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Gear / Technical Help => Playback Forum => Topic started by: johnw on May 19, 2011, 01:22:18 PM
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I'm going to replace a stock unit with a new car stereo and was wondering if there are any on the market capable of flac playback? Plenty can play mp3 from USB flash and via ipod. But it would be nice to avoid using an 1/8" aux in.
EDIT: If nothings really out there, does anyone have any recommendations for a unit sub $200 with 2-3 line display, USB and ipod control?
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I've been looking at the Kenwood KDC-448u, but it is out of stock at Crutchfield
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113KDC448U/Kenwood-KDC-448U.html?search=kdc-448u&skipvs=T
I wouldn't mind an older model, but it would be nice if it were iphone 4 playback compatable as well
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Ken wood made the "music keg" several years ago. It was kind of like a cd changer, but a hard drive that sat In your trunk, and it played FLAC files. They stopped making it to my knowledge, but you might find one on eBay?
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http://www.amazon.com/Kenwood-Music-Digital-Player-KHD-C710/dp/B00007GRMG
Music keg here.
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Kinwei KW-CM3001??? Never heard of them, and I can't seem to find a US Dealer via Google...
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/member-reviews-product-comparisons/87912-my-$85-flac-car-head-unit-kw-cm3001-1.html (http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/member-reviews-product-comparisons/87912-my-$85-flac-car-head-unit-kw-cm3001-2.html)
http://www.philzone.org/discus/messages/1855/626506.html?1297964569 (http://www.philzone.org/discus/messages/1855/626506.html?1297964569)
Terry
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Thanks guys. I think maybe the cheapest and easiest way to go is to just use my ipod/iphone for flac playback. The music keg looks cool, but it seems limited to 10-20GB.
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Thanks guys. I think maybe the cheapest and easiest way to go is to just use my ipod/iphone for flac playback. The music keg looks cool, but it seems limited to 10-20GB.
i'm using my 30gb ipod for gapless flac playback thanks to rockbox. works great and sounds fantastic. the sound settings in rockbox are awesome. support for the ipod classic is coming soon. 160gb. 8)
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Ended up going with a Kenwood 448u. Doesn't play back flac over USB, but I'll settle for line out of the ipod/iphone.
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Ended up going with a Kenwood 448u. Doesn't play back flac over USB, but I'll settle for line out of the ipod/iphone.
When you're going down the road with the windows down and the wind flying and the tunes cranked, you won't mind that you're using the line-out... Glad it worked out for you!
Terry
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Ended up going with a Kenwood 448u. Doesn't play back flac over USB, but I'll settle for line out of the ipod/iphone.
When you're going down the road with the windows down and the wind flying and the tunes cranked, you won't mind that you're using the line-out... Glad it worked out for you!
Terry
so true - thanks!
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After using the 448u for a bit, I'm very pleased. And it will play flac over the ipod USB cable although you have to trick it into thinking its playing Pandora first. If anyone needs a new car stereo, I'll endorse this one.
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After using the 448u for a bit, I'm very pleased. And it will play flac over the ipod USB cable although you have to trick it into thinking its playing Pandora first. If anyone needs a new car stereo, I'll endorse this one.
Since my old car stereo cannot play music from mp3 and, most important, my iPhone and is dying in general, I've decided to get a new one with these nice features. I am thinking about Kenwood KDC-455UW and from specs it looks like it has same or most features as 448u.
So I was just wondering how do you transfer Flac files to your iPod/iPhone in the first place, and how exactly you make it play them? :)
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Here's an article describing the two apps currently available to play flac on iphones http://www.macworld.com/article/157310/2011/01/flac_on_ios.html
Personally, however, I think this is overkill. Given the significant compromises inherent in car audio in general and the additional compromises in the d>a of mobile devices, I seriously doubt that a person with "golden ears" would be able to consistently distinguish a flac from a high bitrate mp3 on a "good" car audio system. I've had great luck using foobar2000 to convert my flac files to high bitrate mp3s (320k constant rate) which I then load into my iphone and play back via itunes. Since I have a lot of high bitrate stuff recorded at 24/96, I'm able to simply resample down to 48k and don't bother to dither -- the iphone plays the 24bit48k mp3s just fine.
Another option would be to simply convert the flac files to apple lossless, which the iphone will play natively as well, and which can be done via foobar2000, j river mediacenter, xld for mac, etc.
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I heard form one of my Sony reps, that Sony is looking into lossless playback. Flac was their mentioned format. sony is hit or miss with quality and information though. But it was an actual conversation with a Sony employee from Car Audio.
YMMV,
MarkE
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Didnt know itunes could handle 24/48 mp3. For me its just more convenient to transfer a flac file instrad of converting but ymmv.
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Well it's not that I would feel any difference between 320kbps (or probably even 192kbs) mp3 and flac in my car. The problem is that I have some of my music in flac and I am usually to lazy to bother with convertion :) If putting flac no iPhone is overkill, then I would probably prefer to make o conversion. Anyway, thanks for a link!
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Alpine's got a great interface that plugs into the bottom USB port on the Ipods. That means better sound (not using the crappy 3.5mm jack), provides power to the Ipod, and control of the Ipod is handled by the Alpine. I made a little hole in my car's glove compartment and fed the control wire to the Alpine. This keeps the Ipod out of sight and I control the Ipod via the Alpine's remote. I love it. 8)
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Alpine's got a great interface that plugs into the bottom USB port on the Ipods. That means better sound (not using the crappy 3.5mm jack), provides power to the Ipod, and control of the Ipod is handled by the Alpine. I made a little hole in my car's glove compartment and fed the control wire to the Alpine. This keeps the Ipod out of sight and I control the Ipod via the Alpine's remote. I love it. 8)
Got a model number you recommend?
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Dig it: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-W3xQSzofJI5/p_113KMM100U/Kenwood-KMM-100U.html
FLAC via the front panel USB...
Terry
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Ken wood made the "music keg" several years ago. It was kind of like a cd changer, but a hard drive that sat In your trunk, and it played FLAC files. They stopped making it to my knowledge, but you might find one on eBay?
i have one of these in my jetta , branded as 'phatbox', was a dealer option
hackable up to at least 160gb
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Ken wood made the "music keg" several years ago. It was kind of like a cd changer, but a hard drive that sat In your trunk, and it played FLAC files. They stopped making it to my knowledge, but you might find one on eBay?
i have one of these in my jetta , branded as 'phatbox', was a dealer option
hackable up to at least 160gb
This?
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/phatbox?_trksid=p2045573.m2388