Head Units for Car MP3 Players?

dotcomian asks: "The idea of hooking our iPod to our car's audio system so far is our best shot for musics on the go in cars, however, it requires a double investment to the head unit. I'm wondering if someone has a better way to replace cd-changers with MP3 jukeboxes, the head units would be the controller and/or a CD player. I've found several websites from google's search result, but nothing is close to what I have in mind. Any ideas?"

Comments

Good deals

[linzeal]

By far the best bang for the buck.. I have this, 4 6.5" blaupunkt and a sealed Kappa Perfect subwoofer enclosure. Best 600 dollars I've ever spent on a car stereo. I suggest only downloading 192k bit sampling though as with more powerful systems you can totally hear q loss with 128k.

Aiwa Line-in

[druzicka]

I kicked the MP3 jukebox idea around for a while last time I installed a car stereo. The best solution I could find were the Aiwa car stereos that provide a mini stereo line in jack. I think that the input on these head units were unique in the low- to mid-price range. Another alternative is the MP3-CD players, which also feature a line in.

get a good tape player

[fist_187]

i know that tapes seem like an outdated technology, but there are some very nice advantages to using a tape adapter in your car.

one reason is that you won't limit yourself to just one of mp3/minidisc/hybrid cd/your friend's new player. plus, since you spend more time with your handheld than your in-dash stereo (hopefully!), messing with the handheld while driving will be less distracting than messing with the in-dash.

the other big advantage of a tape player over something like a line-in is that the tape adapter is (electrically) isolated from the amplifier circuit. just about everyone who does custom car stereo stuff themselves has probably had to deal with one ground fault or another - it can range from hearing the engine buzz on the speakers to widely fluctuating signal levels.

i'm arguing for tape decks. who'd have thought.

phatbox

[ikeleib]

Go to http://www.phatnoise.com It's a hardrive mp3 jukebox that goes in your trunk. Hooks up to the head unit through the CD changer interface. Extra hack value: runs Linux

JVC KD-SH99

[admiral2001]

My recommendation is the JVC KD-SH99. I bought this head unit last November and it's been great to me.
The JVC site is pretty weak on a description, but I found mine from Yahoo! Shopping by searching for "SH99" for about $300 then. I'm sure it's cheaper now.
The SH99 plays MP3 CDs and I've had NO problems with and CDRs. It has a RCA inputs on the back for hooking up something more significant (DVD-player, Playstation2). But by far, the best feature that this head unit has is a minijack external input on the front of the head unit. This makes it easy to plug in any other equipment (walkman, MD player, IPod, Rio, etc..).
The only thing this unit is lacking is a good way to browse through a CDR full of MP3s. But there isn't one head unit that I've seen (that doesn't have a huge LCD screen) that is any better.
It does read CD-Text and ID3 tags, but if you don't have the ID3 tags on the file it has the mangled Windows filenames (PINKF~23.MP3).
I've recommended this unit to 4 of my friends, all of whom bought it, and all are extremely happy, as i am.

I'm happy with my Alpine so far.

[Wakko Warner]

Here's the one I got. Cost about $500 (with installation and everything), and it plays any kind of MP3 I've got (up to the limit, 320K/sec, including VBR stuff). Handles ID3 tags, sounds fine, and lets me take a few hundred hours' worth of music with me in a little folder full of CDs. Doesn't get too much easier than that...

- A.P.

Pioneer 7400

[KurdtX]

The extremely popular Pioneer 7400 kicks ass. Redbook/mp3 CD/CD-RW + killer adjustments & looks. Oh, and I got mine for $300 installed (incl. wires & bezel). Pop an mp3 CD in, and I can put it on random and by the the time I hear a song again, I've forgotten I'd already heard it. Problems: no crossfade (1-3 second seek time) and no auxiliary in - not that I'm complaining!

JVC KD-SH99

[PhunkySchtuff]

Brilliant. Got mine for 800 Aussie Dollars, which is about 28c US =) Plays Red Book, CD-R CD-RW, supports ID3 tags, and/or ISO Level2 filenames (32 char aplhanumeric, upper case, lower case and some foreign characters)
Has seperate AUX and Line IN(3.5mm headphone jack on front, RCAs on the back) and a nice parametric EQ.
Comes with credit-card sized remote (IR) which is actually handier than it sounds.
Nice rotary volume dial with a positive feel to it that can also pop back into the unit.
Fairly ricey but the best sounding unit i've come across
Has a detachable face with a metal plate that sits over the front of the unit in the dash so not even a single slot is visible
Only gripe: 0.5-1 sec gap between tracks while it caches the next track.