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I bought a brand new 27 in 5K iMac no DVD player anymore.
Apple isn't the best example. They're getting a lot of backlash over having no headphone jack on the new iPhones. A lot of their recent innovation is nothing more than a money grab and an attempt to keep users in the walled garden.
I'm a System Admin, and there have been plenty of times where a vendor has given me software on a DVD that I've had to connect an external DVD Burner to my computer for in order to install. There have actually been several times in my job where a CD Drive could have benefited me.
Getting back to music in automobiles, if the CD didn't provide the best sound quality, then I could understand moving away from CD. But, there are so many advantages to owning the CD, that it just doesn't seem to make sense to write it off. For one thing, the user has the physical medium that they can store and reuse. They can rip the tracks to many different compression styles, including uncompressed or lossless audio files. Maybe they have a 6 TB drive that they're ripping their entire CD collection to, uncompressed, and maybe they'll rip separate copies to iTunes for their iPhone or iPOD.
What people fail to understand is that it sounds quite foolish to have to go and replace a stereo head unit that provides CD playback, in addition to MP3, USB, etc... for an aftermarket that pairs with a streaming app. Why? That streaming app doesn't always provide every artist, and if it's an artist that does not like to have their discography out there in digital format, then to me, it's taken a chance to rip their stuff to digital and then ditch the CDs.
No CD player is frustrating. SO its the lack of a cassette deck or 8 track player. How am I supposed to play my favorite albums?
Sometimes the CD player is well hidden. I had my truck for several months before I discovered it has a CD/DVD player hidden behind the screen. You push a non-descript button and the screen swings out and down revealing a CD tray that pops out to receive the CD or DVD. Then push the tray in and the screen swings back into place. I never would have noticed the button, but while fiddling with the radio, A CD that was left in the car started playing. Knowing I did not have any stations set to Engelbert Humperdink, I discovered I had a CD player complete with a free CD. It also plays movies as long as you are in park.
Getting back to music in automobiles, if the CD didn't provide the best sound quality, then I could understand moving away from CD. But, there are so many advantages to owning the CD, that it just doesn't seem to make sense to write it off. For one thing, the user has the physical medium that they can store and reuse. They can rip the tracks to many different compression styles, including uncompressed or lossless audio files. Maybe they have a 6 TB drive that they're ripping their entire CD collection to, uncompressed, and maybe they'll rip separate copies to iTunes for their iPhone or iPOD.
What people fail to understand is that it sounds quite foolish to have to go and replace a stereo head unit that provides CD playback, in addition to MP3, USB, etc... for an aftermarket that pairs with a streaming app. Why? That streaming app doesn't always provide every artist, and if it's an artist that does not like to have their discography out there in digital format, then to me, it's taken a chance to rip their stuff to digital and then ditch the CDs.
That's just me though.
I haven't ditched the CDs. They're all in boxes gathering dust in the basement now that I've ripped them (over 1000 CDs). Sitting alongside my old vinyl collection. I'd still rather have my playlists on my phone, paired with the head unit in the car than try to carry enough CDs for a road trip or to make sure I have what I want at any given time. Then when I want to listen to something specific, I just press a button on the steering wheel and say "Siri, play_____." No fumbling around looking for the right CD.
I haven't ditched the CDs. They're all in boxes gathering dust in the basement now that I've ripped them (over 1000 CDs). Sitting alongside my old vinyl collection. I'd still rather have my playlists on my phone, paired with the head unit in the car than try to carry enough CDs for a road trip or to make sure I have what I want at any given time. Then when I want to listen to something specific, I just press a button on the steering wheel and say "Siri, play_____." No fumbling around looking for the right CD.
Totally depends upon the head unit in your car. I drive a 2011 Honda Accord with their "premium" sound system. It doesn't have any pairing options in terms of pairing via Bluetooth for music apps. It's designed to work with an iPOD connected via USB. It will also play music from a USB stick so as long as the music is encoded with MP3, WMA, and I think AAC. Other than that, it's a six-disc MP3 changer along with integrated XM radio (in which I don't subscribe to currently.) So, for what it was designed for, it' works pretty well. However, I've noticed better sound quality when I play CDs, even the MP3 CDs I created awhile back (before I bought this car), than the USB input.
I can play Spotify or Pandora through my phone via the Aux input, but after you go through bringing up the app, adjusting the volume and plugging it into the aux, I could just pick a CD in the six disc changer and put the car in drive.
Now, if I had a car with sync capabilities for an Android phone, I might would find more value with streaming. I just love my CDs and love how they sound on this particular sound system. the way this head unit is integrated with the overall climate system of the car, it looks like an awful difficult switch to go after-market, especially when the existing unit works well.
Now, if I ever get an older car, like a mid 2000's Mustang or something like that, then I'll go aftermarket, but I still like having the CD player.
Apple isn't the best example. They're getting a lot of backlash over having no headphone jack on the new iPhones. A lot of their recent innovation is nothing more than a money grab and an attempt to keep users in the walled garden.
I'm a System Admin, and there have been plenty of times where a vendor has given me software on a DVD that I've had to connect an external DVD Burner to my computer for in order to install. There have actually been several times in my job where a CD Drive could have benefited me.
Getting back to music in automobiles, if the CD didn't provide the best sound quality, then I could understand moving away from CD. But, there are so many advantages to owning the CD, that it just doesn't seem to make sense to write it off. For one thing, the user has the physical medium that they can store and reuse. They can rip the tracks to many different compression styles, including uncompressed or lossless audio files. Maybe they have a 6 TB drive that they're ripping their entire CD collection to, uncompressed, and maybe they'll rip separate copies to iTunes for their iPhone or iPOD.
What people fail to understand is that it sounds quite foolish to have to go and replace a stereo head unit that provides CD playback, in addition to MP3, USB, etc... for an aftermarket that pairs with a streaming app. Why? That streaming app doesn't always provide every artist, and if it's an artist that does not like to have their discography out there in digital format, then to me, it's taken a chance to rip their stuff to digital and then ditch the CDs.
That's just me though.
I just connect my iPod Into my cars USB and I have my whole iTunes library. I've had CDs get stuck in my old chevy cd player was. A pia to get out. Everything Apple has is on USB drive and online via the App Store.Don't forget everyone follows apples lead so don't be susprised if other companies get rid of earphone jacks and CD-ROM drives.
I just connect my iPod Into my cars USB and I have my whole iTunes library. I've had CDs get stuck in my old chevy cd player was. A pia to get out. Everything Apple has is on USB drive and online via the App Store.Don't forget everyone follows apples lead so don't be susprised if other companies get rid of earphone jacks and CD-ROM drives.
I do the same in my car, but I still like having a CD player, especially one that is a six disc changer. Music fed through the USB in my car just doesn't seem to produce as good of a sound as music played natively in my CD player.
One side note about iTunes. It doesn't offer every artist's discography. For example, you won't find Garth Brooks on iTunes. Spotify pulled Prince's disography after his passing. Relying solely on iTunes and streaming music services can still be limiting.
Where as, the price of CDs have fallen so much, that it's a better buy to pick up the CD from a place like half.com. I've seen CD prices on some brand new CDs for under $5. That's an entire physical album on CD for $5, when that same album on iTunes can be $10 or more.
Truth is nobody is using CDs anymore to justify the additional hardware to play them.
Back when i traveled with my entire CD collection there was always the risk somebody could steal over $1000 worth of CDs and my entire music collection in one grab. I also drove with my knee while flipping through a CD case. Now I ask Siri to play whatever I feel like while my phone is in my pocket while both hands are on the wheel.
CD sound quality might technically be better, but unless your car is a rolling music studio with no road noise whatsoever, then it's pretty negligible.
I have seen some cars that don't have CD players (new cars), but surprisingly, my '12 Civic, '15 Sonata (sold) and my moms '16 Sorento all have CD players.
just got a new Impala and while some of the brochure info shows CD slots in the dash, mine does not have one. Was a little annoyed at first but my Zune (120 GB/15,000 songs) and it's playlists will operate normally through the available aux jack. I do like the potential to play my music files thru the usb/MyLink interface and having those operating features and conveniences available. It only works with an iPod and I do not have one, but will likely pick one up one my free XM/Sirius subscription runs out. There appears to be some incompatibility issues with the older ipods that use a hard drive, so I may be limited to a smaller capacity Nano and will rotate my music files thru that device as necessary. Even still, I should be able to load about 150 full CDs onto a 16 GB Nano device and be able to access them through the cars interface and much easier than searching through the console for the next CD.
Looking at new cars and I realized that many don't have CD players but instead they have USB and MP3 ports.
Question: Can I buy a portable CD player that plugs into one of these ports and then plays out over the cars speakers?
Even better would be to buy an MP3 player, rip your CD's onto a computer and transfer the files to the player. You can line up music for your entire trip and not have to worry about changing discs.
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