CD player recommendation

New2EV

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Does the car play FLAC files? I know it works with OGG files. (Better than ancient ugly MP3 format!)
Yes, I copied all my CDs to FLAC and the car plays them just fine.
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Mach1E

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Thanks, folks. I’ve ripped a few to MP3 and don’t want to hassle doing that with all my music. There must be a decent portable player that sounds good and doesn’t deplete the battery completely.
If it’s just music, option 2 is subscribe to Apple Music or an equivalent service.

For $5/mo you can have pretty much every song ever made.

CD players don’t really exist anymore because they’re completely obsolete.

I have hundreds of CDs, had a player in my last car but literally never used it.

The inconvenience of swapping CDs vs having a huge playlist of all your favorite songs or even better setting up a station that learns your favorite music……

I resisted learning something new for way too long.
 

EasyPass

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I know I’m old, but I can’t be alone, right? I need to be able to play cds in my MME select. Any recommendations? TIA
An alternative to an elaborate install of hardware or some such rube-goldberg-setup to accommodate the CD medium is to install something like the Tune-In Radio on your phone. From there you have access to hundreds of "radio channels" dedicated to particular genres/artists/groups/eras/etc. many of them free for the asking. It helps if you have unlimited data on your phone plan, then it's stream away like crazy with high quality audio. If that doesn't fly, then check out the large library of podcasts to download before you drive off. Once you have your content, use Android Auto, Apple Carplay, or Bluetooth Audio to connect your phone to the audio in your car. Sounds great, is infinitely versatile, and costs little.

I have downloaded my entire CD library on to a thumb drive, but rarely use it as the streaming and podcasts fulfill my daily content needs quite nicely. Those original CDs remain in a corner of my basement for someone else to deal with whenever I'm gone. ;)

However if you must......you can take your everyday generic portable CD player and use this patch cord to connect to the MME:
https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Dongle-Headphone-Compatible-Samsung/dp/B099FFTVRN/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=headphone+jack+to+usb+cable&qid=1700860117&sr=8-3&th=1
 
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jgcom

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One reason to rip your CDs, perhaps all 3000 of them, is so that you can have them all with you in (ahem) later life with minimal tech support and without a subscription. Another is so that your descendants can have your music when CD drives are museum pieces. This is much better than Apple music—this is your collection, and nobody can decide to edit it down or to change the license terms. I'll bet it's grand!
 

Londonboy49

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I put all my cd's onto a stick. Works really well - unfortunately with the bouncy ride and really sensitive screen it can be difficult to select. Will stick with it as in process of converting vynal and tapes.
 


Jim D

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I put all my cd's onto a stick. Works really well - unfortunately with the bouncy ride and really sensitive screen it can be difficult to select. Will stick with it as in process of converting vynal and tapes.
Ok Ford, play Jethro Tull, no need to select from the screen
 

Guss-E 2021

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Rip your CDs to FLAC or MP3, put the files on a thumb drive and plug it into the car's USB port. Cheaper and easier than rigging up some third party CD player.
So my buddy it getting a Rivian next week. He's extremely knowledgably when it comes to all things computer/electronics/audio etc. More than anyone I've ever met. One thing he told me was going to annoy him right out of the gate with the Rivian is the audio options or lack there of. He's the one who told me that I could probably just plug in a USB flash drive with high quality MP3s and bypass the need to stream anything.

I've had the car since July 2022 and it never occurred to me to try this (just did a few seconds ago). Worked like a charm [head smack].

All this time I've been fighting with Android Auto and its freeze ups. I will still continue to use AA. Enough of the time, it works. I like prevalent music. It is why I have Sonos throughout my house. I like the ability to go from the bedroom to the kitchen to the garage without any interruption in what I am listening to. I also like that if I cast Spotify from my phone to my Sonos system but then get in the car, the music "jumps" to the MME. Prevalent.

However, I've been collecting CDs since 1985. I've got a lot of them. Many of them are not available through streaming services due to DRM crap. These I have to rip to my NAS in order to listen to via Sonos (I have not shelled out for the Port which would allow me to hook up a CD player - which I don't own anyway). Really need to fix that. But I digress. Back to the MME.

YouTube music does allow me to upload music I own not currently in its streaming library and YouTube music is of course available through AA because Google owns both. However, YTM is a shit show when it comes to finding your uploaded content, particularly mixed and curated playlists. I have to tap the screen so many times, AA always "pauses for safety". It's infuriating. This is where just having the music not in the cloud libraries on a USB drive would be so much easier [again with the head smack for not trying this sooner].
 

Guss-E 2021

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One reason to rip your CDs, perhaps all 3000 of them, is so that you can have them all with you in (ahem) later life with minimal tech support and without a subscription. Another is so that your descendants can have your music when CD drives are museum pieces. This is much better than Apple music—this is your collection, and nobody can decide to edit it down or to change the license terms. I'll bet it's grand!
This. Spotify, for example, is notorious for losing the rights to music all the time. I constantly find song in my playlists suddenly grayed out when they were not before. DRM sucks and so does music match (swapping out original recordings for "remastered" or rerecorded crap).

Also, if you want CD quality (lossless), you are rarely going to get that through a streaming services. And a CD player is not obsolete. Not for home audio at least. Luckily, though, this is the perception which means you can find sweet deals on Denon players on Ebay.

I'm old (80's teen). The streaming services are missing a ton of music I used to listen too back then. I've been forced to buy used CDs online and rip them. Oh and I love original motion picture soundtracks too. Those are really hard to find through streaming. The best song from Beverly Hills Cop II is missing from the streaming version; have to have the physical CD to get it. Just an example.

If you are a real music nut like me (I'm certifiable), relying solely on things like Spotify and a BT connection definitely fall short.
 

leeman

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Why stop at CDs? This one even has BT, there's also a model with USB

https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT-LP60XBT-BK-Belt-Drive-Hi-Fidelity-Anti-Resonance/dp/B07N3RFXRL/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1DOFS7RU8ACWZ&keywords=audio+technica+lp60xbt&qid=1700840809&sprefix=audio+technica+lp60xb,aps,99&sr=8-3&ufe=app_do:amzn1.fos.304cacc1-b508-45fb-a37f-a2c47c48c32f

Something like what Rick said might work, just depends on how "different" ford usbs are set up.

Best bet would be a regular old 3.5mm audio jack to bluetooth converter, you'll lose some audio quality, but given the speakers in the Mach-E I doubt you will notice much.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HJ5Q6ZT?tag=lifewire-onsite-prod-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1&ascsubtag=4160484|n8c8424ed7de44ab29da957ba86b10fde15|B08HJ5Q6ZT

That one seems to check most boxes for your needs.
Now were talking
 

Teslaeata

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Am 62 and haven’t touched a CD in years, all on the iPhone now including all the vinyl which is recorded into the ‘phone ?
 

kindofblue

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This. Spotify, for example, is notorious for losing the rights to music all the time. I constantly find song in my playlists suddenly grayed out when they were not before. DRM sucks and so does music match (swapping out original recordings for "remastered" or rerecorded crap).

Also, if you want CD quality (lossless), you are rarely going to get that through a streaming services. And a CD player is not obsolete. Not for home audio at least. Luckily, though, this is the perception which means you can find sweet deals on Denon players on Ebay.

I'm old (80's teen). The streaming services are missing a ton of music I used to listen too back then. I've been forced to buy used CDs online and rip them. Oh and I love original motion picture soundtracks too. Those are really hard to find through streaming. The best song from Beverly Hills Cop II is missing from the streaming version; have to have the physical CD to get it. Just an example.

If you are a real music nut like me (I'm certifiable), relying solely on things like Spotify and a BT connection definitely fall short.
Where have you been able to buy albums on CDs? I've not found a source online as everything seems to want to sell me a music subscription.

And just a reminder. With subscriptions like Apple Music, you don't actually own the music and when you die (as we all will eventually), access to your Apple Music library online dies as well.
 

Guss-E 2021

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Where have you been able to buy albums on CDs? I've not found a source online as everything seems to want to sell me a music subscription.

And just a reminder. With subscriptions like Apple Music, you don't actually own the music and when you die (as we all will eventually), access to your Apple Music library online dies as well.
I've had success using this site.

https://www.cdsyouwant.com/
 

kindofblue

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