Fully loaded Car receiver

morphean · 27th October 2006, 02:11

Guys,

Have been a regular reader of this forum. And the more I read the more curious I become. So far my choices have been good and my family members are very impressed with my new-found knowledge of cars. Now, I am looking to buy a car stereo and need some inputs from you guys.

Have done quite a bit of research and come up with following doubts :-

1) If my deck is equipped with HD radio, will it help me in any ways in india ?
2) If my deck has sat radio, will it catch world space ?
3) Do MP3 players create playlist, or play an existing playlist ?
4) With USB interface can I play a 40GB external hard drive. JVC, Kenwood, specially mentions 1GB of songs, thumb drive, etc. Does it mean it cant play 40 GB ? We have discussed this a lot in this forum but have never concluded. Has anyone tried doing it ?
5)If I order from US , does the warranty hold
6) Good place to buy from in Delhi

So far JVC DV 4200 seems like a good buy. Also Sony MEX1GP seems attractive ( though can anyone clarify if I can attach external hard drive to its USB interface )

Any input will be highly appreciated....

thanks
Sriram

rsjaurr · 27th October 2006, 10:12

welcome to ICE section of tbhp
well........this is what everyone feels after reading few posts

you r no different.I just hope u have gone through this thread...
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-en...ing-forum.html

1.No,its only possible in USA.
2.No,u have to buy world space receiver 1st.If i am right they have one for the car too.It has been discussed before many times.U have to search it either here or in shifting gears section.
3.As per my knowledge,u can create playlists using their softwares on computer and then transfer to mp3 player e..g. in i-pods.
4.It again has been discussed mnay times but yes u r right without conclusion.Do check...http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-en...ighlight=radio
5.No,only navin [our big boss here]has tie-up with crutchfield.com

6.Should be many.We have one seller [Driven]who is also a member of tbhp.Do pm him.

You said lately ur family members r impressed with ur knowledge of cars but let me say we r certainly not impressed with ur choice of HU.These r not bad but there r quite a few better brnads than thee two,likes of alpine,pioneerblaupunkt,kenwood etc...

navin · 27th October 2006, 10:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by morphean

1) If my deck is equipped with HD radio, will it help me in any ways in india ?
2) If my deck has sat radio, will it catch world space ?
3) Do MP3 players create playlist, or play an existing playlist ?
4) With USB interface can I play a 40GB external hard drive. JVC, Kenwood, specially mentions 1GB of songs, thumb drive, etc. Does it mean it cant play 40 GB ? We have discussed this a lot in this forum but have never concluded. Has anyone tried doing it ?
5)If I order from US , does the warranty hold
6) Good place to buy from in Delhi

So far JVC DV 4200 seems like a good buy. Also Sony MEX1GP seems attractive ( though can anyone clarify if I can attach external hard drive to its USB interface )

1. No. There is no HD in India that I know of.
2. No. You need XM or something similar.
3. they can play exisitng playlists. your iTunes or similar software creates playlists
4. Some hard drives are not resistant to shock. In general the 1.8" drives are good and the 2.5" drives might just tolerate some shock but the 3.5" drives are least resistant to shock designed as they are for Desktops that hardly get knocked around. Also it depends on the HU. Some HUs cant hande anything bigger than 1GB. Others cant handle hard drives as their USB port does no provide enough power.
5. No the Warranty is limited to the 50 US States and at best Puerto Rico and Guam.
6. Gunbir, Autoophile, LBM are the Delhi experts. Sam Kapasi is an all India expert. PM them.

navin · 27th October 2006, 10:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsjaurr

5.No,only navin [our big boss here]has tie-up with crutchfield.com

...

Just a correction. Crutchfiled did tolerate my returns and that of many other non US based customers but WE have to pay for shipping to the US. They in turn will ship to us COD. Just remember I have been a Crutchfiled customer since the 80s. Many of us car audio nuts from that era had only places like Crutchfield to turn to in those days. Crutchfiled predates the dot com boom. They'd ship us catalogs as promotion.

However ever since ICE in India has become more available I have stopped giving much business to Crutchfiled.

a) I do not install anymore so I perfer to buy from my isntaller. Let her make a few bucks and in turn give me priority service.

b) locally warrantied goods are so much nicer to have. Shipping back and forth to the US is not an easy excercise given the state of the Indian customs.

Today the only stuff I import is stuff that is NOT available in India at all (Tubes, ScanSpeak, Fostex and Jordan speakers, OPTs etc...). IN general the customs have also become a bit more understanding. Most of the stuff I import has no commercial resale value.

hydrashok · 27th October 2006, 10:38

Welcome to TeamBHP, Sriram! I'm a diehard Matrix fan too (if you meant the Matrix Morpheus and not the king Morpheus).

Ahhhhh. RSJ and Navin have got you covered.

My additional input:
3) I don't think the current lot of MP3 HUs play playlists burnt on CDs (.M3U files). A workaround (what I do) is to replicate your playlists into folders (each folder containing the music you want in a playlist) and burn the folders onto a CD. Downside is you won't be able to edit playlists/folders on the go.

If you are a playlist kind of guy, you should think of iPod integration (if you use an iPod) or an aux-in from your MP3 player into the HU. The HU will play your MP3 player's playlists the way you want them. Since you use playlists, you won't need to fiddle with th MP3 player much.

4) If a HU has a USB in, and will play music from a 1GB USB drive, it should be able to play music from a 40GB ext hdd (if it does not have a capacity restriction). As long as you can power the ext HDD separately. This is usually the problem. And as RSJ said, nobody has belled the cat yet. :-)

Again, if you are thinking in terms of an external HDD, iPod integration will be the best and least messy (and hassle-free) solution. You'll get playlist funtionality too.

You can get a good HU from Alpine/Blau/Kenwood/Pioneer and an iPod interface (usually separate) and you will be good to go. I think some models of Alpines (high-end ones) and Pioneers will take direct connections via special cable from an iPod, without a separate (costlier) interface set-up. L_B_M's Pioneer does this I guess.

Do let us know what you decide on.

esteem_lover · 27th October 2006, 11:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by hydrashok

4) If a HU has a USB in, and will play music from a 1GB USB drive, it should be able to play music from a 40GB ext hdd (if it does not have a capacity restriction). As long as you can power the ext HDD separately. This is usually the problem. And as RSJ said, nobody has belled the cat yet. :-)

when they say 1 GB, it is the storage capacity inside the HU panel itself, not through external drives. just like your mobile phone. you can load 1GB of songs by connecting the panel to your comp through a USB cable. this is not an interface to connect an external source of data storage. i think you need a different kind of system for that. certainly the Sony M-EX 1GP will not do that.

hydrashok · 27th October 2006, 12:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

when they say 1 GB, it is the storage capacity inside the HU panel itself, not through external drives. just like your mobile phone. you can load 1GB of songs by connecting the panel to your comp through a USB cable. this is not an interface to connect an external source of data storage. i think you need a different kind of system for that. certainly the Sony M-EX 1GP will not do that.

These HUs (available in India) allow external USB drives to be plugged in:
Blaupunkt St.Louis MP56
Blaupunkt Memphis MP66
[They also have a Memory Card (SD/MMC) reader]
No memory restriction mentioned for the source USB devices, so maybe they have ability to read unlimited memory from the source USB device.

No idea of prices for these, but I'm sure they must be 25-30K upwards.

navin · 27th October 2006, 13:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by hydrashok

Blaupunkt St.Louis MP56
Blaupunkt Memphis MP66...
No idea of prices for these, but I'm sure they must be 25-30K upwards.

I think there are cheaper HUs that can accpet USB devices. I have a friend who has a Sony (dont know model) and he uses a USB thumb drive for his music. He got the HU for about 8-9K.

rsjaurr · 27th October 2006, 15:48

You certainly can use HDD with blau memphis MP66 acc. to crutchfield.
Below is what crutchfield has to say about it and link is
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-sr2vuxQ...023MEMMP66#Tab

USB Input: The Memphis MP66 has a rear-mounted Mini-USB input for connecting devices that output audio via USB, such as a portable hard drive or USB thumb drive device. A Mini-USB-to-USB Type A (female) cable is supplied. For the unit to recognize the USB medium, it must be specified as a mass storage device formatted using FAT 16 or FAT 32.

morphean · 29th October 2006, 02:54

thanks guys for the input, did some research on the products available, and this is the current situation :-

My budget is about 15 K. I want MP3, USB interface and Ipod connectivity. The reason, I want both (USB and Ipod) is that I dont know which one will click with me.
USB has advantage that its cheap and therefore can be left in the car. Disadvantage is that it does not have sophisticated ipod features like search, playlist, etc.

But Ipod has the downside that it cannot be left in the car, and I am not the kind who'd keep his ipod 24 hrs.

Pioneer has MP3 and Ipod but no USB ( atleast the ones within budget )
Blaupunkt has MP3 and USB but no Ipod
Alpine has only MP3
JVC has both
Dont want Sony
Havent seen Kenwood.

Guys, pls suggest what shud I do ? Go for JVC ? compromise on USB or Ipod , if so which one ?

hydrashok · 29th October 2006, 10:17

I'm not sure if this will work, but if it does, you will get both iPod & USB in one go:

Enable the Disk Drive mode in your iPod. Use your iPod connector-to-USB cable to connect to the HU's USB port. The HU should recognize it just like any other removable external drive. Voila! (At least I hope so). You have an iPod connected to a USB port.

For this, your iPod cable must be the iPod connector-to-USB cable, and not the iPod connector-to-FireWire cable. This shouldn't be a problem as nearly all the iPod users I've seen (quite a few) get this cable as the standard accessory. Unless you opted for the firewire cable (if you bought the iPod from abroad).

Disadvantages: In this mode, you can just read the music off the iPod. No playlists or any of the other bells and whistles. And you'll need to power the iPod separately (you will need to do that anyway unless you use a full iPod interface cable set). The iPod will be just like any external HDD. Now it doesn't sound so good to me either :-(

jyobeb · 29th October 2006, 10:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsjaurr

You said lately ur family members r impressed with ur knowledge of cars but let me say we r certainly not impressed with ur choice of HU.These r not bad but there r quite a few better brnads than thee two,likes of alpine,pioneerblaupunkt,kenwood etc...

The guy is actually thanking the Team-Bhp members for some knowledge that he has gained and you are actually putting him off! Give the guy some encouragement for God's sake.

Vid6639 · 29th October 2006, 10:36

Hey Hydrashok i dont think it will work. How will u be able to power the ipod separately as the ipod uses the same ipod connecter to USB cabel for power also.

The HU may not be able to provide sufficient drive to the ipod. This was discussed in another thread but noone tried it out i think.

It may work with the ipod nano or shuffle as they use flash memory and not HDD.

If you have a HU with USB and with aux in through RCA or 3.5mm stereo jack the ipod can be used as well as the USB.

morphean · 29th October 2006, 11:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by morphean

But Ipod has the downside that it cannot be left in the car, and I am not the kind who'd keep his ipod 24 hrs.

Does any one have solution to the problem above ?

hydrashok · 29th October 2006, 17:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by vid6639

Hey Hydrashok i dont think it will work. How will u be able to power the ipod separately as the ipod uses the same ipod connecter to USB cabel for power also.

Duhhhhhhhh!!! You definitely got me there! Now that was a really stupid suggestion huh? Lemme slink off into a dark corner and hope no one notices :-)

27th October 2006, 02:11	#1
morphean Newbie Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: gurgaon Posts: 24 Thanked: 0 Times	Guys, Have been a regular reader of this forum. And the more I read the more curious I become. So far my choices have been good and my family members are very impressed with my new-found knowledge of cars. Now, I am looking to buy a car stereo and need some inputs from you guys. Have done quite a bit of research and come up with following doubts :- 1) If my deck is equipped with HD radio, will it help me in any ways in india ? 2) If my deck has sat radio, will it catch world space ? 3) Do MP3 players create playlist, or play an existing playlist ? 4) With USB interface can I play a 40GB external hard drive. JVC, Kenwood, specially mentions 1GB of songs, thumb drive, etc. Does it mean it cant play 40 GB ? We have discussed this a lot in this forum but have never concluded. Has anyone tried doing it ? 5)If I order from US , does the warranty hold 6) Good place to buy from in Delhi So far JVC DV 4200 seems like a good buy. Also Sony MEX1GP seems attractive ( though can anyone clarify if I can attach external hard drive to its USB interface ) Any input will be highly appreciated.... thanks Sriram
	() Thanks

27th October 2006, 10:12	#2
rsjaurr BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Batala Posts: 777 Thanked: 28 Times	welcome to ICE section of tbhp well........this is what everyone feels after reading few posts you r no different.I just hope u have gone through this thread... http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-en...ing-forum.html 1.No,its only possible in USA. 2.No,u have to buy world space receiver 1st.If i am right they have one for the car too.It has been discussed before many times.U have to search it either here or in shifting gears section. 3.As per my knowledge,u can create playlists using their softwares on computer and then transfer to mp3 player e..g. in i-pods. 4.It again has been discussed mnay times but yes u r right without conclusion.Do check...http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-en...ighlight=radio 5.No,only navin [our big boss here]has tie-up with crutchfield.com 6.Should be many.We have one seller [Driven]who is also a member of tbhp.Do pm him. You said lately ur family members r impressed with ur knowledge of cars but let me say we r certainly not impressed with ur choice of HU.These r not bad but there r quite a few better brnads than thee two,likes of alpine,pioneerblaupunkt,kenwood etc...
	() Thanks

27th October 2006, 10:38	#5
hydrashok Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: In my Office Posts: 2,527 Thanked: 19 Times View My Garage	Welcome to TeamBHP, Sriram! I'm a diehard Matrix fan too (if you meant the Matrix Morpheus and not the king Morpheus). Ahhhhh. RSJ and Navin have got you covered. My additional input: 3) I don't think the current lot of MP3 HUs play playlists burnt on CDs (.M3U files). A workaround (what I do) is to replicate your playlists into folders (each folder containing the music you want in a playlist) and burn the folders onto a CD. Downside is you won't be able to edit playlists/folders on the go. If you are a playlist kind of guy, you should think of iPod integration (if you use an iPod) or an aux-in from your MP3 player into the HU. The HU will play your MP3 player's playlists the way you want them. Since you use playlists, you won't need to fiddle with th MP3 player much. 4) If a HU has a USB in, and will play music from a 1GB USB drive, it should be able to play music from a 40GB ext hdd (if it does not have a capacity restriction). As long as you can power the ext HDD separately. This is usually the problem. And as RSJ said, nobody has belled the cat yet. :-) Again, if you are thinking in terms of an external HDD, iPod integration will be the best and least messy (and hassle-free) solution. You'll get playlist funtionality too. You can get a good HU from Alpine/Blau/Kenwood/Pioneer and an iPod interface (usually separate) and you will be good to go. I think some models of Alpines (high-end ones) and Pioneers will take direct connections via special cable from an iPod, without a separate (costlier) interface set-up. L_B_M's Pioneer does this I guess. Do let us know what you decide on. Last edited by hydrashok : 27th October 2006 at 10:41.
	() Thanks

27th October 2006, 15:48	#9
rsjaurr BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Batala Posts: 777 Thanked: 28 Times	You certainly can use HDD with blau memphis MP66 acc. to crutchfield. Below is what crutchfield has to say about it and link is http://www.crutchfield.com/S-sr2vuxQ...023MEMMP66#Tab USB Input: The Memphis MP66 has a rear-mounted Mini-USB input for connecting devices that output audio via USB, such as a portable hard drive or USB thumb drive device. A Mini-USB-to-USB Type A (female) cable is supplied. For the unit to recognize the USB medium, it must be specified as a mass storage device formatted using FAT 16 or FAT 32. Last edited by rsjaurr : 27th October 2006 at 15:49.
	() Thanks

29th October 2006, 02:54	#10
morphean Newbie Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: gurgaon Posts: 24 Thanked: 0 Times	thanks guys for the input, did some research on the products available, and this is the current situation :- My budget is about 15 K. I want MP3, USB interface and Ipod connectivity. The reason, I want both (USB and Ipod) is that I dont know which one will click with me. USB has advantage that its cheap and therefore can be left in the car. Disadvantage is that it does not have sophisticated ipod features like search, playlist, etc. But Ipod has the downside that it cannot be left in the car, and I am not the kind who'd keep his ipod 24 hrs. Pioneer has MP3 and Ipod but no USB ( atleast the ones within budget ) Blaupunkt has MP3 and USB but no Ipod Alpine has only MP3 JVC has both Dont want Sony Havent seen Kenwood. Guys, pls suggest what shud I do ? Go for JVC ? compromise on USB or Ipod , if so which one ?
	() Thanks

29th October 2006, 10:17	#11
hydrashok Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: In my Office Posts: 2,527 Thanked: 19 Times View My Garage	I'm not sure if this will work, but if it does, you will get both iPod & USB in one go: Enable the Disk Drive mode in your iPod. Use your iPod connector-to-USB cable to connect to the HU's USB port. The HU should recognize it just like any other removable external drive. Voila! (At least I hope so). You have an iPod connected to a USB port. For this, your iPod cable must be the iPod connector-to-USB cable, and not the iPod connector-to-FireWire cable. This shouldn't be a problem as nearly all the iPod users I've seen (quite a few) get this cable as the standard accessory. Unless you opted for the firewire cable (if you bought the iPod from abroad). Disadvantages: In this mode, you can just read the music off the iPod. No playlists or any of the other bells and whistles. And you'll need to power the iPod separately (you will need to do that anyway unless you use a full iPod interface cable set). The iPod will be just like any external HDD. Now it doesn't sound so good to me either :-( Last edited by hydrashok : 29th October 2006 at 10:19.
	() Thanks

29th October 2006, 10:36	#13
Vid6639 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 17,690 Thanked: 44,156 Times View My Garage	Hey Hydrashok i dont think it will work. How will u be able to power the ipod separately as the ipod uses the same ipod connecter to USB cabel for power also. The HU may not be able to provide sufficient drive to the ipod. This was discussed in another thread but noone tried it out i think. It may work with the ipod nano or shuffle as they use flash memory and not HDD. If you have a HU with USB and with aux in through RCA or 3.5mm stereo jack the ipod can be used as well as the USB.
	() Thanks