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Playing MP3s, CDs And The Radio In Your Car?
kelleher asks: "Wasn't sure about the topic - this could go under Hardware, Music, or Toys. I'm looking to upgrade the stereo in my car, right now it has a 14-year-old Blaupunkt AM/FM cassette (standard in an '86 Porsche 944) that is non-functional. I would like something that plays both MP3s, CDs, and has an AM/FM tuner (I can't survive without NPR in the morning). I've looked at the Aiwa CDC-MP3, the Kenwood Z919, and the empeg. The empeg is out because it doesn't play audio CDs. Right now the Aiwa is in the lead due to pricing and feature set, but before I open up my wallet I wanted to know what other people are doing." I would like something similar for the next unit I put into my car. I'm still stuck with the factory radio from a 1988 Honda Accord (LXi).
If you have some time to spare, and some are in the mood of a nice decent project, you might want to look into building your own box and putting it in the car, powering all the media you want, with a keypad and a small lcd display... /AM/FM and whoknows whtelse im in the mood for) is the InMotion car mp3 player
I have seen several of sites come and go, but the one with the more useful information, and the one im basing my system on the most (My 87 Plymouth Sundance has no sound right now, so im building a small box to handle CDs/MP3s
http://www.jarcom.com/inmotion/
the site hasnt been updated since early summer, but the setup and schematics are still valid.. definately worth a look.
Also, if anyone else has done this, are there any sugestions/things to avoid in doing this?
-Joel
Stop over-analyzing your analizations
The player overall is pretty good. There are still a couple of annoyances with it. One is when using the jog dial to change volume, etc. the display will blink its blue lights.
Another is that when you eject a CD it jumps to the last AM station that you were listening to. Would be nice if you could pick FM instead.
They have fixed some reported issues. When the deck first came out, it would need to re-read the entire MP3 CD when the car was turned off. It now only needs to re-read the CD if it is ejected.
And it doesn't seem to like any Memorex CDRs that I have.
It's well worth getting even with the few little annoyances. Crutchfield has them in stock right now. You can get $25 off if you are a first time buyer from Crutchfield if you give them customer ID 20488689 (put in special messages field, or mention to sales advisor). Mine came to under $285 including shipping.
You want CD playback:
Why? Why not just rip those CDs and dump the resulting mp3's onto the empeg? I haven't had the desire to play a CD a single time since I've had my empeg. (The only conceivable reason I can think of is that you've picked up some piece of ass at the local mall and she has some Britney Spears CD that she wants to listen to that you don't already have on your empeg but want to play so you can get some.)
Alternatively, if you've done your research, you'll know that the empeg can plug into a second head (or can be a second head for another unit) which can certainly be your CD/AM/FM unit. No sweat.
If you want really high-quality sound though, you'll use the empeg as your primary unit and find some cheapy little AM/FM tuner unit that you can listen to NPR until the empeg's tuner module becomes available. The AM/FM tuner module should pretty much be a no-brainer installation once its available.
The simple fact is that hands down the empeg is in an entirely different, higher class of hardware than either of the other two units you've mentioned and if you're dismissing it based on perceived lack of features, you're either being really naieve or you just haven't done your research. If you are dismissing the empeg based on price-for-features, then you simply aren't the kind of person who should own an empeg anyway since that would indicate you Just Don't Get It.
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My mom's going to kick you in the face!
Reading the AnandTech review of the Aiwa that was linked to elsewhere, it sounds like the unit has the overall quality of the Nomad Jukebox. Which is to say, it'll play MP3s, but overall the device is crap. I have a Nomad because it solved my immediate desire to transport MP3s from home to the car and office, but as soon as something better comes along it'll become a hand-me-down for my kid brother or go on eBay.
I rejected the Aiwa and Kenwood MP3 head units because I have better things to do than burn my MP3 collection back to CD. I also worry about the longevity of CDRs subjected to the abuse of being in the car (heat, scratching, etc). Another MP3 option that hasn't been mentioned is the "PhatNoise", a modular 2.5" hard-drive unit that emulates an OEM CD changer. The plus side to it is that it provides "Stealth MP3", but their site has been around for quite a while and they still aren't shipping.
I'd have bought an empeg for my car, but unfortunately it will not be coming back to America with me (some stupid law about airbags) and I don't want to go through the hassle of re-installing the factory system when I sell it. The drawbacks to the empeg are:
#1: Nothing can be done about that. If you aren't geek enough to spend whatever it takes to building the baddest MoFo vehicle that plays MP3s and runs Linux, Slashdot can't help you. Sorry. Perhaps you need to find a better job or re-locate somewhere with a lower cost-of-living.
The empeg also does not provide an amplified signal, which is an additional cost if your car doesn't already have an amplifier. You can get around that by slaving the empeg to a head-unit that does have an amplifier (see #2).
#2: I personally don't care about the tuner, but for true NPR die-hards the empeg does have RCA line outputs AND inputs, which means that you can plug the empeg into a standard head unit (or vice-versa). If your dash doesn't have a double-DIN stereo slot, you'll need to do some hacking. GM and Chrysler "DIN-and-a-half" designs usually have enough space around them to build a double-DIN space. Don't risk screwing up your own dash with a dremel tool, pay a professional installer to do it (if it's a friend's dash, and they're offering beer, go for it ;-)
On other single-DIN cars, like my present BMW E36 and my former Mustang, there is often a storage area in the dash that happens to be single-DIN sized. In the case of the Mustang, that space was actually designed to hold a factory single CD player. Again, don't mess up your own dash, seek the help of a professional installer. And the fools at Best Buy do not qualify as professionals. Get a recommendation from that friend of yours who ripped out his back seat to install three 18" subwoofers. If you don't have such a friend, you need to get out more.
If your car doesn't have an available opening, it gets tricky. The glove box, armrest, and under-dash mounting (CB-style) are the primary possibilities. There is some possibility that you could hack a "detachable face" unit to put the display and controls somewhere convenient, but I would strongly recommend that you just replace the car (see #1).
#3: You have three choices for CD playback. You can go the route mentioned in #2, using a full head-unit to provide CD playback. Or you can buy a stand-alone in-dash CD unit, similar to what Ford offers for the Mustang. Sony's CDX-1000RF is one example that provides RCA outputs. Or you can buy a CD changer that has it's own controls, just make sure that it provides RCA outputs. Many use a single RCA-style jack to run to an external FM modulator, this is not the same thing. Be sure to check the manual before buying, never trust the sales guy (especially if it's at Best Buy or any other chain).
For "once in a blue moon" CD use, you could also rig up a Discman to the empeg's RCA inputs. It's a crappy way to do it, but if the desire to play CDs will be very infrequent, it's good enough...
-Bryce
The choices you listed, the Aiwa and the Kenwood, are the only 'real' choices around for a in dash car stereo. There are many other cheesy options, like a MP3 cd walkman unit with an adaptor or a computer hooked up in back, but let's get real. If you wanted to 'roll your own' you would have already.
:) The Aiwa has a detachable face, so if your urban, you may want to consider it. The Kenwood has a tilting face, but no removability security.
So, here's my comparison of the Aiwa CDC-MP3 vs the Kenwood z919. Just a note, I have the former in my 95 4Runner, and a friend has the Kenwood in his 96 4Runner, both with no other audio equipment than what came stock. We have stock speakers only, no amp, and we are both NOT using the stock amp. A pretty fair comparison if you ask me.
First off, the sound quality: Very close. I am not a professional audiophile, and I can't tell the difference. Certainly not a $300-$400 difference between the two (the Aiwa books at +/- $250, the kenwood at +/- $650). Major differences are there if you look. The Aiwa support ID3 tags: The Kenwood does not. I think the ID3 tag display could have been more intelligent, but at least its there. With the kenwood, your stuck to solely the filename. Before you think 'hey, thats fine', remember that it only supports 8.3 format, unless you burned it in ISO mode 2. Unless you went out of your way to make sure, you didn't. So, you have six significant charachters (don't forget the ~1
The Kenwood does have some pros too. First of all, dolphins. When the unit if powered off (it doesn't do it when playing, which was stupid on their part), you get a cute little dot matrix display of swimming dolphins. NEVER underestimate the poon-tang power of having swimming dolphins in your car. THe display looks cooler on the Kenwood, being entirely dot matrix, however this also means that all of the buttons are on the outside border of the face, making use a pain. But thats ok, cuz you will actually be using our last 'pro': the remote. The remote for the Kenwood is very full featured. The remote for the Aiwa is a crappy 5 button one thats supposed to latch onto the steering wheel and doesnt do a good job. The Kenwood has 3 pairs of RCA outs, so if your a car stereo nut, it'll suit you better than the Aiwa with 2 pair RCA outs.
In my mind, the pro's for the Kenwood are almost all Aesthetic, while the pro's for the Aiwa are all tech related. While Dolphins are cool, I wouldn't give up double my money and ID3 support for dolphins that only swim when the stereo is OFF. If Im in the car, the stereo is always on, and I've been very happy with my purchase.
Toodles
Toodles D. Clown
Here's what I've learned:
- It skips in the cold. Seems like when its about 15 to 20 degrees out, it doesn't like to play Mp3s too well. However, after about 5 minutes, it seems alright.
- It could be my speaker system, (factory '90 BMW 4 speaker system) but it seems like I get a lot more distortion when I turn the volume way up then I did with my old stereo. (This could also be due to my less than stellar installation procedures, who knows)
- The face-plate has the habit of popping off if you don't attach it just right... Not really a big deal, I almost always get it the second time. Also, it comes with a little screw to permenantly attach the plate if you want to.
- It reads the data about the Mp3s from the ID3 tags, so get them right before you burn.
- Apparently, the thing is supposed to read CD-RWs, I haven't tried it, but it seems plausible, all the other claims seem to ring true.
- I'm not an audiophile, but I guess the playback of the mp3s is good. It doesn't sound particularly worse than playing through winamp.
- It allows you to have directories of Mp3s on your CD, and it allows you to skip between folders as well as skipping between mp3s within the folder.
- The am/fm reception is fine. Its as good or better than the factory stereo I had, and much better than the Blaupunkt I had in my old car.
- My biggest complaint is that the thing looks ridiculous. My old stereo had a small amber display (that matched the amber displays for everything else in my car). This thing is blue and green, and when you change the volume, it flashes. Bleh. Other than that though, I suppose it has my endorsement. It was the only stereo I could find that had all the features I wanted, at a price I would pay.
I would look real hard at the Kenwood, but since the Aiwa is not crap, I have a hard time believing that I could justify spending twice as much for a very similiar thing.Anyways, if you can find one in a store (I couldn't) try to give it a listen with the speakers they've got there. If you have the factory speakers in your Porche, you'll probably need a high to low converter so the speakers work right (or just let someone else do it, I should've.).
Why is Gnome pronounced with a hard G?
Gah
Generic Honda AM-FM-Tape with a Philips eXpanium portable CD/MP3 player with Line-out-to-cassette dongle adapter and cigarette lighter adapter. Good enuf fer me. It's about US$200 maybe cheaper... ... even better...
I believe some car radios have a line-in plug right on the front plate
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Grab my mp3check perl script to make your life much easier when preparing a large quantity of MP3s for CD burning. I wrote it specifically for use with my Aiwa CDC-MP3. Saved me days of work when preparing gigabytes of MP3, I swear.
--ryan. (icculus@lokigames.com)
Don't say, "don't quote me," because if no one quotes you, you probably haven't said a thing worth saying.