What do I need for USB audio?

Buchanan0204

Buchanan0204

Buchanan0204

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The car in question is an 03 Mondeo. It has the standard CD player. It's not the greatest and I'd like something reasonable to play music from a flash drive or SD card... Any flash media really.

I have no idea what I need. Do I need some fitter kit, mounting unit etc?

Any help would be great. Not looking to spend a lot especially since its an old car.
 
The only problem is, I wont be able to change track without getting a long aux cable and handling the mp3 player while driving, which isn't ideal.

How difficult is a £60 pioneer from halfords to fit?
 
Buchanan0204 said:
The only problem is, I wont be able to change track without getting a long aux cable and handling the mp3 player while driving, which isn't ideal.

How difficult is a £60 pioneer from halfords to fit?
Click to expand...

It's pretty easy really. I'm no expert at this stuff, but I put a Sony HU into my polo and passat quite easily.

Basically for mine you needed the VW radio keys to pull the unit out from the sides, then you disconnect the wires at the back of the old unit and plug them into the new ones.

The only difficult part I found was tucking the wires back in to get the unit to slot in.
 
Saint said:
It's pretty easy really. I'm no expert at this stuff, but I put a Sony HU into my polo and passat quite easily.

Basically for mine you needed the VW radio keys to pull the unit out from the sides, then you disconnect the wires at the back of the old unit and plug them into the new ones.

The only difficult part I found was tucking the wires back in to get the unit to slot in.
Click to expand...

Sounds easy enough.

Halfords tells me I need a fascia kit and something else. Will these cause problems on installation?
 
Get a headunit which supports the latest Bluetooth A2DP and use that instead imo. The sound quality between my Samsung S3 & Sony KD-X50bt is indistinguishable between bluetooth and Aux in. Bt sound quality has improved massively in recent times. The h/u controls can be used to skip tracks.
 
Parrot MKi 9200 adds USB, Ipod control and bluetooth Audio and Phone with remote control. It is easy to fit, pretty much plug and play. I have stopped using my Ipod on it now as the audio quality and control of my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 over bluetooth is first class.
 
Buchanan0204 said:
How difficult is a £60 pioneer from halfords to fit?
Click to expand...

I bought this one last month. It took about thirty minutes to fit in my old A3 (it was dark and I was doing it with the wrong tools under the car’s interior lamp).

The reason I bought one of these over, say, an AUX converter for the OEM head-unit (such as the Connects2), or a cheap head-unit with just a front-facing AUX input, is that I wanted to use controls on the facia to pause and skip tracks… rather than the iPhone.
 
yosamuel said:
I bought this one last month. It took about thirty minutes to fit in my old A3 (it was dark and I was doing it with the wrong tools under the car’s interior lamp).

The reason I bought one of these over, say, an AUX converter for the OEM head-unit (such as the Connects2), or a cheap head-unit with just a front-facing AUX input, is that I wanted to use controls on the facia to pause and skip tracks… rather than the iPhone.
Click to expand...

Did you not need to buy any faceplates, fascias or other bits of kit to make it work with your car?

That's the part that confuses me.

I'll be using one of those tiny USB flash drives for the music as I don't have an mp3 player, iPod or a fancy phone that plays music or bluetooth.
 
Buchanan0204 said:
Did you not need to buy any faceplates, fascias or other bits of kit to make it work with your car?

That's the part that confuses me.

I'll be using one of those tiny USB flash drives for the music as I don't have an mp3 player, iPod or a fancy phone that plays music or bluetooth.
Click to expand...

As my car has came with a single-DIN head-unit so I didn’t need to buy any additional facias. Your car will have a double-DIN (double height) so you will need something like this to fill in the gaps (that might not be the exact model for your car, you will have to compare the dates to see if it’s from the correct era).

As far as cabling is concerned, it varies from model to model so I don’t really know, but there will be hundreds of forum threads and YouTube videos on the subject (it’s a popular car).
 
Hi there,

I replaced the OEM CD player with an Alpine HU in my 51 Mondeo last year, so should be the same as yours.

You will need a harness adaptor like this:
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/con-ct20fd05-ct20fd05-harness-adapter-for-ford-fiestamondeo.html

The existing aperture isn't quite Double DIN, you'll need a fascia adaptor like this:
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/con-ct24fd02-ct24fd02-facia-plate-for-ford-focus-mondeo-fiesta.html

If you want to keep steering controls and your new HU supports it you could use this:
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/con...er-for-ford-fiestaescortmondeofocusgalax.html
and you'll also need a patch lead relevant to your brand HU like this:
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/incartec-alpine-adaptor.html

The aerial is also a different connection, but the wiring kits should come with an adaptor for that.

I did mine in about an hour in the cold and dark in February, so with warm fingers and daylight would probably be quicker!
 
BigDannyO said:
Hi there,

I replaced the OEM CD player with an Alpine HU in my 51 Mondeo last year, so should be the same as yours.

You will need a harness adaptor like this:
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/con-ct20fd05-ct20fd05-harness-adapter-for-ford-fiestamondeo.html

The existing aperture isn't quite Double DIN, you'll need a fascia adaptor like this:
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/con-ct24fd02-ct24fd02-facia-plate-for-ford-focus-mondeo-fiesta.html

If you want to keep steering controls and your new HU supports it you could use this:
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/con...er-for-ford-fiestaescortmondeofocusgalax.html
and you'll also need a patch lead relevant to your brand HU like this:
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/incartec-alpine-adaptor.html

The aerial is also a different connection, but the wiring kits should come with an adaptor for that.

I did mine in about an hour in the cold and dark in February, so with warm fingers and daylight would probably be quicker!
Click to expand...

That's excellent info, thanks very much.

The steering wheel stalk controller doesn't work and never has since I got the car. No idea why. I'm not really fussed about it anyway and probably wouldn't want to use it.

So am I right in thinking for my 03 mondeo I just need to buy the first two items you linked to and of course the stereo itself?
 
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