So my window sticker supposedly says the car is pre-wired for a CD player (in the glovebox?). I've seen a copy, but can't be sure it's the original. It does say Pre wired for CD player. So I thought I would, you know, see a wire in the glovebox. But nothing is there. How does this work exactly? I asked the dealer that the car came from, but NOT the place I bought it from (sister dealership). The original dealer said sorry, they couldn't install a CD player. Not sure I want it anyway, since my understanding is that you can't rip from the CD player in the glovebox to the Media Hard Drive? Which is only 10GB anyway.

 

The wiring is in the console, but the console would need to be disassembled to install the CD player. I havent used a CD player in years...

 

I used a CD player about 15 minutes ago. I bought it on Amazon for $40. I have a large CD collection. I wish someone would invent a way for you to carry them with you. What am I saying? That would be impossible!

Are we talking about the single CD that goes in the glovebox or the 6 DVD changer in the middle?

 

They have invented a way, its called an iPhone

Seriously, just rip them all to your phone in lossless format and bam, all your CDs are right there in CD quality. Subscribe to Apple Music for $10 a month and you will have any music you could possibly want all of it lossless. I threw all my CDs away...

 

Eye Phone? You mean like those google glasses?

I want to rip my CDs. I just haven’t found the specs yet in the manual. I thought I read you can use Apple ALAC but not sure of max bitrate. I’m familiar doing this with my old Buick and iPod.

 

Have you tried plugging in your iPod, and seeing what happens?

 

Not yet. I also have a 256gb USB key I want to try. I think max is 2TB if you can find one.

 

It looks like you can get a 2TB USB key on AMZ for $30, but you may want to may more for a name brand!
Another option, and I have no idea if it would work or not, is to put an SSD drive in a USB enclosure, but you would need to make sure that it can be powered off one USB port.

 

Some of those Amazon ones are fake or bad quality.

Streaming one artist today, I was not getting album covers. RIOPY. I’ll try some others.

 

I prefer quality and hands-on rather than convenience. Holding a Record or a Cd with a list of songs on it is FAR better than digging for music. Analog is better , hands down. It's why I have an analog record player and a tube amplifier with LPs to play it with....I'm a musician and clarity is a big deal for me.

 

And that’s why I ordered the Mercedes-Benz turntable for my new S560.

I might have bought a few cassette tapes for my retro CD boom box. I like listening to CDs at work. Not the same as analog.

 

Hey my uncle had a 50’s Chrysler with a factory record player. Couldn’t compare to my dad’s Cadillac with an 8-track though.

 

8 track? You mean like 8 CDs at one time?! Wow!!!

So I tried a USB key that I was adding files to from a 15 year old laptop. Now that was dog slow and for different reasons I bought a new laptop recently. Anyway I tried it in the Benz today. Some albums had art, not all. Does art come from the PC or from a Gracenote DB on the hard drive of the car? I've seen things happen that say "downloading" or otherwise suggesting a download on the 4G signal. The problem was I must have put multiple copies of the same file on the USB key and many tracks started with numbers 01,02, etc. I have to clean up everything so I get rid of duplicates and tracks have no numbers.

 

LOL

Have to do it on your computer. You can rip them to the highest bitrate possible.

I mean, I can see that in your home if you are into music...but this is a car. Apple Music has a playlist that knows me, and it works awesome and all the music is lossless. If I want to play a specific album, its all in there and I can just tell Siri to play it. Why would I want to fumble through a bunch of CDs in the car?

 

Why use CDs when you could just use…….

Napster????

 

If you are really into music and sound quality then the standard Burmester setup is not for you. CD or not the system will never be clear enough to fully reproduce Lossless audio. I have found the best audio quality to be from Tidal or Apple Music. For a car, just ripping the CDs to lossless format onto a iPod or iPhone is all you really need. CD's are a pain in the neck and offer no advantage over other modalities. That is why they are going the way of the 8 track player.

 

Absolutely true, but with a subwoofer I have gotten to where I can enjoy listening to the Burmester. Won’t buy another car without the audio upgrade though.

 

*What* is the audio upgrade if it is NOT the Burmester???

I was blasting Billy Idol this morning next to an obnoxious Infiniti QX60 this morning. Sounded good.

(I came from a Buick with Bose.)

 

The Standard Burmester is just the base audio, there is an upgrade Burmester 3D system which is amazing. If yours doesnt have speakers in the ceiling it just has the base system.

The base system is *okay* but it is nothing special or stand out, and if you come from say a Lexus with Mark Levinson like I did the base system is really a let down. There are lots of posts and threads here about it. I added a subwoofer to mine and it made a big difference.

 

A few on this forum have upgraded the base Burmester with aftermarket subs and or amps. I did this on my last S550 with the standard Burmester and it did make a big difference. I now have an S63 with the High End Burmester and it does a pretty good job. May look at upgrading the factory trunk sub but other than that I am happy with the HE Burmester.

 

Trust me guys! You may crap on the Burmester but it is a BIG improvement on the BOSE system I had on my Buick.

 

Well, yeah lol. We're talking about it compared to other systems you find in similar cars. Even mainstream cars though, there are many with better audio.

 

Well my mother told me that the Buick LaCrosse *is* a luxury vehicle so……

 

Your mom was wrong lol

 

Did you just talk about my mother??? You know, the one who said I’d never get anywhere in life?