Just out of curiosity (prompted by Mark_Digital's note in an OT thread about how he carries a bag of CD's), what are you doing for tunes or talk in your Toyota?
I've been contemplating an audio upgrade.
I've got basic CD and radio (the default single-CD player of '00). It doesn't seem to do CD-ROMs with MP3s. My wife surprised me last year with an iPod that I absolutely love (except that 1GB looked like a lot - at first - and now I could easily use 2GB or more). I have no way to use it in the car (headphones seem like a bad idea), there's no audio port on the Toyota radio of '00.
Has anyone got HD Radio capability? Do you listen to HD Radio? Do you have an iPod port? Is it a asic audio input jack, a USB port or something more exotic? What do you think is essential and what do you really use?
Instead of listening to music in your car take that time to listen to news and other such things. That would help you to become more informed about these day's happenings. Using all your resources that are available will expand your open-mindedness and not keep you chained to the opinions of a few select outlets you are using now. I know you are much more intelligent than that garbage you have been feeding on from slate.com and similar places. It's good to hear a variety of opinions and formulate your own based on your experience and ability to reason.
Sometimes I get tired of all the yapping and just want to listen to some music. I used to listen to talk/news radio almost exclusively until I got XM. Now, with about 100 choices, I can listen to what *I* want to listen to, not what the local (UGH!) radio stations are pushing this week or play what 'everyone' wants to here (We have some really BAD stations around here)
Where I live is an AM Black Hole, so unless I'm in certain sections of the area, all I get is static...unless I want to listen to NPR.
The good side: I recently discovered that Glenn Beck broadcasts on XM. This is a Good Thing. I have gotten so I like Beck better than Limbaugh anyway. If someone screws up, Beck calls them on it, be it Democrat *OR* Republican!
Mazda: Aiwa CD player, no MP3 capability, $38 on E-Bay. Good sound through decent speakers (Infinitys in the rear, Clarions in the front). Bad point: No MP3 capability. Good point: Front panel AUX jack for my XM receiver and my phone. Sony Ericsson W300 w/MP3 player. The headphones came with the proprietary adapter, but it separates in the middle with a standard 1/4" phone jack. So, I can disconnect the jack from the XM and plug into the phone and play MP3s
formatting link
(Sony Ericsson W300)
Supra: JVC Arsenal AM/FM/CD/MP3/WMA player. Awesome unit! MB Quart speakers all the way around, 6.5" in front, 5" in rear. One Optimus 4X100 Watt amp. 12" "Sub" mounted in an old Pignose amp with a 265 Watt Optimus amp.
formatting link
We blocked off theback and 'ported' the front where the amp would be. No , but goodbass! Seven band graphic EQ custome installed in the dash by Yours Truly.Good points: MP3 and WMA capability, good sound, easy to use. Bad points:No front panel input available; needs a $50 adapter from JVC to addMP3/CD/Ipod/XM. Sirius ready, so maybe when Siruis and XM merge I'll getthe tuner. Need to flop the face forward to insert CDs. ~$65 on E-Bay(list $169)
LHS: (When I had it) JVC AM/FM/MP3 player. Not as many outputs as the one above, but I was using the speaker connections anyway. Same good/bad points as above, except has the CD slot in the open. $42 on E-Bay
Others: Sony XPlod AM/FM/CD. Not a lot of Bling, but has a built-in 7 band EQ and a LOT of power! Also needs a Sony Bus adapter for direct input. Don't like it as much as the JVCs, but it sure is LOUD!!! FREEBIE! Came out of a Neon someone traded in, got replaced with an older Alpine I had hanging around...
If you have the iPod and a phone that can connect, then get a front-panel AUX unit, or at least one that doesn't need a proprietary adapter. Some have RCA or 1/4" inputs on the back; with either you can run a cable inconspicuously out of the dash
My Scion still has the stock Pioneer sound system. I like the way it sounds. I upgraded to MB Quart speakers all the way around. It plays MP3s but needs a cable or an adapter (~$80) to add the XM/'Walkman'. Or, I can shell out $375 to Toyota to get the built-in XM receiver, but then can't use it in the other cars!
I had a Sony Xplod AM/FM/CD with the motorized face that look like nothing was there when closed. It started malfunctioning to where I could only use the remote control and then it just plain quit a month ago. Luckily I kept the original factory AM/FM/Cassette and I had to put it back in. Oh well, I got 5 or 6 years out of it.
I just use the stock CD player/radio.. I burn my own music disks, and yes, they do have to be in normal CD format.. I tried one with MP3's and it wouldn't work. But I can burn them either way, so no big deal.. I listen to the talking heads quite a bit, but I also need my occasional blasts of music. I keep all my disks in the center console.. It's actually sized for that purpose I think.. They seem to fit pretty well. I listen to AM radio a lot on the road. IE: when I drive from Houston to Lake Eufaula, OK, I usually drive at night, and listen to the talking heads, or truck driver shows. I can start with Houston 740, and about halfway to Dallas, switch to Dallas 820. I can usually run 820 nearly the rest of the way. When I get to the lake, I can dial Tulsa 740, and listen to the local chatter, wx, etc.. I normally also have my ham radio in the car, but I've been too chicken@#$% to drill holes in the corolla yet, so no radio as of yet. But I need to rig something up, at least so I can use VHF/UHF in the car.. I usually also run HF, but I don't know if I can rig that on the corolla without a fairly heavy duty mount.. I normally drill a hole in the trunk, and reinforce the deck lid, but like I say, I've been too chicken to do that on the yota yet.. The car is near mint, and I hate to bugger it up.. All my other vehicles have all band antenna mounting. My accord has a drilled and reinforced trunk lid, but it is an 89, and didn't bother me much on it.. The radio I use in the cars is an Icom IC-706mk2g. It works all bands, HF through UHF, and is also a general coverage receiver/scanner for all those bands. IE: I can listen to nearly anything, including police, aircraft, etc, etc, ad nausium.. It's legal for me in any state cuz I'm NM5K. My FCC ham license overrides any local scanner laws, etc.. But I think I'm fixing to sell the 89 accord...It's kinda redundent with the
05 corolla sitting around.. I'm also gonna unload one of my ford trucks.. I'll be down to just the corolla and my 68 F-250. MK
That's why we take the paper. Although I am thinking of switching to the Red Star. When I want information, I read. It's quicker and, if I miss something, I can go back and read the paragraph again.
The paper offers depth that TV and radio do not. On "news" radio, it's the same 4 stories over and over again (as if I care about the latest developments in the Baby Smith custody fight). It's not nutrient-dense. TV news just picks the stories with the best visuals and ignores everything else. On "talk" radio, it's mostly blather from yahoos that don't know much and don't care to learn.
The two best sources of in-depth news on the radio would be NPR or, formerly, Al Franken's radio show. Laugh all you like but Al spent relatively little time mocking the Administration (which they so richly deserve) and much, much more time interviewing people who were simply experts on various things. And sometimes they were conservatively-oriented experts. And Al didn't make fun of them or cut their mikes, he just asked questions and sometimes offered information - or made some jokes. The best "news" or "talk" radio I've heard in many a year was an Al Franken show last year where Al went out to the University of Minnesota at Morris (pop 2500 when the U is out and pop 5000 when the U is in, surrounded by 80 miles of cornfields, with a student body that's 40% committed atheists, 40% committed, born-again Christians and 20% who don't want to hear from either of those two groups) to talk to people there about the problems of small, rural towns. This is an under-reported story and for this subject matter, hearing it, as opposed to simply reading a news article, really gave it an extra dimension. Franken and his guests discussed a variety of things, including ethanol policy and economic development. Several NPR shows have a similar format, where an idea can be explored in depth.
NPR is static, isn't it? Seriously, one should listen to all sides of an argument because it helps to broaden your understanding and points are made that you wouldn't hear if just listening to those who agree with you.
Is it a asic audio input jack, a USB port or something more
I have a combo tape/CD player, 6 speaker deal. (IIRC, it was one step up from what was the basic set-up.) It's more than enough, since I think I've played my old audio tapes all of... maybe 5 times in the 3 years I've had this car.
Now why does this post strike me as eminently sensible, yet pretty funny? ;-P
I listen to NPR - "Morning Edition" on the way into work, and "Talk of the Nation" (or "Science Friday" - if it's Friday, obviously!) on the way home from work. On Saturdays, if I'm running errands I tune into "Car Talk", "Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me!" - an absolute favorite of mine!, & "Says You". For long trips, I have an NPR nat'l. map, listing all of the local stations, so I can listen along the way as one signal fades out, & another one becomes available.
But sometimes I travel in places where there's virtually zilch radio reception, or else I simply want to enjoy some choice (IMO) music! (Paul Simon, Ray Charles, Sting, Roy Orbison, Eric Clapton, Carole King... ) Then in goes a CD. :-)
I think Truckdude is given to polite understatement. I would have said, "What you say makes good sense. For some reason, though, when it comes from you, I laugh so hard the coffee comes back out my nose."
Luckily, I finished the coffee a couple hours ago.
What, like Rush? Tried listening to him a few times & couldn't *stand* it. Talk about twisting info to fit one's own agenda. It was so obviously ultra-right wing; not anywhere near center. Years before the oxycontin scandal, I predicted that the guy was/is so far to the right that he was gonna fall off the edge someday. I get all (& more) of the extreme right I can handle right here...
My (regular basis) news sources are: CNN, NPR, & Newsweek. Usually in that order, since I tend to keep CNN on in the background while doing my school work in the evenings. But get ready for work, and drive to & from work (~15 minutes ea. way) listening to NPR. And have a subscription to Newsweek. Years ago, I regularly watched ABC's World News Tonight, but after Peter Jennings died...
I admit that I give him a listen from time to time. He and his followers are always good for a laugh as they try to undo reality and it's well-known liberal bias.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.