Does this play MP3's?
 

Hey I am looking for a CD Changer for my car that will play MP3's, I had found one on ebay and went over to crutchfield to check it out more in detail and every where I look says ( without mp3 playback ).

So I am thinking that it will not play cd's with mp3's on them?

Here it is: Pioneer CDX-FM687

And on ebay: PIONEER 6 DISC CD CHANGER CDX-FM687 CDXFM687B

Figured since my other one I had was damaged a time before and it played everything, and worked great but of course its unavailable now. Was a JVC 12 CD Changer, and its no longer able to be purchased. And this way I wouldnt have to mess with changing out the cd deck and all that...

I'm pretty sure "without mp3 playback" means you can't connect a flashdrive with mp3 files to it like other headunits. It will play mp3s burned to a CD, if that is what you're wanting.

the stock radio in my 96 toyota plays mp3's ripped to a CD, Id hope any current head unit would also.

Well the purpose of getting the cd changer would be to have the ability to play mp3 files put to CDR's. So it should pplay them, just not able to plug in a USB Flash Drive to it to read mp3 files from?

My '04 will not play mp3 format, its the stock Mach4 6disc head unit I have in there from Ford, now the Mach1000 I think should play them?

The head unit you linked to will play burned CDs, mp3 format.
My stock 02 head unit played CDRs.

Yeah my headunit will play CDR's but not mp3 format I dont believe, it spits them out saying bad disc or cd error.

so wanted to make sure this changer would read the mp3 format before purchasing.

I went out to my car at lunch and tried to play a CDR that has mp3's on it, and the Mach4 unit just said "CD Error" and spit the disc back out right away.

So yeah my deck with not play mp3's at all...wish crutchfield had online support for questions.

Wow that's really odd. Are you sure your CD wasn't a data disc?

Nope, theres various folders on the disc for various albums too 12 Led Zep CDs

maybe I can try with just music without folders...

I also have emailed Crutchfield about the CD Changer too see if the changer does play mp3's or not?

That's a data disc. When you put the CD in your computer, click "burn audio cd" instead of the data disc option. Data discs let you use the whole 700MB to store files on. If you use it as an audio CD, you get 80 mins of music. What program do you use to burn? I may be able to tell you how to make sure you're making an actual audio CD.

BLazE - I use Nero 7, and I have made many disc over the years. I would think you would get more than 80min of music by using the mp3 format. If I recall correctly if you use the Audio selection it will convert them as .wav format and not use the mp3 format?

I havent done this in little while, but I did test it this morning again with Larry The Cable Guy concert from 2007 and it played correctly...but when I went to view the contents of the CD on the PC here this morning at work, the files must be compressed within the .mov file thats on there becuase it wont show me the .wav or mp3 files for the 12 tracks of the cd.

Maybe I will create another one here today and try it at lunch and see what it does... Didnt mean to make this so much of a long comment thread!

This is from Crutchfield Support:

Thanks for your e-mail, and for shopping the Crutchfield web site.

The Pioneer CDX-FM687 will not play mp3 CD's. Unfortunately, we do not have a FM modulated CD changer that will read mp3 CD's. I wish I had better news for you there.

This just sux!

I'm not familiar with Nero 7. I've just always used WMP. When you burn a CDR, you only get 80 mins of music, no matter what size the files are. I think it has something to do with the physical location of the information on the disc. If it is too close to the inside, it will not play. I'm just speculating. But, either way, I can ensure you that you are only making Data Discs, not Audio CDs. Some stereos will play a data disc. They can also be called mp3 CDs, because it's a CD that holds mp3 files. The way you make your CDs are like external hard drives, and that is not what you want. Data Discs are only really good for storing the files, not playing them. Very few stereos will actually play the mp3s from one.
I'd say get the headunit, and if it doesn't work, return it. There's no harm in trying. Just make sure its an audio disc, and you're not just adding files to the disc.

I will try it Blaze, never thought of it that way. And I wasnt planning on changing the head unit out, just was gonna get the cd changer and it has a little box that relays the information through a fm channel through your stereo.

- I have always figured mp3's are smaller in size, so they would actually hold more music then. I guess from being smaller in mb size vs wav files.

But looks like if they wont play on the stereo through your method above on my stock mach4 setup, I will have to look at getting a mp3 ready stereo. And I have seen some where you can have a USB Thumbdrive hooked up to the them in the front to now.

Thanks!

Good luck with everything, man. Glad I could help you out a bit.

Don't know about the MP3's, but the car is beautiful!

I appreciate it, any help in the right direction is always good help!

I will see what I can come up with...

Thanks man, now we just need to get rid of this rainy weather...