Recently aquired Leon has a standard fit radio/cassette with 6 cd changer. The changer however is in the glovebox and leaves little room for anything else! To be honest I usually listen to the radio, but do like to have a selection of my dubious taste in music available. Now as a rule I only have copy cd's in the car, prefering to keep the originals in the house. I'm also now collecting quite a lot of downloaded material.
So, I've been looking at head units that don't play cd's at all; instead they allow you to plug in usb sticks and/or SD cards. My thinking being:
a) my music is available digitally anyway (copied cd's are ripped to the laptop etc) so putting onto SD card etc is not a problem (and cheaper than using blank cd's),
b) a unit without cd mechanism is likely to be more robust (no moving parts/lasers etc)
c) is likely to be a better quality at a given price point because of the lack of above.
Anyone any experience of such a unit? Any pitfalls? Any recommendations of unit?
The only problem that seems to crop up is non-compatibility of SD cards/USB sticks, but this tends to be confined to the use of cheap ones, which can be easily avoided!
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I use USBs. a 4Gb flash is cheap as chips, and stores thousands of songs. Hit the 'random' button, and bob's your uncle.
Driving a big top-of-the-range Chev AWD (captiva) at present - can't believe it comes with a 6CD changer but no usb port...?!?
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Even my Ceed has a USB port in the center console, integrated with the CD, radio, and Bluetooth system. Charges the satnav and phone too.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 20 Jan 12 at 20:12
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OldNavy - I find it strange that a top-range vehicle doesn't have the facility - where cars less than a quarter of the price feature USB ports.
Frightening fact - we went to a 'budget' car launch, where the new model featured USB and iPhone compatability, yet no ABS and only a single airbag.
We asked, and they told us that the yoof market wanted it! and for the price, they had to make savings elsewhere.
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They would not get away with that in Europe.
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Indeed. However, our laws here are insanely lax.
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Shogun has a hard-drive - can load via USB, etc but being lazy I just stick in CDs - while they play they are burned to the HD so you never need to use the CD again.
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>> Shogun has a hard-drive - can load via USB, etc but being lazy I just
>> stick in CDs - while they play they are burned to the HD so you
>> never need to use the CD again.
>>
Had that feature in a press-fleet Navara. My Lord, but some of the crud that was loaded on that HD before I got it!
I returned the favour, however...
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>> Shogun has a hard-drive - can load via USB, etc but being lazy I just
>> stick in CDs - while they play they are burned to the HD so you
>> never need to use the CD again.
Are you sure it can load via USB? The Outlander has the hard drive thing ("music server") but I have been given to understand that the only way to get music on to it is to post the CDs in and let it rip them. I haven't bothered, because I can get the majority of my music on to a 32GB USB stick (about £20 from 7dayshop) and it will navigate the folders on that via the touch screen.
Incidentally, it will only 'record' a given CD once - you can delete it, but it won't rip it again according to the book of words.
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Given how cheap flash is, I'm surprised they're fitting HDDs, I wouldn't think you're average domestic HDD would be keen on the bumps and vibration experienced in your average vehicle.
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I think they've been in this model since 2007 or not long after. Usual story with built in sat navs, which it is too - invariably obsolete by the time most of the buyers get them.
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Its a bit of a discredited concept now, who wants to sit there feeding the thing with CD's, and then sit in the car managing your "music server"
Devices you can unplug and then manage at your PC are the accepted way, IE usb sticks or flash cards, (there are systems where the hard drive can be unplugged and connected at home) and I did read of one that connected to your wifi when you parked on your drive, and can be managed by your iphone.
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 20 Jan 12 at 21:08
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>> Given how cheap flash is, I'm surprised they're fitting HDDs,
I think they would have been but are not likely to be flash based.
I put a load of music on an SD card for my car. I didn't bother opting for the MDI connection. I can control all the music from the head unit on the SD card. But I ought to rearrange the music into folders... 16Gb is a lot to scroll through when arranged as artists.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Fri 20 Jan 12 at 22:30
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>> >> Given how cheap flash is, I'm surprised they're fitting HDDs,
>>
>> I think they would have been but are not likely to be flash based.
>>
>> I didn't
>> bother opting for the MDI connection.
I didn't understand either of those sentences :-(
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No the first isn't clear (the not should have been now) and the last assumes you know what MDI is.... I'll try again - sorry.
The first was meant to convey that the larger internal storage for music and sat nav referred to as HDD would have been hard drive based a few years ago. With the cost of flash so cheap then they are now likely to be flash memory based. How much is a 32Gb SD card for example? What's the smallest HDD you can get - I guess even a 1.8" HDD is around 160Gb.
As for the MDI comment... MDI is the interface in VWs to connect iPod, iPhones and USB sticks. With an Sd card slot on the sat nav I just stuck my music on that. I didn't see what advantage MDI gave you. And it used to be in the arm rest on VWs Passats (maybe it is if factory fit) but the ones I've seen are in a compartment in the top of the glovebox.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Fri 20 Jan 12 at 22:58
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Thanks. I'm susceptible to thinking it's me :-)
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Not this time anyway.
I must retrieve the SD card from the car and put the albums into some sub-folders. And then you're into the realm of MP3 tags and the MP3 files are.... so why not stream them from the phone over Bluetooth. Except then you cannot control which tracks are playing etc.
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>>We asked, and they told us that the yoof market wanted it! and for the price, they had to make savings elsewhere.
They are just being tight.
USB / iphone compatibility costs a few pounds only. Just nip down to PC world to see compatible docks for about £20.
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Thats just a physical connection, not logical control of the Ipod from the radio, which is what most people want.
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You may find a problem transferring MP3 files from your PC to an SD card or USB stick and playing them in the car, and then finding that the playing order of the tracks is up the creek.
I have just acquired a micro hifi for the house after the old one with tape player and CD player gave up.It has a USB port.
I found software to rip a CD to MP3 files using the laptop and saved them in My Music.
When I drag and drop the contents of the CD, now in MP3 format, on to the USB stick (still with me?), it will play in the new machine , but the playing order is not as per the original files from My Music.
This is because Windows sorts the playlist alphabetically when you move the files, not according to your original playlist.
The playing on the new machine is not random-it's in the alphabetical order of the track titles.
And this can be quite maddening!
If anybody knows a work around for this I would love to hear.
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>> If anybody knows a work around for this I would love to hear.
>>
Only be renaming the tracks.
ie album 1, song no 1 is Metal Guru gets renamed
as
1-1-Metal Guru
1-2-Telegram Sam
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Thanks Ian-It worked!
However, there were 38 tracks on the CD I was putting on to the usb stick,( Eric Satie Piano Music-lot of short pieces) so I had to renumber 1-9 from 01 onwards,as at first it started at 10, then it was fine.
I don't think my hifi will sort folders or albums, though, so if I put more stuff on the usb I think I may have to scroll through from the beginning to find a later track.
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>> Thanks Ian-It worked!
>> However, there were 38 tracks on the CD I was putting on to the usb
>> stick,( Eric Satie Piano Music-lot of short pieces) so I had to renumber 1-9 from
>> 01 onwards,as at first it started at 10, then it was fine.
>>
sorry, I meant to point out you'd probably need to do that earlier, same problem with my old car mp3 player. Luckily the newer one recognises MP3 tags. Most fiddling with music file tage/naming can be performed with mp3tag, a very useful little programme:-
www.mp3tag.de/en/
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Music in the car - Ian (Cape Town)
