If I wanted an MP3 player again, in 2023, and wanted to rip cds to it and put digitally purchased albums on it, as actual owned files (not inside an proprietary ecosystem where I pay to only listen to that track within that service) could I still do that? What would I need? I don’t own, and can’t afford, a “real computer”, but i recall having lots of compatibility issues at the time between my mp3 player and computer os anyway. I’ve got an ipad and a pixel. Is there any feasible, non-ridiculously-difficult way to do this? Do they still sell any mp3 players? Do any of the old ones work with modern tech? I miss hearing my music on a simple, quiet, offline device without ads or streaming services.
I would buy some shitty old desktop off ebay and use that to rip CDs. Almost any old PC with DVD or CD drive will do this easily…preference on a DVD drive because you can do more with it like play DVDs.
I still sort of do what you describe. My truck has a CD player in it and I’ve bought a lot of CDs for cheap in the last few years. I do also have an MP3 player but I have not changed the music on it for a long time now.
I don’t let my purchased CDs out of the house now. Baking them in my truck seems like a BAD idea. I copy them using something like this: https://store.microboards.com/CDDVD-Duplicators_c_37.html . I got the 2 drive one from someone on Craigslist for $50.
I also bought this CD player: https://www.amazon.com/Studebaker-SB3705BW-Portable-wirelessly-Coordinated/dp/B092KNSWH9/ref=sr_1_9?crid=38LK1C3LHFN0Y&keywords=studebaker+cd+player&qid=1694140260&sprefix=studebak%2Caps%2C486&sr=8-9
Thing is pretty awesome. Outputs FM radio from your CD with good “skip protection”. I was considering paying for Satellite radio on a rental car before I bought this. Now I can play my music on any car. And on several receivers in my house at the same time. I can make my own little radio station. So it really extends the usefulness of my CDs. I can also take it hiking / biking / etc. because of the great skip protection (60 seconds!).
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