You need this. You know you do.
Written: Oct 16 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: IT PLAYS MP3s!
Cons: Hard to find, useless remote.
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| unxmaal's Full Review: Aiwa CDC-MP3 Car CD Player |
No really, I mean it!
Aiwa has finally achieved the holy grail of consumer MP3 players: cheap and useful. Before the release of the CDC-MP3 unit, you might be able to get a useful unit, but it wouldn't be cheap. At $300, it is a quite affordably-priced head unit, comparable to others in its price range --and they don't play MP3s.
It took me weeks of harrassing the local Beast Buy before I was able to get my hands on a CDC-MP3. The unit is such a hot seller, even Crutchfield has a backorder of two months, and this is expected to increase as the holidays move closer. If you're interested in getting one before the year's out, I suggest putting your name on a list now.
The CDC-MP3 is ripe with nice features, the more useful of which include changer support, line-in support, muting, contrast controls, bass expansion, and a nice randomizer function. The less useful tricks include DSSA, or "Dynamic Sound Staging", which directs sound to one particular section of the vehicle (front or back), and which I found fairly useless, and "My info", which turns the radio on at a specific time, ostensibly so you won't miss your favorite radio show (as if anything interesting is ever played on the radio). The unit also supports standard head-unit functions, such as skip, seek, random, intro, general bass/treble/fader/balance controls, and a clock.
Of course, the best and most important feature: it plays MP3s.
If you have a computer with a cd writer, and you have MP3s, you can write your MP3 files to an ISO-compatible CDR and play them on this unit. The unit supports everything from low-quality 32kbps files to high-quality variable bitrate files, and directory structures up to 5 directories deep. It also supports rewriteable CDs, which is very useful when you first get the unit, as it will take you a few tries to get your naming and directory scheme set.
Tips on naming:
Due to the way the CDC-MP3 reads disk information, I suggest you name your files in the following way:
## songname-artist-album
01 newsong-newartist-newalbum
The CDC-MP3 sorts numerically, then alphabetically, so put the track number first. Also, it truncates filenames at 32 characters, so don't put a lot of unneeded spaces in your filenames. I suggest putting everything else towards the end of the filename, because if it does truncate, it won't cut off anything important.
The CDC-MP3 also reads information from ID3 tags stored in the MP3 files themselves. Before you write your CD, I suggest correcting the ID3 tags with freely available software that allows you to do so.
Tips on directories:
The unit *will* read down five levels into a directory tree, but having a tree this complex will greatly increase the time it takes for your music to start playing. I suggest only having parent directories, and name them as such:
artistname-albumname
Problems/Downsides:
With every first-generation player, there's bound to be problems. The single largest problem with the Aiwa CDC-MP3 player is the remote: I appreciate the effort, but it's basically useless. The remote the unit shipped with is a small (3") device that comes with a strap that lashes it to the steering wheel. Unfortunately, the strength of the infrared signal is so weak that it only works when pointed directly at the head unit ---in other words, when you're driving straight. It's easier just to reach over and push buttons.
Yes, there is a load time for playing MP3s --sometimes upwards of 90 seconds. Think about it: on a full CD, you could be loading over 100 files; it takes time to scan them all. The benefit of having 10 albums on a single CD far outweighs a 90-second wait time.
The last downside is fairly trivial: the unit doesn't remember where you are in an MP3 upon power-off; when you start the unit back up, it starts that song again, from the beginning.
All in all, the Aiwa CDC-MP3 player is absolutely the best price/performance car MP3 player you can buy. I am the envy of all of my geek/audiophile buddies.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
unxmaal
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Location: Huntsville, AL
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 11 members
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