CD Player

[bcbender]

Has anyone put a CD player in there 19+ truck? I sometimes miss having one and did not know there was one out there till recently. I've seen a few and it appears to go in the space where there is a useless pocket. I did not know if "A" the wiring is there, and "B" if you could program it in Alpha to enable. Would be a nice upgrade IMHO, but thought I'd ask before digging deeper.

 

[wyosteve]

My '19 Power Wagon had one from the factory. It was located in the lower console compartment. Don't know about wiring, but might be worth checking out Mopar parts for the unit if it's compatible with your truck.

 

[AH64ID]

Looks like you can add it to the UConnect 4 trucks.

https://infotainment.com/shop/interior-accessories/cd-player/c-bdlcdplyr-18/

You can probably build your own kit for less if you already have AlfaOBD and a security bypass cable.

 

[brucejohnson]

I had one in a 2019 Ram 1500 Limited. While it was OK, I contemplated putting one in my 2020 2500 when I got it. But I found using the USB ports and a short stubby USB stick was way better not having to change the disks out. Just put a few hundred of your favorite songs on it and set to "random" and better sound and selection than Sirius XM. I record each album's favorite songs as a group on the USB stick, that way if I want to listen to a full album I take it off of random and it sequences through the songs. Ii thought I would miss the CD player when I got the 2020 Ram 2500 Laramie...but I don't due to the handiness and features of playing the USB sticks. One I have with easy music that the wife and I enjoy together and one with everything, high energy to pleasant relaxation. All voice searchable.

 

[AH64ID]

I had one in a 2019 Ram 1500 Limited. While it was OK, I contemplated putting one in my 2020 2500 when I got it. But I found using the USB ports and a short stubby USB stick was way better not having to change the disks out. Just put a few hundred of your favorite songs on it and set to "random" and better sound and selection than Sirius XM. I record each album's favorite songs as a group on the USB stick, that way if I want to listen to a full album I take it off of random and it sequences through the songs. Ii thought I would miss the CD player when I got the 2020 Ram 2500 Laramie...but I don't due to the handiness and features of playing the USB sticks. One I have with easy music that the wife and I enjoy together and one with everything, high energy to pleasant relaxation. All voice searchable.

I should probably just get a USB drive for the truck. Aside from the few bucks I don’t have a reason not to put all my songs on one.

 

[Jim W]

That is what I have done for my wife's Santa FE since the information center doesn't have a CD player. We also play our music thru our Apple phones since the car has Apple car play. We have downloaded our music from Amazon and put them in folders on the phones, she also uses Pandor for her music.

My truck has a CD player, and I probably haven't used the CD player since 2021, when I went to Apple wireless car play. I paired my I-phone to a Bluetooth transmitter that is paired to the radio. I think I paid less than $30. for the transmitter. I use this to play the music from my phone and answer the phone calls if any.

 

[endoscott]

CDs are going the way of 8 track tapes....dang, kind of miss those days!

 

[brucejohnson]

CDs are going the way of 8 track tapes....dang, kind of miss those days!

I think I still have a couple 4 track tapes hiding out in a box somewhere in the garage...and a quad 8 track player.

 

[Ozymandias]

A Stick - I outdated them ten years ago after the advent of Bluetooth, since then all my music is on my phone. Downloaded as good as streaming platforms.
All my CDs I ever had i ripped to MP3 to put them onto a Pod and discarded them afterwards.
From there on I stick to the advancement of the technology.
Must be almost shy of twenty years now when the CDs started their decline.

 

[Diesel85]

A Stick - I outdated them ten years ago after the advent of Bluetooth, since then all my music is on my phone. Downloaded as good as streaming platforms.
All my CDs I ever had i ripped to MP3 to put them onto a Pod and discarded them afterwards.
From there on I stick to the advancement of the technology.
Must be almost shy of twenty years now when the CDs started their decline.

Just like minidiscs.

 

[brucejohnson]

A Stick - I outdated them ten years ago after the advent of Bluetooth, since then all my music is on my phone. Downloaded as good as streaming platforms.
All my CDs I ever had i ripped to MP3 to put them onto a Pod and discarded them afterwards.
From there on I stick to the advancement of the technology.
Must be almost shy of twenty years now when the CDs started their decline.

I have the high-end Harman-Kardon audio system in my 2020 Ram 2500 Laramie. My bat ears can tell the difference between Sirius-XM, MP3 and WMA Lossless (best format). Too much compression in the MP3...for me. My wife can't tell any difference. Strange that my hearing "improved" from when I entered the USAF and retired, even after constant exposure to loud jet engines.
I use this PNY memory stick as it is compact/short enough not to easily get bumped or broken off, and fast enough to prevent most digital distortion/clipping when a lot is going on in the music, and memory to hold more than adequate bunch of full range, quality music.
One of my complaints on the H-K audio system in my truck, besides using the audio system as a road noise attenuator, is a band in the mid-high vocal range sounds overly attenuated...until it is cranked up, then all is great IF you like "ringing in the ears" loud music all the time.

 

[Turbo Terry]

CD s are way old school now I just plug my I phone 15 in and can play anything I want. I remember when fm radio came out and people drank from water fountains for free. Now it’s plastic throwaway bottles

 

[Turbo Terry]

Yes I have a USB drive with all my old favorites for when im remote or in the Yukon and have no cell phone service which happens quite often really

 

[Ozymandias]

I have the high-end Harman-Kardon audio system in my 2020 Ram 2500 Laramie. My bat ears can tell the difference between Sirius-XM, MP3 and WMA Lossless (best format). Too much compression in the MP3...for me. My wife can't tell any difference. Strange that my hearing "improved" from when I entered the USAF and retired, even after constant exposure to loud jet engines.
I use this PNY memory stick as it is compact/short enough not to easily get bumped or broken off, and fast enough to prevent most digital distortion/clipping when a lot is going on in the music, and memory to hold more than adequate bunch of full range, quality music.
One of my complaints on the H-K audio system in my truck, besides using the audio system as a road noise attenuator, is a band in the mid-high vocal range sounds overly attenuated...until it is cranked up, then all is great IF you like "ringing in the ears" loud music all the time.

Interesting, and maybe it has exactly something to do with your Service.
I found this in the German Wiki about MP3, it isn't in the english Version so i translated it.

Quality impressions are quite subjective and vary from person to person and from ear to ear. Most people can no longer distinguish the encoded material from the source material from a higher bit rate and when using a sophisticated encoder, even with concentrated listening. Nevertheless, in a listening test conducted by c't magazine, certain pieces of music could be distinguished from CD quality, even at 256 kBit/s. However, the test was carried out in 2000 - MP3 encoders have improved considerably since then. However, for people with "abnormal" hearing (e.g. with hearing damage due to acoustic trauma), the mechanisms used sometimes do not work as intended, so that differences between encoded and source material are more noticeable to them (e.g. because loud sounds, which the damaged hearing cannot hear well, can no longer mask other sounds well).[20] The test subject who was best able to make out differences in the aforementioned test, even at high data rates, has damaged hearing.

 

[brucejohnson]

Interesting, and maybe it has exactly something to do with your Service.
I found this in the German Wiki about MP3, it isn't in the english Version so i translated it.

Quality impressions are quite subjective and vary from person to person and from ear to ear. Most people can no longer distinguish the encoded material from the source material from a higher bit rate and when using a sophisticated encoder, even with concentrated listening. Nevertheless, in a listening test conducted by c't magazine, certain pieces of music could be distinguished from CD quality, even at 256 kBit/s. However, the test was carried out in 2000 - MP3 encoders have improved considerably since then. However, for people with "abnormal" hearing (e.g. with hearing damage due to acoustic trauma), the mechanisms used sometimes do not work as intended, so that differences between encoded and source material are more noticeable to them (e.g. because loud sounds, which the damaged hearing cannot hear well, can no longer mask other sounds well).[20] The test subject who was best able to make out differences in the aforementioned test, even at high data rates, has damaged hearing.

I remember reading about that study. It points out a lot of characteristics/artifacts encountered in compressing and suggests areas of improvement. The programming has improved over the years but still has those of us with batty or doggy ears wondering where the crystal-clear cymbal taps, or the harmonic element of a fingerprint ridge rasping along the wound guitar strings, the sound reflections from the studio or stage.

(My hearing actually improved over the years. Probably due to wearing mandatory hearing protection - most of the time. I can tell you an SR-71 rolling off the hammerhead and going into full afterburner is a wonderous aural and internal organ-pieces-parts massage event while holding a compass calibrator transit on a tripod from blowing over from its exhaust blast - ouch is an understatement).​

There are so many sounds captured in the original recordings that become altered or indistinguishable. To me music is a lot more than a thump, bump, twang, yippie! It is a gathering of innumerable sounds presented in beautiful harmony.
One of the methods utilized in MP3 and other compression algorithms is Lossy compression. It tends to remove data and leaves the individual's mind to fill in the "blanks". If a loud section of music is encountered a lot of the loud detail is removed, giving the listener just a loud noise, not the individual distinct loud noises in unison. The ambience and individual nuances in the music are often removed or minimized effecting the feeling of the original composition. The whole compression thing is complex.
I can't sing or play a single note on any instrument (OK, I did briefly "master" House of the Rising Sun simple chords in the mid 60s with the guidance of a musically talented friend). But I can listen and enjoy tons of musical nuances. I'm in with Joe Walsh - I'm an analog man in a digital world.

Joe Walsh - Analog Man (Live) (youtube.com)

 

[Diesel85]

Believe it or not, the most lossy audio one can get is SIRIUSXM.

Go do research on how lossy it is, you'll be asking yourself why it costs so much again... or in other words, you are paying for VERY lossy audio.

I really wish HD Radio would become a standard.

 

[brucejohnson]

Believe it or not, the most lossy audio one can get is SIRIUSXM.

Go do research on how lossy it is, you'll be asking yourself why it costs so much again... or in other words, you are paying for VERY lossy audio.

I really wish HD Radio would become a standard.

Exactly!

 

[Regcabguy]

CDs are going the way of 8 track tapes....dang, kind of miss those days!

They were a technological marvel over 4 tracks.

 

[slowmover]

Non-physical possession is like cloud-computing. Altered at whim of others, and irretrievable under plenty of conditions.

 

[brucejohnson]

They were a technological marvel over 4 tracks.

The earlier version was the 4 track which played 2 channels of 2 track stereo for a total of 4 tracks and did not include the feeder tension roller. That was part of the player. When the 8-track system arrived, many of the newer players were set up to play both 4 and 8-tracks by cutouts in the cartridge selecting the mode.
The next version was the 8 track which consisted of 4 channels of 2 track stereo for a total of 8 tracks and did include the feeder roller/tension wheel in the cartridge.
Then the ultimate...Quad 8 track which had 2 channels of wonderous 4 track (quadrophonic) surround sound. A cutout on the cartridge cases allowed the circuity to select the playback mode, standard 8 track or quad, whichever was inserted.