I'm looking at replacing my car radio with a cd/mp3 tuner.
(1) has anybody got any recommendations for a unit under £200 ?
(2) the benefits of mp3 are 8+ hrs on one cd - what are the pitfalls ?
(3) what software do you recommend for copying cd tracks to mp3 cds ? (and can you copy the other way ?)
I have to grow old - but I don't have to grow up
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(3) what software do you recommend for copying cd tracks to mp3 cds ? (and can you copy the other way ?)
Nero. It's free for "x" amount of days, then you have to register it if you want to continue using it. A little bird told me that you can find the registration code on the net if you look around for it - not that I would ever do such a thing myself, or persuade others to do it.
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Happy to be corrected but I don't think Nero will create MP3 disks from audio CDs. The latest version of NTI CD-Maker (Version 6) will do this and IMO is much more reliable than Nero.
If I'm right about Nero, then something like Audiograbber can be used to convert Audio to MP3 before burning but that's a chore.
Nero or NTI will copy from MP3 to Audio.
>>A little bird told me that you can find the registration code on the net if you look around for it - not that I would ever do such a thing myself, or persuade others to do it.
Perish the thought.
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Happy to be corrected but I don't think Nero will create MP3 disks from audio CDs.
Oops, yes Keith, I think you might be right. Can't find any info in the help files either. Apologies if I've misled anyone.
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Streambox ripper does the same, and again a "patch" to repair its restrictions seems widely available.
It is illegal to copy copyrighted material and I would never condone it.
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I recently bought a Roadstar via Argos (Ahgoose) for around £125. Works fine but radio reception in BMW 325 isn't good due to crap rear window aerial.
Some controls are fiddly and handbook translation a challenge. It's finished in 'silver' which doesn't fit in well with some decor I guess. However, the MP3 side is very good and plays everything I throw at it.
I use MusicMatch on the PC to burn disks. You can get it free (and find the crack for the full version - so I'm told!)
Regards
Sideways
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I believe www.exactaudiocopy.de has good free software for mp3 ripping. I think www.chrismyden.com/nuke/ has a decent guide for the software
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Sideways - I am looking for something in any shade of black !. It did strike me when browsing the net and looking round audio stores at lunchtime that most units today range from silver grey through silver to SILVER WITH LOTS OF CHROME. Puts me in mind of the very worst of 'Realistic' (Tandy) design if anybody remembers it.
Looks like i'll have to unarchive my Nero v5 and dig out that crack that came from astalavista - shame because i never got the hang of it and i don't think its that friendly
ta
I have to grow old - but I don't have to grow up
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I think I've recommended them before, but empiredirect.co.uk have Sony car MP3 players for about £160 inc delivery, or at least they did last time I looked.
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The only other downside to using mp3 is that the bitrate and audio range on expanded mp3 files isn't as good as on original CDs, but the in a car the average human ear wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Of course CD digital audio requires some compromises compared to analogue vinyl, but again to the average listener this isn't a problem.
I mostly listen to CD-Rs of originally mp3-encoded music in my car, the quality is passable even when amplified through the not-exactly-standard-Skoda sound system!
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I am after a Blaupunkt MP52 MP3 h.u. I have thoroughly researched this and this one seems like a bargain. I already have a Blaupunkt and it has been first rate.
Cheapest I have found is £178.99: www.hendoncarstereo.co.uk/trolleyed/17/index.htm
More details about it:
www.bluespot.co.uk/stock/acapulco.asp
It seems a absolute bargain considering it is £300 RRP.
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My Alpine CDA7893R MP3/Tuner is great - I've been an MP3 addict for 2 years now.
Well pleased with both the unit and sound quality.
Wouldn't entertain having anything else. Skipping between tracks is far faster than any other MP3 unit I've used, most noteably Kenwoods.
MG-Rover Problems? forums.mg-rover.org/
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For a Bora it has to be a blaupunkt. I recently bought a Los Angeles MP72 from bluespot.co.uk This is a great machine and once you get the hang of the directories its like having a big autochanger. Musicmatch software is only reasonable. you only really require software to rip the music as most mP3 players will play from a data only CD.
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I've been using a Sony CDX-MP30 since the summer. I bought it from a shop in Nottingham for £169, the retail price is about £230. You could check out epinions.com for a few reviews, I've posted one of the Sony if you need further details. I use Nero software to encode the files, I encode all my music using the varible bit rate option which seems to maximise sound quality whilst still producing compact files. After encoding the music I use Tagmaster (freeware) to setup the ID3 tags on the MP3 files, the Sony uses these to identify the songs, it also uses filenames if the ID3 tags are missing or you can select which the Sony will use. If you need further info let me know.
Steve.
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Nearly forgot, a big advantage of MP3s in a car like mine, small with poor suspension, is that you seem to get very little skipping of the music when the road surface is poor. This I must be down to the fact that the head unit must have to buffer a considerable amount of data ready to decode. I find the sound quality more than up to the job, some people think that MP3 files are low quality (I don't think they're at all bad if you encode them using a quality encoder) but let's be honest we're playing them in a car not a studio. I store all my music on my PC now as MP3s, using Nero I can tell it to make a normal audio CD drag the MP3s across and when Nero burns the disc it automatically converts them to audio tracks. Nero can also be used as a conversion tool between the different music file types. It's fast at converting files as well!
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