I'm surprised that CD's are so unpopular. Am I the only one with a car from 2005, that awkward time after tape decks (so you can't use one of those headphone jack to tape things) but before aux inputs were on everything and car manufactures decided it was a good idea to make the head unit integrated with climate control so you can't switch it out if you want heat?
@Pantheist I buy CD's (I mean a full album of high def music for $8.99, can't beat it)... but once it gets stored on my system I listen to it digitally.
@Pantheist My CD collection got too big to keep bringing with me, so I had to find another way. A lot of head units had unused auxiliary inputs; have you checked to see if that's something you can run a wire to? There are also those little FM transmitters; quality varies so do the research and spend the money for a good one.
@jqubed I've looked into that. There are mods you can make to my car (a subaru legacy) for a reasonable price, but I've actually grown to appreciate cds since my wife makes me fun mixes all the time that I doubt either of us would bother with if we could just hit shuffle on an mp3 player
@Pantheist no, that is me also. I would also note that I have a Pioneer stereo which is 4.1, and I would love this one if my current machine would only give up and die - - it is 26 years old! And still cranks like a champ. I have, however, gotten rid of the 12 inch laserdisc player. A friend still has the 8-track player in his car, though.
@jqubed I used one of those with my last car. It's not the quality of the unit so much as the quality of the local airspace. It worked great locally but crapped out in big cities. And under power lines.
@heartny I had a Sansa Fuse that finally died that I miss immensely. The Clip just doesn't do it for me (though it is still my light-weight go to when exercising)
@heartny you get me. I have the one on the left in black with a 64GB memory card. Did you know you can load custom software on it that adds a whole bunch of new features? It's called RockBox. iPods and streaming can eat it.
@NAFderwin I tried RockBox when I first got my Sansa, but found it a bit squirrely. It also took up too much space that I could use for music. But maybe I'll give it another try. Times have changed, but RockBox probably hasn't :-)
Cassettes! The CD player in my car is wonky as hell. Luckily I have a tape deck! I got a reciever and a tape deck for 15$ on ebay. Tapes are cheap, and more often than not longer than a cd, with almost identical quality. Plus they're still fun to use! Nothing like a blast from the past!
SiriusXM Radio since 2006. I hate 10 minutes of commercials to every 1 song. My 99 Jeep used to have a cassette player, but it broke long ago. Never had a CD player in any car I've owned.
We have that rare bird, a true local radio station. It's Classic Rock format. Just like the olden days, you can call and talk to a DJ, win tickets, and win money. BUT it's saturated with commercials so we only listen late afternoon, drive time, that's when they give away most of their stuff. The rest of the time it's Sirius all the way.
I think it still counts as listening from my phone, but I use Spotify to stream music to a bluetooth speaker. But when I'm in the car, I use a little bluetooth dongle to stream music through the car stereo. At $20 it was much cheaper than trying to get a new $500 stereo installed. I already had an aux input though.
Pandora on the computer at work, SiriusXM in the car. Incidentally, don't EVER let your satellite radio auto-renew. Call them up and ask to cancel it. My price went from $212 for 1 year to $17 for 6 months. Live the dream.
Primarily, CD rips and (purchased) downloads on my computer, connected to an integrated amp w/ it's own DAC etc. But, recently I've also been listening to a music program on a local AM station (I think it's on FM as well but my radio doesn't do that fancy stuff), ad-free and musically incredibly diverse.
Sansa Clip+ with a 64GB memory card. I like dedicated units to play music. It doesn't do anything else but play folders full of just about any file format. It cost less than $30 too. Streaming is too random/data intensive for me & I'd rather not give my phone another reason to eat up battery life.
Right now it's an old Nook with different playlists, on my iPup. Sometimes it's one of my Sansas, also on the iPup. In the car, it's one of the local rock stations or whatever's on the USB I brought along. If it's a road trip, I catch up on podcasts.
At home: CDs ripped into iTunes on the iMac then over AirPlay to various Apple TVs and Airport Expresses around the house (living room, bedroom, garage, back deck, downstairs) connected to amps and speakers.
At work: CDs ripped into iTunes on the MacBook Pro through a HiFiMAN USB headphone amp and Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones.
@SSteve Digital versions ripped lossless (usually Flac), transferred to my phone, then to an input in the boat or car. Or sometimes, I defeat the entire purpose of going lossless by using bluetooph.
Them-there cay-set adapticaters are your best bet sound-wise, if you don't have a direct input for an external device, but they'll wear out your cassette mechanism if you use it long enough.
I want to clarify that I mean satellite radio, in my case.
@jqubed Thanks for clarifying. I thought you meant Mexican. Woah oh, radio.
@jaremelz
@mfladd Thanks for getting my back on this one!
@jqubed
@jaremelz I first heard that song on satellite radio, courtesy SiriusXM's 1st Wave channel.
@jqubed And now I feel old ;) .
@jaremelz Glad I can still make somebody feel old; I used to love doing that but far too often lately it's others making me feel old.
@jaremelz I would star that comment 10 more times if I could
@DaveInSoCal
I'm surprised that CD's are so unpopular. Am I the only one with a car from 2005, that awkward time after tape decks (so you can't use one of those headphone jack to tape things) but before aux inputs were on everything and car manufactures decided it was a good idea to make the head unit integrated with climate control so you can't switch it out if you want heat?
@Pantheist I buy CD's (I mean a full album of high def music for $8.99, can't beat it)... but once it gets stored on my system I listen to it digitally.
@thismyusername actually, even cheaper if you go to ebay.
@Pantheist My CD collection got too big to keep bringing with me, so I had to find another way. A lot of head units had unused auxiliary inputs; have you checked to see if that's something you can run a wire to? There are also those little FM transmitters; quality varies so do the research and spend the money for a good one.
@jqubed I've looked into that. There are mods you can make to my car (a subaru legacy) for a reasonable price, but I've actually grown to appreciate cds since my wife makes me fun mixes all the time that I doubt either of us would bother with if we could just hit shuffle on an mp3 player
@Pantheist Aww, that's cute ☺
@Pantheist no, that is me also.
I would also note that I have a Pioneer stereo which is 4.1, and I would love this one if my current machine would only give up and die - - it is 26 years old! And still cranks like a champ.
I have, however, gotten rid of the 12 inch laserdisc player.
A friend still has the 8-track player in his car, though.
@jqubed I used one of those with my last car. It's not the quality of the unit so much as the quality of the local airspace. It worked great locally but crapped out in big cities. And under power lines.
with my ears.
My beloved Sansa Clip. And sometimes on my Samsung Galaxy S6, ripped from YouTube using TubeMate or my CD's.
@heartny I had a Sansa Fuse that finally died that I miss immensely. The Clip just doesn't do it for me (though it is still my light-weight go to when exercising)
@heartny you get me. I have the one on the left in black with a 64GB memory card. Did you know you can load custom software on it that adds a whole bunch of new features? It's called RockBox. iPods and streaming can eat it.
@NAFderwin I tried RockBox when I first got my Sansa, but found it a bit squirrely. It also took up too much space that I could use for music. But maybe I'll give it another try. Times have changed, but RockBox probably hasn't :-)
flac, streamed from my home server to my office, through a custom DAC and sennheiser cans.
Cassettes! The CD player in my car is wonky as hell. Luckily I have a tape deck! I got a reciever and a tape deck for 15$ on ebay. Tapes are cheap, and more often than not longer than a cd, with almost identical quality. Plus they're still fun to use! Nothing like a blast from the past!
@Cave I think you overpaid for that tape deck, unless you meant to say they paid you $15 to take it.
ZUNE.
Sansa! Sansa! Sansa!
Bought from that other place years ago.
My car has a HHD that I upload my music to and I do most of my listening on there.
SiriusXM Radio since 2006. I hate 10 minutes of commercials to every 1 song. My 99 Jeep used to have a cassette player, but it broke long ago. Never had a CD player in any car I've owned.
You can have my Zune HD when you pry it from my cold, dead hands. That thing is the best.
@Lister love Zune interface
We have that rare bird, a true local radio station. It's Classic Rock format. Just like the olden days, you can call and talk to a DJ, win tickets, and win money. BUT it's saturated with commercials so we only listen late afternoon, drive time, that's when they give away most of their stuff. The rest of the time it's Sirius all the way.
I think it still counts as listening from my phone, but I use Spotify to stream music to a bluetooth speaker. But when I'm in the car, I use a little bluetooth dongle to stream music through the car stereo. At $20 it was much cheaper than trying to get a new $500 stereo installed. I already had an aux input though.
satellite car
Pandora on the computer at work, SiriusXM in the car. Incidentally, don't EVER let your satellite radio auto-renew. Call them up and ask to cancel it. My price went from $212 for 1 year to $17 for 6 months. Live the dream.
@DaveInSoCal Auto-renew with SiriusXM is for suckers.
On hold with Verizon.. A close second is in an elevator.
Although technically if I'm on hold it's streaming through my phone... without the data rates!
Primarily, CD rips and (purchased) downloads on my computer, connected to an integrated amp w/ it's own DAC etc. But, recently I've also been listening to a music program on a local AM station (I think it's on FM as well but my radio doesn't do that fancy stuff), ad-free and musically incredibly diverse.
Sansa Clip+ with a 64GB memory card. I like dedicated units to play music. It doesn't do anything else but play folders full of just about any file format. It cost less than $30 too. Streaming is too random/data intensive for me & I'd rather not give my phone another reason to eat up battery life.
Right now it's an old Nook with different playlists, on my iPup. Sometimes it's one of my Sansas, also on the iPup. In the car, it's one of the local rock stations or whatever's on the USB I brought along. If it's a road trip, I catch up on podcasts.
At home: CDs ripped into iTunes on the iMac then over AirPlay to various Apple TVs and Airport Expresses around the house (living room, bedroom, garage, back deck, downstairs) connected to amps and speakers.
At work: CDs ripped into iTunes on the MacBook Pro through a HiFiMAN USB headphone amp and Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones.
@SSteve Digital versions ripped lossless (usually Flac), transferred to my phone, then to an input in the boat or car. Or sometimes, I defeat the entire purpose of going lossless by using bluetooph.
Work: Spotify on my Mac
Car: Spotify on my phone, using one of these godforsaken things because my car is older and I don't have an aux in:
Home: Spotify on my phone plugged into a speaker dock
Them-there cay-set adapticaters are your best bet sound-wise, if you don't have a direct input for an external device, but they'll wear out your cassette mechanism if you use it long enough.
empeg mark 2a (technically a Riocar)
Radio stations below 92MHz in my car. Well, actually, there are some cool non-profit radio stations above 92MHz too.