Sony CDX-565MXRF 10-Disc CD Changer

Pros: None..
Cons: Dead right out of the box... so much for Sony's quality control

When I originally read the reviews here on this product and then saw the new CDX-565MXRF I realised it had changed and thought Sony had realised they had a problem and fixed it. Not so... I purchased mine a Future Shop in Canada for CAD$200 (US$180) ...

Pros: Plays mp3s, easy to use, hardly any moving parts
Cons: Long install, chinsy magazines, slow load times

Well, first of all, I bought this changer because I wanted mp3 playback and didn't feel like changing my head unit. With that said, take everything here as face value. I bought this changer for a total of $170, including the shipping/handling and the ...

Pros: Remote shows MP3 ID Tags, wireless remote is cool, installation is easy. Low cost.
Cons: Very unreliable with MP3 disks, skips music all the time.

I was excited to get this unit installed in my Acura TL so that I could use the excellent factory stereo and play MP3 CDs through the radio. After many months of frustration, this morning I replaced the Sony unit with an Alpine CHA-S634 and it works very ...

Pros: Great sound, reads mp3 text, easy to use, 7 gigs of mp3s in car!
Cons: Wired remote only shows 8 characters, cant see whole song title at once

Only been using this unit a few days, but I like it so far. I wanted the mp3 capability in my car, a 2004 Maxima, and since its way too difficult to install a new head unit in this car, I opted for the CD changer. First of all, its installed vertically ...

Pros: You'll run out of GAS before you run out of music. 12 second anti-skip.
Cons: Only one display color(blue), not much of a fault.

I don't understand what the other reviewers are talking about. I recorded a cd on a bulk Staples bra ...

Pros: Automatically switches discs
Cons: Choppy MP3 playing

Like others here I too have trouble with MP3 choppiness, even when parked with the engine off. I have not had ANY other problems. All discs load fine, it only takes a few seconds to change discs, the wireless remote has a good "broadcaster" so you...

Pros: Plays mp3's, easy install, doesn't skip
Cons: display unit doesn't use a constant scroll for the song title

Before i bought this cd changer i had read a couple of the reviews and was concerned about playing mp3's. Well i had a lot of the same problems that most people talked about, i could play burned cd's without a problem but, my mp3 cd's kept on skipping...

Pros: 120 hours of music in your trunk, works with any headunit
Cons: Display is too bright and cryptic, no bass and treble controls

Friend of mine got this changer first and I was a little sceptical about it after reading reviews on the net. My friend didn't have skipping problems and I decided to give the changer a try as well. I got the changer 3 weeks ago and it works as...

Pros: Advertised cool features: mp3, skip-buffer, fast disc change, radio frequency
Cons: Doesn't work as advertised, mp3s must be on CD-RW discs, no skip-buffer, slow

After several long months of frustration and several exchanged units and discussions with various people at Sony, its time for my review of the Sony CDX-565MXRF CD Changer. If you want the short summary: DON'T BUY THIS PRODUCT IF YOU WANT TO PLAY MP3...

Pros: Plays mp3's, works with any headunit, built in RF modulator.
Cons: Slow disc changes, finicky about media.

I tend to ramble a bit in my reviews before I get started on functionality (see, I'm doing it already), so if you'd rather skip to the meat of the review, scroll down about three paragraphs. If you want to know the intricacies of my thought processes in...

Pros: Sounds great, even on factory speakers and doubled up frequency.
Cons: Not very rugged or had poor quality control at manufacture.

I've had this unit for just over a year and it worked well until it started getting flaky and finally quit; just after the 1 year warranty expired of course. It would only light up junk on the wired remote and not play, just shut down. I will admit that the player is mounted on the floor in the back of my Ranger pickup, and was loose for quite a while.
I decided I had nothing to lose, so I opened it up to find 3 obvious loose solder joints on one of the main transistors. 30 seconds later, it works great again.

So, my recommendation is that if you get a good one, and pay the right price, and don't beat it to death, it works well and sounds great even if it has to share a frequency (all taken up in the L.A. California area).
A previous review mentioned MP3's only working on CD/RW. That is not correct. I use only CR-R and they are fine.

As for the price, I found it on sale at Fry's for $99

Pros: Great unit at a good price for playing MP3s
Cons: So far nothing negative.

Had no trouble installing or playing this unit, although
I still haven't completely checked out all functions of
the remote, etc. So far no skips or anything. Very enjoyable.

The unit came with complete hardware and instructions. It has rich features to include many FM modulator frequencies and 5 levels. If one could adjust the FM pre-emphasis/de-emphasis setting, that would have been nice, since I'm using the unit in a European car. Left unadjusted, this causes slightly subdued highs in the music, but still sounds quite good with increased treble. Sound quality varies widely with different encoded MP3 tracks. Its best to play many files, and some factory CDs before making judgements. Most people will find the FM interface to have negligible effects on the sound, when a good source track is played. Some instances of degraded sound quality may be due to source track problems, or a less optimal FM antenna connection. I rated the sound quality down to 4 only because of no FM pre-emphasis control. Still, the unit is a great value, and I only wish it had a wireless display instead of a wired one. The wireless remote works well. Well worth the price.

This unit does exactly what is supposed to do. Unfortunately because it utilizes your FM signal, the quality of the sound is compromised quite a bit. All together it's a good unit if you're not too picky about sound fidelity.