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Author Topic: Automotive MP3 player?  (Read 2119 times)

Bogie

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Automotive MP3 player?
« on: February 28, 2011, 02:59:13 PM »
So, what's the best way to "plug one in" for car use? Doesn't have to be a portable, but holding a whole lot of data is a definite plus...
 
My bud's got a thing that'll let him use SD cards or USB sticks but having everything under the dash or in the trunk would be a lot cooler...
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Brad Johnson

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Re: Automotive MP3 player?
« Reply #1 on: February 28, 2011, 03:40:48 PM »
I put an aftermarket (Pioneer) head unit in the truck that has MP3 capability.  Runs off a USB drive I have stashed in the glove box.  LOVE IT!!

In all honesty, for about what you'd have in getting an MP3 player and a line adapter for it to play through your stock stereo, you could buy an aftermarket unit that would do the same thing and let you use simple USB flash drives.  The HU for my truck was $149 because I needed some specific output configurations for my setup.  I've seen similar units that didn't have the extra doodads I needed going for just over a hundred.  Throw in another $30-35 for a mounting kit and a wiring harness adapter.

Brad
« Last Edit: February 28, 2011, 05:40:17 PM by Brad Johnson »
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Harold Tuttle

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Re: Automotive MP3 player?
« Reply #2 on: February 28, 2011, 04:27:42 PM »
I am surprised that apple doesn't have a 12v car ipod that fits in a radio sized cut out

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-nGnzwK086pt/m_770/iPod-MP3-Car-Adapters.html
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bedlamite

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Re: Automotive MP3 player?
« Reply #3 on: February 28, 2011, 06:11:46 PM »
I've got an Alpine CDA-105 that has a USB port on the back and an extension cable to the glove box. A 4 gig flash drive holds enough tunes for a long time, and it's also got an ipod adapter included.
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Ben

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Re: Automotive MP3 player?
« Reply #4 on: February 28, 2011, 06:19:21 PM »
I've got an Alpine CDA something or other as well. USB and MP3 port in front.  I think it's the next one down from Bedlamite's. I bought a 4gig mini form factor flash drive so it doesn't stick way out of the unit. Excellent audio and was I think around $150 on sale at Best Buy.
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41magsnub

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Re: Automotive MP3 player?
« Reply #5 on: February 28, 2011, 06:58:30 PM »
All my cars still have tape players..  I have an old tape to headphones adapter I used back in the day to hook up a discman to the car stereo that works great still.
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Brad Johnson

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Re: Automotive MP3 player?
« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2011, 07:20:39 PM »
Quote from: 41magsnub on February 28, 2011, 06:58:30 PM
All my cars still have tape players..  I have an old tape to headphones adapter I used back in the day to hook up a discman to the car stereo that works great still.

Pffft... modern contrivances!  I still have a cassette-to-8track converter laying out in the garage.  Still works, too (or at least it did the last time I tried it 20 years ago!).

Brad
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Perd Hapley

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Re: Automotive MP3 player?
« Reply #7 on: February 28, 2011, 09:25:11 PM »
I saw a cassette-MP3 adapter in the store, the other day.
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Harold Tuttle

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Re: Automotive MP3 player?
« Reply #8 on: March 01, 2011, 11:24:31 AM »
transferring digital data to an analog tape playback head is functional yet antiquated

you don't often need q-tips and isopropyl alcohol for a USB connection.
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Bogie

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Re: Automotive MP3 player?
« Reply #9 on: March 01, 2011, 11:33:08 AM »
The kind that'll let me route the cord from the back to the glove compartment may work - I'd really like to have more than 16 gigs available, but that'll be a good start...
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Doggy Daddy

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Re: Automotive MP3 player?
« Reply #10 on: March 01, 2011, 12:17:09 PM »
Quote from: Bogie
I'd really like to have more than 16 gigs available, but that'll be a good start...

BIG +1!
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BryanP

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Re: Automotive MP3 player?
« Reply #11 on: March 01, 2011, 12:23:29 PM »
Pretty much any new in-dash stereo system will have a line-in jack.  For some older cars (like my 2003 Impala) you can get after-market kits that plug into the CD changer interface of the factory stereo.  You can run a line out under the dash (or the glove compartment I suppose) for either a line-in or (in my case) an iPod interface.
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Brad Johnson

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Re: Automotive MP3 player?
« Reply #12 on: March 01, 2011, 01:41:13 PM »
USB thumb drives are available up to 256 Gb.  Heck, my 8 Gb drive (which resides in the glove box courtesy of an extension cable that snakes up through the dash to the back of the unit) will hold over a thousand songs.

Brad
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Doggy Daddy

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Re: Automotive MP3 player?
« Reply #13 on: March 01, 2011, 03:16:56 PM »
Quote from: Brad Johnson on March 01, 2011, 01:41:13 PM
USB thumb drives are available up to 256 Gb.  Heck, my 8 Gb drive (which resides in the glove box courtesy of an extension cable that snakes up through the dash to the back of the unit) will hold over a thousand songs.

Brad

My highest capacity MP3 player is 30 Gigs.  That ain't enuf.

DD
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sanglant

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Re: Automotive MP3 player?
« Reply #14 on: March 01, 2011, 03:17:56 PM »
i saw one company making a harddrive based system. was 360 or so gigs then. i bet you could get a 1-2TB system pretty cheap now. sorry can't remember the comp. worked like a cd changer, headunit controlled. or a wired remote mounted on the dash and tune to a FM station to use it.
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Harold Tuttle

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Re: Automotive MP3 player?
« Reply #15 on: March 01, 2011, 03:46:20 PM »
FM tuners suck in major metropolitan areas

finding an unused channel is hard and when you do, the guy 2 cars away has enough broadcast power in his XMradio FM link to swamp your signal
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sanglant

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Re: Automotive MP3 player?
« Reply #16 on: March 01, 2011, 05:22:57 PM »
the hard link systems work fine. don't even need a free freq. you plug an adaptor in front of your antenna.;)
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