AARoads Forum

Just wondering how we listen to music in our drives in our own personal vehicle.

Sometimes I'll just drive in complete silence for hours actually.  Often I'll do this with the window down.

Other times it's loud music, with a fast beat.

Mainly terrestrial radio, but if not, I'll play music from my iPhone, connected via Bluetooth.

How does everyone feel about whether BT is more/less convenient than connecting using an auxiliary cord? I have the iPhone 8, which doesn't even have a headphone jack, just a Lightning jack, and I have zero desire to find an auxiliary-to-Lightning cord, so BT is definitely more convenient for me.

Depends on which of our cars I'm driving.

My Acura TL has XM radio, a cassette player I seldom use, and a six-disc CD/DVD-Audio changer I use all the time. The Bluetooth capability in that car doesn't work for music–it's for calls only. I did use the cassette player a few weeks ago when our relatives from Fort Myers visited and the kids didn't know what it was. Every once in a while I use it for my old mixed tapes. Can't easily rip them to CD because I normally used C-90s or C-100s, and it'd be a nuisance to try to create a DVD-Audio because some of the tracks are things I have on vinyl only (I don't much want to pay to repurchase tracks I already own) and because when I made mixed tapes I was really good at minimizing or eliminating the gaps between the tracks. Hard to do that when you're burning a disc. I guess I could record once side of a cassette to a CD-RW, rip that disc to my PC, erase the disc, and then repeat with the other side, but that all takes more time than I'm inclined to spend when I can just play the tape in the car.

My wife's Acura TLX has only a single-slot CD player that allows you to rip to a hard drive. It also has various USB connectors, an iPod interface, and Bluetooth for music and phone calls. I almost never use the Bluetooth. If we travel, I put my iPod Classic in the car and use that–it has way more music on it than my phone does. Plus I struggle with selecting music via the Bluetooth menus when I'm driving. We have some CDs ripped to the hard drive. She wasn't interested in paying for satellite radio, so we don't have it in that car, although I've thought about seeing what it would cost to add it to my account as a second receiver since I assume there would be a discount.

My wife's Acura RSX has a six-CD changer, a cassette player we've never used, and AM/FM radio. Since we don't usually take it on trips anymore, I listen to the CDs, the news on FM, or sports (usually baseball) on FM. I hardly ever listen to FM for music.

My Mazda RX-7 has a single-disc CD player that no longer works (and it won't eject the CD that's in it), a cassette player I've never used, and an AM/FM radio I almost never use because sometimes the motorized antenna is finicky.

Ever since I got bluetooth with the new stereo setup (JVC head unit, Alpine speakers if I'm not mistaken) last December on my 1997 Thunderbird, I've been using that car as essentially a mobile stereo!  I have the audio settings EQed for clarity (my love of 70s rock means I'm going for fidelity over sheer volume usually).

I rarely listen to FM radio now and haven't yet used the CD player function in the system, instead preferring to wade through all the different music genres I listen to via phone/bluetooth. 

I still use an AUX jack for a SanDisc MP3 player.  For some reason using the USB on my Sonic cuts out the first second of each MP3 track.  Plus I like being able to have the MP3 in my lap where it is easier to control than a touch screen.

Incidentally who else despises touch screens?  The older radio sets in cars had easy to use buttons that were intuitive and didn't require looking over away from the road to press.  One of the best things about getting Enclave as rental recently was that it had not only a touch screen but actually buttons as well.  Maybe that's just me getting old but I can't get used to touch screens at all.  I even use a standard Desktop and Lap Top since I can't get used to tablets either.

The MP3 functionality in my Challenger doesn't have a delay on the USB and the touch screen is more user friendly.  That said the AUX jack is even easier to get to and still my preference.  My Fiance's Forester has a lot of knobs and buttons to go with the touch screen which makes it my preference out of the three vehicles I use regularly. 

I still listen to a lot of sports radio, it's a shame I can't find an MRN station locally. 

I still use CD's, though I don't turn the stereo on as much anymore these days. I did all the time in my teens and early 20's, but as each year passes, the less tolerant I get. I guess it's nature's way of preparing me for turning the 3-0 next year.

Quote from: LM117 on August 04, 2018, 01:39:52 PM
I still use CD's, though I don't turn the stereo on as much anymore these days. I did all the time in my teens and early 20's, but as each year passes, the less tolerant I get. I guess it's nature's way of preparing me for turning the 3-0 next year.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Mainly by CD player. My older car has a six-disc CD changer. My newer one has just a one-disc CD player, and it took a little effort to get even that.

I have satellite radio, and when I was really, really bored I tuned into some of the music channels. Mostly, the satellite radio is for news, sports, and what little remains of major-city traffic reports.

I'll have an iPod plugged in probably 90% of the time when driving alone; much less so with others in the car, unless it's a several hour drive. Depends on if there's much to talk about or a very short trip.

I'm a bit more apt to using Bluetooth audio for short trips of 10-15 minutes in the rental cars I borrow; most of them support it, though occasionally I'll get a base model without it.

Unless you want to count it under "phone via Bluetooth" , you might want to add an option for USB, which is how I usually connect my phone to my car and listen to most audio, whether it be talk or music.

I've mentioned this on other threads, but a couple of years ago, I bought a new Volkswagen Golf (the wagon model), and while I had been leaning toward purchasing a VW from the beginning, one feature that helped seal the deal was Apple CarPlay being standard on all VWs. Among other contenders, I had been considering the Mazda3 hatchback, but at the time, Mazda wasn't offering CarPlay at all.

The car also has satellite radio built in, and I keep my subscription going because I'm a sucker for having everything on the car functional as the day I drove it out of the dealership. In addition to music, SiriusXM data also powers the traffic and traveler data that's fed to the system.

I'll sometimes put on terrestrial radio and scan the dial–just to see if I pick up anything interesting or unusual, to check whether I can pick up various stations' HD feeds (a failed technology, in my opinion) or to see what distant radio stations I can get. There's something reassuring about still being able to pick up the scratchy signals of faraway AMs.

VW still includes an optical drive (DVD/CD), but it's buried away in the glove compartment and I think is primarily intended for installing software updates from DVD. I've used it exactly once. If I ever buy or am given a CD, I'll rip it once as a lossless file and then store it away. Next to the optical drive are two SD card slots; I've thought about loading up an old SD card with music files so I have something to listen to in case I'm caught without my phone for some reason.

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 04, 2018, 12:20:35 PM
How does everyone feel about whether BT is more/less convenient than connecting using an auxiliary cord?

I sometimes will use Bluetooth if I'm just in the car for a few minutes. If I was listening to something prior to getting in the car, I can usually select Bluetooth on the car's stereo, and it will resume wherever I left off (music album, podcast, etc.). But CarPlay doesn't work over Bluetooth; you have to plug in via USB. If connected via Bluetooth, the navigation and controls of the audio are via VW's media interface, which is less intuitive than CarPlay and slower...particularly via the Bluetooth connection. So to make use of the extra CarPlay features and to keep my phone charged, I'm plugged into USB 99% of my time behind the wheel.

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 04, 2018, 12:20:35 PM
I have the iPhone 8, which doesn't even have a headphone jack, just a Lightning jack, and I have zero desire to find an auxiliary-to-Lightning cord, so BT is definitely more convenient for me.

Your phone came with a Lightning to 3.5 mm audio jack adapter in the box, so you don't need to buy any special Lighting adapters. But your car has Bluetooth and a 3.5 mm audio jack but not USB? USB would be the better way to connect all around–faster data connection, better quality audio, power to charge your phone.

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 01:30:24 PMIncidentally who else despises touch screens?  The older radio sets in cars had easy to use buttons that were intuitive and didn't require looking over away from the road to press.  One of the best things about getting Enclave as rental recently was that it had not only a touch screen but actually buttons as well.  Maybe that's just me getting old but I can't get used to touch screens at all.  I even use a standard Desktop and Lap Top since I can't get used to tablets either.

Regarding touch screens in cars, other than feeling like it's one more thing to break and be really expensive to fix or replace, I think they're fine. My car has knobs for volume controls and tuning the radio; I just had a rental car that did not, and trying to set the presets for the XM was a giant pain as a result.

I own a tablet and it works fine 90% of the time, and I also have a Chromebook for the 10% if the time when my tablet won't cut it.

Quote from: briantroutman on August 04, 2018, 02:07:10 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 04, 2018, 12:20:35 PM
I have the iPhone 8, which doesn't even have a headphone jack, just a Lightning jack, and I have zero desire to find an auxiliary-to-Lightning cord, so BT is definitely more convenient for me.

Your phone came with a Lightning to 3.5 mm audio jack adapter in the box, so you don't need to buy any special Lighting adapters. But your car has Bluetooth and a 3.5 mm audio jack but not USB? USB would be the better way to connect all around–faster data connection, better quality audio, power to charge your phone.

You are right, it does also have a USB port, but I have a 2.4A charger in the cigarette lighter that keeps the phone charged just fine, even when connected via BT, and I don't really suffer from a lack of opportunities to charge my phone. Though I am intrigued by the idea of better quality audio...

And yes, I do have a Lightning adapter, but that is in the box and will probably stay there.

Quote from: 1995hoo on August 04, 2018, 12:42:56 PM
Depends on which of our cars I'm driving.

My Acura TL has XM radio, a cassette player I seldom use, and a six-disc CD/DVD-Audio changer I use all the time. The Bluetooth capability in that car doesn't work for music–it's for calls only. I did use the cassette player a few weeks ago when our relatives from Fort Myers visited and the kids didn't know what it was. Every once in a while I use it for my old mixed tapes. Can't easily rip them to CD because I normally used C-90s or C-100s, and it'd be a nuisance to try to create a DVD-Audio because some of the tracks are things I have on vinyl only (I don't much want to pay to repurchase tracks I already own) and because when I made mixed tapes I was really good at minimizing or eliminating the gaps between the tracks. Hard to do that when you're burning a disc. I guess I could record once side of a cassette to a CD-RW, rip that disc to my PC, erase the disc, and then repeat with the other side, but that all takes more time than I'm inclined to spend when I can just play the tape in the car.

My wife's Acura TLX has only a single-slot CD player that allows you to rip to a hard drive. It also has various USB connectors, an iPod interface, and Bluetooth for music and phone calls. I almost never use the Bluetooth. If we travel, I put my iPod Classic in the car and use that–it has way more music on it than my phone does. Plus I struggle with selecting music via the Bluetooth menus when I'm driving. We have some CDs ripped to the hard drive. She wasn't interested in paying for satellite radio, so we don't have it in that car, although I've thought about seeing what it would cost to add it to my account as a second receiver since I assume there would be a discount.

My wife's Acura RSX has a six-CD changer, a cassette player we've never used, and AM/FM radio. Since we don't usually take it on trips anymore, I listen to the CDs, the news on FM, or sports (usually baseball) on FM. I hardly ever listen to FM for music.

My Mazda RX-7 has a single-disc CD player that no longer works (and it won't eject the CD that's in it), a cassette player I've never used, and an AM/FM radio I almost never use because sometimes the motorized antenna is finicky.

My TL is the generation between yours and your wife's, but is more like hers: single CD with hard drive saving, USB, Bluetooth, aux, AM/FM, XM. I've only used the CD and USB (for my phone) so far.

DVD-Audio flopped commercially, but I love being able to play them in the car because I have software to burn my own discs. I can either burn hi-rez music in native .FLAC or I can burn extremely large amounts of CD-resolution music (seeing as how a DVD has around seven times the capacity of a CD). I find it a lot easier to load up the changer with those than to operate the iPod or Bluetooth in the other car, although no doubt part of that is having had the TL for 14 years this month such that of course I'm more comfortable with it.

If I'm driving in a large urban area such as my own or L.A. metro, I tend to keep the radio set to whatever AM station provides the most frequent traffic reports -- primarily for defensive purposes (and ascertaining if alternate routes are required!).  Outside of that, it's always been cassette (up until the early '90's) and then CD.  Recently, the P.O.S. 6-disc changer in my old Camry died (without hope of resurrection), so I've gone back to cassettes.  My old collection of those has long since been given away, so I've actually gotten back to recording my own (reattached my old Nakamichi cassette deck to the audio system, biased it up, and have been cutting tapes now for a couple of months).  Kinda fun -- rerecording (and thus doing a bit of "re-listening") from a lot of my old LP's in the process (still have a lot more of those than CD's by about a 3:1 ratio).  Should have 30 or 40 done by the time I make my next trip down to SoCal.   

However, the CD player still works in our 4-runner that my GF regularly drives; I've essentially given her the big cloth 60-disc CD portfolio that used to reside in the Camry.  She's happy about that -- and that's what counts!

Sirius.  There's no terrestrial music station  that interests me.

When not commuting it is about 90% of the time listening to the Beatles Channel on Sirius/XM

During the commute it is only 60% while the other 40% is on WTOP for afternoon traffic...

Everything except aux and CD (no cassette deck in my car; I also don't own any). My 2015 Golf was apparently the first American VW model to drop the aux cord. I could get an MDI (VW's multi-media interface pre-2016) converter cable, but I just use Bluetooth.

When I got my car, I had an iPhone. Since it was the last year of the Golf without CarPlay or Android Auto, the only USB interface the car has native support for (via the MDI cable) is iOS. I have an Android device now, so my phone is plugged into the 12V socket, with the cable running under my seat and into my phone, which is mounted in a dock to the left of my steering wheel, with Bluetooth streaming being my method of connection. Yes, I have to unplug my phone to get out, but that doesn't bother me. I am hoping to plug in the phone directly to the fuse box at some point.

With satellite radio, I listen to all sorts of stations. Howard Stern quite often, as well as CBC Radio, as well as the 70s, 80s, and 90s channels. Also the Spectrum, Classic Rewind, Classic Vinyl, 1st Wave, Tom Petty Radio, Dave Matthews Band Radio (temp channel 3), and some of the R&B channels (hardly ever one consistently).

On FM (in Seattle), mostly talk (KIRO and KOMO), and a few classic alternative and adult alternative stations (Jack FM, the Jet, KISW, KZOK, and KHTP).

On AM, only KOMO 1000, which broadcasts quite far apparently.

Sometimes I drive without the radio on, but it's not that common.

Sticking a flash drive full of music mp3 and mp4a files directly into the car.  The car's radio will play them direct with no need for a special player.  I also listen to SiriusXM, and some terrestrial radio (usually WBBM AM & FM for traffic & news).

Quote from: 1995hoo on August 04, 2018, 01:48:53 PM

Quote from: LM117 on August 04, 2018, 01:39:52 PM
I still use CD's, though I don't turn the stereo on as much anymore these days. I did all the time in my teens and early 20's, but as each year passes, the less tolerant I get. I guess it's nature's way of preparing me for turning the 3-0 next year.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Wait til you start looking the big 5-0 in the face like me, 1995hoo, and others. You have lots of tolerance now. LOL!

iPod (connected via an AUX port, since my vehicle does not have built-in Bluetooth). But generally, I'm listening to podcasts instead of music unless I run out of podcasts. The Mark Levin podcast is free, and there's a guy who posts commercial-free MP3s of Rush Limbaugh's show to alt.binaries.sounds.radio.misc, and I download the shows I don't hear live, convert them from music to podcast format in iTunes, and load them to my iPod. I let my Rush 24/7 subscription go a few years ago due to financial constraints and was very happy to find the files on a Usenet newsgroup.

I will use my iPhone or iPad to stream Limbaugh and Sean Hannity live if I am traveling, through the iHeart Radio app listening to either WLAP-AM (Lexington) or WKRC-AM (Cincinnati). I also use iHeart to listen to WLAP for UK basketball and football games.

On Sundays, it's the MRN or PRN app as applicable to listen to NASCAR races. I let my XM subscription go, also for financial reasons, so listening to the races or the ballgames or the Patriot channel, which carries Hannity and Levin, is no longer an option.

Truthfully, I'm just as content to drive in silence as I am to play music, even though I have hundreds of albums and CDs. I've played the classic stuff a zillion times and there really isn't any new music that's coming out that I'm interested in.

One thing I never got into was sports talk radio.

My CD player got jammed so it's AM/FM radio for me. I listen to whatever appeals to me at the moment: talk, jazz, classical, rock, et cetera; even sports radio. The latter is hate listening so that I can complain to my brother that the main topic on WEEI is WEEI itself. I Usually turn it down if I have passengers; unless I'm listening to a game.

Depends on what I'm driving. Either my thumb drive plugged into the USB port or my music phone (I turned one of my phones into a music player, it's not active) plugged into the AUX port. Either way it's music I've downloaded and saved to both. I don't stream music and I very rarely listen to the radio because radio sucks now.

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 04, 2018, 02:33:29 PM

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 01:30:24 PMIncidentally who else despises touch screens?  The older radio sets in cars had easy to use buttons that were intuitive and didn't require looking over away from the road to press.  One of the best things about getting Enclave as rental recently was that it had not only a touch screen but actually buttons as well.  Maybe that's just me getting old but I can't get used to touch screens at all.  I even use a standard Desktop and Lap Top since I can't get used to tablets either.

Regarding touch screens in cars, other than feeling like it's one more thing to break and be really expensive to fix or replace, I think they're fine. My car has knobs for volume controls and tuning the radio; I just had a rental car that did not, and trying to set the presets for the XM was a giant pain as a result.

I own a tablet and it works fine 90% of the time, and I also have a Chromebook for the 10% if the time when my tablet won't cut it.

The problem I noticed with the Chevy MyLink system is that essentially every function of the radio is only available on the touch screen.  The button and knob layout for the AC is pretty traditional below the touch screen.  Comparing it to the other two cars it definitely is a poorer design but I get the feeling it was meant to attract younger buyers.  The menus selection is vertical and to the left were as the Challenger and Forest both have it on the bottom of the screen more where you'd expect it to be. 

As for PC versus tablet that might be just a age preference thing.  I used DOS based PCs growing up and anything that requires me to not use proper typing position generally isn't my speed. 

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 01:30:24 PM


Incidentally who else despises touch screens?  The older radio sets in cars had easy to use buttons that were intuitive and didn't require looking over away from the road to press.

While there were pop-out touchscreen options (single DIN!) that I could have used for the Tbird, I opted to do a traditional single DIN faceplate with buttons and actually picked the head unit I have now based on how much I liked the button ergonomics.  Only thing I don't like about it is how unlike the old OEM head unit, it only has one group of FM button presets as opposed to the FM1/FM2 many 90s and 2000s cars have - but with oldies disappearing from the Bay Area plus classic rock stations no longer focusing on 70s music as much as they did in my younger years, and the soft rock stations also shedding their 70s song selections as well, it all just leads me to more Bluetooth/personal collection listening anyway. (For that matter, in 2014 there was a weekly kpop radio show on 92.3 but it disappeared when the station changed owners)

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 08:02:13 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 04, 2018, 02:33:29 PM

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 01:30:24 PMIncidentally who else despises touch screens?  The older radio sets in cars had easy to use buttons that were intuitive and didn't require looking over away from the road to press.  One of the best things about getting Enclave as rental recently was that it had not only a touch screen but actually buttons as well.  Maybe that's just me getting old but I can't get used to touch screens at all.  I even use a standard Desktop and Lap Top since I can't get used to tablets either.

Regarding touch screens in cars, other than feeling like it's one more thing to break and be really expensive to fix or replace, I think they're fine. My car has knobs for volume controls and tuning the radio; I just had a rental car that did not, and trying to set the presets for the XM was a giant pain as a result.

The problem I noticed with the Chevy MyLink system is that essentially every function of the radio is only available on the touch screen.  The button and knob layout for the AC is pretty traditional below the touch screen.  Comparing it to the other two cars it definitely is a poorer design but I get the feeling it was meant to attract younger buyers.  The menus selection is vertical and to the left were as the Challenger and Forest both have it on the bottom of the screen more where you'd expect it to be.

Touchscreen systems are typically more intuitive than controller systems (like those in MB's and BMW's), so they're a bit more popular in mainstream, all-age vehicles (especially those popular in rental fleets -- Toyota, Chevy, Hyundai/Kia, Nissan, et al). You do see controller systems in vehicles that are more popular in the old-age, more-money-to-spend age groups (luxury brands), although touchscreen interfaces have started to show up in BMW's, Audi's, and Tesla's. Audi and Tesla in particular have really embraced the touchscreen, with recent Audi models switching to all-touchscreens for all controls (except the digital dials, which are controlled via the steering wheel -- same for Tesla since you can't touch the dials, obviously).

My preference, in order from most preferred to least, is controller based (BMW, Mercedes), touch screen (VW and Fiat/Chrysler do great touchscreens), then old-fashioned low-tech systems. The old-fashioned systems are easy to use but have the least amount of capability. I prefer controller systems so I can keep my hand nearest the gear lever. If I drove an auto, I probably wouldn't mind a touchscreen.

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 01:30:24 PM
Incidentally who else despises touch screens?  The older radio sets in cars had easy to use buttons that were intuitive and didn't require looking over away from the road to press.  One of the best things about getting Enclave as rental recently was that it had not only a touch screen but actually buttons as well.  Maybe that's just me getting old but I can't get used to touch screens at all.  I even use a standard Desktop and Lap Top since I can't get used to tablets either.

I don't hate the touch screens, but have experienced one of their disadvantages -- if the touch screen fails, most radio controls, as well as anything else controlled by the touch screen (such as, on my elderly Prius, climate), will go kaput.

My Prius had to have its touch screen replaced with a $1600 reconditioned unit. A new one would have cost more than the car was worth.

Fix your poll...is SiriusXM, not Sirius FM.

I rotate between satellite radio and my mp3's.

I have a system of preset FM stations for traveling around much of NY (it started as covering my Rochester-Albany trips, though it's expanded to include a couple stations not in that range, most notably one in Buffalo; part of me wonders if I should add one for the Hudson Valley, since I seem to pass through there quite often, though my reception issues in Catskill make me wonder if it would even work).  When not in range of those, I usually just go silent with only the sound of the road.  If I were to decide to listen to music when out of range, it would be through my phone connected with an aux cable.

Quote from: oscar on August 04, 2018, 09:07:07 PM

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 01:30:24 PM
Incidentally who else despises touch screens?  The older radio sets in cars had easy to use buttons that were intuitive and didn't require looking over away from the road to press.  One of the best things about getting Enclave as rental recently was that it had not only a touch screen but actually buttons as well.  Maybe that's just me getting old but I can't get used to touch screens at all.  I even use a standard Desktop and Lap Top since I can't get used to tablets either.

I don't hate the touch screens, but have experienced one of their disadvantages -- if the touch screen fails, most radio controls, as well as anything else controlled by the touch screen (such as, on my elderly Prius, climate), will go kaput.

My Prius had to have its touch screen replaced with a $1600 reconditioned unit. A new one would have cost more than the car was worth.

The trouble I'm having with mine now is that the clock is almost constantly off.  For whatever reason it will correct itself after about 20 minutes but it hasn't stayed fixed after three software reboots.  Now I'm concerned that I'll have to replace the infotainment system if the symptoms get worse.

Quote from: jakeroot on August 04, 2018, 08:54:29 PM

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 08:02:13 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 04, 2018, 02:33:29 PM

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 01:30:24 PMIncidentally who else despises touch screens?  The older radio sets in cars had easy to use buttons that were intuitive and didn't require looking over away from the road to press.  One of the best things about getting Enclave as rental recently was that it had not only a touch screen but actually buttons as well.  Maybe that's just me getting old but I can't get used to touch screens at all.  I even use a standard Desktop and Lap Top since I can't get used to tablets either.

Regarding touch screens in cars, other than feeling like it's one more thing to break and be really expensive to fix or replace, I think they're fine. My car has knobs for volume controls and tuning the radio; I just had a rental car that did not, and trying to set the presets for the XM was a giant pain as a result.

The problem I noticed with the Chevy MyLink system is that essentially every function of the radio is only available on the touch screen.  The button and knob layout for the AC is pretty traditional below the touch screen.  Comparing it to the other two cars it definitely is a poorer design but I get the feeling it was meant to attract younger buyers.  The menus selection is vertical and to the left were as the Challenger and Forest both have it on the bottom of the screen more where you'd expect it to be.

Touchscreen systems are typically more intuitive than controller systems (like those in MB's and BMW's), so they're a bit more popular in mainstream, all-age vehicles (especially those popular in rental fleets -- Toyota, Chevy, Hyundai/Kia, Nissan, et al). You do see controller systems in vehicles that are more popular in the old-age, more-money-to-spend age groups (luxury brands), although touchscreen interfaces have started to show up in BMW's, Audi's, and Tesla's. Audi and Tesla in particular have really embraced the touchscreen, with recent Audi models switching to all-touchscreens for all controls (except the digital dials, which are controlled via the steering wheel -- same for Tesla since you can't touch the dials, obviously).

My preference, in order from most preferred to least, is controller based (BMW, Mercedes), touch screen (VW and Fiat/Chrysler do great touchscreens), then old-fashioned low-tech systems. The old-fashioned systems are easy to use but have the least amount of capability. I prefer controller systems so I can keep my hand nearest the gear lever. If I drove an auto, I probably wouldn't mind a touchscreen.

Heh....you just reminded me of how awful iDrive was to try to control in early 2000s BMW models.  My brother had a 6 Series around that time, that thing was a pain in the ass to do much of anything. 

Quote from: TheStranger on August 04, 2018, 08:19:42 PM

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 01:30:24 PM


Incidentally who else despises touch screens?  The older radio sets in cars had easy to use buttons that were intuitive and didn't require looking over away from the road to press.

While there were pop-out touchscreen options (single DIN!) that I could have used for the Tbird, I opted to do a traditional single DIN faceplate with buttons and actually picked the head unit I have now based on how much I liked the button ergonomics.  Only thing I don't like about it is how unlike the old OEM head unit, it only has one group of FM button presets as opposed to the FM1/FM2 many 90s and 2000s cars have - but with oldies disappearing from the Bay Area plus classic rock stations no longer focusing on 70s music as much as they did in my younger years, and the soft rock stations also shedding their 70s song selections as well, it all just leads me to more Bluetooth/personal collection listening anyway. (For that matter, in 2014 there was a weekly kpop radio show on 92.3 but it disappeared when the station changed owners)

I had a similar setup in my 1997 Silverado and 2002 Mustang.  Back then the aftermarket stuff was actually a pretty nice way to go and you generally could remove things fairly easily.  I even had an XM Receiver mounted on the bottom of the dash on the Silverado, it was in perfect position for an extra accessory to be mounted.

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 08:02:13 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 04, 2018, 02:33:29 PM

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 01:30:24 PMIncidentally who else despises touch screens?  The older radio sets in cars had easy to use buttons that were intuitive and didn't require looking over away from the road to press.  One of the best things about getting Enclave as rental recently was that it had not only a touch screen but actually buttons as well.  Maybe that's just me getting old but I can't get used to touch screens at all.  I even use a standard Desktop and Lap Top since I can't get used to tablets either.

Regarding touch screens in cars, other than feeling like it's one more thing to break and be really expensive to fix or replace, I think they're fine. My car has knobs for volume controls and tuning the radio; I just had a rental car that did not, and trying to set the presets for the XM was a giant pain as a result.

I own a tablet and it works fine 90% of the time, and I also have a Chromebook for the 10% if the time when my tablet won't cut it.

The problem I noticed with the Chevy MyLink system is that essentially every function of the radio is only available on the touch screen.  The button and knob layout for the AC is pretty traditional below the touch screen.  Comparing it to the other two cars it definitely is a poorer design but I get the feeling it was meant to attract younger buyers.  The menus selection is vertical and to the left were as the Challenger and Forest both have it on the bottom of the screen more where you'd expect it to be. 

As for PC versus tablet that might be just a age preference thing.  I used DOS based PCs growing up and anything that requires me to not use proper typing position generally isn't my speed.

I'm 39, and typing posts on this forum is about my limit for what I can type on a tablet screen. If it's longer than that, I need my Chromebook.

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 04, 2018, 11:53:28 PM

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 08:02:13 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 04, 2018, 02:33:29 PM

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 01:30:24 PMIncidentally who else despises touch screens?  The older radio sets in cars had easy to use buttons that were intuitive and didn't require looking over away from the road to press.  One of the best things about getting Enclave as rental recently was that it had not only a touch screen but actually buttons as well.  Maybe that's just me getting old but I can't get used to touch screens at all.  I even use a standard Desktop and Lap Top since I can't get used to tablets either.

Regarding touch screens in cars, other than feeling like it's one more thing to break and be really expensive to fix or replace, I think they're fine. My car has knobs for volume controls and tuning the radio; I just had a rental car that did not, and trying to set the presets for the XM was a giant pain as a result.

I own a tablet and it works fine 90% of the time, and I also have a Chromebook for the 10% if the time when my tablet won't cut it.

The problem I noticed with the Chevy MyLink system is that essentially every function of the radio is only available on the touch screen.  The button and knob layout for the AC is pretty traditional below the touch screen.  Comparing it to the other two cars it definitely is a poorer design but I get the feeling it was meant to attract younger buyers.  The menus selection is vertical and to the left were as the Challenger and Forest both have it on the bottom of the screen more where you'd expect it to be. 

As for PC versus tablet that might be just a age preference thing.  I used DOS based PCs growing up and anything that requires me to not use proper typing position generally isn't my speed.

I'm 39, and typing posts on this forum is about my limit for what I can type on a tablet screen. If it's longer than that, I need my Chromebook.

I have a couple older ASUS lap tops that I mainly use for typing due to the large keyboard.  I'm 36 but I've been typing since I was 7, so its way easier for me to just speed through messages on a lap top than struggle on a tablet.  I do use my iPhone when I'm not home but I usually refrain from longer posts, I never found TapTalk all that helpful.

I downloaded the TapTalk app because I also belong to another forum that subscribes to it, but I couldn't figure out how to use it when you already have an account on that forum.

Earphones provide superior audio in states where its legal to drive wearing earphones. Of course, you lose some situational awareness but the same can be said of high quality sound insulation or just by turning up the system really loudly.

In my previous car, I had a cheap Kenwood stereo system that replaced a Rockford Fosgate that wasn't working. I plugged either my iPod classic, or a flash drive or even a card reader, and sometimes listened to my CD's. I even listened to the radio occasionally.

On my current car, I have the factory stereo, which has AM/FM, cassette and CD. More often than not, I would just grab a cassette adapter, and plug it into my iPod classic, wishing there was also a way I could've used my flash drives and/or card readers.  I was even planning to get an adapter that I could have drilled into my dashboard.

Then roughly several months ago, my cassette deck and CD player wore themselves out. Now I've got to get my hands on a double DIN that does the same things as my previous stereo.

Quote from: yand on August 05, 2018, 12:04:04 AM
Earphones provide superior audio in states where its legal to drive wearing earphones. Of course, you lose some situational awareness but the same can be said of high quality sound insulation or just by turning up the system really loudly.

I would never drive while listening to music with earbuds, even if it was legal.

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 05, 2018, 08:49:44 AM

Quote from: yand on August 05, 2018, 12:04:04 AM
Earphones provide superior audio in states where its legal to drive wearing earphones. Of course, you lose some situational awareness but the same can be said of high quality sound insulation or just by turning up the system really loudly.

I would never drive while listening to music with earbuds, even if it was legal.

I do it on the way to/from the gym just so I don't have to fumble around in the car getting stuff ready.  It's only a two mile drive in a straight line.  The only place I've ever caught grief for the practice was on military bases where it is illegal to do.  Even then it was a "sir, place take those off while you're driving."

Poll fixes: Many ways to connect a phone to car these days, also Sirius XM (Not FM)

Last two cars: I employed an iPod in the first as Hyundai provides a direct connection for one to use.  Now using the Phone via CarPlay with either a lengthy playlist or with Pandora.  The car has SiriusXM - but I unsubscribed (Much to their insistence that I keep it) as I'm done forking 600 every 2 years for stations I never use (It's radio's equivalent to Cable/Satellite TV).

I am inefficient data-wise:  I use YouTube to bring up music I like; I have serendipitously somehow have YouTube compiling "My Mixes" that do indeed mix up music that I like.  If I get bored with it, it is back to FM radio for me.

Quote from: cjk374 on August 04, 2018, 07:03:42 PM

Quote from: 1995hoo on August 04, 2018, 01:48:53 PM

Quote from: LM117 on August 04, 2018, 01:39:52 PM
I still use CD's, though I don't turn the stereo on as much anymore these days. I did all the time in my teens and early 20's, but as each year passes, the less tolerant I get. I guess it's nature's way of preparing me for turning the 3-0 next year.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Wait til you start looking the big 5-0 in the face like me, 1995hoo, and others. You have lots of tolerance now. LOL!

Oh dear. :-D

i picked "from your phone" because it was closest of the available choices, but I actually still use an iPod.  I have no need for a smartphone and refuse to get one.

Quote from: wanderer2575 on August 05, 2018, 11:21:19 AM
i picked "from your phone" because it was closest of the available choices, but I actually still use an iPod.  I have no need for a smartphone and refuse to get one.

Make sure you buy all the music you need/want from iTunes before they stop selling it (I believe) in the summer of 2019.

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 01:30:24 PM
Incidentally who else despises touch screens?  The older radio sets in cars had easy to use buttons that were intuitive and didn't require looking over away from the road to press.

I do think they present a not insignificant distracted driving risk, which is certainly a concern. But then they also become necessary as entertainment systems in the car become more complex. Radio, CDs, and cassettes can all be controlled from buttons and dials just fine, but when you have a large library of music on your phone or a thumb drive, you need a screen to be able to browse it.

I have a touch screen in my car which most of the time I leave displaying the nav map. Fortunately for music purposes, I can use voice commands to tell the car to play something in particular, so I'm not fiddling with the screen browsing while driving.


And yes, I am also among the people whose choice is not represented in the poll: I have a copy of my music library on a 64 GB flash drive, which my Ford Focus is capable of handling without issue. I have found through rental vehicles, though, that the effectiveness of this method varies between vehicles makes. It works in Ford, Volkswagen, and Jeep vehicles. It mostly works in Toyota vehicles but there are a few random things in my library they can't play for reasons I can't figure out. Meanwhile Nissan and Kia have total shit for entertainment systems that have indexes too small to handle my library and are incapable of playing albums in order by track number.

Now, even the three makes which I say it "works" in still can't play the .wav and .midi files in my library, but I don't reasonably expect compatibility for those. :P

.midi files?  Why in the world would you want to listen to .midi files?!

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 05, 2018, 12:17:08 PM
.midi files?  Why in the world would you want to listen to .midi files?!

If you wrote the music yourself.

I'd say it's something like this:

50% Sirius XM music stations (nine in heavy rotation, but I enjoy skipping around genres as well)
15% Sirius XM talk stations (five in heavy rotation, three in light rotation)
20% Music from phone
10% Podcasts from phone
5% Local AM stations (mostly for sports and traffic) - although I'll get the FM simulcast if it exists.

Something I've wondered about: the number of presets on the radio. I am locked into 12 from Sirius XM, 12 on FM, and 6 on AM. I was in someone's car recently and they had 24 presets, and you could assign any of them to anywhere. 24 AM presets? Done. 20 Sirius XM, 3 FM, 1 AM? Done? Why haven't more manufacturers adopted this? As listed above, I rarely if ever listen to terrestrial FM radio, and so I have 12 presets just gathering dust, when I could easily assign them to more satellite stations.

Conversely, if someone doesn't use the satellite option in their car, why not let them use those slots for terrestrial radio? Doesn't seem like it would be that big a deal to program that way.

Quote from: 1 on August 05, 2018, 12:17:42 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 05, 2018, 12:17:08 PM
.midi files?  Why in the world would you want to listen to .midi files?!

If you wrote the music yourself.

In my case it is because those .midi files are soundtracks from video games released in the 1990s, which are in .midi format because that is the original format they came in in the game's files. Same reason I have .wav files - it's all video game music.

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 05, 2018, 11:41:17 AM
Make sure you buy all the music you need/want from iTunes before they stop selling it (I believe) in the summer of 2019.

Wait a minute; Apple is killing off iTunes in 2019?
:crazy: :confused:

Quote from: D-Dey65 on August 05, 2018, 03:00:07 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 05, 2018, 11:41:17 AM
Make sure you buy all the music you need/want from iTunes before they stop selling it (I believe) in the summer of 2019.

Wait a minute; Apple is killing off iTunes in 2019?
:crazy: :confused:

Doing a quick Duck Duck Go check, it looks to be 'fake news'.  Apple has been 'tweaking' the offerings and services, like any business would for their product lines over time, but the company reports that there are no plans to drop it.  Digital download sales are still fairly strong.

Mike

FM Radio. I have a bunch of presets and bounce back and forth between them a lot picking and choosing songs/avoiding commercials.

Being about halfway between Cleveland and Toledo I'm able to pick up several stations from both of them plus the local stations in between, so there's usually a lot to pick from.

I normally use an 160Gb iPod Classic that is plugged into a set of external computer speakers (they sound GREAT, BTW) that are on the back seat floor for music and often games, news or talk chatter on the broadcast radio at the same time, adjusting the volumes between the two depending on what they are playing at any given time.

I like having a high(er?)-capacity .mp3 player (no subscription fees to keep the 17K+ files that I now have).  Does anyone make new ones anymore?

Mike

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 08:02:13 PM
The problem I noticed with the Chevy MyLink system is that essentially every function of the radio is only available on the touch screen.

I've had several Sonics and Sparks as rentals in the years around 2013-16, and though I liked the cars overall–and certainly preferred them over the dreadful Versas that Hertz was fond of stocking in the compact class–I never warmed to the MyLink system. The software itself wasn't the best design (though it was usable) and the system's performance was a bit laggy, but the lack of any kind of a physical volume knob and jog wheel to cycle through menus and options was a perpetual annoyance. At least the cars did have a physical volume up/down rocker on the steering wheel, but I still like having a knob for doing a quick volume up or down when needed.

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 04, 2018, 08:02:13 PM
Incidentally who else despises touch screens? ...I get the feeling it was meant to attract younger buyers.

As Duke87 said, touch screens are basically a necessity to handle the complexity of today's in-car audio landscape.

At one time, car radios simply had to allow drivers to tune in a station on AM and adjust the volume. But by the time that in-dash MP3 player integration first started making its way into cars in the early 2000s, many head units that relied solely on physical buttons were already becoming overburdened. Buttons were frequently doing double and triple duty, performing one function in radio mode, a different function in satellite mode, and a third function in CD mode. Then on top of this complexity, car makers were adding an additional layer of MP3 functions on buttons for things like "Playlist"  and "Artist" –and that's before we get into the smartphone era and the need to integrate third-party apps like Pandora.

Just imagine Pandora integration on a stereo with only physical controls: You'd have to scrutinize the 4-point type on a tiny physical button to figure out that the same button that's SCAN in radio mode is also SKIP TRACK in the CD mode, NEXT ARTIST in MP3 mode and finally THUMBS DOWN in Pandora mode. With a touchscreen, you're presented a simplified interface that's optimized specifically for Pandora, and you can easily tap the big thumbs down button on the screen.

But again, as I said in my comment about the Sonic and Spark above, it's still much better to have some basic and frequently used functions–like volume, jog forward/back, and power on/off–always available via a physical button or knob.

Quote from: AsphaltPlanet on August 04, 2018, 12:18:22 PM
Sometimes I'll just drive in complete silence for hours actually.  Often I'll do this with the window down.

Though I frequently listen to music or talk of some kind in the car, I occasionally like to take a break from it: A warm day, windows down, sunroof open, and no sound except the buffeting of wind throughout the car. There's something relaxing about it.

Quote from: DTComposer on August 05, 2018, 12:58:38 PM
Something I've wondered about: the number of presets on the radio. I am locked into 12 from Sirius XM, 12 on FM, and 6 on AM. I was in someone's car recently and they had 24 presets, and you could assign any of them to anywhere. 24 AM presets? Done.

On the other end of the spectrum, I recall my dad's '83 Datsun/Nissan Sentra (it had both marques on the back of the car). It had an AM/FM radio with five physical preset buttons below the dial. Three were labeled "FM"  and two were unlabeled (but usable for AM only). Talk about choice! The preset buttons were also how you switched between bands...press an FM preset first, jump to that band and preset, then tune to another station.

Here's a photo (https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/16-1983-Nissan-Pulsar-Down-On-the-Junkyard-Picture-courtesy-of-Phillip-Sentra-By-Another-Name-Greden-550x412.jpg) of a nearly identical radio

Quote from: D-Dey65 on August 05, 2018, 03:00:07 PM
Wait a minute; Apple is killing off iTunes in 2019?

No, Apple isn't killing off iTunes. There was a flurry of clickbait news stories about four months ago claiming that "leaked"  or "insider"  information indicates that Apple will cease the pay-once-and-download model of selling music tracks in April of 2019. However, Apple has repeatedly denied that any of these stories is correct.

Even if Apple is lying and the stories are correct, that would just mean that in the future, Apple wouldn't be offering tracks for purchase, rather, you would have to subscribe to the Apple Music service to get new music. But any music that you've already purchased will continue to be playable even if you don't subscribe.

Quote from: mgk920 on August 05, 2018, 03:27:25 PM
I like having a high(er?)-capacity .mp3 player (no subscription fees to keep the 17K+ files that I now have).  Does anyone make new ones anymore?

I'm in the market for an Android phone or tablet that will take a high-capacity micro SD card. I have one, but it has a slide-out physical keyboard that makes it a bit awkward to handle because it's so thick. The advantage there would be the ability to drag and drop files onto the card and avoid the iTunes sync process, which I dislike. Dragging and dropping means you can pull files from all sorts of external sources, such as data CDs and DVDs, and don't have to have them available every time you do an iTunes sync or else they are removed from the device.

I have the 256 GB micro SD card, I just need the device.

As I've often said, the problem with data-based services is there's so much territory around here that has poor cell service.

Bear in mind that even if Apple were to discontinue selling music for download, there are still other sources out there, depending on what sort of music you like. I've found HDTracks.com to be a good source, although I don't generally buy much from new artists these days.

---

Regarding players, there are a number of player-only devices out there, depending on your budget. I've had my eye on some Astell & Kern units because they offer high capacity and high-rez capability, but they're rather pricey and that's why I don't have one yet. Their KANN can store almost a terabyte of data via two card slots. I believe Onkyo makes one as well (and it can decode MQA), but again it's around $799. Check out Crutchfield, Music Direct, Audio Advisor, and maybe Acoustic Sounds to see what sorts of players there are.

---

Touchscreens can be very frustrating if they require taking your eyes off the road for more than a second. If there's voice control, that can help a lot, but it can still be maddening. My wife's TLX supposedly lets your search your iPod using the voice control, and in theory that should be a lot better than twirling the big dial on the dashboard to scroll through the list, but the voice control sometimes seems to be hit or miss. Maybe I need to spend more time playing with it, but I don't have the patience to do that in DC-arena traffic.

Quote from: hbelkins on August 05, 2018, 04:10:22 PM

Quote from: mgk920 on August 05, 2018, 03:27:25 PM
I like having a high(er?)-capacity .mp3 player (no subscription fees to keep the 17K+ files that I now have).  Does anyone make new ones anymore?

I'm in the market for an Android phone or tablet that will take a high-capacity micro SD card. I have one, but it has a slide-out physical keyboard that makes it a bit awkward to handle because it's so thick. The advantage there would be the ability to drag and drop files onto the card and avoid the iTunes sync process, which I dislike. Dragging and dropping means you can pull files from all sorts of external sources, such as data CDs and DVDs, and don't have to have them available every time you do an iTunes sync or else they are removed from the device.

I have the 256 GB micro SD card, I just need the device.

As I've often said, the problem with data-based services is there's so much territory around here that has poor cell service.

Have you looked at e-bay?

Quote from: hbelkins on August 05, 2018, 04:10:22 PM
I have the 256 GB micro SD card, I just need the device.

This isn't a phone, but devices like these might be good for your SD card:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sunpak-72-in-1-High-Speed-Card-Reader/16641239


One thing I thought about getting recently was a tailgate speaker. They might not be so good for driving from Tampa Bay to NYC, but they're great for the Drive-In Movies. Which I was actually thinking about starting a thread asking if anyone else here lives near one.

Quote from: 1995hoo on August 05, 2018, 04:31:27 PM
Bear in mind that even if Apple were to discontinue selling music for download, there are still other sources out there, depending on what sort of music you like. I've found HDTracks.com to be a good source, although I don't generally buy much from new artists these days.

---

Regarding players, there are a number of player-only devices out there, depending on your budget. I've had my eye on some Astell & Kern units because they offer high capacity and high-rez capability, but they're rather pricey and that's why I don't have one yet. Their KANN can store almost a terabyte of data via two card slots. I believe Onkyo makes one as well (and it can decode MQA), but again it's around $799. Check out Crutchfield, Music Direct, Audio Advisor, and maybe Acoustic Sounds to see what sorts of players there are.

---

Touchscreens can be very frustrating if they require taking your eyes off the road for more than a second. If there's voice control, that can help a lot, but it can still be maddening. My wife's TLX supposedly lets your search your iPod using the voice control, and in theory that should be a lot better than twirling the big dial on the dashboard to scroll through the list, but the voice control sometimes seems to be hit or miss. Maybe I need to spend more time playing with it, but I don't have the patience to do that in DC-arena traffic.

I do note that from what I could find, there are some Onkyo players that can go up to a bit over 500GB with SD cards in the $450-500 range.  I also note that they have separate mechanical buttons on the edge for pause/play and FF/RW.  This is a very useful thing, indeed, for someone who is in and out of his car all day long.

One thing that I do like about iPods is that they keep track of when and how many times individual files are played.  Their downside is that that their internal software apparently can't handle more than 30K files for playback, making massive (256GB+) SSD hard drive replacements a bit problematic.

I would assume that all of the higher-end players support playing files at random from their entire libraries, just like with the iPod's 'shuffle' mode (which is how I always use mine).

Mike

My vehicle lacks an aux cord, unfortunately, so I alternate between CDs and hooking up my bluetooth speaker to my phone and putting it on the dash.

I guess I'm one of the three weirdos who voted other. I prefer listening to news (NPR) while I'm driving.

Quote from: D-Dey65 on August 05, 2018, 10:01:42 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on August 05, 2018, 04:10:22 PM
I have the 256 GB micro SD card, I just need the device.

This isn't a phone, but devices like these might be good for your SD card:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sunpak-72-in-1-High-Speed-Card-Reader/16641239


One thing I thought about getting recently was a tailgate speaker. They might not be so good for driving from Tampa Bay to NYC, but they're great for the Drive-In Movies. Which I was actually thinking about starting a thread asking if anyone else here lives near one.

There are three drive-ins within an hour of me. Unfortunately we probably won't get to one this summer, as our newborn hates the car. He loves the L, though. Go figure. Anyway, to make a short story long, I would think a boom box tuned to the theater's FM transmitter would be cheaper and easier.

Once upon a time I couldn't move my car from one side of the driveway to the other without the radio on.
Now I very rarely turn it on. The last long road trip my wife and I did I don't think we turned it on at all.
Ever since I got my Mustang I find myself listening to it, or conversing with my wife when she is with me.

I chose Sirius in the poll, for the very few times a year I actually do turn the radio on. I'll scan through my presets 2 or 3 times  and if I don't hear a song I want to listen to I turn it right back off again.

Mainly FM Radio for me (though classic rock stations seem to be getting less and less common these days, sadly) and CDs for when there isn't anything good on the radio.

For me, it would be SiriusXM, because their stations have enough music to go around for hours on end, and they never fade away like traditional radio does. However, I'm planning to scour the used music stores for CDs of my favorite artists, who would be mainly 80s-90s stuff, in case I cancel my subscription down the road.

Spotify/Podcasts on the phone via Bluetooth, but I'll occasionally pop a CD in when I'm low on phone data

When I am alone in the car, I play audiobooks from my phone through one of the car's USB ports. My other half likes to listen to SiriusXM.

I have a mp3 player directly connected into my car's audio system via the USB port.  Audio system (Ford/Microsoft SYNC) has voice activation with controls on the steering wheel.  If I want to listen to a particular song or album, I only have to say "Play song (album) X."  However, most of the time I have the player on random shuffle.

Almost never listen to the radio unless I'm looking for a traffic report.  Only use the CD player if I have a new CD I haven't yet ripped on my computer and downloaded into the mp3 player.

One drawback to USB-based iPod connectors are that they don't always read the library very quickly. Sometimes it takes a minute or so (longer on some models) with roughly 8000 songs. It might be because I remove it from my car every evening. Depends on what I'm renting; but the AUX cord seems to be disappearing from new cars, and Apple's abandonment of the 3.5 mm port will probably see it disappear from new models in another 10 years.

My own car (a Scion) just reads and charges it; weaving through the iPod library takes a long time if the song/album/artist doesn't begin with "A" or "9", so I'm apt to just let iTunes create mixes, shuffle by genre, or randomize it...sometimes it brings up stuff I've forgotten about. But that's because it's tech a decade old, since it still has a 30-pin connector.

Quote from: formulanone on August 06, 2018, 11:06:00 AMApple's abandonment of the 3.5 mm port will probably see it disappear from new models in another 10 years.

Not unless it also disappears from Android phones.

If I'm listening to music from my phone in the car, I usually locate the music using the phone's interface; I don't know if it's an option to navigate using my car's stereo anyway (I have a 2013 Camry).

I mostly listen to Skepical podcasts, like The Skeptics Guide to the Universe, or retro gaming podcasts like The Atari 2600 Game by Game Podcast (or my own arcade retro gaming podcast, the Pie Factory Podcast (http://piefactorypodcast.com) )

When I listen to music, I listen to my downloads from the frustrating Amazon app

USB stick 99.5% of the time; the rest is traditional radio. I don't think I've even tested the CD player in my new car yet.

Quote from: formulanone on August 06, 2018, 11:06:00 AM
One drawback to USB-based iPod connectors are that they don't always read the library very quickly. Sometimes it takes a minute or so (longer on some models) with roughly 8000 songs. It might be because I remove it from my car every evening. Depends on what I'm renting; but the AUX cord seems to be disappearing from new cars, and Apple's abandonment of the 3.5 mm port will probably see it disappear from new models in another 10 years.

My own car (a Scion) just reads and charges it; weaving through the iPod library takes a long time if the song/album/artist doesn't begin with "A" or "9", so I'm apt to just let iTunes create mixes, shuffle by genre, or randomize it...sometimes it brings up stuff I've forgotten about. But that's because it's tech a decade old, since it still has a 30-pin connector.

Just noting that I'm another iPod Classic person. My classic has over 45,000 songs on it. I just set up playlists and let things go on shuffle, but usually I'm listening to podcasts. Connect through the AUX port.

SiriusXM almost all the time. I quickly grew tired of FM here (and the classic rock station plays a shitty talk show during my whole morning commute, no music). I have CDs and Music on my phone (Bluetooth) but I only use that on longer road trips (mostly in heavily forested areas or the Columbia Gorge, where SXM is spotty, but sometimes also when we want a change of pace). When I'm just driving around town, I like just turning on my car, and then having tons of music ready for me (I have 10 presets) without having to fuss about with my phone. Usually when we play anything else, my wife handles setting up the phone or switching CDs, etc.

Quote from: doorknob60 on August 06, 2018, 01:30:27 PMand the classic rock station plays a shitty talk show during my whole morning commute, no music

When I moved back to Chicago, WLUP-FM had a surprisingly non-shitty morning drive duo. They were quickly replaced by Mancow. Then the station changed formats to Christian contemporary.

I replaced the stereo in my old Toyota Tacoma truck with one that has both a USB port with something called "iPod mode" and an AUX jack. The iPod mode lets you control the music either from the head unit or the iPod. I always chose the iPod.

Quote from: D-Dey65 on August 05, 2018, 10:01:42 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on August 05, 2018, 04:10:22 PM
I have the 256 GB micro SD card, I just need the device.

This isn't a phone, but devices like these might be good for your SD card:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sunpak-72-in-1-High-Speed-Card-Reader/16641239

I'm not sure how you'd use a card reader to listen to music. My MacBook Pro has the capability to copy music over to the card. I need a device in which I can insert the card to play the music with.

This is one of Apple's big FAILs -- not allowing expansion of the built-in internal memory in its devices. If iPhones or iPads had card slots the way most Android devices do, the problem is solved.

I do have an UltiFlash device that plugs into the phone, and allows charging, but it has a proprietary music player that doesn't handle gapless albums (like live albums where one song seques into the next without a cap in the sound) so I don't consider it to be a viable option.

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 06, 2018, 02:05:57 PM

Quote from: doorknob60 on August 06, 2018, 01:30:27 PMand the classic rock station plays a shitty talk show during my whole morning commute, no music

When I moved back to Chicago, WLUP-FM had a surprisingly non-shitty morning drive duo. They were quickly replaced by Mancow. Then the station changed formats to Christian contemporary.

I would have listened to WDRV back when Steve Downes was running things. Listening to Master Chief on the way to work every day...life complete.

Quote from: hbelkins on August 06, 2018, 04:56:41 PM
This is one of Apple's big FAILs -- not allowing expansion of the built-in internal memory in its devices. If iPhones or iPads had card slots the way most Android devices do, the problem is solved.=

Not necessary anymore. Most modern phones have a large amount of built-in storage, plus, considering all the online services to keep things off-device, it's easy to keep from filling up.

Quote from: hbelkins on August 06, 2018, 04:51:27 PM
I replaced the stereo in my old Toyota Tacoma truck with one that has both a USB port with something called "iPod mode" and an AUX jack. The iPod mode lets you control the music either from the head unit or the iPod. I always chose the iPod.

Here in Washington (as in California as well), you are not allowed to use an electronic device while driving, unless it's in a dock (where my phone is). So controlling the device through the stereo is the only option without a dock. That might be why they allow both options.

REEL TO REEL FTW

Seriously though, I listen in silence or turn on the radio.

Quote from: jakeroot on August 06, 2018, 07:29:33 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on August 06, 2018, 04:56:41 PM
This is one of Apple's big FAILs -- not allowing expansion of the built-in internal memory in its devices. If iPhones or iPads had card slots the way most Android devices do, the problem is solved.=

Not necessary anymore. Most modern phones have a large amount of built-in storage, plus, considering all the online services to keep things off-device, it's easy to keep from filling up.

Well, if you're willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a phone.  And even then, having storage of photos/music be external is good to have.  My friend's girlfriend's iPhone got damaged and now her data is lost.  On an Android, it would be as simple as popping out the SD card.  Of course, it would also be as simple as popping in a new battery (at least on some phones).

Quote from: vdeane on August 06, 2018, 09:02:40 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on August 06, 2018, 07:29:33 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on August 06, 2018, 04:56:41 PM
This is one of Apple's big FAILs -- not allowing expansion of the built-in internal memory in its devices. If iPhones or iPads had card slots the way most Android devices do, the problem is solved.=

Not necessary anymore. Most modern phones have a large amount of built-in storage, plus, considering all the online services to keep things off-device, it's easy to keep from filling up.

Well, if you're willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a phone.  And even then, having storage of photos/music be external is good to have.  My friend's girlfriend's iPhone got damaged and now her data is lost.  On an Android, it would be as simple as popping out the SD card.  Of course, it would also be as simple as popping in a new battery (at least on some phones).

I backup the photos off my phone every month or so...iCloud does the rest. While 32 GB is sufficient for the 30-40 apps I need, I'd prefer 64 GB. But you have to pay an extra $100-200 for that. Or just pay $100 for more storage but in a lesser model.

Apple plays a mean shell game...

Recent Model
High Capacity
Low Price
Availability

(pick two)

Quote from: hbelkins on August 06, 2018, 04:56:41 PM

Quote from: D-Dey65 on August 05, 2018, 10:01:42 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on August 05, 2018, 04:10:22 PM
I have the 256 GB micro SD card, I just need the device.

This isn't a phone, but devices like these might be good for your SD card:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sunpak-72-in-1-High-Speed-Card-Reader/16641239

I'm not sure how you'd use a card reader to listen to music.

In my previous car, I used to do it quite often. Just stick the SD card in the card reader, and stick the card reader in the USB drive in your car stereo.

Quote from: jakeroot on August 06, 2018, 07:29:33 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on August 06, 2018, 04:56:41 PM
This is one of Apple's big FAILs -- not allowing expansion of the built-in internal memory in its devices. If iPhones or iPads had card slots the way most Android devices do, the problem is solved.=

Not necessary anymore. Most modern phones have a large amount of built-in storage, plus, considering all the online services to keep things off-device, it's easy to keep from filling up.

As I've often said, cloud storage is of no use if you are frequently in areas with poor or no cell phone service. And what if you have a limited amount of data on your plan? You pay your cell service provider for access to your own music.

Quote from: jakeroot on August 06, 2018, 07:29:33 PM
Here in Washington (as in California as well), you are not allowed to use an electronic device while driving, unless it's in a dock (where my phone is). So controlling the device through the stereo is the only option without a dock. That might be why they allow both options.

In California, the law about devices specifically applies to phones -- it does not appear to cover devices like iPod Classics (although a dock is still a good idea, and I use one).

Quote from: hbelkins on August 07, 2018, 11:23:23 AM

Quote from: jakeroot on August 06, 2018, 07:29:33 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on August 06, 2018, 04:56:41 PM
This is one of Apple's big FAILs -- not allowing expansion of the built-in internal memory in its devices. If iPhones or iPads had card slots the way most Android devices do, the problem is solved.=

Not necessary anymore. Most modern phones have a large amount of built-in storage, plus, considering all the online services to keep things off-device, it's easy to keep from filling up.

As I've often said, cloud storage is of no use if you are frequently in areas with poor or no cell phone service. And what if you have a limited amount of data on your plan? You pay your cell service provider for access to your own music.

In that instance, yes, cloud storage is no good. But you could keep photos and videos off-device, things which do take up a considerable amount of room. That gives you more room for music.

To be honest, I'm rarely in a situation without reception, so it's something I forget to consider.

How much storage does your current phone have? And how many songs do you have in your library? Consider purchasing an iPhone with 128 or 256 GB of storage, if you must have an Apple device. That's a ton of music in either case.

Quote from: cahwyguy on August 07, 2018, 12:40:01 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on August 06, 2018, 07:29:33 PM
Here in Washington (as in California as well), you are not allowed to use an electronic device while driving, unless it's in a dock (where my phone is). So controlling the device through the stereo is the only option without a dock. That might be why they allow both options.

In California, the law about devices specifically applies to phones -- it does not appear to cover devices like iPod Classics (although a dock is still a good idea, and I use one).

Ahh, I thought it was a bit more encompassing. Here in WA, the use of a "personal electronic device" is banned (RCW 46.61.672), which basically includes everything except things manufactured primarily for hand-free use (such as built in stereos, I believe). The only things it doesn't include are two-way radios, citizens band radios, or amateur radio equipment.

Quote from: jakeroot on August 07, 2018, 02:58:59 PM
Ahh, I thought it was a bit more encompassing. Here in WA, the use of a "personal electronic device" is banned (RCW 46.61.672), which basically includes everything except things manufactured primarily for hand-free use (such as built in stereos, I believe). The only things it doesn't include are two-way radios, citizens band radios, or amateur radio equipment.

Cameras?

Quote from: jakeroot on August 07, 2018, 02:58:59 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on August 07, 2018, 11:23:23 AM

Quote from: jakeroot on August 06, 2018, 07:29:33 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on August 06, 2018, 04:56:41 PM
This is one of Apple's big FAILs -- not allowing expansion of the built-in internal memory in its devices. If iPhones or iPads had card slots the way most Android devices do, the problem is solved.=

Not necessary anymore. Most modern phones have a large amount of built-in storage, plus, considering all the online services to keep things off-device, it's easy to keep from filling up.

As I've often said, cloud storage is of no use if you are frequently in areas with poor or no cell phone service. And what if you have a limited amount of data on your plan? You pay your cell service provider for access to your own music.

In that instance, yes, cloud storage is no good. But you could keep photos and videos off-device, things which do take up a considerable amount of room. That gives you more room for music.

To be honest, I'm rarely in a situation without reception, so it's something I forget to consider.

How much storage does your current phone have? And how many songs do you have in your library? Consider purchasing an iPhone with 128 or 256 GB of storage, if you must have an Apple device. That's a ton of music in either case.

I dump my photos to my computer every so often, then back up the computer. I typically just use my phone's camera for quick shots; I have a camera to use as my major, primary photo-taking device. My phone has 64 GB, but remember that I don't want to use my phone as a music player. I have a 160 GB iPod classic that has about 130 GB of music on it, and I've got gobs of MP3s on hard drives, CDs and DVDs, that I have not copied to the player. I just bought my used iPhone 6 last year. A device with a card slot and a couple of 256 GB micro SD cards, and I would have my entire music library at my fingertips.

Quote from: 1 on August 07, 2018, 03:15:51 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on August 07, 2018, 02:58:59 PM
Ahh, I thought it was a bit more encompassing. Here in WA, the use of a "personal electronic device" is banned (RCW 46.61.672), which basically includes everything except things manufactured primarily for hand-free use (such as built in stereos, I believe). The only things it doesn't include are two-way radios, citizens band radios, or amateur radio equipment.

Cameras?

I think I've seen on the news people being ticketed for using cameras while driving (WSP is aggressive about enforcement). The law would seem to include them. This makes roadgeeking hard up here without a dashcam.

Quote from: hbelkins on August 07, 2018, 03:59:01 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on August 07, 2018, 02:58:59 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on August 07, 2018, 11:23:23 AM

Quote from: jakeroot on August 06, 2018, 07:29:33 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on August 06, 2018, 04:56:41 PM
This is one of Apple's big FAILs -- not allowing expansion of the built-in internal memory in its devices. If iPhones or iPads had card slots the way most Android devices do, the problem is solved.=

Not necessary anymore. Most modern phones have a large amount of built-in storage, plus, considering all the online services to keep things off-device, it's easy to keep from filling up.

As I've often said, cloud storage is of no use if you are frequently in areas with poor or no cell phone service. And what if you have a limited amount of data on your plan? You pay your cell service provider for access to your own music.

In that instance, yes, cloud storage is no good. But you could keep photos and videos off-device, things which do take up a considerable amount of room. That gives you more room for music.

To be honest, I'm rarely in a situation without reception, so it's something I forget to consider.

How much storage does your current phone have? And how many songs do you have in your library? Consider purchasing an iPhone with 128 or 256 GB of storage, if you must have an Apple device. That's a ton of music in either case.

I dump my photos to my computer every so often, then back up the computer. I typically just use my phone's camera for quick shots; I have a camera to use as my major, primary photo-taking device. My phone has 64 GB, but remember that I don't want to use my phone as a music player. I have a 160 GB iPod classic that has about 130 GB of music on it, and I've got gobs of MP3s on hard drives, CDs and DVDs, that I have not copied to the player. I just bought my used iPhone 6 last year. A device with a card slot and a couple of 256 GB micro SD cards, and I would have my entire music library at my fingertips.

Sounds like you need an Android phone! You could always buy an older Android phone with expandable memory, and use that as your music player.

There's a reason I dropped Apple so many years ago. I personally take a ton of videos on my phone, always in at least 1080p, so I need a lot of space. The last iPhone I had (iPhone 6 with 128GB of storage) still wasn't enough; I had to pull media off the device every now and then to avoid filling it up. Plus I have tens of thousands of photos. Now, with all the cloud-backup solutions, I'm not so worried about having a ton of space, but at least I have option.

One issue I have had with external storage on my android phones is corruption. I have had two micro SD cards go corrupt on me, and I lost quite a few photos (not thousands -- just a few dozen) and some videos refuse to play back, though I can see the thumbnail, which is almost worse than seeing nothing, especially if it's a video I really needed to see again. I've never had any issues with corrupt storage until I started using micro SD cards.

Quote from: jakeroot on August 07, 2018, 05:09:42 PM
Sounds like you need an Android phone! You could always buy an older Android phone with expandable memory, and use that as your music player.

I have too much invested in iOS app. Plus, we use iDevices for work, and anything I put on my work devices I can put on my personal devices, and vice versa, as I use the same Apple ID on all of them.

That's my plan -- find an older Android phone and use it as a wi-fi-only device. Walmart actually has some inexpensive tablets but they only take up to a 32 GB card, and I have a 256 GB I want to use. I may have mentioned before, I have an old Android phone that will use the 256 GB cards, but it has a slide-out physical keyboard and thus is a bit awkward to hold.

QuoteOne issue I have had with external storage on my android phones is corruption. I have had two micro SD cards go corrupt on me, and I lost quite a few photos (not thousands -- just a few dozen) and some videos refuse to play back, though I can see the thumbnail, which is almost worse than seeing nothing, especially if it's a video I really needed to see again. I've never had any issues with corrupt storage until I started using micro SD cards.

That's the best argument for backing up to your computer, and then backing up the computer. By copying music onto an SD card to use for playback, you have the original files elsewhere and if the card goes bad, you can reformat and then copy the tunes back over.

Try having a card go bad before you've taken it out of the camera and copied the files over. That happened to me after a trip a few years ago when I lost a whole day of pictures from northern and central Ohio, and has happened to me at work a couple of times as well.

Wi-fi only?  You'll have a hotspot with you?

^ If he's just using it to play music tracks off a local storage device (like an SD card), the lack of an Internet connection won't be an issue.

Quote from: briantroutman on August 08, 2018, 12:08:36 AM
^ If he's just using it to play music tracks off a local storage device (like an SD card), the lack of an Internet connection won't be an issue.

Correct. If I need a hotspot, both my work iPad and my personal iPhone have that feature enabled. However, there's that little issue of poor service in the eastern Kentucky mountains...

Quote from: hbelkins on August 08, 2018, 03:14:44 PM

Quote from: briantroutman on August 08, 2018, 12:08:36 AM
^ If he's just using it to play music tracks off a local storage device (like an SD card), the lack of an Internet connection won't be an issue.

Correct. If I need a hotspot, both my work iPad and my personal iPhone have that feature enabled. However, there's that little issue of poor service in the eastern Kentucky mountains...

Heck, I have an issue getting cell service just 8 miles west of where I live in Illinois, and that's only a few miles south of I-80.

Historically, I have used the AUX port in my Accord's center console. After upgrading to a phone without a headphone jack (and not wanting to deal with seemingly universally crap USB-C headphone adapters), I bought a tiny bluetooth adapter that plugs in to the port and connects to my phone. It works pretty well, though it's occasionally irritating getting it to pair upon entering the car.

Quote from: Buck87 on August 05, 2018, 03:26:44 PM
FM Radio. I have a bunch of presets and bounce back and forth between them a lot picking and choosing songs/avoiding commercials.

Being about halfway between Cleveland and Toledo I'm able to pick up several stations from both of them plus the local stations in between, so there's usually a lot to pick from.

Yup.  I have six FM presets: both oldies, both classic rocks, an 80s/90s hits station, and a station that plays everything.  104.3 WKZG (the 80s/90s hits station) is the one that plays the highest proportion of stuff I like, and I love their 80s weekends.

Quote from: doorknob60 on August 06, 2018, 01:30:27 PM
SiriusXM almost all the time. I quickly grew tired of FM here (and the classic rock station plays a shitty talk show during my whole morning commute, no music). I have CDs and Music on my phone (Bluetooth) but I only use that on longer road trips (mostly in heavily forested areas or the Columbia Gorge, where SXM is spotty, but sometimes also when we want a change of pace). When I'm just driving around town, I like just turning on my car, and then having tons of music ready for me (I have 10 presets) without having to fuss about with my phone. Usually when we play anything else, my wife handles setting up the phone or switching CDs, etc.

105.7 WAPL?  I hate their morning show!

Quote from: 20160805 on August 08, 2018, 08:37:45 PM

Quote from: Buck87 on August 05, 2018, 03:26:44 PM
FM Radio. I have a bunch of presets and bounce back and forth between them a lot picking and choosing songs/avoiding commercials.

Being about halfway between Cleveland and Toledo I'm able to pick up several stations from both of them plus the local stations in between, so there's usually a lot to pick from.

Yup.  I have six FM presets: both oldies, both classic rocks, an 80s/90s hits station, and a station that plays everything.  104.3 WKZG (the 80s/90s hits station) is the one that plays the highest proportion of stuff I like, and I love their 80s weekends.

Quote from: doorknob60 on August 06, 2018, 01:30:27 PM
SiriusXM almost all the time. I quickly grew tired of FM here (and the classic rock station plays a shitty talk show during my whole morning commute, no music). I have CDs and Music on my phone (Bluetooth) but I only use that on longer road trips (mostly in heavily forested areas or the Columbia Gorge, where SXM is spotty, but sometimes also when we want a change of pace). When I'm just driving around town, I like just turning on my car, and then having tons of music ready for me (I have 10 presets) without having to fuss about with my phone. Usually when we play anything else, my wife handles setting up the phone or switching CDs, etc.

105.7 WAPL?  I hate their morning show!

94.3 FM (WYDR) is the NE Wisconsin 'everything' station that most of my co-workers can agree on.  (Yes, I have had to live under 100.3 FM (current country) and 102.1 FM (contemporary Christian) bosses for a few months each over the past couple of years, too.  :banghead: )  When I was young, 94.3 FM (then WROE) played pure 'elevator music'.

104.3 FM (WKZG) does replays of 1980s-era Casey Kasum American Top 40 shows from 8a-noon on Sundays.  I like those.   :nod:

Has 105.7 FM (WAPL) ever changed their playlist from what it was back in the mid-1980s (when they were consistently pulling in a full 25% of the area's listening audience - while most radio station PDs would kill for 10%)?

Most of the time, though, when I have a broadcast radio turned on for myself I usually have it tuned to Chicago or Milwaukee AMs, local stuff here overall is pretty dullsville and the iPod does the music duties.

Mike

It's so hard to listen to the old Casey Kasem shows without thinking of his meltdown over the story about the little dog named Snuffles. But they are fascinating to listen to.

^^ Snuggles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndUk6yX3PBo

Quote from: mgk920 on August 08, 2018, 10:07:00 PM

Quote from: 20160805 on August 08, 2018, 08:37:45 PM

Quote from: Buck87 on August 05, 2018, 03:26:44 PM
FM Radio. I have a bunch of presets and bounce back and forth between them a lot picking and choosing songs/avoiding commercials.

Being about halfway between Cleveland and Toledo I'm able to pick up several stations from both of them plus the local stations in between, so there's usually a lot to pick from.

Yup.  I have six FM presets: both oldies, both classic rocks, an 80s/90s hits station, and a station that plays everything.  104.3 WKZG (the 80s/90s hits station) is the one that plays the highest proportion of stuff I like, and I love their 80s weekends.

Quote from: doorknob60 on August 06, 2018, 01:30:27 PM
SiriusXM almost all the time. I quickly grew tired of FM here (and the classic rock station plays a shitty talk show during my whole morning commute, no music). I have CDs and Music on my phone (Bluetooth) but I only use that on longer road trips (mostly in heavily forested areas or the Columbia Gorge, where SXM is spotty, but sometimes also when we want a change of pace). When I'm just driving around town, I like just turning on my car, and then having tons of music ready for me (I have 10 presets) without having to fuss about with my phone. Usually when we play anything else, my wife handles setting up the phone or switching CDs, etc.

105.7 WAPL?  I hate their morning show!

94.3 FM (WYDR) is the NE Wisconsin 'everything' station that most of my co-workers can agree on.  (Yes, I have had to live under 100.3 FM (current country) and 102.1 FM (contemporary Christian) bosses for a few months each over the past couple of years, too.  :banghead: )  When I was young, 94.3 FM (then WROE) played pure 'elevator music'.

104.3 FM (WKZG) does replays of 1980s-era Casey Kasum American Top 40 shows from 8a-noon on Sundays.  I like those.   :nod:

Has 105.7 FM (WAPL) ever changed their playlist from what it was back in the mid-1980s (when they were consistently pulling in a full 25% of the area's listening audience - while most radio station PDs would kill for 10%)?

Most of the time, though, when I have a broadcast radio turned on for myself I usually have it tuned to Chicago or Milwaukee AMs, local stuff here overall is pretty dullsville and the iPod does the music duties.

Mike

Well, WAPL has to have changed its playlist at least once in my lifetime (I was born in 1992), as they seem to play a higher frequency of 90s stuff than I'd expect on a classic rock station (and virtually ignore the 60s; even 103.9 WVBO isn't quite that bad with its ignoring of actually old stuff); in high school WAPL was actually the station they piped into the bathrooms.  Nothing like taking a dump to "Bohemian Rhapsody"!  :-P

I would HATE having 100.3 on all day at work!  Even 45 minutes of it is enough to drive me batcrap insane (which I know from experience...thanks, 10th grade PE teacher!)

Edit: Congratulations on me reaching "State Route" status!

Quote from: Big John on August 08, 2018, 11:13:12 PM
^^ Snuggles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndUk6yX3PBo

I sit corrected.

Quote from: jakeroot on August 06, 2018, 07:29:33 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 06, 2018, 02:05:57 PM

Quote from: doorknob60 on August 06, 2018, 01:30:27 PMand the classic rock station plays a shitty talk show during my whole morning commute, no music

When I moved back to Chicago, WLUP-FM had a surprisingly non-shitty morning drive duo. They were quickly replaced by Mancow. Then the station changed formats to Christian contemporary.

I would have listened to WDRV back when Steve Downes was running things. Listening to Master Chief on the way to work every day...life complete.

Mancow is God's method of punishing humanity for their complacency during the Holocaust.

Quote from: hbelkins on August 07, 2018, 03:59:01 PM
I have a 160 GB iPod classic that has about 130 GB of music on it, and I've got gobs of MP3s on hard drives, CDs and DVDs, that I have not copied to the player.

HB: If you ever want to expand the storage to solid state, take a look at http://www.iflash.xyz/ . I've used their board to put 2 x 256GB SD cards in my classics, and I have 1 x 256 and 1x128 in my wife's classic (and her 6G Classic will be going to 128GB, the max LBA addressing allows). You can also use the microSD cards. The only limits I should run into is an ~65,000 song limit in the iTunes database on the classic side, and things work best if I keep playlists limited to 20K songs. I'm at a bit over 44K songs, so I should be OK for a bit.

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 09, 2018, 12:09:44 PM
Mancow is God's method of punishing humanity for their complacency during the Holocaust.

Fellow Hamburger fan?

Quote from: briantroutman on August 09, 2018, 01:01:17 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 09, 2018, 12:09:44 PM
Mancow is God's method of punishing humanity for their complacency during the Holocaust.

Fellow Hamburger fan?

Ha, yes. I've been saying that about stuff I hate for so long, I forgot its origin.

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 09, 2018, 12:06:22 PM

Quote from: Big John on August 08, 2018, 11:13:12 PM
^^ Snuggles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndUk6yX3PBo

I sit corrected.

(https://i.imgur.com/I3o6ssX.png)

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 09, 2018, 12:09:44 PM
Mancow is God's method of punishing humanity for their complacency during the Holocaust.

If that's the case, then I shudder to think what Howard Stern is punishment for.  Always been of the opinion Mancow > Stern.

Quote from: Brandon on August 09, 2018, 04:35:41 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 09, 2018, 12:09:44 PM
Mancow is God's method of punishing humanity for their complacency during the Holocaust.

If that's the case, then I shudder to think what Howard Stern is punishment for.  Always been of the opinion Mancow > Stern.

It's hard to form an opinion on the matter when Mancow was only available in Chicago.

Quote from: jakeroot on August 09, 2018, 04:45:17 PM

Quote from: Brandon on August 09, 2018, 04:35:41 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 09, 2018, 12:09:44 PM
Mancow is God's method of punishing humanity for their complacency during the Holocaust.

If that's the case, then I shudder to think what Howard Stern is punishment for.  Always been of the opinion Mancow > Stern.

It's hard to form an opinion on the matter when Mancow was only available in Chicago.

Mancow has never been syndicated, but I think he's been on the air elsewhere, since I have a friend who lives in Tampa and is familiar with him.  He had to have done something for a living during the time when he wasn't on the air in Chicago.

Quote from: jakeroot on August 09, 2018, 04:13:20 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 09, 2018, 12:06:22 PM

Quote from: Big John on August 08, 2018, 11:13:12 PM
^^ Snuggles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndUk6yX3PBo

I sit corrected.

(https://i.imgur.com/I3o6ssX.png)

I've really been leaning into the dad jokes since becoming a dad.  I also grew a mustache.

Quote from: Brandon on August 09, 2018, 04:35:41 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 09, 2018, 12:09:44 PM
Mancow is God's method of punishing humanity for their complacency during the Holocaust.

If that's the case, then I shudder to think what Howard Stern is punishment for.  Always been of the opinion Mancow > Stern.

Being asked to choose which of the two is better/worse is like being asked which type of cancer I prefer. 

I know I have seen Mancow doing his radio show on TV before, but I can't remember which channel/network or why. That's how I first heard of him.

Quote from: hbelkins on August 09, 2018, 09:34:02 PM
I know I have seen Mancow doing his radio show on TV before, but I can't remember which channel/network or why. That's how I first heard of him.

Could have been WGN, since that's a Chicago-based nationally-broadcasted station.

I think that Mancow was on one of those alt-History shows like The President's Book of Secrets.

<checks>

Yes: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0612122/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t13#self

One time my wife and I went to the PF Chang's at Woodfield Mall and he was at the table next to ours.

That's what we get for going to Schaumburg.

Daily, it's often broadcast FM - the local NPR station - but occasionally a podcast thru AUX cord from my phone, an audiobook via CD, or SiriusXM programming.  Usually news, rarely classical music to 'wind down' after work.

Roadtrips: Driving with the fam, I'll usually let my adult children DJ. Usually music via aux cord from someone's phone, lots of singing along of songs we know - we love to find harmonies. They often introduce me to newer artists at these time - still not enough for me to be 'cool'. sadly.   

Driving alone, I'll often pick out a few audiobooks on CD. I may look up the FM NPR stations along my route. I only recently got SiriusXM but can now use it on trips as well.

Something I used to do years ago: come to an area new to me and put the radio on scan. It could often be fun and funny to find the local "amateur" independent or small-town low-powered local radio with some offbeat programming: native american music or polka music or the local HS football game with some really awkward play-by-play by non-professional 'sportscasters.'

Quote from: hbelkins on August 07, 2018, 03:59:01 PM
I have a 160 GB iPod classic that has about 130 GB of music on it, and I've got gobs of MP3s on hard drives, CDs and DVDs, that I have not copied to the player.

Evidently I've got less than you, because I currently have 75.3 GB of freespace on my 160 GB iPod Classic, but I also have TV show episodes and movies crammed on there.

The rest are on SD cards, and in some cases Micro-SD cards. Everything else is on CD, Casette, or Vinyl.

My car has a USB port, and I have a 64gb thumb drive that I have music stored on. I have something like 8000 songs at my fingertips. I can also plug an iPod into the port and control it from the head unit. When I plug the iPod into the stereo, the iPod screen has a GM logo on it.

I'm surprised to hear so many cars allow you to play music from thumb drives. Is it difficult to select music while driving?

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 26, 2018, 08:15:38 AM
I'm surprised to hear so many cars allow you to play music from thumb drives. Is it difficult to select music while driving?

It is quite simple. My car, a 2010 Chevrolet HHR, has a factory stereo that has a USB port, a 3.5mm jack and satellite radio (which I don't have a subscription for). The stereo has a knob which can be turned to scroll through artist names, album names and songs titles. It is easy to use while driving.

It looks like this. The USB port is in the lower right hand corner, while the 3.5mm jack is in the bottom left corner. The big knob controls volume while the small knob scrolls through songlists.

(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1845/42468946230_3b4dbd26dc_z.jpg)

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 26, 2018, 08:15:38 AM
I'm surprised to hear so many cars allow you to play music from thumb drives. Is it difficult to select music while driving?

Not really.  My car, a 2017 Jeep Renegade plays directly from the thumb drive, and I can control it using the controls on the steering wheel as well as on the radio itself.  The screen is a bit bigger than Bugo's, and I can choose what files I want to listen to and randomize the songs.  I can pick genres I want to listen to as well.

Funny story, nearly several years ago, somebody posted a picture on imgur.com showing some guy plugging a flash drive on his car stereo revealing that he had files from a porno site.

https://imgur.com/gallery/vC1cfUp

(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FvC1cfUp.jpg&hash=7085f47ee0ea2986d00344f31603a12301c452ca)


My previous car stereo never bothered with anything other than audio files. So if I had a video of (hypothetically speaking) the M*A*S*H episode "Are You Now, Margaret," or any other video file, it would completely ignore that and any other videos.

In this era of near-ubiquitous Internet access, it seems odd to think that, once upon a time, it was necessary to download videos in case you wanted to watch them offline.

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 26, 2018, 02:56:23 PM
In this era of near-ubiquitous Internet access, it seems odd to think that, once upon a time, it was necessary to download videos in case you wanted to watch them offline.

There was also a time when downloading videos wasn't even an option.  ;-)

My car will only play MP3 files. It doesn't detect any other format.

Nexus 5X