Going iPod way

[Rock 'n' rollz]

Hi,

I don't know much of the car audio stuff. I have a stupid question to ask to you audio gurus. GTO, gamerno1....& gang

Well just to give you a background...

I was planning to buy an iPod for my better half when I started my research on similar products. I have found an excellent product similar to iPod but with lots of additional features. Its "Creative Zen Micro". It has FM, stores upto 4Gb MP3/WMA audio files, In-built voice recorder etc. The detailed product features and specifications are available @ http://www.creative.com/products/pro...ct=10795&nav=0

After finalizing this product I started hunting for a good HU for my car and I came across Pioneer DEH-P5750MP. It boasts "iPod ready" tag. From the Pioneer website, its clear that using CD-IB100 iPod® adaptor we can play compressed audio files from the iPod through the Pioneer HU.

Now my question is:
Can we simply ignore the HU and use this iPod/Zen Micro instead?(Using amplifier etc etc) It has FM, plays MP3/WMA what else do we want? Also storage capacity is around 4-6GB so no CD changers required.

Does my question make any sense?

[gamerno1]

NO. you cannot "ignore" the HU & use the Zen Micro(interesting product). it will be connected to your HU. why do you want to ignore your HU anyways? its not a problem with you using the HU & the Micro. or else if you want to save some funds, go for any standard cassete player with a 300 bucks convertor, but this is not recommended. if you want sheer quality, go with the 5750 & the micro.

[v1p3r]

hey rnr

try the belkin i-trip. it's a device which connects to an i-pod and sends out a very short range fm signal. you can plug it into your i-pod and then it sends out fm signals which you can catch using your head unit. costs around 1k abroad, though similar units are probably cheaper. the advantage is no wires, and almost cd quality (because fm quality loss is minimal).

@gamer, good to see you back dude!

you don't need music in a

viper

[aadix]

its possible
thinking abt it,will post more by tommorow

[iceman91]

yeah you can use the fm signal but than everytimsa cell phone rings in the car you will have severe disturbance. the best is to use teh head unit as gamerno1 said.

[aadix]

wouldnt an amp have an audio in port??
cant he just connect the mp3 player to that?

[vishaltanksale]

Originally Posted by gamerno1

NO. you cannot "ignore" the HU & use the Zen Micro(interesting product). it will be connected to your HU. why do you want to ignore your HU anyways? its not a problem with you using the HU & the Micro. or else if you want to save some funds, go for any standard cassete player with a 300 bucks convertor, but this is not recommended. if you want sheer quality, go with the 5750 & the micro.

Hi gamerno1,
I am looking for Pioneer 7650/9650 HU as posted in another thread Car Audio FAQ. Found this tread very interesting as I havecreative jukebox (Zen Xtra) with 40GB. Want to know (as its not clear from the details in) how do I connect my Creativee MP3 player to Car HU ?

[jesal]

very nice i am definately impressed

[Sahil]

How much is that panel for? And how does it actually connect to the Ipod? Does it have the apple dock connecter cable?

[Rock 'n' rollz]

Originally Posted by aadix

wouldnt an amp have an audio in port??
cant he just connect the mp3 player to that?

You got it man. Thats what I was thinking of.

gamerno1
There is no cost benefit in this deal at all. Creative Zen Micro costs around 268 Euros. I think DEH-P5750MP costs around 200 Euros.

The advantages that I see are
1. Zen micro would be easy to carry than the detachable faceplate.
2. You can store 4-6GB songs so CDs will become a thing of past. One can just download songs from net and copy them to Zen micro and you are ready to play it. Also it has an in-built fm/voice recorder so may be u can just record songs as they play on your fav. FM channel.
3. Unlike HU, Zen micro can be used anywhere as a portable fm/mp3 player.
4. Zen micro would serve as a 2-in-1 gadget.
5. Same product can be used as an external hard drive for backup of computer files
6. lots more

The thing is if we are going to get similar sound quality why not go for it.

[gamerno1]

rightly mentioned aadix & RnR but how many amps? if you put 2 fronts, 2 rears & 2 subs, you will be using 3 amps. a splittter dividing your micro's out wont give you the best of quality (unlees you are only planning to put rear speakers on one amp or a 4 channel amp for the rear speakers & a sub). what are you planning to hookup?

[gamerno1]

Originally Posted by vishaltanksale

Hi gamerno1,
I am looking for Pioneer 7650/9650 HU as posted in another thread Car Audio FAQ. Found this tread very interesting as I havecreative jukebox (Zen Xtra) with 40GB. Want to know (as its not clear from the details in) how do I connect my Creativee MP3 player to Car HU ?

do you have a cassete player or a cd player?

[Rock 'n' rollz]

Originally Posted by vishaltanksale

Hi gamerno1,
Found this tread very interesting as I havecreative jukebox (Zen Xtra) with 40GB. Want to know (as its not clear from the details in) how do I connect my Creativee MP3 player to Car HU ?

I found an answer to your question in an faq posted on a creative forum. Hope this helps to you and me too... By the way how long does the battery last? For Zen micro Creative claims 12 hrs which I sincerely doubt.

How do I connect my player to the car stereo/head unit?

With a car you normally have 3 options:

1. An FM adapter that plugs into the headphone socket on the player, and broadcasts an FM signal. You then tune your car radio to the adapter's signal, much like tuning into a radio station. There are some versions which attach directly to the car radio antenna for better quality. Despite this the quality is a little suspect (after all, think FM radio quality) and the signal might need to be adjusted as you drive around and other radio stations change. This is techically illegal in the UK, and maybe in other countries.

2. A cassette adapter. Basically a fake cassette with trailing wire that you insert into the head unit (*if* you have a head unit which takes cassettes). You then plug the trailing wire into the headphone socket on the player. The quality can be better than an FM adapter, but you need to get a good match between the cassette adapter and head unit. Sony and Creative's adapter are generally well rated.

3. An FM Modulator. Similar to an FM broadcast unit this uses FM, but rather than just transmitting within the car it connects directly to the back of the car stereo where the FM antenna connects, therefore guaranteeing a good signal and good quality.

4. Aux/line-in. Some head units have an aux/line-in socket which goes directly to the amplifer of the player, and which of course provides the best quality solution. On some head units this is present on the front panel, so necessitates an arguably unsightly trailing wire. On some other units the sockets are present on the back. It can also be possible with some units that don't have a direct input, but have the facility to connect to a CD changer, to buy an adapter which will allow aux/line-in with the player. Here's a few sites that sell adapters http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/ http://www.pie.net/ http://www.soundlinx.co.uk/

[Rock 'n' rollz]

Originally Posted by gamerno1

rightly mentioned aadix & RnR but how many amps? if you put 2 fronts, 2 rears & 2 subs, you will be using 3 amps. a splittter dividing your micro's out wont give you the best of quality (unlees you are only planning to put rear speakers on one amp or a 4 channel amp for the rear speakers & a sub). what are you planning to hookup?

gamer I think 4 channel amp for the rear speakers & a sub is a descent option.

But as a car-audio guru, do you believe its possible to have such a system in place? Because more research I do I find this Zen micro stuff interesting.

[vishaltanksale]

Thx Rock n Roll !
Regarding your question on battry life, I agree to you its definitly not 12 hrs. For me it worked between 6-8 hrs most of the time.

Well regarding to the opions you given, option 4 looks the ideal specially wih Pioneer 7650/9650 both have Aux in.


Do you or anyone have idea where I can find this adopter in Mumbai ?

gamerno1, I did not uderstan your question. I have Creative MP3 player (is not cassette or cd player).