i travel all the time with my job. i work in the music biz. i love music. i love my ipod.

for the past few years, i have taken my ipod everywhere on the road and used a cassette adapter to run my ipod thru my stereo.

when i first got my TCH, i hooked my ipod up thru the aux for a direct connection and it was much better than the cassette route. BUT, i still had to look down at the ipod and that is not cool while driving.

then i discovered mp3 cds! mp3 cds can hold over 100 songs and they can be grouped in folders...which are just like playlist. with the 6 cd changer, you can hold about the same amount of music as the mini ipod. and with mp3 cds, you don't ever have to worry about space like on the ipod.

it takes a little time setting up playlist on i-tunes to organize your mp3 playlist like you want, but it is way worth it. you can use your sterring wheel controls and everything is integrated because they play just like normal cds. and you don't have any sound issues like you can have with the aux connection.

plus, this frees up the aux connection for sirius radio. and the direct connect with sirius to the aux sounds MUCH better than the FM deal, especially with the newer lower power satelite radios.

setting up mp3 cds is easy. just download itunes (free) from the apple store. set your burn preferences to mp3 cd (instead of audio cd) and start making 100 to 150 song playlist. i listen to a lot of classic rock. i have an mp3 cd with ALL my favorite springstten albums...on one cd.

I guess I don't see what the difference is if you are setting up the folders to burn the MP3 disks why you just don't set up the iPod with those same folders/playlists...? Are you still wanting to change music on the fly? I just set up groups of music I like together then decide which playlist I am going to listen to and let it run through. Like you said, though, it does free up the aux jack if you use the cds.

I actually have some mp3 CDs from prior to the music industry lawsuits stopping the free file sharing. I just pop one in, put it in random mode and let the TCH be my DJ. I just wish the TCH would switch discs in random mode when playing mp3 discs.

in my case, i get a hum with the aux and the ipod...the cd player is a much cleaner sound. and i am not the kind of person that can set up a playlist, especially for a trip, and listen to the whole playlist without changing my mind about what i want to hear.

there are 3 or 4 mp3 cds i pretty much leave in...and use the last 2 to change cd's in and out.

and to the other poster, mp3 file sharing has nothing to with this. you can convert any file format to mp3's with itunes. all of my files were aac...over 4000. and i just convert them to mp3's and delete the aac file once i have the mp3. you can also load your cds on itunes and have them import the songs as mp3's....then take your 10 favorite cds and put them all on one mp3 cd.

I realize that. I was just stating that's how those CDs got burned.

Dear Chip,

I realize that you don't use your iPod on Aux now, but I am curious to know if you got the hum while keeping the iPod plugged in for charging. I noticed the a hum as well, but found that when the power adaptor was not hooked up to the iPod, the hum disappeared.

Bill
2007 Magnetic Gray TCH/Nav/Ash Leather
2002 Blue BMW K1200RS
2000 Champagne BMW K1200LT

Ditto on the hum, I suspect its frequency bleed through the 12 volt system from the hybrid power system. As soon as I unplug the power adapter, it clears and sound is crystal.

For those that don't know, a CD+/-R can hold upwards of 800mb of data. So in the TCH non-Nav 6-disc changer you can have 4.8Gb of data available, and with the NAV 4-disc changer you can have 3.2Gb of data at your fingertips. So while this solution is a good compromise, don't expect to replicate your 30Gb iPod by burning CD's, otherwise you will have to carry about 40 CD's around with you. Searching for the correct CD and changing them while driving is probably just as dangerous as dialing your iPod.

This is why in my Paseo, I installed a DVD player head-unit without installing any video screens. A burned DVD can contain 4.7Gb of data. Therefore, I had my entire music collection burned onto just 5 DVD's. One of these days, I will install a DVD/NAV head-unit into my TCH, especially since the aftermarket double-DIN template is now available for the 07Camry.

CAMRHEE Hybrid
Completed Mods: RK-Sport body kit, 18" LexusGS430 wheels 235/50ZR18 tires, TRD/SE springs, Rear Lip Spoiler, Terk XM-Direct, Smoked tail lights, Rear Bumper Applique, Front License Bracket, Lower Grill chrome inserts, K&N, Blaupunkt THB200A sub, moved rear HSD emblem
Future Mods: fog lights, black chrome my wheels

You get a hum when you have your iPod connected to the AUX jack? By any chance is the iPod plugged into the lighter/power socket at the same time? On a recent trip to vegas (before my TCH died) my friend brought his 30 gig video iPod (I've got a nano). When we attached the power adapter to charge the iPod we heard an audible hum as well. When we unpluged the power and ran it on battery the hum went away. This was probably something to do with a ground. Also the video iPod has moving parts where-as my nano has no moving parts and is just flash memory.

I'm not too keen on MP3 format. The algorithm used really taxes the quality of the music to my ears. Apples AAC does a much better job and doesn't use that much more space than mp3's.

mp3 cds on the camry hybrid sound awesome to me...as good as aac filles on the ipod. i just converted 4000 aac files to mp3's on my itunes.

i would rather load 6 mp3 cds and have everything integrated, than try to dial my ipod while driving. i did that for two years.

i guess the real deal breaker for me is that the aux is not available for me because i use it for sirius radio. siruis is more important than the ipod when you have mp3 cds.