CD and MP3 head unit

[Mike Fishcake]

Is it realistic for me to be able to buy a new head unit that can play CDs and MP3s (from SD cards) for £150? I've seen a couple of ones that can, but have heard that they struggle with SD cards above 2GB. Ideally, I'd want to be able to stick 8GB cards in it.

It doesn't particularly have to be SD cards... Sony memory sticks or any other form of flash memory will be fine.

Although saying something like this on a place like this is probably sacrilege... Massive sound quality isn't a priority, I don't want ridiculous levels of bass... I've been using the CD player and speakers that came with my Saxo for 5 years, and that's absolutely fine. I just want something that's got a reasonably good quality interface... ie, something that makes it easy to sift through 8GB of MP3s and find what I want.

Any personal recommendations?

[kalniel]

There are tons and tons that play CDs + flash, though most are USB. Not sure about the 2gb limit thing though - if you can cope with a 2gb partition limit then there are lots around £60-100, so for £150 you could probably get something quite special.

Have a look at a site like car audio direct (http://www.caraudiodirect.com/).

I recently bought a low-end JVC unit for £65 that takes CD and USB flash, it's basically this one:
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/jvc-kdpdr41-p-6503.html but without the ipod cable. Main thing I like about it is indeed the ease of controls - it's a bit lacking in the bass department for some people though.

[Mike Fishcake]

Cheers.

I could probably cope with a pen drive TBH, so that's worth taking into consideration. Of course, any more suggestions are welcome

[Howard]

My Pioneer DEH-P7000UB which I consider to be fairly "high end" if not totally, only costs about £160-170, so it's easily doable

[Butcher]

Nice links - my head unit has more or less packed up recently, it won't play CDs when it gets hot which makes long journeys a pain so a new one is in order it would seem. Am I right in thinking that all head units have a standard wiring interface? I have an alpine cd/radio atm so it would need to fit in the same slot.

[Mike Fishcake]

My Pioneer DEH-P7000UB which I consider to be fairly "high end" if not totally, only costs about £160-170, so it's easily doable

Ta. I know you recommended me one about a year ago, but my CD player started working again, so I didn't bother. I think it must have found out and got scared

At the moment, I've got to listen to radio. Yuk

[Mike Fishcake]

OK, to resurrect this thread, I'm finally looking at getting this:

http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/pro..._id/10666.html

Because it seems to be the only head unit from a well known manufacturer that has good browsing capabilities from an SD card (according to a few reviews I've read)

Are caraudiosecurity.com any good? Can it be got anywhere else cheaper (It's £135 at Pixmania, but I've heard lots of bad things about their service)

[Vimeous]

I bought my JVC CD/SD headunit from Pixmania a few years back.
I had no problems with them because the unit has been faultless.

Many SD-card equipped headunits were developed pre-SDHC and as such cannot cope with cards above 2Gb. Mine is one of them.
Problem is USB ports suddenly because all the rage so development seems to have faltered. It's a shame because why anyone would want a USB stick poking out their dash is beyond me!

[[DW]Cougho]

Caraudiosecurity are brill.

Have no worries dealing with them.

[dave87]

Fiver (not much I know) cheaper here:

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pion...sd-p-7227.html


If that is any help

[MadduckUK]

I bought my JVC CD/SD headunit from Pixmania a few years back.
I had no problems with them because the unit has been faultless.

Many SD-card equipped headunits were developed pre-SDHC and as such cannot cope with cards above 2Gb. Mine is one of them.
Problem is USB ports suddenly because all the rage so development seems to have faltered. It's a shame because why anyone would want a USB stick poking out their dash is beyond me!

they wouldnt, but being able to plug in a mass storage capable mp3 player is something i want from my next one, they should bundle a right angled adapter for the usb sticks methinks, then ppl could always use adapters and things for sd/ms cards

[Mike Fishcake]

Fiver (not much I know) cheaper here:

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pion...sd-p-7227.html


If that is any help

Cheers for that - having a look around, it seems that plenty of people are happy with Car Audio Direct's service, and their delivery charges are the same, so I'll probably go with them. £5 is better than a kick in the pips!

[kalniel]

they wouldnt, but being able to plug in a mass storage capable mp3 player is something i want from my next one, they should bundle a right angled adapter for the usb sticks methinks, then ppl could always use adapters and things for sd/ms cards

Or one of these:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-Ultr..._ob_ce_title_0

[Mike Fishcake]

Just ordered it from CarAudioDirect - also got a free delivery voucher from here as well: http://www.retailmenot.com/view/caraudiodirect.co.uk

In case anyone else is thinking of ordering from them!

[jimbouk]

Good job I found this thread. I was struggling to find a recommendation for an online car audio shop to get a pair of speakers. Not only did I find a shop to use I also got free delivery! Hexus rocks!