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Help CD software on Andriod

A

athegn

Android Expert
I am trying to play CDs on my phone/tablet.

I have the drive connected but need a software player for Andriod.

Any advice please?
 
Trying to use a CD player device involves driver/firmware issues and if you have a relatively dated mobile device possibly OTG support issues. Not knowing what phone model you have, which version of Android its running, what media player apps you're tried using, and the make/model of the CD player itself all add in a lot of variables that may or may not be pertinent.
I'd just rip those CDs on a PC and copy the resulting audio files to your mobile device to save time and effort.
 
Thank you for your replies.

Phone is Galaxy A7 (2018) OS 10. Tablet is Galaxy Tab A (8" 2019) OS 10. Both have PowerAmp as their media player. CD transport is LG GP57EB40.

I could rip on my laptop (laptop not in listening room due to fan noise) as I do with any CD I buy, however this time was stuck as nephew brought a CD along and wanted to hear it over my hifi. As it happens I have an old Cambridge CD player but when that goes do not intend to replace; so interest in using portable drive solution.
 
I think ripping is probably your only option.

You've already ascertained that your devices can't drive it, which means that either they don't have drivers or they can't supply enough power to operate the CD drive (just like a phone can't power a portable hard drive, so although the driver would support that as a USB storage device it won't work unless the drive can take an external power source). I don't know which of these is the problem, but it will either be one, the other or both. But if it won't work with an external power source, or of the drive doesn't have a power socket for one, then I think there's little to no chance of finding an Android driver for it: this is a very unusual request, so I doubt that the CD drive manufacturer would spend money on developing and maintaining such drivers. I guess you could search their support site though, just in case (I'd expect the "driver" would take the form of app that could act as an interface, since the end user wouldn't be able to integrate a device driver with the OS).
 
So OTG support isn't so much an issue but keep in mind that not every OTG cable/adapter will actually be compatible with your A7. Simply because it is fully OTG capable there's still the hardware driver issue. With a typical desktop OS that's usually a matter where the OS will attempt to auto-load the required driver or the user installs it manually. With Android when there's not existing firmware support for a device, it's typically added in by an app from the hardware manufacturer. The U in USB does stand for Universal but in reality there's a lot of proprietary standards involved in a lot of USB devices. So there's an issue on the USB cable you're using along with that external LG CD player that could be an issue. If your A7 cannot readily detect the CD player, it makes no difference what media player app you're using. When the OS cannot interface with the device on a base hardware level, than any user apps won't either.
 
athegn said:
I am trying to play CDs on my phone/tablet.

I have the drive connected but need a software player for Andriod.

Any advice please?
Click to expand...

Not a player, but there's an Android CD ripper app. That will rip an audio CD to AAC, WAV, or FLAC, from a connected CD drive on an Android device. And the ripped audio files can be played of course.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.convertav.cdripper

I have tried it with an Android TV box and a connected USB CD/DVD drive. Not sure about it working with a phone USB-OTG though, my TV box does have full-sized USB 3.0 ports, which I usually connect hard-drives.

EDIT:

It does state in the app's description about using a phone:
"Unfortunately, you can’t directly attach your phone to the CD ripping device, so you’re going to need some equipment. Firstly, you need a DVD-RW Drive. You’ll need a USB hub, connected to a power outlet, to power the drive. Finally, you need an adapter cable."
I used a TV box which is a powered device, and that can connect two hard-drives simultaneously.
 
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athegn said:
Thank you for all your replies.

Looks like the transport in Andriod is not on. Hope my CD player lasts.
Click to expand...

You got the CD drive connected to your phone OK? Well if you use the CD Ripper app I suggested, you only have to do it once for each CD. The ripped audio is stored on your phone and can be played at any time.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.convertav.cdripper

FWIW Android is primarily a mobile OS, really intended for phones and tablets, and so the business of using a CD/DVD drive with a phone is not really considered important by Google and most devs probably. Unlike a desktop OS running on a PC or Mac.
 
Thanks I can do the ripping, I have ripped all my CDs, but as I said in my earlier post I just needed to play a CD then and there. As for online, several years ago I had to play someone's CD-R, which was a rip of a cassette they had privately recorded; I can also play cassettes, until that machine breaks!
 
athegn said:
Thanks I can do the ripping, I have ripped all my CDs, but as I said in my earlier post I just needed to play a CD then and there. As for online, several years ago I had to play someone's CD-R, which was a rip of a cassette they had privately recorded; I can also play cassettes, until that machine breaks!
Click to expand...

FWIW if you just want to play CDs and cassettes, You can buy a new CD player or a cassette player from somewhere like AliExpress for less than $10.

I bought a USB CD/DVD drive a few months ago for 69 yuan(about $10), only because I needed to rip some DVDs that came with a textbook I'm using in classes. And your post spiked my interest, like could it be used with an Android device rather than a laptop computer. Last time I bought something with a CD/DVD drive, was a Macbook in 2008.
 
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athegn said:
Thanks I can do the ripping, I have ripped all my CDs, but as I said in my earlier post I just needed to play a CD then and there. As for online, several years ago I had to play someone's CD-R, which was a rip of a cassette they had privately recorded; I can also play cassettes, until that machine breaks!
Click to expand...

I know the feeling!
But I do dislike CDs, especially the players.

My God, a fingerprint and the disc will ski ski ski ski ski ski skip skip skip e e e e e e e e e eve eve eve eve even wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo worse than the vinyl records they were supposed to replace!!!

No kidding, about 7-8 years ago I took an in home inventory of my working tape deck vs. working CD players...

at that time I had a total of 14 working cassette decks and 5 working CD/DVD players.

I had no broken cassette decks and about 5 non functional disc players.

Now I have much less, but just from memory I have 9 working tape decks, and only 3 working disc players.
 
puppykickr said:
I know the feeling!
But I do dislike CDs, especially the players.

My God, a fingerprint and the disc will ski ski ski ski ski ski skip skip skip e e e e e e e e e eve eve eve eve even wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo worse than the vinyl records they were supposed to replace!!!

No kidding, about 7-8 years ago I took an in home inventory of my working tape deck vs. working CD players...

at that time I had a total of 14 working cassette decks and 5 working CD/DVD players.

I had no broken cassette decks and about 5 non functional disc players.

Now I have much less, but just from memory I have 9 working tape decks, and only 3 working disc players.
Click to expand...

I don't keep anything like that around. I only bought a CD/DVD drive for a job I had to do. And I have absolutely no interest in using cassettes these days, apart from watching some YouTube videos about them.
 
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