Digital music.

Allan

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I would like to go digital. On the boat I have an FM radio which has USB and 3.5mm socket as does the one in my car. I use a tablet, laptop and smartphone most days. I would like to buy some type of mp3 player. I'm not a big fan of Apple but will look at their products if they offer something extra. My plan would be to put about 100 CD's on something to start with. I'd like to download some things, if it's not too expensive.
I have put some CD's on a memory stick to use on the boat but would like some way to pick which track to play.
Does anyone have any recommendations?
Allan
 
all my music is on all computers & the SD card in my smart phone. i bought the phone when my ipod went duff & would never ever buy apple again.
we use the laptop & phone via a transmitter to the vhf radio onboard
In the car its blue tooth that works better than ever the ipod did. i can have in in my pocket & it still works

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es9JVTIKFyI
 
Buy a 64gb card for your smartphone - and then use that.
I have 36gb of music on my iPod which I have transferred onto my smartphone now. The phone app should allow you to control the music being streamed to the FM radio (quaint term!)The usb keeps the phone charged too.

I bought a cheap phone holder and mounted it next to the head unit.

All in one place, and very economical on power.
 
Buy a 64gb card for your smartphone - and then use that.
I have 36gb of music on my iPod which I have transferred onto my smartphone now. The phone app should allow you to control the music being streamed to the FM radio (quaint term!)The usb keeps the phone charged too.

I bought a cheap phone holder and mounted it next to the head unit.

All in one place, and very economical on power.
my car steering wheel controls also work the phone music too, all hands free
 
Even if you don't like Apple products:
Have a look at the iPod. Easy to select single tracks to play, create playlists and all the other functions that are offered.
If the USB interface of your radio is compatible you can also use your radios controls to control the iPod (skip forward, backward, repeat, pause etc.)

But I#m sure in a few seconnds someone will be around who favours Android.

Christoph
 
Buy a 64gb card for your smartphone - and then use that.
I have 36gb of music on my iPod which I have transferred onto my smartphone now. The phone app should allow you to control the music being streamed to the FM radio (quaint term!)The usb keeps the phone charged too.

I bought a cheap phone holder and mounted it next to the head unit.

All in one place, and very economical on power.

OR .........

buy a cheap large capacity old style Ipod off ebay and us that - works a treat.
 
I would like to go digital. On the boat I have an FM radio which has USB and 3.5mm socket as does the one in my car. I use a tablet, laptop and smartphone most days. I would like to buy some type of mp3 player. I'm not a big fan of Apple but will look at their products if they offer something extra. My plan would be to put about 100 CD's on something to start with. I'd like to download some things, if it's not too expensive.
I have put some CD's on a memory stick to use on the boat but would like some way to pick which track to play.
Does anyone have any recommendations?
Allan

Read the manual of the headunit you have in the boat. It will say what file format the head unit supports. Then I would "rip" some music at home to a usb pendrive, Plug that in the headunit on the boat and see how you get on. The headunit will understand the fileformat and this may be the easiest way or you to start.

Also some smartphones do no send music via the usb you would need to check that yours does to use it. Mine does not and it is a major brand smartphone.

Also if you headunit is ipod/iphone compatible then this means that you can select the music via the head unit not the iphoneipod.
 
Many thanks for the ideas. I will try the phone thing. I've done the USB stick/pen drive and it's not for me. It seems Apple is not seen as the way to go.
Allan
 
My method is probably seen as being from the dark ages by some, but it works for us. I have ripped my whole CD collection and burnt the albums to about 25 DVDs in mp3 format. I have one set on the boat and another in the camper. No risk of the weather getting to them, or leaving a player in the wrong place. Doesn't have the facility to select particular tracks, although if I have the laptop with me I can do that from the collection via iTunes.
 
I recently installed a new radio in our boat. It doesn't have a CD player but it does have USB and bluetooth. Now most guests on the boat can play the music from their phones through the radio and we don't have dodgy CDs cluttering up the locker. Radio was from Aldi and it works well but labels on the buttons are still too small to read without glasses.
 
I recently installed a new radio in our boat. It doesn't have a CD player but it does have USB and bluetooth. Now most guests on the boat can play the music from their phones through the radio and we don't have dodgy CDs cluttering up the locker.

+1

I'm a late convert to Bluetooth but have to say I'm sold because of the convenience.. OP doesn't say if his radio has Bluetooth but as it has a USB then that's an easy fix with a Bluetooth dongle... then buy any music player with Bluetooth capability (I like Sony stuff & my Xperia phone has Walkman software on it) will be able to connect remotely - no wires... control from anywhere on the boat...
 
+1

I'm a late convert to Bluetooth but have to say I'm sold because of the convenience.. OP doesn't say if his radio has Bluetooth but as it has a USB then that's an easy fix with a Bluetooth dongle... then buy any music player with Bluetooth capability (I like Sony stuff & my Xperia phone has Walkman software on it) will be able to connect remotely - no wires... control from anywhere on the boat...
Yes my radio has Bluetooth. It is from Aldi and sounds like the one mentioned above. I now have find out how to transmit music from the phone. Any advice? The phone is Android, do I need an app?
Allan
 
Yes my radio has Bluetooth. It is from Aldi and sounds like the one mentioned above. I now have find out how to transmit music from the phone. Any advice? The phone is Android, do I need an app?
Allan

I'm a Blue tooth novice so someone will correct me - all you need to do is enable Blue Tooth on your phone (from the control panel) and then check for the signal from your radio and "pair"..... if you still have the manual from your radio it should provide a better set of instructions than I just have...
 
We have a Creative Media Zen Player......you can rip all your music onto a computer and then load it into something like Windows Media Player..... We then sync up the computer with the Creative player (in other words it copies the stuff onto the player)......and you can then connect to the radio using a 3.5 mm jack cable...... We have a 10 meter long one which allows (if desireable) the player to be used in the cockpit. The album art of all the discs and the names of all the separate tracks appear on the player so you can browse for the music you want...even when its playing a different album/track..... Works fine for us
 
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