HELP!!!! MY CD Player STINKS!!!! What should I do?

[EBONYVIBE]

Hello all! I just bought my vibe two weeks ago her name is "ebony blackalicious"! i love her but I just found out that the CD does not play burned CDs of any kind or mp3's, which is horrible cause I'm in the music biz in the studios all the time and I have to listen to my work in the car!!!!!I'm thinking about switching out the "face plate", but I don't know which one I should get... and I don't wanna spend too much.... cause I just bought a car! I've talked to the dealership who sent me to pontiac customer service, who sent me to the dealership! Can I sell the face plate that I have now? One dealer said I could get $500 for the ne I have now since its a 2006, and by a $150 face plate at best buy. Can I fix the problem I have now?I mean whats the point of havin a cute care if you can't pump your music?-EBONYVIBE

[Mavrik]

I know the stock unit may have difficulty playing burned cds that are a certain thickness. But to replace the head unit with something else... well I'm still on the stock head unit myself and have played many burned cds.

[EBONYVIBE]

what type of cds do u you burn onto?thanks!

[LUVROK]

Going strong with Ratt, Dokken and STP burned on FujiFilm CD in a stock 05 single disc CD player.

[whatthefunk41]

i have no problem wit my old stock single disc radio readin cds....and i use TDK

[northvibe]

single disc cd player from gm will only play burned CD-R's not CD-RW's. also buy quality media like TDK, verbatium or imation. burn the music cd's slow like at 16x. Oh and the single disc shouldnt play mp3's i think its only cd. mine plays burned CD-R's just fine and its a 04', so you should be ok if you have quality media, unless retail cd's stop playing correctly. i used to have memorex cd's and they just fell apart and lost my data do not use those

[the1stacekiller]

If I were you I would get either an Ipod and play it through the FM Transmitter... or get a new killer deck at bestbuy.. or if funds can mannage it get a DVD Navigation Double Din Unit that will Rip CD's when inserted.. (thats what I would get if money fell out of the sky )

[ColonelPanic]

What software are you using to burn them? Like Northvibe said, you'll need to burn audio CD's only. A data CD with mp3's will not work... MP3 support didn't come around until the 2006 model year where it was optional. Those radios have a HUGE MP3 logo on them, you'll easily know if the radio supports playing MP3's. I've used all sorts of CD's with mine, generics with no name, Memorex, Verbatim, Imation, brands you've never heard of, etc. All have worked fine. I've had the best luck with the factory radio when using those black Memorex discs, those were great. I've still got several playable CD's that were burned to those discs well over two years ago, which says a lot considering how I handle 'em. You can get a decent aftermarket radio for under a couple hundred bucks... I only paid $120 for my Panasonic, sounds great - plays MP3's and has an auxiliary input. I think I've spent probably $200 all together, mounting stuff and all.

[jwalcik]

do you have the moon and tunes package? that won't effect what sort of head unit you can buy, but you'll likely need an adapter to "step down" the amplified signal of any aftermarket headunit you go with.it sounds like you may not have a choice in what sort of blanks the music you need to listen to is burned onto. if it's demos or masters from bands/studios you probably have to take whatever you can get. in that case, some sort of aftermarket deck with mp3 (and likely aac and wma) playback capabilities is probably what you're looking for. you'll get lots of opinions on this. i'm still an alpine fan, but some people claim they've gone way downhill. others like kenwood, panasonic, sony, etc. i'd find out what's in your price range and read some reviews of specific models to find the one you want.just fyi, i doubt you'll get $500 for your stock head unit from anyone, i'm not sure what they go for on ebay, but regardless of what the dealer charges for one.

[GMJAP]

EBONYVIBE:It should be able to play Audio CD-Rs. It won't play CD-RWs, but I've played CD-Rs on several stock Vibe radios (both 1CD and 6CD). Try burning at a slow speed.If you have a 1CD, you can get an AUX adapter to allow you to pipe in tunes from an MP3 player.

[NascarXprt]

Quote, originally posted by GMJAP »EBONYVIBE:It should be able to play Audio CD-Rs. It won't play CD-RWs, but I've played CD-Rs on several stock Vibe radios (both 1CD and 6CD). Try burning at a slow speed.If you have a 1CD, you can get an AUX adapter to allow you to pipe in tunes from an MP3 player.that is exactly what i do. but i burn the cds at any speed and the cd player still reads it. and i dont think it matters what software you use to burn cds its just the type. i.e. CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, and DVD-RW.the last will not play on a stock cd player.

[meistees]

my 04 stock cd player after a year and half quit playing store bought cds but still would play cd-r.. I went with a Panasonic on clearance from Crutchfield.com plays cd-rs and mp3 discs

[drunkenmaxx]

i don't know what brand disc it is, but the new tool CD i have is burned, and it plays just fine. i have yet to find a brand that doesn't work in my '03

[northvibe]

yea ive never had a problem with my 04 and any brand cd-r. usually when a drive stops reading cd-r its laser is getting weak. the drive laser needs to work a little harder to read a burned cd than a retail pressed one, the pot of the laser can usually then be adjusted to increase the power of the laser so it can pick up the cd. I do this all the time on ps2's and xbox's that give the dirty disc or cant read disc error.

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »yea ive never had a problem with my 04 and any brand cd-r. usually when a drive stops reading cd-r its laser is getting weak. the drive laser needs to work a little harder to read a burned cd than a retail pressed one, the pot of the laser can usually then be adjusted to increase the power of the laser so it can pick up the cd. I do this all the time on ps2's and xbox's that give the dirty disc or cant read disc error.Ooh! I just might have to find that pot on my XBox! Would you IM me (I don't want to totally hijack this thread )some info on where to find it and how much/which way to turn it?

[scherry2]

Quote, originally posted by GMJAP »Ooh! I just might have to find that pot on my XBox! nevermind....