It seems that most of us TL'ers are pretty upset about the inability of the TL to play mp3's. On top of that, there's not really a clean/affordable way to hook up an iPod. Now I'm not a super high tech person, but has anyone found out if there's a Bluetooth enabled mp3 player that could be used instead? I did a quick search on Google and came up with a couple products. Has anyone heard of Sonorix's Bluetooth Audio Player? Like I said, I'm no genius, but I was wondering if something like this could solve all our mp3 problems. Any thoughts?

 

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but you can hook up an mp3 player, or a cd-man that plays burnt mp3 data cds to the TL....but you gotta hook it up through the tape player with one of those car kit things....I know lame...but playing mp3s can be done....just my 2 cents.

 

Yeah, I know, I but I was looking for something cleaner without having to deal with wires. I've read a ton of threads in this forum where people are either asking for an easier way to burn mp3's to dvd-a or they are trying to find a slicker way to hook up their ipod. I was just wondering if there was a high tech way of getting it done. If it can't be done, it can't be done. I just thought I'd ask.

 

I'm not sure if you guys saw this thing, but one of my friends had it. The travel Ipod. It has an attachment that send out an fm signal and you just set your radio to 89.7 and you can listen to all the music on your ipod.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...More=T7194LL/A

 

Wish it supported the iPOD mini.

 

I am pretty sure that there is a similar solution for the mini.

 

 

spend the money and get a dvd player installed. this way you can burn mp3's to a dvd disc and have all the music you need. while your at it add an aux port like i did. there is always a solution it just may not be cheap or easy.

 

Would you happen to have a link to a thread that describes what you did/bought? Clearly I would prefer an inexpensive solution to an irritating problem, but I'd be willing to make the investment if it gives me exactly what I'm looking for and doesn't cause me any future problems with my car.

 

The TL already has a 6-disk DVD (Audio) changer. For less than $100 you can get software to burn your own DVD-As. That is a far less intrusive option.

Mike

 

your point? the tl cannot play mp3's.so how is a dvd-a disc going to help him play mp3's? you cant put that many songs on
a dvd-a disc.

 

My point is simply that he doesn't need to hack extra hardware into his car in order to (a) copy MP3s from his iPod onto his computer, and (b) burn those songs onto a DVD, and then (c) listen to them in his TL. The DVD-A just requires the MP3 files be decoded to WAV on the computer before burning them to the disc. You can get over 7 hours of full CD quality stereo music on a DVD-A, or 99 songs whichever comes first.

The thread originator is looking to play MP3s off of his iPod, and the additional DVD player option doesn't do that for him anyway. The audio system does not have the ability to stream in digital audio over Bluetooth, so there's no solution there either. He's stuck with wires going to the XM port in the trunk (and possible a switch to select between the iPod and XM) or a cassette adapter with a wire or an FM transmitter with no wires but lower quality sound.

Mike

 

i didnt know you could burn 7 hours of mp3's onto a dvd-a disc. i was reading a thread here and no one found a way to do it. what program do you use to burn to the dvd-a disc. i tried nero and roxio and those two didint work when tying to burn to a dvd disc.. i dont have any dvd-a but now that i know it can be done ill give it a shot.

 

The cheapest program that will do it is Discwelder Bronze (www.discwelder.com). The steps are basically:

1) Decode the MP3s (or even better rip the original CDs) to stereo WAV files using your decoding program of choice (I use a freebie called dBPowerAmp, but there are many others).

2) Use Discwelder to select the WAV files to put on the DVD-A and burn it. Use DVD-R media; DVD+R has been reported to work only rarely, and I have not had any success with it.

3) Play in the TL.

Mike

 

If you have the orginal CD's then don't decode mp3s to burn using discwelder - rerip the CDs as wave - you might as well get the benefit of lossless quality since you have no other option with discwelder other than wav.

 

iTrip is a neat device but is not very effective in the Washington DC area. There are too many stations so there is ALWAYS static. I thought it was a neat idea, but no joy.

I want what BMW has...iPOD integration and control of the iPod through the head unit and the steering wheel control. Please don't make me by a BMW. Anyone have any ideas?

 

This whole thread sort of baffles me. I too like MP3s and have an HD based digital music player. I would love to have an AUX input on the stock stereo so as to make a video conversion with audio a little easier. Having said all of that have you actually listened to how good DVD audio can sound with the 5.1 and a good mix?

By comparison listening to a normal CD or MP3 is like listening to music in mono as compared to stereo. There is just no spatial depth to the music. Some of the remixed albums have been amazingly better than the original ones.

Also have any of you thought about "over burning" a normal CD to get more music on it? It is not like you can't get the music you want to listen to be played in the car. Like others said burn a DVD. While I like the iPod I like to have more varieties of digital music format than it plays as I'd like Ogg Vorbis or WMA too. You can't have it all I guess. I do agree that the FM transmitters aren't a great way to go unless you live in the country and even then they are mediocre.

 

Those are all good points that you make and yes, DVD-A is awesome. One problem is that there aren't enough titles in the format to enjoy all music.

I'm driven to the IPOD and the IPOD integration with the TL audio system by mere convenience. The IPOD is part of my every day life. I take music with me, I can play it whereever I go. I carry over 3 Gbs of music with me -- think of how many CD's that would be. So it is very practical. I listen to a lot of audio books as well. And they all go with me without having to keep changing CD's or tapes.

I don't think people are saying that they want to play MP3's via IPOD or any other device at the expense of DVD-A or other formats. It is the flexibility to do it all is what we all want. Spoiled aren't we. I still remember 8 track.

 

you can burn a cd with a max of 750mbs to hold about 15 songs that are .wav files.

same type of file (.wav) can be burned in cd quality onto a dvd which is 4.7gb - more then 5x the amount a cd can hold. so about 80 songs.

mp3 with its poor sound quality can hold about 1000 songs per 5 gb. if you have a 3gb ipod mini that is about 650 songs.

your 6 disk dvd-a changer, can be loaded with 6 dvd-a's with .wav files (much better quality) which will be a bout 480 songs.

am i making sense here?

if i had a 3gb ipod mini it would actually be an advantage to just burn them as .wav files on dvd-r's and only sacrifice about 150 songs as compared to my ipod mini. the sound quality would be far superior.

i too would like Ipod integration in my TL but until then, there are other options.

 

Check out this site www.monstercable.com
They are supposed to be bringing out a fantastic system that will use the factory installed radio to display the information of artist and everything from an ipod. The unit is going to cost 199. The only thing i am not sure is the fact that if it will be integratable with 04 TL non-nav system.
Right now, i use ipod with cassette adapter and was totally impressed because of the digital processing of the sound. I thought that all the reviews from other people on different sites about cassette adapter being really bad would be true but putting the ipod to about 3/4th its volume and putting the volume of the car to 15 makes the ipod sound like a really really nice system. I still would like to see what songs i am playing and any other information possible. I would also like to cut down on the number of cables needed in the car to one so that it is clean looking.
Monster cable should be releasing the module with the help from Soundgate. It should be here in 7 more days meaning that either more information about the product or the product itself should be available for purchase should be available on December 10, 2004. Hope this might give you guys some light into what could be done soon.

 

yes this all makes sense but think about this. you spend ?? minutes to burn a dvd or cd. then a few days later you hear a song or a whole cd you really like. so you want to add that to your collection. with a mp3 player you can just add the song. with discs you have to burn a whole new one. i d/l about 3 cds a week. my muscic selection is always changing. it would be such a waste to have to burn an identical cd plus 1 song .

 

You're talking about the Icruze ..... which plugs into the aux port of the HU. However the XM radio is using it. Don't know if it will come with a splitter or a Y-cable. Just have to wait and see. There was another product that does the same thing but it was not compatible with units that have Navi. I think the release date was pushed back, can't remember where I read it.