Add CD player to auto?

[JimS]

Have a couple year old SanteFe and wife has lots of CDs but the car doesn't have one.  Most cars don't have them but the center console has a fairly big compartment between the seats so thought about adding something USB or bluetooth.  Anyone done something like this or have some pointers?
 
Another option is ripping the CDs and putting them on google or amazon music drive or putting them on the phone.  Have Android phones so would need to find a good app either way (cloud storage or on the phone itself).

 

[pete_c]

A very basic Bluetooth transmitter for you phone that plugs in to the cigarette lighter and plays back on FM works great nowadays.  They even have microphones in the devices for phone calls these days.
 
They have aux USB power ports and SD card slots for music.
 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09L4CNPX8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018E0I01I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
 
I have purchased and used these for rental cars as I do not like pairing my phone to rental cars.
 
With these you can stream from the Internet or SD card and play back on your radio.

 

[JimS]

Have an unlimited phone data plan and this is my personal car so no issue with pairing my phone to the vehicle.  In fact I have already done that but that doesn't allow me to play CDs.  Some cd drives used to have audio outputs but haven't seen those in a very long time.

 

[pete_c]

Understood.  I just mentioned the Bluetooth device because I use it when no bluetooth pairing is available.  The bluetooth device pairs with your phone and outputs audio to your FM radio.   Early automobile (circa 2002 or so) phone BT connections only worked with the cell phone microphone / telephone output.  Later on with newer cars then bluetooth pairing included regular audio and telephone stuff.
 
The devices all have mini SD card slots such that you can copy over a bunch of MP3 to the card.
 
This will provide your music to your car or streaming android audio to your car FM radio.
 
Many older radios did have aux RCA input jacks with an Aux/CD on the radio menu for use with a separate CD changer.
 
Easiest to just utilize the little bluetooth device that plugs in to your cigarette lighter.

 

[JimS]

Still don't have a good plan on this...I think most people would copy the cds to the phone or a USB drive but wife likes the CDs. I've put some on a USB stick and she would rather deal with the CDs. I see there are some USB CD players for autos but they seem pretty large. Talking about getting a new vehicle and we could get a player installed but seems there should be better ways. Then there are the subscription services. We have XMradio but use that mostly for other things besides music and you can't select specific music. We have prime which has music included but it's more limited that I first thought unless you pay an extra per month charge to go "unlimited". You can only shuffle play a type of music - you look up the first one and it plays similar stuff.

 

[JimS]

Seems like a CD player with bluetooth might be a simpler/cheaper solution than USB or Aux connection and it looks like they are fairly compact. Just need a power cord. Doing just a bit of reading it seems the Aux input may be going away on newer vehicles.

 

[LarrylLix]

I think the USB dongle has to be the thing. Need to print pretty picture stickers on it to please the wife.

Another thing that seems to be taking over is the BT from the cell phone music library to the vehicle sound system, home soundbar, Alexa, GH boxes etc.. etc.. Then when you want an unlimited library you just use your Prime membership music source, selecting their selections or your custom music selection albums.

We haven't even touched on car karaoke yet!

 

[JimS]

I think the USB dongle has to be the thing. Need to print pretty picture stickers on it to please the wife.

Another thing that seems to be taking over is the BT from the cell phone music library to the vehicle sound system, home soundbar, Alexa, GH boxes etc.. etc.. Then when you want an unlimited library you just use your Prime membership music source, selecting their selections or your custom music selection albums.

We haven't even touched on car karaoke yet!

I could use prime but as I indicated in a recent post they provide a very crippled system unless you pay $10 a month for "unlimited" music account. Other streaming services also have fees. Want to avoid monthly fees.

I picked up a USB DVD drive with TV compatibility - That's what it is touted as and it can be set to look like a memory stick. But my vehicle is picky about what kinds of audio files it can use MP3 so didn't work. Will look for a portable drive that does bluetooth.

 

[pete_c]

What is the year and model of the vehicle and take a picture of the current radio in it.

 

[JimS]

2019 Hyundai santa fe. Standard console/radio.

 

[pete_c]

Here is the same one with a CD Player and bluetooth on Ebay used for $119. Make a lower offer on it.

2020 Hyundai Santa Fe Am Fm Cd Player Radio Receiver LQO7M

and another one which might not fit though...

2017 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Radio XM Touchscreen CD MP3 96160-B8000NN5 GHZ05

 

[JimS]

Pete,

Thanks, but I am very skeptical of that listing. The description includes the words "cd player" but it looks exactly like mine and I don't see any slot for the CD. A little googling and I found some places that say the 2019 Santa Fe came with CD player and some say it did not. So maybe it was on some variations.