ICE Advice plse...

merlin

merlin

merlin

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
20,705
Location
England
Really no idea what I'm doing ICE wise - I just want to change my double din unit to something a bit better (and single din to get some storage space) and I want something where you can change the colour of the display to red to match the interior.

Went to my local place & told them I dont want to spend any more than about £300 plus fitting for a HU and some component speakers.

They're coming up with a Pioneer DEH-P55BT - £229 and some half decent 6 1/2 inch speakers are about £70. They want £30 + VAT and hour fitting - 2 hours approx. Does anyone know if I can plug a USB type MP3 player into this model? I dont have a CD burner - just want to put tunes on a USB MP3 player and plug that into the HU.

Do these prices sound ok and is the HU any good? I dont want an amp or a sub or any of that stuff - it weighs too much.

Ta. :)
 
That is a lovely headunit - multi colour options bluetooth for phone. You can't use a USB mp3 player BUT you can pick up the ipod control adaptor for a snip.

Sounds like a good deal to me!
 
How about one of the newer alpines, im sure they have silly amounts of colours that you can choose.
 
bradbcam said:
That is a lovely headunit - multi colour options bluetooth for phone. You can't use a USB mp3 player BUT you can pick up the ipod control adaptor for a snip.

Sounds like a good deal to me!
Click to expand...

Hmm :(

Dont want to spend money buying an i-pod + adapter when I can get an MP3 player for peanuts.
 
Morba said:
How about one of the newer alpines, im sure they have silly amounts of colours that you can choose.
Click to expand...

I had a play with the alpines - looked gorgeous, but the menu systems were confusing - very finicky and awkward to use especially in a car that has a rock hard suspension - my fingers would be all over the place pressing the wrong buttons. Also on the ones I looked at - the display colour you could change np but the buttons stayed blue which just was stupid.
 
Firestar_3x said:
a CD Burner is £12 and dvd burner £34 ;)
Click to expand...

Ahh. Well that's different then - last time I looked a DVD burner was £400. Kinda lost interest in computer things over the last few years....

Right, so if I buy a DVD burner - can I put my albums on it and play it in the car and will I need any special software to do that?
 
Nero + Mp3's burn ont a CD, simple as, unit will pick up the files and directorys and you can navigate between them.

Should get a 140ish songs per CD (Depending on quality).

Don't think your unit will play mp3's that are burnt onto a dvd.


NEC ND4570 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Beige) - OEM (CD-029-NE)
The ND4570 is the latest drive from NEC offering DVD - RAM recording, giving this unit the best specification on the market.

- DVD+R: 16x, DVD-R: 16x
- DVD+R DL: 8x, DVD-R DL: 8x
- DVD+RW: 8x, DVD-RW: 6x
- DVD-ROM Read: 16x
- DVD-RAM: 5x
- CD-R Write: 48x
- CD-RW Write 32x
- CD Read: 48x
- Access time: 130ms
- Buffer Size: 2MB

Price: £23.95 (£28.14 Including VAT at 17.5%)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/DVD_RW_Drives.html
 
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merlin said:
I had a play with the alpines - looked gorgeous, but the menu systems were confusing - very finicky and awkward to use especially in a car that has a rock hard suspension - my fingers would be all over the place pressing the wrong buttons. Also on the ones I looked at - the display colour you could change np but the buttons stayed blue which just was stupid.
Click to expand...


Have you seen the ones with the long bar rather than the buttons, you just move your finger along the bar
 
Morba said:
Have you seen the ones with the long bar rather than the buttons, you just move your finger along the bar
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the one I looked at - lol it'd be a total nightmare. :p

Definately want something that will take an MP3 player - reason why is that the car is a bit stiff and I always get CD's skipping as I go over even slight bumps - drives me mad & with an MP3 player that wont be a problem.
 
merlin said:
Yeah, that's the one I looked at - lol it'd be a total nightmare. :p

Definately want something that will take an MP3 player - reason why is that the car is a bit stiff and I always get CD's skipping as I go over even slight bumps - drives me mad & with an MP3 player that wont be a problem.
Click to expand...

Don't get this problem tbh and my car isn't that forgiving over the bumps, a good mp3 unit should cache some of the song to memory so should have 1min + shock protection.
 
merlin said:
Yeah, that's the one I looked at - lol it'd be a total nightmare. :p

Definately want something that will take an MP3 player - reason why is that the car is a bit stiff and I always get CD's skipping as I go over even slight bumps - drives me mad & with an MP3 player that wont be a problem.
Click to expand...

Skipping shouldn't be a issue with a decent head unit. Even my 3 year old Kenwood MP3 headunit doesn't skip, and my car might as well have no suspension, these TEIN coilovers are that rock solid.

Saying that though I don't know if it would skip on normal CD's, I only ever listen to MP3 compilation CD's, but I've never had one skip.
 
The skipping is really bad, I thought most modern HU's had a buffer but this Clarion thing can't remember anything. Sometimes the whole track resets to the start. :mad:

Definately want an MP3 compatible one. I'll order an MP3 player using my works account and tell them it's a USB pen drive for me to move files around with, net result - MP3 player free of charge ;)

Just waiting for some cash from selling my old wheels & i'll book the car in.

What about the DEH-30MP? I've got the catalogue in front of me but it doesn;t show prices.
 
merlin said:
What about the DEH-30MP? I've got the catalogue in front of me but it doesn;t show prices.
Click to expand...

£89.....

Powered by Pioneer’s MOSFET 50 and incorporating EEQ+ precision tuning with High and Low Pass Filters, the DEH-30MP boasts a Direct Rear Aux-In so you can hook up any MP3 player and enjoy the DEH-30MP’s full MP3/WMA/WAV capabilities.

Want to impress with mind-boggling power bass? Its Direct Sub Drive allows you to drive a subwoofer directly from your headunit, without an expensive amplifier. With 2 RCA Pre-Outs you can add an amplifier and speakers, and raise your in-car music experience to unheard levels.

Engineered to impress, the DEH-30MP comes wrapped in distinct designer looks and fitted with a blue back display. Simply stunning.

Main features


AUX-Input
LCD-Blue Display illumination
Cellular telephone auto muting
No. of Radio Presets 18
Max. output power (watts) MOSFET 4 x 50 Watt
RCA Preout 2 (F + R or S/W)
Features - General


CD Text
Remote control Optional
Hard-wired remote input
ISO Connector ready
Rotary volume
Front Panel Removable
Flexible angle installation 0-60°
Features - Tuner


Adaptive RDS (PI, PS, AF, TP/TA)
ARC FM D4Q
BSM (Best Stations Memory)
Features - CD player


Oversampling digital filter 8x
D/A Converter 1 Bit
Fast forward/reverse
Track Search/Scan/Repeat
Random Play
Last position memory
CD-R Playback
MP3 File playback
Windows Media™ Audio playback
CD-RW Playback
WAV File Playback
Features - Audio / Amplifier


HPF (High Pass Filter)
LPF (Low Pass Filter)
EEQ Plus
Selectable Loudness
Selectable FIE (Front Image Enhancer)
SFEQ (Sound Focus Equaliser)
Source Level Adjuster
Fader
Specifications - FM


Frequency range 87.5- 108 MHz
Usable sensitivity (75 ohms) 8 (0.7 µV) dBf/µV
S/N ratio 75 dB
Frequency response 30 - 15.000 Hz
Stereo separation 45 dB
Specifications - MW


Frequency range 531 - 1.602 kHz
Usable sensitivity 18 µV
Specifications - LW


Frequency range 153 - 281 kHz
Usable sensitivity 30 µV
Specifications - CD


Frequency Characteristics 5 - 20.000 Hz
S/N ratio 94 dB/1 kHz
Dynamic range 92 dB/1 kHz
Specifications - General


Chassis size (W x H x D) 178 x 50 x 157 mm
Click to expand...

Tis pants.
 
Your best getting a highend unit the using the CD changer control plug with an aux in adapter lead, this way your not limiting your HU choice.

Leads are cheap as :)
 
Seems I can't have my cake and eat it with the Pioneers. This is what I'm after ideally -

Total colour control (or just plain red as standard)
Will take an MP3 player
Single DIN
50W x 4

£200 - £230 budget for te HU.

:)
 
Kenwood KDC-W808

b_kdcw808.jpg


DMask+ removable faceplate
2-steps angle adjustment
Disabled System Indicator (DSI)
Protection case for faceplate
4 digit code security
Full dot (96x23),
2 steps automatic dimmer
Display blackout
Spectrum analyzer
Selectable key illumination (red or green)
Digital clock (24H)
Remote control sensor
All-off select (20/40/60 minutes)
Built-in fuse/coil
Disabled system indicator
2-way telephone mute
Hard-wired remote-in
External option control
OEM display out
Ready for iPod (KCA-iP500)
AUDIO FEATURES


4 x 50 W max. output power
MOSFET amplifier stage
3 RCA pre-outs, 5 Volt
1 RCA AUX input
Subwoofer ref. level adjustment
Build-in amplifier Cut. off
Installer memory
Tone control: Bass/Mid/Treble
Source tone memory
Loudness control
System Q sound system
System E’s+
2003/2004 BMS amplifier control
TUNER FEATURES


RDS tuner with Radio Text
24 Presets: 18 FM, 6 LW/MW
Auto Memory Entry (AME)
Up/Down seek tuning
Auto1/Auto2/Manual tuning mode
Stereo/Mono selector
K3I clean reception tuner
DAB reception with optional KTC-9090DAB tuner
CD FEATURES


CD-R/RW playback
MP3/WMA/AAC playback
CD-Text
L/R 0-bit mute
24 bit DAC (Burr Brown)
mCD application software
Voice SSA
Random/Repeat/Scan function
8 Times oversampling
Signal-noise ratio: 110 dB
Dynamic range: 93 dB
Channel separation: 96 dB

Our Price: £219.99

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=4493

Red Colour is only for the buttons screen text will still be blue, but it does everything else and i do rate the kenwood SQ quite high, i've got an expensive Kenwood unit in the MX and it sounds great is easy to use etc, i don't quite win a cookie but will keep looking.
 
Bass Junkies have the JVC KD-G821 which will take a USB flash drive. It looks like you would run the mp3 player from a standard USB cable. It shouldn't sound too bad with decent speakers...

Edit: I'd try a decent headunit in your car. A decent one shouldn't skip day to day unless you are nailing it over speedbumps!
 
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