Does the 2002 Q45 F50 support MP3 CDs?

[IceCubeFoSho]

Title explains it, I've been googling but can't seem to come up with any yes or no answers.

Also if you've heard a 2000 Q45 (Y33)'s stereo, how would the 300 watt compare?

Someone said it had a 12inch subwoofer, but in the backseat area by the sunshade, I only see a square rectangle...

[xerexabante]

Mine does not play MP3's. It will play CD-R's TDK brand.

[maxnix]

Unless you are liestening to really processed "music", don't know why one would want to downgrade to the lossy MP3 format?

[IceCubeFoSho]

Well mp3's being burned to a CD means I can have a great deal of songs on one CD whereas in my car I have like 20 different CD's of my songs.

There are very few players that support .Flac files, and no OEM systems support .flacs so I just keep them on my computer.

Besides, 320Kbps-192Kbps songs are very good quality, and not uncommon to find, unless I'm looking for older songs from the 80's and whatnot. The Bose system in the Q45 I'm pretty sure is not of an audiophile quality.

[Skibane]

Unless you are liestening to really processed "music", don't know why one would want to downgrade to the lossy MP3 format?

As though I'd notice any difference on a Q's mediocre factory audio system anyway...

IMO, being able to put 10+ hours of music on one disk more than makes up for the minor degradation in sound quality. MP3 may be a dirty word among home audiophiles, but it's plenty good enough for music in a mobile environment.

[StarPD]

Title explains it, I've been googling but can't seem to come up with any yes or no answers.

Also if you've heard a 2000 Q45 (Y33)'s stereo, how would the 300 watt compare?

Someone said it had a 12inch subwoofer, but in the backseat area by the sunshade, I only see a square rectangle...

I have 4 CDs burned from iTunes and other CDs that play fine in my '05.

[Kiven422]

The 2002 Q45 Bose system made it in the Top 10 by Edmunds.

MP3s never sound as good in a car. Recordable CDs don't sound as good or give the clarity in the bass as good as the original copies.

I recommend an MP3 player. I have the iAudio X5 MP3 Player. Not your standard Ipod player. It was designed for THE AUDIOPHILE. It supports FLAC, OGG and other top quality formats. Also doubles as a portable hard drive. No stupid itunes BS here.... just plug and play like your browsing your MY PICTURES folder.

Also... if you really hate those low quality MP3s... it has a feature called MP Enhance which tweaks the freqs to sound better.

If you are interested the brand is COWON and check out http://www.iaudiophile.net

[Jesda]

I read that Edmunds car audio review and disagreed with most of it.http://www.edmunds.com/reviews....html

The BMW E46 M3's HK system is a complete freaking joke, and I can vouch for that personally -- a friend recently bought one. There's no highs, no lows, and overbearing mids. The speakers are paper cone trash.

The Acura TL also sounds like crap. My roommate has a CL of the same generation.

The Mark Levinson system offered by Lexus is bland and muffled, with a high price tag. ML is just another brand belonging to HK/Infinity.

I -will- agree that the Escalade's Bose system and the Bose package offered by Porsche is top notch.

The most enjoyable system, to my ears, is from Nakamichi and Lexus (late 90s). Every little instrument is brought to the foreground, and bass is deep and clean. The car itself was a bore, but I often found myself sitting there listening to music in the driveway.

The 02+ Q45's Bose system is flat and lifeless.

I've never hated a sound system more than the garbage that was in my Range Rover.

I think the people at Edmunds are deaf and aging.

As for MP3 playback, most of the stuff on an average person's MP3 player is 96-128kbit pirated junk. Amazon sells MP3s at 256kbit, which is the rate I use to rip my CDs in AAC.

Unless you are liestening to really processed "music", don't know why one would want to downgrade to the lossy MP3 format?

You drive long distances. Don't you get tired of swapping discs in and out of your changer?

[mhoepfin]

The 2002 Q45 sound system only sounded good when the fader was adjusted to put more sound up front.

I went from a 2002 Cadillac STS (best sound system IMHO) to the Q45 and couldn't believe the Q's system sounded so anemic.

[IceCubeFoSho]

I have a Zen Vision M but I'm pretty sure I didn't see an AUX input in the Car, and I already have a tape deck player that I use already in my Y33 but the sound isn't as good as a CD

[Kiven422]

I read that Edmunds car audio review and disagreed with most of it.http://www.edmunds.com/reviews....html

I think the people at Edmunds are deaf and aging.

You drive long distances. Don't you get tired of swapping discs in and out of your changer?

Thats what a 10 disc changer is for... so you don't have to swap CDs. I have a 10disc and swap out CDs once a week at most unless friends bring their CDs which is a pain in the *** since its in the trunk.

I disagree with Edmunds too, those ratings are way off and the BMW M3 system does suck for all the speakers in it, but I guess that was for "normal" listeners.

[Haitian_King]

I wouldn't know what the stock system can do. I had an older Blaupunkt Orlando system in there when I bought it and swapped it out for a Sony unit. I love my Sony. I burn MP3 CD's because I got tired of having a stack of CD's in the bottom DIN compartment.

Now the BOSE system in my MDX is phenomenal. Even radio commercials sound great. Not to mention the OEM subwoofer in the trunk wall. Very nice, loud, but not overbearing.

[Jesda]

Thats what a 10 disc changer is for... so you don't have to swap CDs. I have a 10disc and swap out CDs once a week at most unless friends bring their CDs which is a pain in the *** since its in the trunk.

I've had six- and ten-disc boxes on previous cars and got annoyed with having to burn and switch CDRs all the time. The drive from here to Tampa is a one-shot 15- to 20-hour journey that I take fairly often, and 10 discs is only about 13 hours!

I guess for daily commuting its more than sufficient. I regularly listen to about 20% of whats on my iPod on preferred playlists, but on road trips I like to go through all 27GB. I only repeat the songs I want to hear more than once.

The non-HK BMW "Business Audio" in my E46 is absolute trash. Ten speakers that produce nothing but noise. Think about the worst stereo you've ever heard, and make it even worse. There's somewhat sufficient power to hear it on the highway with the top down at least.

The Seville's Bose 4.0 is amazing.

[AnrodTheBerserk]

Well I read all the posts on this question and as far as I could figure, no one answered the question. Can you play mp3's (regardless of sound quality). If not is there a replacement for the cd changer that does play mp3's. With the room being a serious consideration for audio, I don't believe audiophile sound quality is worth the effort in a moving vehicle.

[black g50]

You can pull the tape deck,and install a single din dvd there.I burn mp3's to play on mine,put about 700 songs..it holds more on one disk.

[djwarner]

I actually have my 2002 owner's manual and it does not mention what CD encoding formats it recognizes. Never tried MP3 on my system.

As for Bose, their claim to fame is proper phasing over the entire sounds spectrum. People either love Bose or hate it. If you have lost your high frequency hearing from listening to music at over 100db, or want a bass response that will shake the rib cage of the people two lanes over, you probably will not like Bose systems. Ya pays ya money and ya takes ya choice.

There are threads here about adding ipod interfaces through the cassette player, but I haven't heard of anyone cracking the CANBUS LAN system to seamlessly interface other CD equipment. Unfortunately, the were not enough F50's sold to justify the engineering nut.