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VW Goes USB
MadCow42 writes "According to this story on CNN, Volkswagen is going to offer in-dash USB connections on several models as of this December and others next year. This function is to let you connect your MP3 Player or USB drive to play your tunes on the car stereo! The bad news? I just got my Touran... sans USB."
That's nothing compared to Mazda and their use of USB.
There are a few Japanese/Chinese (one of the two) car stereo companies that have been doing this for a while. There's one I was checking out on eBay called "SoundStorm" that allowed for USB and Secure Digital slots. I'm not sure if you could drop an iPod shuffle in there or anything, but my guess is you can.
I think JVC might even make a model with USB and SD. I know they at least make one with SD.
Regardless, VW isn't really being innovative, they're just picking up on some cheap stereo technology and (hopefully) improving it (my guess is these $90 stereos with SD and USB aren't too great sound-wise).
You can buy in-car stereo's that have USB connectors, then you could put them into any car. My car stereo has a line in, so I can plug any audio device into it.
The following are examples of what you can get in the UK, (USB in-car stereo wise):
Goodmans GCE7205USB2 CD/Radio - £89.99
Acoustic Solution CD/MP3 with USB Tuner - £99.99
They're both from Argos, you could probably get them cheaper from an internet only store. There were some more expensive though better brand name stereos at halfords, but I can't find any details on their website.
the problem with a line-in is the D/A conversion. your volume will always have some sort of hiss to it. put the mp3 player up too loud and it'll crackle. Too low, and you'll get nothing but hiss. Which is why I went with the Dension IceLink for my ipod. It stands in line with my monsoon stereo and acts like a CD changer. The signal is straight digital to the stereo. The only volume to worry about is on the stereo, and all the play controls are on the stereo as well.
The Volkswagen New Beetle's at year 2004 and up already have a plain line-in jack. The rest of the Volkswagens can be hacked into for line-in using the VWCDPIC and the CD Changer cable in the trunk.
http://www.germancarblog.com/2005/09/vw-get-connec ted.html
I saw this at the IAA car show yesterday, and it looks cool.
I saw the Ipod adapter as well, and it simulates a CD-canger, so only the first 5 playlists are accessible as disks 1-5, the 6th disks are lists 1-5 together.
Timo's Audio Software http://www.esseraudio.com
This.