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General => Car audio => Topic started by: Onge on 25 February 2004, 11:42
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I thinking about buying an MP3 player for the car, so i dont have to mess about with CD's in and out of the car.
Any advice - are they good or not / what model is worth getting ?
Cheers :)
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i've got a clarion one.. its just a CD thing..
i filled a cd-rw with my favourite songs and a few albums months ago, it hasnt come out yet :)
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Do you mean a CD/MP3 player or a straight hard disk based MP3 player?
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Do you mean a CD/MP3 player or a straight hard disk based MP3 player?
A CD/MP3 player would be best, so i could play cd's if i wanted.
Cheers
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Ok,
I have one of the older Kenwood CD/MP3 units and it works fine.
The 2 main things to look out for (IMHO) are:
1) Speed of access to tracks.
2) Navigation
My (old) kenwood takes about 5 seconds to read a MP3 disk when I insert it, i'm sure the newer models have improved a great deal.
Navigating through the folders/songs can be a bit of a pain.
My advice would be to burn a MP3 cd and take it down to Halfords, try out a bunch of head units, decide what you like (speed/naviagtaion) and then order it online!
R
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I've got a Sony CD/MP3 unit and it's superb. I now just have 1 or 2 cd's the the car filled with cool mp3s.
And if you use CDRWs you can just re-use the disc when you get bored of that collection.
I think mine is the CDX140, part of the Xplod range. Fairly cheap too, about ?160.
The speed of track change is ok, but it's a bit slow to display the actual track name.
You could try some of the car audio places, I know of a few local to me that have some units set up. Otherwise Halfords is a good bet.
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Sounds good,
I want to avoid having a car full of CD's that end up looking like someone has used them as a scateboard.
Is there a portable MP3 that transmits a signal to your car radio, so you can use any car radio? i saw something on e-bay today, but sounds a bit star trek
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Yeah, there are radio adaptors for the iPod so that you can transmit the audio from your iPod directly to your radio.
I presume you can get them for other mp3 players too.
I'm not sure about the legality of them since they use the normal (regulated) FM band, but since they are low power, they probably get round it in some fashion.
Everythingipod.com has a Belkin version for a reasonable price, check this page for details http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=&Section_Id=201526&pcount=&Product_Id=166893 (http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=&Section_Id=201526&pcount=&Product_Id=166893)
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The Belkin one is better than the iRock so go for that (however it only works with the iPod)
If you have a tape player the cassette adaptors are much more reliable.
Also check if your stereo has a 'Aux in' or you can get a lead here http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/default.php?cPath=73_7_697 (http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/default.php?cPath=73_7_697)
then you can plug the iPod straight in.
oh, and as far as Mp3 players go the iPod is really the only option...
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Cheers guy's
I'll look into these options.
Less chance of getting stolen as the device will not be left i the car.
:)
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the clarion i mentioned has a removable facia... so ? :)
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Just has a thought......if i get a portable mp3 player with a transmitter, i will have to use it to change tracks and volume, which will be a bit pants!!!
Be better with a car unit :)
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Not with an iPod, it's not ideal but it's a solution for now!
http://www.ihavetohave.it (http://www.ihavetohave.it)
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Although I so believe MP3's are great, the sound quality suffers (even though I rip my own w/EAC and use a lame encoder (3.90.3 - alt. preset standard)over 7800songs 42 gigs ;) ) Pop in a CD you still can hear a (small) difference.
It sounds like by making it easier on yourself, your starting to make it more complicated. Bringing an MP3 player in and out of the car will get you one thing. A lost MP3 player.
Another thing is an FM modulated signal downgrades the sound even more..
Why am I being so finecky? (Besides the fact that I'm a freak?) Think of this, the louder you want it the more you'll notice these things, and if you love your music.. you'll want it loud.
You know what they say, 'If it's too loud, your too old.'
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I'll keep you guys posted but I've just ordered an mStation off eBay - got it new for ?80 !!!
Don't know if anyone know's of these, but it's a hard disk based system that lives in the boot like a CD changer and can connect 'in-line' via an 'Aux In' on your headunit or FM modulator as usual.
I got the base 10gig to start but it's just a standard hard disk so working in IT no problems to change for something massive and never have a CD every again !!!
Any questions give me a shout .... ;D
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How did the mstation work out?
I nearly bought a JVC chameleon today at halfords, but they were out of stock!
Be listening to the radio for another couple of weeks then
:)
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M Station turned out to be wicked !!!!
I got a version 1 hence only paying ?80. The components of the later versions are the same, just much better build quality. It's all tucked away in the boot and if I was taking it in and out daily would have a few worries, but I only paid ?80 not ?500 so no complaints at all !!!
I got quite a mean setup already - so used the line in on my Nakamitchi head unit instead of the FM modulator and the quality was impressive.
If you can get one for around ?100-?150 then well worth it in my opinion ....
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The new Alipne head units are v sweet...
I've got the slightly older CDA-9813R which just takes MP3/WMA CD's (no HDD or iPod), but they have a v good and usable system for scrolling through all your MP3 folders and track names are WAY quicker than on the much older MP3 players (my previous was a Sony CDX-MP30).
The latest range availble from 5th April (I think) are the same as mine, but they have an iPod interface, so rather than bothering with the fiddly link system and FM transmitter, etc (sound is usually pretty faint on those), you can just slap the iPod into a cradle (in you glove box / boot / wherever) and from there it will charge and the Alpine head unit then becomes the interface for the iPod.
Looked pretty funky in the brochures, but I needed a new head-unit ASAP and couldn't be @rsed to wait... even though the new MP3 head units are cheaper than the old ones like mine >:(
They also do a mobile-hub link that does the same thing for your phone on MOST of the models (my "old" one included).
laters,
Lostbok