seems like I read previously that the 05 CD changer was really just an 04 with new s/w. Can anyone confirm if upgrading the 04 to play MP3's is possible?

 

last saturday i saw some new 04's and the sticker said they were mp3 compatible. From the mfg date on the msrp, these trucks were just a few weeks out of the factory. So soon you should be able to pick up one used as people start swapping out the factory head for aftermarket

 

well that's something!!! thanks for the info.
I guess I forgot to ask, but I hope that the ones you saw were 6-disc changers

 

I just purchased an 04SCrew, built on Aug 18, 2004 in KC. Audiophile HU will NOT play CDs with MP3's on them. I get an error message saying CD-ROM DISC.

 

Yea, me too. Same build date. I was disappointed that it did not play MP3 discs. Will the factory rectify this problem. I have had it less than a week?

 

Just picked up my '05 with audiophile last night and it DOESN'T play MP3s!

The owners manual mentions both types of audiophile systems and has the note "Late Availability" on the MP3 version. Bummer....

 

I have an 04 Scab, and have been playing my owned burned discs on it since I got it, no problem, they are MP3 capable, as I asked and read in the literature, although. I opted to get the audiophile stereo system, which is an upgrade

 

Are you sure you're playing MP3 files on that CD? Is your "burned" disk just a copy of an original CD - in that case they would be .cda files and would play like the original in most players.

According to the '05 owners manual, the MP3 capable audiophile system will have an option called MP3 track/Folder (or something similar) when you hit the menu button and cycle through the options. JGRAFF - do you see this in your truck? That's the ONLY difference between the two units. Mine does not ('05 Lariat w/audiophile) but I haven't actually tried to load a CD with mp3s yet...I guess I could try it.

 

jdmclemore

Well, I haven't yet broken out the Owners manuall to verify that it does say MP3, but with everyone copying and burning discs, it wouldn't serve Ford very well, if we paid top dollar for the upgraded stereo system only to find out that they can only play store bought music. I have made several burned discs, which consist of several different artists on a disc, and they play without any error messages. I have been using Dell's musicmatch on the computer, and I might be burning them in some format other than Mp3, like wwma, wav etc. but the bottom line is that they play without error, and thus if your trying to record your own music, you should be able to do the same. I will have to look at the format recorded on my disc and see how it was recorded. Either way, you would still be able to record and listen. I made sure to ask before ordering my truck, as if your going to be spending $500 for a stereo upgrade, your certainly not going to be happy if you have to replace the HU becasue it won't play your own music. My menu button does not have any options indicating MP3 on it. I have a 6 disc changer, and load both my recorded music, and regular, and play through them all without problems.

Jgraff

 

I think some of you guys are confusing .MP3 files and .wav files. If your burned disc is maxed out with 20 or so songs, it is NOT using MP3 files. You probably downloaded MP3 file formats, but most computer software systems convert the files, when you burn a disc, to regular CD audio format, like .wav. If you have a true MP3 CD, it will hold OVER 100 songs. This is the major bummer about the Audiophile, especially after you read that it is capable of playing them. I had a pioneer head unit that played MP3s in my '04 F-350, so I boxed up nearly all of my CDs and stashed them in a closet. I fit about 400 CDs onto about a dozen MP3 burned discs. After getting my F-150, I had to go digging up the regular CDs again and lug around huge CD cases in the truck.

 

Right, that's the big difference - you can fit MANY more mp3s on a CD than you can .wav or .cda.

By the way - just for the heck of it I tried an mp3 disc in my '05 audiophile system. No go.

Looks like mp3 will be a feature of the audiophile later in the model year.