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View Full Version : VW RCD 300 - Gap between tracks on mix/dance cds.



boofont
04-03-2008, 01:28 PM
Just picked up my new Golf, annoyed that the RCD 300 cd player puts a pause between continues mix (dance music) cds. Done some research on this and it would appear that it is not a fault with the player, rather that it was designed this way.

Anyway, as I'm not happy with it I have spoke to Trading Standards (via www.comsumerdirect.gov.uk (http://www.comsumerdirect.gov.uk/)) and explained that the unit does not play (mix) cds correctly, after all, they are supposed to be a continuous un-interrupted mix. They have told me that I have a case using The Sale Of Goods Act (1979) as the unit is not of satisfactory quality, below taken from their website.

Of satisfactory quality.
This means the goods must meet the standards that any reasonable person would expect, taking into account the description, the price and all other relevant information. In some circumstances, the retailer may be liable for any statement made by the manufacturer about the goods.

Satisfactory quality includes the appearance and finish of the goods, their safety and durability and whether they are free from defects (including minor faults)

As the unit will not play a perfectly legal and uk supplied original cd that should (and will do on any other player) be played with out any gaps between the tracks it is reasonable to say that it is not free from defects.

I have opened a case with them to pursue this, so is there anyone else out there that finds this annoying? If you don't listen to this type of cd then I can appreciate it really is not an issue but as a DJ, it's all my music is! This will also apply to an album recorded live, there will be jump between tracks!

Let me know what you all think!

descb600f
04-03-2008, 02:50 PM
Is it a standard disc or MP3 as I've found all MP3 players seem to insist on a pause between tracks?

boofont
04-03-2008, 05:40 PM
I'm talking about a standard UK bought CD that would play in any other player with no pause/jump between tracks.

I appreciate mp3 does this but that is down to the rip/burn process rather than the player.

dansansome
04-03-2008, 06:13 PM
while i would find it annoying, i doubt you will get very far.

its a CD player, it plays CDs. as ronseal would say, it does what it says on the tin.

yes, there is a pause between tracks, but where is it written down that a CD player must not generate a pause in between tracks? (even though it is universally accepted that they generally dont)

i feel this would probably be the counter argument you would receive.

to have a valid case, you would need to find the equipment qualifications of the RCD 300, and then any documents that it states the RCD 300 complies with.

if, in any of these referenced documents, it actually says "it must play cds contiuously without generating pauses" or such words. then you probably have a case.

if not, then it really boils down to personal preference.

having said all this (and i wasnt trying to rain on your parade), if enough people get on to them, they may (or may not) fix this issue in a firmware update of some sort.

good luck with it tho :)

ini
04-03-2008, 06:30 PM
It sounds like the disc, not the hardware?

If it is inserting a pause between tracks, then you are playing seperate tracks.

Otherwise it would be one long mp3 or wav.

It sounds like it is one long mix, that has been split into seperate tracks by whoever has made the CD.

You could try joining the tracks together and burning them as one mp3/wav.

descb600f
04-03-2008, 06:47 PM
I have live discs that are 1 long concert but you dont get a pause between tracks on a normal cd I'll try one on my car tonight on ther way to work.

Of course maybe it just needs a break between tracks as it has different taste in music to yourself lol

MarcoV
04-03-2008, 06:49 PM
If you are so passionate about your music change the head unit and speakers! This way you will get what you want with better quality too!

boofont
04-03-2008, 08:24 PM
Think some of you are missing the point, it's a brand new car why should I have to buy a new player to solve a problem?

It's not the disc, this will happen to any original UK (or other country) bought CD. I'm not talking about mp3 either.

In the manual it says that it may not play cd-r media etc, nothing about a pause may be heard on certain CDs. So, if a pause is ok unless the manufactures says so, how long should it be for? Would it be ok if it was for ten minutes? As annoyed as anyone would be if there was a pause for ten mins is how I feel about a pause of any kind.

It may seem petty but I paid good money for this car and want it to be right. As a dance music fan, the mixing of the tracks is crucial. The pause and jump to the next track just ruins it!

Of course VW may not be aware so hopefully it can be corrected with firmware update on the unit, but I can't be the only one that find this irritating?

Ben
04-03-2008, 09:48 PM
Think some of you are missing the point,
there is no 'think' about it, the piont has not even been noticed.


example, if you went to HMV and bought ministry of sound then each disc will have 18 ish tracks on. when you play this in your cd player in the kitchen, there won't be any gaps, pauses or silence between the tracks yet the track number will still change. This is how it is meant to work on this type of music cd

What is happening in the case of the op is that the RCD300 IS putting silence between the tracks when the cd is designed not to have silence.

The problem is easy enough to understand and it has nothing whatsoever to do with mp3, burning your own, or any thing else.

i fail to see the confusion.

ini
04-03-2008, 10:26 PM
I see, tracks with no fade in & out.

From browsing, not everyones RCD300 seems to insert a space between tracks, and a couple of people that have had the problem, seem to have fixed it.

It must be a programmable (maybe hidden) feature?

boofont
05-03-2008, 08:18 AM
Correct, no fade out/in between tracks. I think all RCD300's do this, I've searched on here and ukmkivs (posted the same on there in the mkv I.C.E. thread) and there's been a few mentions of it. You'd only know the player did it if you played this type of CD though so many are blissfully unaware.

As the very least, VW should be made aware of it with a view to resolving. As for me, if the player could be updated or modified then fine. Failing that, it is not unreasonoble (acorrding to advice form Trading Standards) for VW to offer an upgrade for free or at discount (assuming that they have a player that does not do the same), or a cash refund. I don't know how the refund would work as it was included in the car, I hope it won't come to this though.

boofont
17-03-2008, 10:13 AM
News on my CD problem. It seems there are two manufactures of the RCD300, Blaupunkt and Grundig. One of them makes an RCD300 that plays with no pauses where as the other does not. VW have admitted there is a problem and are looking in to a solution.

All those that doubted...

dansansome
17-03-2008, 12:36 PM
well its good that VW have admitted that they see it as a problem. hopefully you'll get a fix sometime soon :)

carnaige
25-03-2008, 09:04 AM
Do keep us posted... any news yet on which one handles the gaps correctly - Blaupunkt or Grundig?

Also, who did you speak to to find out about the 2 different manufacturers? Wouldn't mind giving VW a call myself, who did you speak to?

boofont
26-03-2008, 12:28 AM
Still waiting to hear back. I took advice from Consumer Direct and wrote to the dealer explaining what the problem was, he took it to VW and they agreed.

carnaige
26-03-2008, 12:52 AM
Good work... i called VW customer care today and they didn't have a clue about the problem, just told me to go back to the dealers.

robibby
04-05-2008, 01:44 PM
just had a brand new vw head unit to replace a defunct older (that worked fine) and it has the same problem - breaks between tracks that should be continuous. seems unbelievable to me - factory press CDs are not exactly new technology! would be interested to hear if there is some solution.

x_galla
12-08-2008, 02:23 PM
Hi all,

I have a 2 month old EOS which is experiencing this issue and having spoken to VW have received this reply...

"Latest manufacturer response received confirms 'indexing' pause as normal operation on continuous playback with RCD300. Additionally, Grundig are currently the only manufacturer/supplier for this unit therefore if another unit was ordered it would be a Grundig and will again demonstrate this indexing facility on live recording or mix CDs. The RCD500 model doesn't exhibit this characteristic."

VW are refusing to fix my issue by replacing with an RCD500 or a non-faulty RCD300.

Is anybody able to provide advice or guidance on what my options are for this?

Many thanks

Paul

robibby
13-08-2008, 09:00 PM
I worked round it by ripping the audio to MP3 & burned to re-recordable CDRW - as a single track. Bit of effort to do for the first time, then easy. Means you can have multiple albums on single disc, so worth doing. And no more nasty gaps!!
You'll need to extract the LAME encoder into the audiograbber installation folder, to grab to MP3.

http://help.cnet.com/Media_Center/9602-12576_39-0.html?messageID=2505282&kw=Media+Center

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Lame_Encoder.htm

Richard

boofont
15-08-2008, 06:29 AM
You're all missing the point, the unit will not play uk spec cd's as they should, simple as that! You go out to HMV etc, buy Judge Jules' lastest Ibiza mix cd (or whatever), pop it in expecting a 70+ min continous mix and you get 20 tracks split with a small pause.

There should be no need to frig it by buring extra cds etc. Complain to the dealer, if you get no joy speak to Consumer Direct (google it), they will back you up (they did me), write a letter as per their instructions and keep hounding the dealer. I won, why won't you? They set a precedence with me.

robibby
15-08-2008, 07:58 AM
You're all missing the point, the unit will not play uk spec cd's as they should, simple as that! You go out to HMV etc, buy Judge Jules' lastest Ibiza mix cd (or whatever), pop it in expecting a 70+ min continous mix and you get 20 tracks split with a small pause.

There should be no need to frig it by buring extra cds etc. Complain to the dealer, if you get no joy speak to Consumer Direct (google it), they will back you up (they did me), write a letter as per their instructions and keep hounding the dealer. I won, why won't you? They set a precedence with me.
Very pleased that you won .. didn't know. How did VW resolve it - what unit did they give you, or did they just offer compensation?

boofont
15-08-2008, 08:54 PM
Got an RCD500, see here.

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=37097