Can I make my car CD player turn on and off instantly?

November 6, 2014 5:41 AM

I often listen to audio books on CD in my 2014 Subaru Impreza. When I turn the CD player on, the volume doesn't start at full blast -- it sort of fades in. And when I turn the CD player off, the sound doesn't stop instantly -- it fades out. I find this annoying. Is there some setting that I can adjust to make the CD player come on and off instantly? I looked through the manual, but I couldn't find anything, and I'm finding it hard to Google. Thank you!
posted by cider to Technology (6 answers total)

Not to be very basic, but have you tried the pause button instead of turning it on and off? It sounds like you are turning the unit itself on and off, rather than just starting and stopping playback. It sounds like it has a safety system to prevent blowing people's eardrums out, and so volume fades in and out when it turns on and off, but pressing play after it is already on should be instant, I'd have thought.

Audio books do generally need a very high volume, which may be why this is kicking in as some sort of comfort/safety element, but I'd find it very unusual for it to ramp the volume down if you press the pause button (or ramp up if you press play).
posted by Brockles at 6:20 AM on November 6, 2014

Impreza owner here (2010, though). My stock stereo works the same way, and like Brockles said I imagine it's a feature designed to prevent blowing your speakers. It doesn't matter if you're listening to the radio, a CD, or something plugged into the Aux input; when you turn on the stereo's power, the audio signal fades in. Turn it off, and it fades out.
posted by emelenjr at 7:44 AM on November 6, 2014

There is no pause button in the stock stereo unit for that model year of Impreza (and XV Crosstrek, which I have).
posted by mcwetboy at 7:48 AM on November 6, 2014

Best answer: 2007 Legacy owner here, with stock stereo/CD player. It works the same way (fades in on turn-on and fades out on turn-off). I'd switch the stereo to FM or AUX and then shut the car off, then when I turn the car on again, I'd switch it to CD once the radio was at full volume.

I listen to audiobooks on my commute as well, but I mostly use Audible on my phone with a patch cable to the AUX port in the center armrest/storage area thing. I don't start the book playing until a few seconds after I start the car, and I shut the book off before shutting the car off.

I have the same annoyance when taking out CD-based audiobooks from the library, though. I either did the "switch to different mode" thing, or held in the back button so it rewound a few seconds after the volume came all the way up.

Presumably, you could also find an old Discman for cheap at a Goodwill store or something, and patch it in the same way as I do my phone (via the AUX port), but that to me seems like getting out a sledgehammer when a small ball peen hammer will do just fine. The quick switch to FM mode and back to CD mode seems a better solution to your problem.
posted by tckma at 8:06 AM on November 6, 2014 [1 favorite]

Brockles, there is no pause button for the CD player on the Subaru stock stereo (at least for the 2007 model year). I've never found it to be an issue for me, but now that I think about it, it seems quite a bit of an oversight on Subaru's part.
posted by tckma at 8:08 AM on November 6, 2014

Response by poster: Thank you! I'll plan to use the switching modes method.
posted by cider at 6:26 PM on November 6, 2014