Is there Soft/Hardware to convert CD Player to play MP3s?

[joesoap3]

:confused: It may not be possible, but is there anyway to convert an audio cd player so it will play MP3,s?...........LMK
joe@soap3.freeserve.co.uk

[ElaineM]

No, sorry but there isn't.

[joesoap3]

Ok Is there any interface to extrack and control a PC CD rom.(can you link it to a handheld PC)
What I want to do is be able to play MP3s and as I see it at present, the only choices are either the walkman type player or the dvd vcd mp3 players.
Ideally if I could have used a hardware product along with the various players I have, all would have been good, but as that is not an option, I wonder if anyone has views on how to make your own MP3 player. LMK
joe@soap3.freeserve.co.uk

[Darkman]

Well someone had to make the first MP3 player so in theory you could rig one up but is it really worth the effort?. If you really want one then bite the bullet and buy a 'ready made' one.


Surely a small 'discman' would be much easier to cart around & use than rigging a power supply & connecting a CDROM to a handheld , gee the CDROM would be bigger than the whole 'palm pilot' not to mention the bulk & weight of a power supply.
Hmm maybe a voltage converter and a car battery would work, then all you need is a strong back pack to cart it all around in ;)

[joesoap3]

Thanks I suppose I asked for that sort of opinion.
Heres my scenario I'm a DJ with loads of Dual CD players. To change to MP3 The choices are as above use a walkman (the one I have has no display for artist,track etc) or use a dvd/vcd/mp3 player ( which means a lot of money) I know in the future there will be dual mp3 players but for now I thought someone in the forum might know of a way to convert a PC cd rom ( which you can buy for £30.00) to play mp3's

[Darkman]

I'm just trying to say that you would face some big hurdles trying to get it working. The CDROM doesn't interpret the MP3s, it just reads the data, you need a CPU to run the Codec required to uncompress the MP3 and then output commands to the soundcard to play the track.

A CD player that plays audio tracks is specially built to interpret the audiosignals encoded to the disc, commercial MP3 players (ie the walkman type portable MP3 player) have their own custom opperating system running including the required MP3 codecs.
A CDROM on the other hand is just once piece of hardware that forms a part of the whole software & hardware package required to 'play' an MP3.

It's sort of like taking a few components from a laptop and trying to make a handheld PC from it. Companies like Palm have spent years and millions of dollars in converting, miniturising, programming & testing their new product (ie the Pilot), something not easily replicated in the back yard laboratory.

[joesoap3]

Thanks for the info M8. I didnt understand the concept but I do now. BTW I just found a site that makes what I'm looking for
http://www.carplayer.com/
If it's of any interest to anyone with the same query as me.
Cheers

[Darkman]

Hey M8 I wasn't trying to be to harsh about your idea, it would be an interesting project. The quote from that 'build your own MP3 player' tutorial sums it up for me "Basically you will be building a small computer for your car. "

One point to note that these people 'forget' to mention, commercially made car MP3 players are built to be shock resistant, CDROMs are not shock tolerant and don't like being bumped around , after all they are built to be used on a nice solid non-moving desk!.

Unless somehow these plans also include a 10 second read-ahead buffer I wouldn't guarantee that it would be any good except for when the car is stationary.

Good luck with the project, it should keep you amused for a while.

[Keymaster]

I don't think shock would be the problem, since as I understand it this isn't actually for a Car CD player but for a DJ setup.

Darkman is correct though, in addition to a reader you need the components to interpret what is being th read. In CD-ROms there is actaully a built in Audio CD player to do this, which is why you can plug headphones into the CD-ROM and don't have to even transfer the audio data to the PC soundcard. The PC is used just as a control mechanism.

MP3/CD players have similar additional circuitry to read and decode MP3 data. This is contained on additional chip(s) within the MP3 player. If you have a way to install these chips in a regular CD player, you will still need the CD drive control mechanism. Although it would be possible, no doubt as Darkman stated it will be easier to purchase a cheap CD/MP3 deck in the future than to design and build one yourself. When a manaufacturer produces one, they will be able to recoup their R&D costs from the sale of thousands of units.