Shite car stereos

[Station]

Don't like this type of thing:

 

 

They look tacky, there's too many LED's flashing, there's too many buttons, it's got an LCD screen for GRAFX, it has things like BASE XPANSHUN and XPLOD, the whole things gives out a plasticky CREAK when you touch it, plus the face comes off, and has a rancid plastic frame with an ugly thing behind it.

 

I've got one similar to this in mine:

 

 

Can't seem to find a temp replacement that looks the same, but does at least an Ipod connector. The radio's never worked in the car (aerial), so it's fairly redundant at the moment. Even Blaupunkt's range is a bit Ripspeed.

[Richard]

Early-mid 1990s Renault stereos had an "iPod" jack in them.

[trigger]

If the tape player works then can't you just buy a Ipod tape adapter and play it through that, I use one in my Passat and it sounds fine.

 

I have a this modern CD player in my BMW, I don't really like it and it doesn't suit the car but my brother in law gave it to me for free as i couldn't really say no! (Wish i could play my Ipod through it though).

 

[Pete-M]

I don't own an ipod, and don't ever intend on doing so. Hateful bits of Apple shite.

 

The ancient Pioneer in the mad Rover has an aux input tho.

[ashmicro]

Go to a scrapyard, Station. the totally SHIT CD/Tuner that came in my Rover lasted about 2 months. I got, oddly, a Blaupunkt Radio/Casette for nowt. I too use a casette adapter thingie. Works grand.

[retrogeezer]

I don't own an ipod, and don't ever intend on doing so. Hateful bits of Apple shite.

They are actually fookin great......stick it on shuffle and nothing to do for the rest of your journey other than enjoying your music. (other MP3 playing devices are available)

[Milford Cubicle]

They are actually fookin great......stick it on shuffle and nothing to do for the rest of your journey other than enjoying your music.

Any mp3 player can do that. You're just paying £££ for the shiny branding.

[Pete-M]

I use MP3 CDs. Much better.

 

Dunno, I just don't like ipods or similar. The sound quality is always lousy from them, so if you're using one as the initial pre-amp stage then no matter what you do afterwards the end result is always going to be shite.

 

My view is that an ipod is good if you're a jogger or spend a lot of time waiting for a bus, but they're no good for getting a decent sound quality if you spend a lot of time driving. Most of the new cars in work have ipod sockets and mp3 cd capability, the cds always sound better.

 

MP3s are a compromise at the best of times, but taking a tune, shrinking it to MP3, then using an ipod pre-out stage into a car stereo just isn't going to give decent reproduction.

[retrogeezer]

They are actually fookin great......stick it on shuffle and nothing to do for the rest of your journey other than enjoying your music.

Any mp3 player can do that. .

err, isn't that what I said??

[Station]

Used to use the tape thing, but at moderate volumes, you can here the tape head interference (ruining my Cannibal Corpse listening), and that whine from the tape.

Think IPods are quality. I haven't charged mine for two weeks and have used it everyday. In a world of Chinese made CRAP and plastic, it's nice to have something like this. I couldn't care less about Apple's other products though - 600 quid for a phone?

[RedSparrow]

You know the problem with old motors - the stereo slot is usually to shallow to fit a CD player.

I am thinking about getting one of these fings:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260598230510&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Seems easy enough, copy songs from computer onto an SD card and bung it in the player.

Anyone had any experiences with these?

I'm also slighty concerned that all of these seem to come from China...

[Minimad5]

Now now, no arguing over Mp3 or Iplads

 

My Ipod (before it was washed) was fantastic, as i used it whilst drumming, working on cars and when bored at college.

I didn't find the sound quality too bad on the one i owned, just the shuffle function was annoying.

I really would like another for when i go on a random BMX ride.

 

All in all, just buy what you think is best

 

Cassette, CD, MP3 CD, Ipod, MP3 Player, MP4 Player ....

The list goes on

 

I used my laptop as a music playing device once, whilst riding to a friends.

Threw it in my bag, popped on my mahoosive sony headphones and away i went.

Laptop got rather hot, but it worked great.

[retrogeezer]

I use MP3 CDs. Much better.

 

Dunno, I just don't like ipods or similar. The sound quality is always lousy from them, so if you're using one as the initial pre-amp stage then no matter what you do afterwards the end result is always going to be shite.

 

My view is that an ipod is good if you're a jogger or spend a lot of time waiting for a bus, but they're no good for getting a decent sound quality if you spend a lot of time driving. Most of the new cars in work have ipod sockets and mp3 cd capability, the cds always sound better.

 

MP3s are a compromise at the best of times, but taking a tune, shrinking it to MP3, then using an ipod pre-out stage into a car stereo just isn't going to give decent reproduction.

I do use MP3 cd's in my Mongdeo but when I have used the ipod I can't say I've noticed any difference in the sound quality. It's only through standard speakers though and a Sony 4x50 watt head unit.

 

I guess I was lucky as I picked up my ipod at a car boot sale about 3 years ago. Brand new 30gb video for £70 but if it packed up I would certainly consider a new one. And I did see something on the gadget show (I think) years ago saying that the human ear was not sensitive enough to tell the difference between a normal track and an MP3 compressed version as long as it was a decent bitrate.

[Station]

MP3 CD and Ipods use an identical mp3 decoder as each other (the format is patented and licenced by Fraunhofer (like Dolby), which is why Microsoft use WMA etc etc). The only difference in sound should be through the preamp.

 

I just like the quality of the Ipod, if it breaks, I won't throw it away, I'll get it fixed by taking it to an Apple shop. If you did that with a Sony headunit to Halfords they'd laugh at you.

[Pete-M]

And I did see something on the gadget show (I think) years ago saying that the human ear was not sensitive enough to tell the difference between a normal track and an MP3 compressed version as long as it was a decent bitrate.

I actually tried this with a mate of mine who's a sound engineer.

 

224kbps MP3 vs original CDs. He got every single one right, describing the mp3s as "Compressed digital shite".

 

It took him years to accept CDs as being "Ok.."

[Minimad5]

Use a Viynl Record - Ultimate WIN

[Station]

How about these?

 

Vauxhall Omega stereo made by Bose (says Phillips but only in name). Has a drawer for sim card so it doubles as a poo phone:

 

 

Loads of Audis had those Bose Concert tape players.

 

 

 

The Blaupunkt I have I bought from Jon (headunit and CD changer for 10 quid) has a loose joint I think as the sound is intermittent on one speaker.

[Justin Case]

Use a Viynl Record - Ultimate WIN

+1

 

[retrogeezer]

yeh, love a bit of vinyl me...

 

[Espacetic]

I have one of these..

http://www.magnitola.ru/images/items/jvc_kd-lhx502.jpg

 

Not many buttons as it's all touch screen and it takes a 1gb SD card behind the fascia which will hold about 16 albums. Makes a multichanger redundant, although it will still run one of them too.

[mouseflakes]

I can't even get FM on the radio in my R30. You just learn to enjoy whatever is available. When I was using it as a daily driver, one of my greatest pleasures was blurbling along in it listening to the cricket commentary on Long Wave. And I don't even like cricket.

[Station]

Always have between Magic and Absolute radio, and Radio 5 or 6.

[uk_senator]

I have a radio wave sender which plugs into an MP3 player, or you can put either a USB memory stick or an SD card directly into it. Handy if you have only a radio., although quality largely depends where your aerial is...

 

An alternative is to get an MP3 adaptor that will plug into compatible radio/cassettes or radio/CD players via the CD changer input socket, usually available for about a fiver off ebay.

 

If your very good with a soldering iron you could probably wire one in directly to the cassette head circuit within the stereo...

[garethj]

224kbps MP3 vs original CDs. He got every single one right, describing the mp3s as "Compressed digital shite".

 

It took him years to accept CDs as being "Ok.."

224kbps isn't particularly high if you're listening for quality, I use 360kbps and it's fine for even home listening. WMA is often better quality, or Ogg is good too, not sure you can play either through an ipod?

 

In the car there are so many other noises and compromises on the sound that mp3 is fine. I think FM radio is about the same as 150ish kbps mp3. In the car, it'll do.

 

I've got an old IRiver mp3 player and to me it sounds better quality than an ipod, but the main advantage is I can organise my tunes with file explorer rather than itunes It also has a line in and line out so the sound just goes through its pre-amp rather than a headphone amplifier

[strangehighways]

Half of the battle with playing music in the car is having a good stereo and speakers to plug your cdplayer/mp3player/other into.

 

All the modern Vauxhalls I have driven as hire cars (Zafiras, Astras, Vectras) have had appalling stereos which are boomy and crap. Ford tended to be slightly better. Though the Seat Leon I drove recently had a fairly nice sounding unit.

 

I have a Sony Head Unit in my car. It sounds pretty good, but not amazing.

 

If mp3s are encoded at 320kbs, then I would imagine it is very difficult to tell the difference from CDs with a 'normal' car stereo. Likewise, I think you would need a fairly good home stereo to tell the difference, but you can definately tell if you have a good setup.

[Father Ted]

One of the few advantages of having really shit hearing (apart from the loop system that I have n the lounge that means I can tune out the wife and tune in to Doctor Who) is that I really cant tell the difference between 128 bit MP3 and CD.

 

Really. I cant.

It actually makes me quite happy.