DescentBB

Just wondering what you guys would recommend for a car MP3 head unit with a front USB port? I know I brought this up a while back but due to life circumstances, I was unable to get one at the time. So, now I have a chance to grab one but I need one with a front USB port and functions like an mp3 player, allowing me to switch from track to track easily. I know some have issues with shuffling or going back to the original track. Anyone know of a decent unit?

*bump*
ooo yes! i want to know too!

Use Crutchfield to research the stereo you want, then buy it somewhere else.

USB players

Looks like most of them have a usb connection in the rear, which is stupid... One of the Kenwoods has it right in front. You'd have to get a usb extension cable and route it somewhere in your car to plug in your device. This can be a good thing, however, if you get/build a dock for your mp3 player.

my roommate's little xa has an ipod adapter. i've been looking for a regular usb adapter, but i guess we have to get one of these that are listed above.

Pfft. You kids and your fancy gadgets. Back in my day, I used a 12-disc cd changer! And if you wanted a custom set of songs on a disc, you used to use whats called a cd-burner to do that for ya.

Man, these kids have it all easy today.

Top Wop wrote:Pfft. You kids and your fancy gadgets. Back in my day, I used a 12-disc cd changer! And if you wanted a custom set of songs on a disc, you used to use whats called a cd-burner to do that for ya.

Man, these kids have it all easy today.

Back in the day, we had tape decks and at home they would be 8 track.

Ha! Yeah my first car had an 8-track, later, I had hundreds of cassetes recorded from LP's.

I vote for the rear usb port, though, if you are going to run a cable to a dock anyway. That way you won't have a cable sticking out the front all the time. But if you think you would just throw the player in the console and plug it in occasionally, the front would preferred.

Crutchfeild may charge a little more than some other online retailer, but they will provide you with an installation kit that includes step by step directions for your car, a connector to fit your cars harness, and tech help if you need it. I and several friends have bought quite a few things from them, and nothing but good to say about them. And unless you are determined to have a certain make/model, you can get good deals with carefull shopping.

CDN_Merlin wrote:

Top Wop wrote:Pfft. You kids and your fancy gadgets. Back in my day, I used a 12-disc cd changer! And if you wanted a custom set of songs on a disc, you used to use whats called a cd-burner to do that for ya.

Man, these kids have it all easy today.

Back in the day, we had tape decks and at home they would be 8 track.

Shot at 2007-07-16[

/me is waiting for the inevitable post \"Back in the day we had AM radio...\"

Krom wrote:/me is waiting for the inevitable post "Back in the day we had AM radio..." :P

I'm waiting for Bama to come in and talk about smoke signals.

I actually want an MP3 player because I purchase most of my music these days in digital format since I usually only like a few songs off from any given album anymore and I can't afford to buy tons of CD's. So, I only purchase the songs I like. I would just burn them onto disks but I don't like to wait to burn 150+ songs onto a single mp3 disks so I want to have a way to listen to songs as I purchase them. Somehow I would rather not have a USB drive inside my car. Anyway, just looking for the best possible solution.


The common problem, is that many of these head unit's, I have read don't support external drives but you can plug in USB drives I think. However, even then, the mp3 player won't keep it's place so you have to select the song you want, every single time you start your car. I need something that doesn't do this.


I just can't talk myself into an IPOD. IMO, they are useless, overpriced garbage. :\\ $250-$300 to buy something to carry in your pocket while you jog! They also are designed for movies and such. A function I would NEVER, EVER use. I don't even use 50% of the features on my $200 cell phone.

So buy something like a Creative Zen or Sandisk flash based player. Just because you want a MP3 player doesn't mean it has to be an iPod. I have a Sandisk 8 GB flash player with about 4000 songs on it, definitely gets the job done.

Isaac wrote:Shot at 2007-07-16

What?

I don't think any head unit tracks the usb drive. There's no serial number that I know of that is read from the drive so that the head unit would know it's the same drive as before it lost power. Probably takes more code than they have room to do all the error checking, so they just didn't bother.

You might just want to wait until someone comes out with a dvd-mp3 changer. Personally, I just make mix disks of what I want to hear. I have one CD of Floyd, one CD of Zepplin, one CD of Floyd/Zep/Skynyrd/Bad Co/etc, one of Metallica, of of Metallica/Pantera/White Zombie/Etc. Even at 320vbr, you can fit a decent amount of songs on a cdr.

Krom wrote:So buy something like a Creative Zen or Sandisk flash based player. Just because you want a MP3 player doesn't mean it has to be an iPod. I have a Sandisk 8 GB flash player with about 4000 songs on it, definitely gets the job done.

Exactly my point about IPODs. I'm not looking for something to jog with right now. I'm looking for a head unit for my car. Unless you are trying to say that Creative Zen or Sandisk will work with an IPOD ready deck. Don't you need a regular USB setup for that though? From what I understand, that is why you buy a USB deck.

Knowing Apple, the iTrash attachment is proprietary.

I just put a new stereo in my car when the old one broke. The new one has an AUX-out cable port, and with a cable I link my iPod to it. It's not particularly graceful, but it gets the job done. I really need to get a new iPod, though, considering that my puny first-gen Nano has been horribly beat up, rode through the washing machine, and lasts about thirty seconds with the backlight on. Not to mention that it's only two gig, and I have fifteen gigs of music.

I think you're confused as to how you can hook stuff up to your head unit.

-USB decks can read music from a USB flash drive.

-iPod-compatible decks plug directly into the rectangular connector of the iPod, and can charge the battery while you drive.

-Head units with an aux input can plug into just about any MP3 player on the market, since they use the stereo miniplug that a regular set of headphones uses. You use the MP3 player's controls to navigate through your music, and usually all you need to use it is a $7 cable from Radio Shack. According to Crutchfield, 139 out of the 161 head units they carry has an aux input. From what you've said, it sounds like this would be the best option for you (once you get an MP3 player that is).

You didn't mention a budget, but figure $120 or so for a 4gb MP3 player (less if you shop around), and another $100-$150 for a basic head unit with an aux input. HU's with a USB connector are more expensive, after a quick check on Crutchfield's site.

Testiculese wrote:Knowing Apple, the iTrash attachment is proprietary.

x2

Just get one that has a front USB input, and get a couple 8GB USB flash drives. Hell, if you really want you can get one of those FM transmitters that you plug into your 12V cig lighter that has a USB input on it. When you get your mp3 player, just plug it into the audio-in jack on the transmitter.

MD-2389 wrote:Just get one that has a front USB input, and get a couple 8GB USB flash drives. Hell, if you really want you can get one of those FM transmitters that you plug into your 12V cig lighter that has a USB input on it. When you get your mp3 player, just plug it into the audio-in jack on the transmitter.

I use one of those, (Belkin branded) it works well enough most of the time but once in a while you get static, especially in any town or city. Sometimes finding a station that is weak enough or not coming in at all can be a real pain too.

get one with a mini-jack input. much more flexible.

BTW, don't blow your system out trying to get the iTunes garbage to sound unlike an 8track ripped to a phonograph...

I would rather just get a system that can handle it decently. I usually convert my files over to a different format before I take them anywhere.

You could destroy the best system in the world trying to get iTunes garbage to sound decent. You have to watch overpowering your subs with underpowered encoding. You'll burn them up quick trying to compensate.

So.... why not just re-encode them? I thought iTunes encoded at a higher bit-rate anyway? Besides, I don't need the best sound system in the world. I've been perfectly happy with my old 12\" sub and 200W amp that I pulled out of my brother's car.

I think Testi is confused about something.

You can't re-encode encoded files, you don't get audio information back, it only works with what's left from the first encoding. The sound will only get worse. iTunes uses pretty low quality. 128k? What a joke. I wouldn't pay a dollar for that. I wouldn't pay anything for that. It's only good enough for earphones. CD's are 'encoded' at 1100k, for reference.

I'm not confused, I've seen it happen. Crappy recording, and trying to get their system to compensate, they overdrove their speakers and burnt'em out.

If you underpower your system, and overdrive your settings, you'll blow it. If you overpower your system, you'll burn it up.

My wife got me the Kenwood KDC-MP735U for fathers day to replace my old JVC KDSH99 that finally bit the dust and I like it so far. Granted I'm not an audiophile but it works well and has a USB port that you can mount anywhere within reach of the cable. I think my wife got a good deal on it from overstock.com (which is a place I never would have looked for it by the way). I only wish it had HD radio support built in. But it does do a great job playing mp3's from my various thumb drives.

And I'll give a little shout out to the old school Descenters here. I still lurk around and am looking forward to Core Decision and a little pyro on my desk one day.

I found a decent setup for what I need.


Now, I just need to know of a good on-line retailer for head units. I remember someone here once mentioned www.hookedontronics.com. I would like a little more feedback on that though and maybe a couple of alternatives as well. Any recommendations?

I mentioned them. I got my head unit and amp from there. (Insert obnoxious eBay positive feedback here) They had the best pricing for my parts. Stuff was new, shipped as expected, worked as expected.