What's my best mp3 solution?

[navin]

Originally Posted by binz

Umm,why hasn't anyone suggested Aux-in?

he wants control on the steering wheel, so the HU must control the MP3 player and only then will a steering wheel control function.

[vebmetal]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

vebmetal, you don't need an IPOD.
All you need is a HU which has "USB" support. IF your Creative Zen Xtra is recognized as a HDD on your system, you can plug in to your HU via the USB port and your HU will easily see the player as an external HDD,

That's where things are a little iffy... I need to install drivers before the Zen Xtra comes up in my computer. Which is why I assumed that it wouldn't work with HUs unless they explicitly state that they work with Creative Zen Xtras (I haven't come across any that do state this btw).

Originally Posted by rocksterraghu

But reading the directory structure/ file list would take a whole lot of time. I'm talking about clean 3-4 minutes (minimum) here.

That is one concern of mine... does it take 3-4 minutes just the first time or every time you switch on the HU?

Originally Posted by rocksterraghu

veb, we still don't know your budget. And if it is 15GB+, what is the capacity of your Zen and will it be able to suffice the need?

The budget.... well let's just keep the budget out of the picture for right now... but suffice it to say the cheaper the better. My Xtra is 40GB so that is not an issue. Worst comes to worst, I will get a cheap HU with an Aux-In and deal with it, and forget of all the comforts I can get

Originally Posted by navin

Hu's have been supporting the ipod since atleast 2003 maybe even earlier.

You misread my post. I said that I didn't realize that when you hookup a compatible HU with the iPod cable the HU charges the iPod as well. This is good news for me as I don't want a cigarette-lighter charger hanging across my dash (or hav eto turn things on and off).

Originally Posted by navin

Today many HUs have USB support and they should support the Zen. Some might require that the Zen is powered seperately. USB on HUs typically puts out 500mA, many hard disks demand more than that.

Exactly why I am refraining from buying a cheap hdd and usb enclosure - too many people reported here that you need to attach another USB cable to power the hdd - not nice!

In other news, the new iPods do look sweet!! The 80GB iPod 'Classic' especially would work perfectly for my needs. And $249 is not a bad price at all!! (Though that does push my budget waaaaay beyond what I was thinking of!! )

Rocksterraghu please double confirm that the iPod cable with Pioneer (say 7950) or Alpine HUs charges the iPod simultaneously.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by binz

Umm,why hasn't anyone suggested Aux-in?

You are right, that definitely is an option.

However, in the current context, AUX-IN would require an analog signal from the source. That means, the source should use a DAC to convert the MP3 stream to analog. Portable music players would, flash disks / hard disks wouldn't.

The reference to iPod is control of playback via HU. As such, both iPod and Zen can be played back via AUX-IN, but then you have to control the playback through the iPod or Zen.

If USB is present, a Zen connected via USB appears to the HU as a hard-disk (USB PnP protocol allows devices to respond to HU and declare that they have the folder-file capability), so that HU will retrieve the file and play the extracted MP3 stream via the on-board DAC.

[rocksterraghu]

Originally Posted by vebmetal

That is one concern of mine... does it take 3-4 minutes just the first time or every time you switch on the HU?

Rocksterraghu please double confirm that the iPod cable with Pioneer (say 7950) or Alpine HUs charges the iPod simultaneously.

The HU will take a lot of time everytime you switch it off and back on. Unfortunately, it has no memory to store the folder/file listing permanently, so it goes off.

iPod has a lot of metadata making the navigation simpler and faster, but I have no idea about how the Zen manages files and folders.

I have personally used the iPod 30GB with Alpine and it does charge the iPod as you can see in this picture:



However, remember that an iPod ready Alpine HU will shoot up your budget by a considerable amount.

I have no experience with Pioneer HUs and charging the iPod. I'll let LBM bhai do the talking here.

[vebmetal]

Thanks for the picture rocksterraghu!! If it's not any trouble could you also post a picture of how you have 'docked' your iPod in your car? I am especially curious about how you have installed the iPod cable from (the back of?) your HU to the iPod.

The Alpine HU looks awesome - how much does it come for (with and without B&W).

p.s. Does the HU charge your iPod only when it's on / the car is on? Or does it also charge it when off?

[gmano]

I am using ipod with pioneer 4900IB head unit and the ipod is getting charged when I use the ipod via HU. It wont when the Head Unit is off.

[rocksterraghu]

Originally Posted by vebmetal

If it's not any trouble could you also post a picture of how you have 'docked' your iPod in your car? I am especially curious about how you have installed the iPod cable from (the back of?) your HU to the iPod.

The Alpine HU looks awesome - how much does it come for (with and without B&W).

p.s. Does the HU charge your iPod only when it's on / the car is on? Or does it also charge it when off?

Sorry veb, I don't have a picture of that. However, if you can see a slot where the remote for the HU is kept in the picture, the iPod fits there (almost perfectly) with the 'caselogic' leather pouch. The cables are almost invisible in that case. If you want me to post a picture, I'm afreaid you'll have to wait till I get to Karnataka.

The HU is Alpine 9856, which is unavailable today (mostly). It costed me about 19,500/- with B&W and I think it is about 14,500 - 15,000/- without B&W. The Alpine iPod cable cost me 2,200/-

Here is a picture of that:



The iPod is charged only when the HU is on and not otherwise

[vebmetal]

A friend of mine got a Pioneer HU (5990) yesterday which has this iPod control feature - it's not too bad. I didn't like the fact that you control the iPod while it's connected to the HU at all. And it's not too easy to operate via the HU - especially when you are supposed to have your eyes on the road!!! It's about equally hard to operate the iPod via the HU as it is to operate it from the Ipod itself installed on the dash via a mount. The only thing I would miss is the charging function. And since I don't have an iPod, I don't think it's worth the expense. Better to stick to my Zen Xtra (while it still works) and Aux-In.