Good bye CD Player!

Bubba1235 · Feb 20, 2010

Went to supper last night with my brother and rode in his car. He wanted to show me his new (Pioneer) stereo he installed last week. Had all sorts of gee whiz features but there was one that really stood out in my view and that is the ability to plug in a memory stick loaded with music (MP3 or WMA) via a USB port. I've ruined / lost a lot of CD's over the years taking them boating and even the marine CD players seem to be short lived and sun/heat/dirt/sand/etc. don't do the CDs any good.

I asked how many songs he had on the memory stick and he said somewhere around a 1000 !!! Should be more than enough for everyone's musical taste! Memory sticks have gotten so cheap I can load one up (the wife can do her own) with all my CD's and if it gets lost or damaged its still cheaper than a damaged CD that has to be replaced.

Yeah, I can see one going in the boat before spring.

paulspaddle · Feb 20, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

The beauty of flashdrives!

Hey Bubba, there are a few ways you can go about this, 1. a flashdrive as you describe or 2. a MP3 player (ipod) that plugs in by cord or docks directly.

The main difference is the flashdrive option you are choosing your music with the player itself with the other you are choosing using the MP3.

What's nice about the MP3 (ok I'm a fan of ipod) is you can make your albums and catagories and just hit play and go.

Depending who I'm hanging with I might choose just to play "Bluegrass" all day or "70's Rock" or my fav 5 hours of "Johnny Cash".

NO CDS!

At home I have 55gigs of music on a hard drive upstairs. I can wirelessly control what music I want using my Ipod touch.

When we go to the cabin, I simply bring my Ipod and dock it to the stereo.

GONE are the days of lugging around CD cases....welcome to the 21st century.

ezmobee · Feb 20, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

For ipod integration you can't beat an Alpine unit. I have one in my truck and love it. A friend of mine has a higher end Alpine on in his truck and it completely replicates the ipod screen on it's screen. Awesome. I haven't listened to a CD in years.

180shabah · Feb 20, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

Got USB in the car, just plug in the itouch and rock on...

livin4real · Feb 20, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

Bubba1235 said:
Went to supper last night with my brother and rode in his car. He wanted to show me his new (Pioneer) stereo he installed last week. Had all sorts of gee whiz features but there was one that really stood out in my view and that is the ability to plug in a memory stick loaded with music (MP3 or WMA) via a USB port. I've ruined / lost a lot of CD's over the years taking them boating and even the marine CD players seem to be short lived and sun/heat/dirt/sand/etc. don't do the CDs any good.

I asked how many songs he had on the memory stick and he said somewhere around a 1000 !!! Should be more than enough for everyone's musical taste! Memory sticks have gotten so cheap I can load one up (the wife can do her own) with all my CD's and if it gets lost or damaged its still cheaper than a damaged CD that has to be replaced.

Yeah, I can see one going in the boat before spring.

Put one in our last boat, very nice and handy. $80 at walmart

paulspaddle · Feb 20, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

Bubba1235 said:
For me, the most attractive part is the low cost of a flash drive. I picked up a couple of 2 gig units at Best Buy for $12 each. If they are lost, damaged, etc. it's not the heart breaker a ruined CD or iPod is.

Can't argue with that. USB's are cheap!

I use my ipod for more than just music...mines a pda, organizer, remote for stereo, address book, gamer, storage device, calculator...and the list goes on......

paulspaddle · Feb 20, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

Bubba1235 said:
Yeah, I have a Zune I love and I would have a cow if it got dropped over board, lost, whatever. (Time has taught me that if it can happen it will happen.)

One thing I like about the idea is no more "skipping" when the ride gets rough like with the CD player.

I like those Zunes'. If I were a PC user I'd probably have gotten one.

I've never had music on a boat.

My 'new to me' boat has a deck in it. At this time I can't imagine using it. I love my music, but I can't see using it in a boating situation.

I'll try it and see.

paulspaddle · Feb 20, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

Bubba1235 said:
Early evening just after sun goes down, anchored in my favorite cove, toddy in one hand, wife in other, tunes in the background, and, well you know...

Hmmmm, sounds like we're about to start another debate about cuddys and bowriders?

Fl_Richard · Feb 20, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

The cons of using USB flash drives is usually the players are not very smart. Even with embedded music tags the players will often just show file 5 of 1034 and not that your hearing George Thoroghgood, one Bourbon one Scotch and one Gin.

They also cannot play by catagory as they cant read the tags.

If you want these features make sure the player can accomidate them.

made in china · Feb 20, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

Fl_Richard said:
The cons of using USB flash drives is usually the players are not very smart. Even with embedded music tags the players will often just show file 5 of 1034 and not that your hearing George Thoroghgood, one Bourbon one Scotch and one Gin.

They also cannot play by catagory as they cant read the tags.

If you want these features make sure the player can accomidate them.

I use USB flash drives.
If you organize the music into folders, it will play back in a similar way as playlists, artist or genre functions as a MP3 player.
The good thing about flash drive is they are cheap. No sense in bringing your expensive MP3 player on board when a properly organized flash drive does the same.
And, my JVC headunit can also organize by artist or folder, so almost as good as a MP3 player.

Expidia · Feb 20, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

I've tried several options. First I started with the Stereo marine am/fm CD player. The mountain lakes we go on caused a lot of static on fm. CD's skip while under way and the ipod was OK but an expensive item to get wet. Even with a waterproof case it's cumbersome. And even though I have 1000 songs on it believe it not I still got tired of hearing the same songs.

The ulitmate is now for me my Sirius radio. I'm already paying the $13 a month for my car and I'm able to simply unplug the small radio from my dash and stick it on my windshield. I bought a couple of extra antennas and dc plugs (one for car rentals) off ebay so I don't have to deal with swapping wires around.

But if I didn't have the Sirius the only way to go is the USB flash drive route and just plug it into a USB capable built in stereo.

Here a pic of my setup while underway, that white thing on the bow is where I mounted the anntenna puck:

That mountain in the foreground is approaching Rogers Rock on Northern Lake George NY.

4JawChuck · Feb 20, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

I have a Sirius Stilleto II, it has 4Gb of MP3 memory plus can record songs off of satellite. I have kits in every vehicle including the boat and I can get satellite anywhere. Not to mention its portable with its own battery so I use it as a personal player on the plane/mountain bike plus it connects to any wireless network and works through the internet to get satellite.

It wasn't cheap but it is sweet.

skargo · Feb 21, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

Bubba1235 said:
The one in my brothers car was able to do all you suggest. I suspect its like most things, you get what you pay for.

Same here, I have multiple 8 gig flash drives that I use in my truck. I also just put a deck in my boat with a USB port so I'll carry my tunes with me.
Mine are tagged, and organized, you just need to sort them right before you put them on your flash drive.

I also have a 1TB external drive at home, I bittorrent full discographies from bands I like and I doubt I ever fill that drive.

I am however waiting for a Slacker Radio capable headunit or player that can be plugged in, Slacker Radio is the best thing to hit music. I've used it for years, blows satellite away with no monthly fees for the free version.

paulspaddle · Feb 21, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

skargo said:
Same here, I have multiple 8 gig flash drives that I use in my truck. I also just put a deck in my boat with a USB port so I'll carry my tunes with me.
Mine are tagged, and organized, you just need to sort them right before you put them on your flash drive.

I also have a 1TB external drive at home, I bittorrent full discographies from bands I like and I doubt I ever fill that drive.

I am however waiting for a Slacker Radio capable headunit or player that can be plugged in, Slacker Radio is the best thing to hit music. I've used it for years, blows satellite away with no monthly fees for the free version.

Skargo....your just 'borrowing' from the bit torrent site right?

skargo · Feb 21, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

paulspaddle said:
Skargo....your just 'borrowing' from the bit torrent site right?

From what I can tell from my research bittorrents are 100% LEGAL. Because it's a true peer to peer network, no centralized server AND you get your stuff in pieces from many different sources.

Plus, I have owned my music on vinyl, cassette, 8-track, and CD's, and even a few reel to reels back in the day. I think I've paid for the stuff many times over.

Fl_Richard · Feb 21, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

Cannot tell you how many times I've legally purchased "Dark Side of the Moon" Album - few times - never was good with them. Cassette - same. CD - few times digital masterpiece - Concert version - probably 7 or 8 times in the last 30 years.

So much for purchasing a "license" to use.

Expidia · Feb 21, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

4JawChuck said:
I have a Sirius Stilleto II, it has 4Gb of MP3 memory plus can record songs off of satellite. I have kits in every vehicle including the boat and I can get satellite anywhere. Not to mention its portable with its own battery so I use it as a personal player on the plane/mountain bike plus it connects to any wireless network and works through the internet to get satellite.

It wasn't cheap but it is sweet.

I wish it was water resistant. All of these types of devices should be. Many digital cameras are now being made water resistant now.

I've toasted my digital camera and one Sirius radio already just because I use them on the boat. Luckily, I was able to pick up the same Sirius unit on Ebay cheap or I would have had to buy all new accessories because Sirius like other manufacturers keep producing stuff with different connectors.

Unless a new item has mini usb accessories I now pass on it.

Expidia · Feb 21, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

I have Slacker on my Blackberry. I find it skips and I don't trust that their service won't start charging a monthly fee at some point for their free service once they get a big user base.

I find the choices limited on the free service anyway and still would rather pay the $13 a month for Sirius. That works out to 41 cents a day for crystal clear radio with over 100 channels.

For that same 41 cents a day I can move my unit between my cars, rentals or from my boat to my house!

skargo · Feb 21, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

Expidia said:
I have Slacker on my Blackberry. I find it skips and I don't trust that their service won't start charging a monthly fee at some point for their free service once they get a big user base.

I find the choices limited on the free service anyway and still would rather pay the $13 a month for Sirius. That works out to 41 cents a day for crystal clear radio with over 100 channels.

For that same 41 cents a day I can move my unit between my cars, rentals or from my boat to my house!

They've had free service for years now. I've used it for at least 3 years myself. They have upgraded pay services already. Besides, the customability that lets you make your own station makes it the champ in my book.

Not sure how it could skip, it's cached digital media

I'll take it anyday over satellite, which I've had in the past. Only 41 cents a day adds up believe it or not. Same reason I don't have netflix. No way I'm paying for radio and music when there are tons of free options out there.

Everyone has different needs, choose what works for you.

skargo · Feb 21, 2010

Re: Good bye CD Player!

Bubba1235 said:
Sorry but no. The US courts ruled (And then Congress made laws) that downloading copyrighted work without premission from the copyright holder is illegal in the US. Not to go off on a tangent but as a software developer that has to work for a living, I agree with this ruling. :redface:

We can agree to disagree, this is not the thread to discuss the legality of torrents.

Good bye CD Player!

No longer on Forums

Senior Chief Petty Officer

Supreme Mariner

Rear Admiral

Petty Officer 2nd Class

Senior Chief Petty Officer

Senior Chief Petty Officer

Senior Chief Petty Officer

Lieutenant

Seaman

Commander

Chief Petty Officer

Banned

Senior Chief Petty Officer

Banned

Lieutenant

Commander

Commander

Banned

Banned