Well, since no one makes the receiver I want to buy...
(Which is basically a portable MP3 player that fits in your car - no moving parts, no cd player, no cassette - I want a receiver that just has slots to accept CompactFlash or Memory Sticks.)
What is a very, very high-quality brand name in car receivers that comes with a front AUX input and the ability to play the output from a portable MP3 library? Assume that I am going to have to remove every single component of the existing audio system, and go from a clean slate. Sirius and/or XM-ready is a plus, in case I decide to try it out.
Re: C4 w/ Bose - I need a new receiver that... (Matt Black)
Have you considered an EMPEG?
It's a single DIN unit that has a built in hard drive and is on a slide-out chassis, so you slip it out and hook it up to your PC via USB, serial, or ethernet and load music onto it.
I don't know anyone who has had one, but they have been making them for a couple of years so I would think they would have most of the issues ironed out. They were really expensive when they first came out, but now the 10GB is only $360.
I'm not sure about a CD player with a front AUX input. I know the Nakamichi CD-700 (www.nakamichi.com/auto/cdplayers/cd_700.htm) has two rear AUX inputs and is probably the highest quality CD player you can buy. Cost is about $1300.
Or you might consider getting a 1/2 DIN AudioControl HPX (www.audiocontrol.com/caraudio.htm). I have one in my Prelude and used the front AUX mini-DIN jack on it to hook my portable MP3 player into. That is, until I realized that the Four.1 EQ I have mounted above it has rear AUX RCA inputs on it, allowing me to use my MP3 player without having cords hanging out. Either unit costs about $225.
Re: C4 w/ Bose - I need a new receiver that... (josby)
EMPEG and drive-based systems still have moving parts. I want someone to build a unit that only uses nonvolatile memory cards as its storage and playback source.
I can't figure out why someone hasn't already done it. It's the car audio equivalent of an iPod or a Rio, should be easy.
Re: C4 w/ Bose - I need a new receiver that... (Matt Black)
Actually, they did. Rockford Fosgate made a 8-card MP3 changer called the RFXMP3.8. I remember seeing it in Crutchfield's catalog a year or two ago, but it's not in there any more and RF's site makes no mention of it. I assume it was discontinued, but you could probably find a company on the web that has some left, or maybe get one on eBay.
But, it takes MMC cards. Figure 8 64MB cards @ $48 a piece = $384. That plus the changer itself (maybe $200?) and a Rockford head unit to control it ($200) comes out to almost $800 for just 512MB of music.
I think the only reason iPods and such use nonvolatile memory is because it's small and doesn't require much power. I can't see any real advantage in a car, unless your car rides like a paint mixer =) But, if it's what you want, I'm sure you can find one of these Rockfords...here's a review of one, by the way...http://www.m-emag.com/reviews/reviews.html?reviewID=48
Re: C4 w/ Bose - I need a new receiver that... (josby)
See argument above. Given a card-based player with a good set of chips and buffer memory, and you'll have a player that will never, ever skip, and that has no mechanical parts in motion that can eat a tape, or a disk, or crash, or ever stop working. Possibly the card-eject button might break, but we could design one that only requires fingers to pull a card.
Only drawback to this player, other than the limitations of the MP3 and WMA formats, is that the media cards are so small that they would be easy to lose.
Smartmedia is getting cheaper every day. Amazon has 32MB cards for $18 each now. Get the 64MB down into that range, and music companies might start releasing matchbook-sized albums.
The R/F review is a good read. What I'm thinking about is a DIN chassis that would have four CompactFlash sockets built into it across the front where a disc slot would exist on a conventional player. I wouldn't need the CD slot at all. When I'm looking for spontaneous music, I turn on the radio. All of my other listening is from burned CDs in the changer behind the seat - I never need to pop in a disc at random.
It's a-coming. I think I just want to adopt the technology before it's available. That's a genuine "early-adopter" for you.
Hmm...I've got an old Kenwood ten-disc changer lying around. I wonder if I could figure out how to get a Nomad to output to the changer controller...<wanders off with crazed mad scientist expression...>
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Re: C4 w/ Bose - I need a new receiver that... (Matt Black)
Quote:
What is a very, very high-quality brand name in car receivers that comes with a front AUX input and the ability to play the output from a portable MP3 library? Assume that I am going to have to remove every single component of the existing audio system, and go from a clean slate. Sirius and/or XM-ready is a plus, in case I decide to try it out.
Not that it would be considered high-quality, but the AIWA receivers all have a front input jack. Or you take a system that has extra inputs out the rear and wire them to the front. Thats what I'm going to do for the RFX eventually.
And yes, replace all the Bose speakers. I bought good inexpensive speakers to replace mine and they sound much better than the old speakers.
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C4 w/ Bose - I need a new receiver that...
