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and you do lose a small amount of quality compressing a CD to mp3s.
As I mentioned previously if you are going to rip CD's use a lossless format like WMV lossless or FLAC. It's time consuming and if you are going to take the time might as well do it right. These formats produce an exact audio copy of the CD. The reason I say audio copy is because it's not a bit for bit file copy, CD's use PCM which has no compression. Lossless compression formats like these will be half the file size of them.
Your audio player may not support those formats but that's not the purpose, once you have them on your computer you can them as source and convert in bulk to anything with the right software and a few clicks. 20 years from now if you need X format you still have the exact copy of that CD to make it.
If you are converting to MP3 either from source files or directly from disc be aware you can also set the compression level. Most ripping software defaults to 128kbps which is OK but you can go up to 320 and as long as file size is not an issue that is what to use.
One last tip:
CD(or other high quality source file)>> 320kbps MP3
CD(or other high quality source file)>> 128kbps MP3
CD(or other high quality source file)>> 320kbps MP3>> 128kbps MP3
Re-compressing lossy files MP3 to lower bitrates will not give you very good results and the more times you do it the worse they will get.
While we are on the topic, this does nothing but produce large file:
CD(or other high quality source file)>> 128kbps MP3>> 320kbps MP3
As I mentioned previously if you are going to rip CD's use a lossless format like WMV lossless or FLAC.
Honestly I don't think the minor loss in quality matters that much in the car. The ambient noise from driving mitigates it in my opinion. At home I do care which is why I still play CD's or LP's on my home system.
As I mentioned previously if you are going to rip CD's use a lossless format like WMV lossless or FLAC. It's time consuming and if you are going to take the time might as well do it right. These formats produce an exact audio copy of the CD. The reason I say audio copy is because it's not a bit for bit file copy, CD's use PCM which has no compression. Lossless compression formats like these will be half the file size of them.
Your audio player may not support those formats but that's not the purpose, once you have them on your computer you can them as source and convert in bulk to anything with the right software and a few clicks. 20 years from now if you need X format you still have the exact copy of that CD to make it.
If you are converting to MP3 either from source files or directly from disc be aware you can also set the compression level. Most ripping software defaults to 128kbps which is OK but you can go up to 320 and as long as file size is not an issue that is what to use.
One last tip:
CD(or other high quality source file)>> 320kbps MP3
CD(or other high quality source file)>> 128kbps MP3
CD(or other high quality source file)>> 320kbps MP3>> 128kbps MP3
Re-compressing lossy files MP3 to lower bitrates will not give you very good results and the more times you do it the worse they will get.
While we are on the topic, this does nothing but produce large file:
CD(or other high quality source file)>> 128kbps MP3>> 320kbps MP3
While this is sound advice it should be noted that not all cars will play a flac file. The average Joe will probably be happy with a 320kbps mp3 file and doesnt want to sit through a rip and then a coversion.
If it OK to ask this question, how do most people these days play music on the road with MP3s in terms of picking the song? Do they generate playlists ahead of time and use those? I can't imagine they select a particular artist/album while driving, that's the one thing that's made worse (arguably) with the transition to MP3 files--in the past, you'd rummage for a given cassette/CD and insert it, scrolling through a long MP3 library for a given album/artist is nigh impossible while driving. I'm wondering how they make music selecting "road friendly" these days.
Me myself I currently am driving a 2002 GMC Envoy and it has the volume up/down and the preset "scroll" button on the steering wheel, I simply play the FM radio and use the preset button for scrolling through presets 1-6 and that's it, I can't imagine how I'd pick a specific song on an MP3 player while driving.
While I don't typically look for a specific song, one of our vehicles has voice commands that work quite well and you can ask for a song or artist. Another slightly other older doesn't have that ability but does have a touch screen, so showing a list of artists or playlists and then picking one is pretty easy (and you can then see songs for that artist or playlist).
just curious, how come you don't want to copy the discs to a file, and put that file on a usb thumb drive?
It will take a few minutes per cd, and cost $10-$20 for a thumb drive. Not only is it a lot easier to use once you do this, its easier to do while driving, and your cds and files will keep there quality.
But to try to answer, I would think your head unit would have an auxiliary input (probably in the back). You could then run a cord to a cd player that had a headphones jack.
Theres a good chance your stereo if it has usb and mp3, that it would have Bluetooth. Another way you might be able to play it off a phone, or if you have bluetooth and a way to connect cd, but the reality is CDs are a dying technology. Digital is just much more efficient, keeps its quality, takes up less space, and if you put all your music on a thumb drive.. if it gets lost or stolen, you just buy another one for $10 or $20, copy it and good as new.
+1, my stereo does, the entire face comes down to make the cd input visible.
Question: Why don't manufacturers/artists retail CDs now on thumb drives instead of (or in addition to) CDs?
I don't own an MP3 player, I keep nothing on my cellphone because it is a phone (supposedly it is 'smart' but everything except the ability to make or receive a call is blocked on purpose), and I don't want to go buy a bunch of CDs so I can then go buy a thumb drive to transfer that CD on to a thumb drive so I can hear it in the car.
Question: Why don't manufacturers/artists retail CDs now on thumb drives instead of (or in addition to) CDs?
I don't own an MP3 player, I keep nothing on my cellphone because it is a phone (supposedly it is 'smart' but everything except the ability to make or receive a call is blocked on purpose), and I don't want to go buy a bunch of CDs so I can then go buy a thumb drive to transfer that CD on to a thumb drive so I can hear it in the car.
You would still have the problem of having to swap thumb drives while you're driving to change albums.
You can fit a large number of albums on a good size thumb drive. You don't have to buy CD's to get music, you can buy and download them, then transfer to a thumb drive, it's not all that complicated.
Didn't realize that USB ports are becoming obsolete. Yes, my car does have Bluetooth. But when using Bluetooth, I cannot give voice commands to choose a song, nor can I select a song through the car's touch screen. Bluetooth will only play whatever I manually select on my phone, which cannot be done safely while driving. Is my car unusual?
Also, it seems that I'm the only person still using iTunes. I hear that everybody else uses Spotify. But how do you use t hat while driving? As far as I can tell, that can only be controlled directly through the phone, which, again, cannot be done safely while driving. Unless I am missing something.
Depends on your phone and how it connects to the radio. My stereo (Pioneer MVH-380BT) controls my phone's media player or music app through the radio controls. Voice commands are processed through the phone itself and the radio merely plays whatever is coming through the phone.
Question: Why don't manufacturers/artists retail CDs now on thumb drives instead of (or in addition to) CDs?
Because physical media has no future. All media will be distributed via download eventually.
It takes a few seconds to legally download a whole album on your computer or cell phone.
I haven't bought a CD or Blu-ray Disc in years. I also don't use USB sticks and would not buy an album on a stick because legal download through Amazon, iTunes etc. is so much easier. Or use one of the many streaming services.
My old 2004 Touareg has a (broken due to non use) CD changer. I added a $10 Bluetooth adapter and stream music from my phone instead. CDs are so inconvenient.
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