Conference cookie::notes$archive:cd_v1

    I use my portable in the car with no problems...the ones made for
    car seem outragously priced...
    
                                -=> Jim <=-
    
    

    Why not just tape your CDs on cassettes an uses your cars tape player?
    Although some would disagee, I contend that there is not much benefit
    to having a CD player in your car.  I believe a car is not an ideal
    place to listen to high quality music.  Of course, if you want a
    "yuppie toy" and you don't mind someone breaking into your car then.... 
    
    
    							-Paul
    
      

	re -.1  I'd  have to agree. If your car is so quiet that you
	can hear the difference between a CD and a Cassette recorded
	from  a  CD  then  let  me  know!!  I think that road noise,
	traffic,   and  wind  would  provide  about  ten  times  the
	deterioration  in  listening  quality  than  the CD/Cassette
	difference  would - good speakers would probably be a better
	investment.  (Especially  if you, like me, like to "crank it
	up" when driving)

	Also, the  potential  loss if someone broke into your car is
	much  higher  with  CD's and a CD player in there. Cassettes
	are cheap.

	Roy

    While taping your CDs for playing in the car seems like a good idea,
    it is very short run.  Tapes just don't hold up, especially in auto-
    reversing players.  The best solution is get a portable and an
    adapter for your car (they make ones that insert into the cassette
    player).  That way you can bring the portable into your office and
    listen.  You can take it out of your car when it's parked.  And
    you still have the advantage of indestructible discs.

    Dick _who_wishes_he_could_afford_to_get_a_portable_

	I bought a SONY portable for $ 188 ... and it sounds great.

	Believe me it does make a difference in sound as compared to 
	taping CD's which I did for a few years now ...  

	The Sony even has a remote control receiver available which is
	compatible with the remote that I had for my home... So I just
	pop in a CD put the CD in my glove compartment and have easy access 
	to change the track etc...

	I must admit that heavy bumps on the road can cause it to mistrack...
	
	I can live with that given the much improved sound....

	Tyrone.

    re .2/.3/.4: Tapes wear out.  I can leave CDs in the car all summer and
    winter long without damage.  How many CDs do you have and haw many CD
    players to you have?  Although a cassette recorded on a decent
    (Nakamichi) recorder can sound very good the cassette tape players that
    sound good enough in cars to not make your teeth gnash end up being
    $400 or more.  In order to get my 350+ CDs taped I would have to spend
    a lot of money on tape and a lot of time taping them.  I like to take
    the CD out of the car and play it on a portable in the office and/or at
    home.  It is MUCH easier to take the CDs in the car.
    
    Portable CD players are cheap but (1) are kind of a pain to connect and
    disconnect each time you get into your car and (2) you need a place to
    put them where they will be isolated from major road shocks.  Car-only
    CD players are expensive and can be stolen.  Remember to get lots of
    power and good speakers in your car if you like to "crank it" like I
    do. 
    
    I would stay with the latest Alpine bottom of the line ($600 discounted
    20% or more).  The early Alpines were made by Sony and all broke like
    the early Sonys.  In one car I have the Alpine (7901 I think) and
    although you can only go +/- one track the CD player and AM/FM radio
    sound great.  I am on my 5th Sony CD player in the car; the latest one
    (CDXR88 AM/FM/CD) seems to be a little less sensitive to skipping than
    the other generation Sony players (CDXR7) and the Alpine.  The radio
    section of the Sonys is very poor when compared to the Alpine. I don't
    have a good feeling about reliability of any portable or car based Sony
    player. 
    
    GAS

    re: .6
    
    OK...so go dump the bucks and get a Nakamichi car CD player in the
    "anti-theft" DIN slip-mount chassis.  Just remember to remove the
    player from the car EVERY TIME you leave the vehicle and to up your
    auto insurance accordingly.
    
    David.

Here's a case where the manufacturers *really* blew it.

If there were no market for stolen Auto CD players, then no one would steal
them.  And more people would buy them.

Since *every* car CD player has to have a keyboard of some sort and a fair
bit of microprocessor, installing an anti-theft digital lock would have been
simple.  If power is cut off to the device, it shuts down until a code is
entered.  Anti-guessing delay techniques on false entries would make it not
worth a sleazeball's time to steal the things.

But unless most players have the feature, it won't really help, 'cuz the
sleazeballs aren't likely to carry a list of brands and check the brand
before smashing in your windows.

/john

My Sony CDXR7 has been in the car for about a year+ now.  It is just starting 
to show signs of mistracking on curves and BAD bumps.  I think CDs sound LOTS 
better than cassettes in the car.  Granted you can't hear the real quiet 
parts unless you are parked in the country, but those are the parts that the 
average car cassette player won't even reproduce.

Check with your insurance company about the removable units.  I've heard that 
removable ones are not considered "installed", so if the removable part gets 
ripped off, you pay.  Not sure about this, but your insurance company will 
give the definitive answer.

						     
							- JP

    
    I found this note very interesting.  I'm still stuck on this issue.
    I tend to lean toward the tape folks for these reasons mentioned:
    If stolen, not as expensive.  CDs, from all the ones in cars I have
    heard, just can't cut the mustard with bumps and curves.  You have
    to be on a quiet, straight highway to enjoy it.  Tapes are fairly
    impervious to that stuff.
                                 
    I couldn't deal with the inconveinence of a protable going in and
    out of the car...What a pain...
    
    Now, I have a very good cassette unit to make tapes.  I record CDs
    in Dolby B and play them in the car unit which also happens to be
    pretty good.  I will definitely agree that the CD would sound better.
    But those folks who say that "quiet passages aren't even recorded"
    haven't heard my car system.  It sounds better than a lot of home
    systems I have heard.  And what is this stuff about tapes "wearing
    out"?  Who are you kidding?  I use Maxell IIs and have played some
    of those babies in the car dozens of times with absoutely no ill
    effect.  Are you using Radio Schlock bargin tape?
    
    I hear great detail and quality on my recordings of CDs in the car.
     Certainly very good and as good as I think you can hear over all
    the road noise and garbage of the car environment.
    
    Think I will stick with tape.
    
    Regards, Jim
    

    I make tapes on an AIWA deck with Dobly C and play them on my 
    Concord car deck with Dolby C.

    A friend of mine got a Sony D-10 and we synched up first Brothers in Arms
    and then Dark Side of the Moon, on tape and on disk.  By pushing the
    AUX button we could switch between tape and CD.

    The difference was not minor, the CD sounded much better.

    Thanks to Santa I can now here the difference on my own D-10.  It's
    like I got a whole new car system for Christmas.

George

    
    I've been using a D-10 in my car for about 2 months now.  I've 
    made tapes of my CD's and played them in my car and then played 
    the CD player in the car and there is a noticeable difference. 
    As for the bumps, there are two ways I've solved that: (1) have 
    someone hold the CD player on his/her lap or (2) place the CD player 
    on a towel....I've had a CD skip only once and that was in NYC....

        I can't speak for other systems, but can tell you how mine works.
        CDs I tape at home, from a Magnavox 2041 to a Nakamichi CR-7A on
        Maxell XLII tape, sound better in my car, a Nak TD-500, than
        patching my D-5 into the car system. I think this speaks more for
        the lack of quality in the D-5 than anything else. Still, I don't
        think that there is a portable CD player (at least I haven't heard
        one yet) that could outperform a good home CD / tape combo. 
        
        CD Disadvantages: One less thing in your car to get ripped off.
        More widely used format; lots of folks have cassette, very few
        have CD. Less expense for the mobile system; you don't need to buy
        the CD player. If the tape is destroyed, Maxell (or whoever) will
        replace it, so you aren't out anything. If stolen you are only out
        $2 or so. I've yet to hear any tape skip from hitting a pothole.
        Tapes are easier to mess with in a car environment than CDs in
        jewel boxes. CD dynamic range actually hurts in a car; the noise
        wipes out quiet passages, and/or the loud passages are deafening. 
        
        Tape Disadvantages: Time to tape all of your CDs. I have over 100,
        others have lots more than this. It takes extra space to store all
        ofthese tapes. Cassettes cost additional money (a $2 Maxell
        cassette will hold 2 CDs, or one full 70 minute CD, so this isn't
        really that much more than you already spent).