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I have the CD player in MY17 S63. I guess MB stopped them for the new MY18 models. I like to pop in a CD on long drives with my baby girl so she can listen to her music.
Last edited by S63AMG888; 04-10-2018 at 10:40 PM.
Reason: add photo
Just a follow-up. I tested 44hz/16bit (CD quality) and 88hz/24bit in FLAC format on a SD card at the dealership, and both worked fine.
THAT is awesome news! As for the OP, have a family member or acquaintance rip your CDs to FLAC files and put them on a SD card. Super easy and a fantastic way to store a ton of tracks. On a side note, someone mentioned Apple Car Play... it's a nightmare to use the way MB implemented it. It desperately needs a touch screen! When I'm on the nav screen I get kicked to the call screen when someone calls. After the call ends I have to navigate back to the nav screen with the command dial. In my GT350 and Escalade I touch the screen and I'm back.
I've been using Poikosoft's Easy CD DA converter. I set output quality to "best" and format to "flac", save them to a directory on my PC, and then copy to the SD card. You could probably go directly to SD card. It takes about 10 minutes per CD. The cool part is that the software remembers the directory name and settings; so you can just pump CDs one after another.
Two annoyances:
When you are in the car, it reorders the tracks alphabetically.
If there are multiple artists on an album, the car sees that as multiple albums.
(I would be interested to know if anyone has solutions to these)
I've been using Poikosoft's Easy CD DA converter. I set output quality to "best" and format to "flac", save them to a directory on my PC, and then copy to the SD card. You could probably go directly to SD card. It takes about 10 minutes per CD. The cool part is that the software remembers the directory name and settings; so you can just pump CDs one after another.
Two annoyances:
When you are in the car, it reorders the tracks alphabetically.
If there are multiple artists on an album, the car sees that as multiple albums.
(I would be interested to know if anyone has solutions to these)
More Follow-up:
1. The tracks reorder when you click the ALBUM tab. If you go in through FOLDERS, they stay in the original order.
2. The multiple artists problem also goes away if you go through FOLDERS.
3. I've been able to rip DVD-Audio back to FLAC using the software on dvdae.com . But, you lose the titles of each track.
4. The Burmester system (not 3D) does process true 5.1 channel FLAC files. I tested this with the Gimell surround sound test file(5.1 channel, 96hz, 24bit). (But I've never found surround sound music to sound any better than 2-channel).
The main reason I'm limiting my s550 search to 2017 or earlier
I get CD's from the library (mostly books on cd)
Another factor that excludes 2018's and up for me is C Rpts showing reliability WORSENS starting in 2018
I'm coming from a 2009 LS460 AWD w/ 220k and I am trying to minimize the shock of frequent expensive repairs
The main reason I'm limiting my s550 search to 2017 or earlier
I get CD's from the library (mostly books on cd)
Another factor that excludes 2018's and up for me is C Rpts showing reliability WORSENS starting in 2018
I'm coming from a 2009 LS460 AWD w/ 220k and I am trying to minimize the shock of frequent expensive repairs
I couldn't imagine limiting myself to a 4 year old or older car because the newer ones did not have 30yr old outdated technology. I remember when the Lexus SC460 was the last new car that came with a tape deck. I always wondered if there was someone who bought it for that very reason. In any event it can be installed for minimal expense.
As far as reliability I have never looked at CR- they seem to hate anything that isn't tan and vanilla. The 222 S platform is the most reliable in quite some time but you don't buy a German car because it will serve you as well as your toaster. Lexus owns the appliance of cars space in terms of reliability and excitement...
I am 67 years old so I understand the CD option but.....2 years ago transferred 1200+ Of my favorite songs off my CD collection to one tiny Memory stick. In this case new is definitely better.
PS- If you don’t know how to do the transfer I recommend finding a 8 year old to help. They can do stuff like this in their sleep.😊
Last edited by Utopia Texas; 12-28-2020 at 10:45 AM.
I couldn't imagine limiting myself to a 4 year old or older car because the newer ones did not have 30yr old outdated technology. I remember when the Lexus SC460 was the last new car that came with a tape deck. I always wondered if there was someone who bought it for that very reason. In any event it can be installed for minimal expense.
As far as reliability I have never looked at CR- they seem to hate anything that isn't tan and vanilla. The 222 S platform is the most reliable in quite some time but you don't buy a German car because it will serve you as well as your toaster. Lexus owns the appliance of cars space in terms of reliability and excitement...
Totally agree. I can't remember the last time I used a CD player. My last 4 cars I never used them once.
People also dont understand CR ratings. They always compare reliability of a car vs other cars OF THAT YEAR. They don't compare them to the same model of different years. So, just because say a 2018 is rated lower than a 2017 in a certain area doesnt mean that the 2018 has more issues compared to the 2017, it means it has more issues in that area compared to the average issues of all 2018 cars, and the 2017 had less issues compared to all 2017 cars.
In other years, the ratings don't tell you much year vs year.
I am 67 years old so I understand the CD option but.....2 years ago transferred 1200+ Of my favorite songs off my CD collection to one tiny Memory stick. In this case new is definitely better.
PS- If you don’t know how to do the transfer I recommend finding a 8 year old to help. They can do stuff like this in their sleep.😊
My MDX has a hard drive so I just load my CDs and use voice commands to play what I want. I was talking to my son over the weekend about either loading CDs onto a memory stick/thumb drive, or load into iTunes and play through iPhone, to use in my S550 or wife's ES00h. Either way should work, it's just a matter of taking the time to do it.
As an aside, we also listen to XM. The newer technology in our MDX and ES300h devices start the songs from the beginning when the channel is changed (I believe it is called TuneStart), which my 15 S550 does not do. I am a frequent channel changer so I like the TuneStart feature.
04-10-2018, 04:15 PM
