, some of which the car doesn’t recognize.
Step One, determine what files the player will accept,
Step Two, start from scratch with iTunes, making sure everything we copy is correct

 

[marcb]

I largely gave up playing CDs at home years ago when I had ripped everything to flac and even playing them in the car 3-4 or more years ago which I use an old iphone for now.

There is almost nothing I even buy on CD now (and haven’t for maybe 5 years) with almost everything available as a download at 16/44 or better.

In 2021 (and really in 2016 or earlier) I can’t think of a single benefit to me by buying and playing CDs that isn’t surpassed by other formats/mechanisms.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I largely gave up playing CDs at home years ago when I had ripped everything to flac and even playing them in the car 3-4 or more years ago which I use an old iphone for now.

There is almost nothing I even buy on CD now (and haven’t for maybe 5 years) with almost everything available as a download at 16/44 or better.

In 2021 (and really in 2016 or earlier) I can’t think of a single benefit to me by buying and playing CDs that isn’t surpassed by other formats/mechanisms.

I agree. Once its all ripped, the disks themselves only take up space. I still do buy CDs though, for the titles I want. I've heard good and bad opinions of the quality, especially the DR, of the High Res downloads.

 

[Colin London]

I have loads of CD Players and SACD players
Many Sony Blu Rays also play SACD's.

My Old Pioneer is the best as it plays Multi Channel SACD /DVDA /DTS
I changed the 5.1 speakers
to have a Fantastic Sound.

 

[Bill B]

I have loads of CD Players and SACD players
Many Sony Blu Rays also play SACD's.

My Old Pioneer is the best as it plays Multi Channel SACD /DVDA /DTS
I changed the 5.1 speakers
to have a Fantastic Sound.

How will you get them to work in your car?

 

[Pontoneer]

Not for modern vehicles. The entertainment system is just one of the functions handled by the dashboard touch screen that is present in virtually every new vehicle. I know mine controls climate control, navigation, phone pairing, cameras and a bunch more. There is no aftermarket equivalent.

No such problems for me : my vehicles range from 1957 to 1999 for my daily driver - all Mercedes-Benz .

The older cars have period Blaupunkt or Becker units .

For my newer vehicles W124 300TE , R129 300SL-24 , W140 S320 I have Sony Mobile ES systems : two of them have the XRC900RDS cassette head units and in the S Class I have the CDX910RDS ; all have the XDP U50D DSP unit ( which gives multiple surround modes , time delay settings for each individual loudspeaker , parametric Eq and much more ) and in the S Class I have two CDX 805 changers in the boot while the other two each have two CDX 91 changers . I have a variety of Sony and JBL amplifiers in the different cars ; the W124 has KEF KAR speakers ; the SL has JBL speakers and the S Class has the factory Bose speakers which are OK if not great , may still upgrade them . I find that two magazines loaded each with 10 CDs is more than enough for any journey and I have plenty of magazines that I can preload before going out .

I have Bury carkits in all my cars , which actuate the telephone mute function on the three Sony systems .

I certainly couldn’t cope with standard fit audio in any of my cars but then I’m more likely to buy more older cars than newer ones - especially since historic vehicles are exempt from ULEZ zones across Europe and I can drive in them with impunity as long as I’m in cars more than 40 years old .

I hate dashboards that light up like Christmas trees , and the advent of these screens is just another distraction when driving at night on unlit roads ; they are also a danger since you no longer have switches that you can locate by touch , instead having to take your eyes off the road and locate virtual buttons on a touch screen , even worse having to navigate through menus to do something like change the heater setting . Physical controls are both simpler and safer so these screens are a real backwards step and it will be interesting to see statistics re how many crashes have occurred when people have taken their eyes off the road .

 

[par4ken]

I have loads of CD Players and SACD players
Many Sony Blu Rays also play SACD's.

My Old Pioneer is the best as it plays Multi Channel SACD /DVDA /DTS
I changed the 5.1 speakers
to have a Fantastic Sound.

I suspect that you didn't read all the posts right from the start! This thread is about new cars not coming with CD players anymore. Yes a lot of players are still available for home use!

Additionally, while aftermarket players are available the way the new cars are designed makes swapping the deck out no easy/impossible task!

 

[Bob Romano]

A 1TB drive with 500+FLAC surround albums, SiriusXM and Apple car play in my 2020 RDX and I wind up listening to news mostly.

 

[Pontoneer]

I largely gave up playing CDs at home years ago when I had ripped everything to flac and even playing them in the car 3-4 or more years ago which I use an old iphone for now.

There is almost nothing I even buy on CD now (and haven’t for maybe 5 years) with almost everything available as a download at 16/44 or better.

In 2021 (and really in 2016 or earlier) I can’t think of a single benefit to me by buying and playing CDs that isn’t surpassed by other formats/mechanisms.

I was never particularly into CD as a home medium , vinyl being my medium of choice , and CD being a replacement for compact cassette in my cars . I’ve always had multi disc changers in the boot , combined with a CD or cassette head unit ; although I tend to keep my cars for decades rather than years I have transferred my audio systems from one car to another when I do change vehicles , and then the bigger audio systems only go into my more modern ( post 1980 or so ) vehicles , earlier ones retaining original period radios .

 

[ArnoldLayne1970]

I've had no issues with the lack of CD players in my last two cars. I simply ripped all my discs to FLAC and store them on a 500GB laptop HDD. Using a SATA to USB adapter I connect to the car's USB port and I have my entire CD collection and even high res downloads all at my fingertips via the car's entertainment system.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

A 1TB drive with 500+FLAC surround albums, SiriusXM and Apple car play in my 2020 RDX and I wind up listening to news mostly.

Yes, me too. And sports radio. Go Bills.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

So just to add something to my mobile adventures, I had an old 160GB SATA hard drive laying around from a dead laptop. I purchased an external USB SATA case (less than $10) and installed it. I reformatted it as FAT32 (the most common format) and loaded it with stereo FLAC files with resolutions up to 24/96. Once connected, it does indeed play in my 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee, just like a thumb drive. I didn't know that it would work until now. It does take a few seconds to assemble the directory structure.

 

[Colin London]

How will you get them to work in your car?

I do not drive.