CD changers are wonderful things. You get hours of your favorite music without the annoyance of having to insert/eject discs every 45 minutes or so. The only problem is, when the disc you want is not in the changer, you have to park your car, open the trunk, and change discs. Blaupunkt felt your pain, and created the IDC A 09 CD changer. This new piece has the same dimensions as a standard DIN head unit, allowing you to mount it in the dash, glove box, or center console. It will operate properly at any angle from -10 to +105 degrees, so you can mount it vertically if you want.
The faceplate is simple, with five slots for CDs and five buttons for ejecting each one. The slots have a red glow at each end so they are easy to find in the dark. The eject buttons each have a number corresponding to the disc number, which lights up green when a disc is inserted, and turns red for the disc that is currently playing.
There is a single cable that carries audio and control signals; it connects to the current crop of Blaupunkt head units that have CD changer control capability. For this test we used the same manufacturer's head unit, the Casablanca CD50.
An adapter cable allows for connection to receivers purchased all the way back to 1996. Extensions are available in 4 ft. and 20 ft. lengths, so you can mount the unit just about anywhere in the vehicle - of course, no need to install it in the trunk; you want it within easy reach. Rumor has it that there will eventually be an RF modulator available for this unit that will provide interface to any FM receiver.
The black trim ring can be replaced with a silver one to match the cosmetics of some of the head units in the Blaupunkt line. Also available are a mounting sleeve for under dash or other locations that don't have a DIN/ISO bracket, and a camouflage faceplate that makes the changer look like a head unit with the faceplate removed.
One great feature of this deck is the ability to change discs while a disc is playing. You never have to shut down the tunes. You can use the "Mix" function to randomly select and play tracks on one disc, or across all the loaded discs. Because of the small size of the piece, the mechanism takes about 16 seconds to load up a new disc, which may be longer than you want to wait between songs. This is only a problem when you choose to play tracks at random across all of the currently loaded discs. For random play on a single disc, it behaves just like a typical single disc player.
While connected to the Casablanca, CD naming is provided for up to 99 individual discs, with eight characters for each title. Special control functions for CD changers include scan, MIX (random play of a single disc or across all loaded discs) and track/disc repeat. A menu option lets you decide how long each track will play during a scan operation, from 5 seconds to 30 seconds. This timer also applies to station scanning in the tuner.
A 3-beam holographic laser head reads the disc, and can read through some nasty scratches without skipping or jumping. The anti-shock and anti-vibration construction does very well at preventing skips when the road gets bumpy.
The "Thummer 3" remote, which straps to the inside of the steering wheel, gives you remote control through the receiver. This puts the most commonly used controls under your thumb, without having to remove your hands from the wheel. Disc selection, track selection, scan, volume and mute are all accessible via the remote.
For long trips, this changer can't be beat. You can mount it within easy reach of the driver and/or passenger and never have to stop your car again (until you run out of gas, or if nature calls)!