My new car has no CD player.....

[Conchis]

I've recently changed my car. My last one I bought in 2011, when CD players were still part of car furniture. Time has moved on and I now have the option of inserting a 'device' into the rig - BUT: I don't have an iPhone and don't want one (I do OK on just a pay as you go contract, the phone is not central to my life). I have an ancient classic iPod, which the rig doesn't recognise when I plug it in. Does this mean I have to buy some new device (looking at the infotainment brochure, it seems I'd be OK with an MP3 player, but who wants to buy one of those in 2018?!??).

Does anyone know a way through this impasse? I'm fed up listening to the radio!

[Pulcinella]

My classic iPod is similarly not completely recognised by the iPod socket in our Kia Venga, and goes into some weird random mode, but I have been wondering if a simple 3.5 mm connector from the headphone outlet to the AUX input of the audio system would enable me to use it. Anyone know? It wouldn't be an expensive trial, and I'm tempted, as I too and fed up with the radio.
There's another similar thread, so I'm happy for a host to combine.
I too don't have any other music source, so all comments there about Bluetooth and mp3 files are not relevant for my situation either.

[Richard Barrett]

Surely it has an audio-in socket as well?

[teamsaint]

My classic iPod is similarly not completely recognised by the iPod socket in our Kia Venga, and goes into some weird random mode, but I have been wondering if a simple 3.5 mm connector from the headphone outlet to the AUX input of the audio system would enable me to use it. Anyone know? It wouldn't be an expensive trial, and I'm tempted, as I too and fed up with the radio.
There's another similar thread, so I'm happy for a host to combine.
I too don't have any other music source, so all comments there about Bluetooth and mp3 files are not relevant for my situation either.

We have an ipod ( nano ?) which is aboiut 5 years old. In my car there is a USB socket, which give you full funtionality via the car dashboard display, or there is an aux socket which works, and you can then control from the ipod, not a great idea while on the move obviously. I'll check later.

My little scandisc MP3 player is great, ( and I would buy another one, as it is SO unfussy, if clunky) and works fine. very easy to sync music from a laptop ( if you have any on there ) and a reasonable workaround for the car.
But lack of CD players in new cars is a right pain. Anybody experimented with a plug in CD player ? I have one, so I'll give it a go in mine and report back.

Anyway, it is great to see techoilogy helping to simplify our lives........

[Pulcinella]

I'll check what other sockets there are.
The manual gave dire warnings about using the USB socket though (isn't that primarily for charging not for playing back through?).

[Cockney Sparrow]

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?19050-The-future-of-collecting&p=687138#post687138

The output of the headphone socket of the DVD player I use to play CDs gives adequate volume on the 3.5 aux input. My car has Bluetooth and I have a smartphone. For local journeys I use the streaming service on the phone. I tend to play CDs on longer journeys, as its a bit of a faff.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

This is not great. With all those billions of CDs in collections worldwide, waiting on shelves to be played, it makes sense to have a player in every car. Indeed, car brand, engine size, air-con and fuel economy are all important but the number one priority when buying/leasing a new car, is the CD player.

[BBMmk2]

I prefer to play my CDs at home. Having them in the car, can be problematic. I prefer downloading my playlist on my iPhone from Spotify, when in the car.

[Stanfordian]

I've recently changed my car. My last one I bought in 2011, when CD players were still part of car furniture. Time has moved on and I now have the option of inserting a 'device' into the rig - BUT: I don't have an iPhone and don't want one (I do OK on just a pay as you go contract, the phone is not central to my life). I have an ancient classic iPod, which the rig doesn't recognise when I plug it in. Does this mean I have to buy some new device (looking at the infotainment brochure, it seems I'd be OK with an MP3 player, but who wants to buy one of those in 2018?!??).

Does anyone know a way through this impasse? I'm fed up listening to the radio!

My new Mini doesn't have a CD Player either. Sadly young people don't tend to buy CDs these days which must influence car manufacturers.

[Richard Barrett]

I have been wondering if a simple 3.5 mm connector from the headphone outlet to the AUX input of the audio system would enable me to use it. Anyone know?

Yes it would. This is what I use for my non-iPod music player in the car.

[richardfinegold]

I prefer to play my CDs at home. Having them in the car, can be problematic. I prefer downloading my playlist on my iPhone from Spotify, when in the car.

Yes, we discussed this recently and I had observed that while I initially was upset at the absence of a CDP in my new car, I now appreciate it. No more trying to find CDs in the seat cushions. I listen to the radio or bring the downloads from my usb drives that have several hours of music on them. Also stream Bluetooth from the phone but need to watch the data plan.

[Bryn]

Yes, we discussed this recently and I had observed that while I initially was upset at the absence of a CDP in my new car, I now appreciate it. No more trying to find CDs in the seat cushions. I listen to the radio or bring the downloads from my usb drives that have several hours of music on them. Also stream Bluetooth from the phone but need to watch the data plan.

If the I.C.E. device has a USB input, that should be 'problem solved'. Mind you, it does help if such an input is compatible with a wide range of file formats (wav, mp3, m4a, FLAC, etc.). I find it best to use compact USB memory 'sticks' such as this. They are less prone to connection problems as you go over bump, pot-holes, etc.

[Dave2002]

If the I.C.E. device has a USB input, that should be 'problem solved'.

Isn't that quite a big "if" for any car more than a couple of years old? Even bluetooth doesn't always work, as it has been an evolving "standard". Our cars have bluetooth - but they only do phones, not audio. Car manufacturers mostly don't really care - except perhaps to add £50 worth of gadgets and then add at least ten times that to the price of the car.

[Bryn]

Isn't that quite a big "if" for any car more than a couple of years old? Even bluetooth doesn't always work, as it has been an evolving "standard". Our cars have bluetooth - but they only do phones, not audio. Car manufacturers mostly don't really care - except perhaps to add £50 worth of gadgets and then add at least ten times that to the price of the car.

The OP implies the car is post-CD era, rather then pre-CD. The likelihood of a USB input is pretty high, I would have thought. I replaced the cassette playing FM car radio, fitted to my car, with with a JVC DAC/CD/USB/3.5mm audio input player at least 5 years ago.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The OP implies the car is post-CD era, ....

One would need a tardis to find such a car.