Car Audio Blog » Satellite radio

Digital Music In Your Car

Car Audio Blogger — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 08:16:05 +0000

There are a few different things that digital music in your car can stand for. Depending on the type of CD player you have in your car will determine what your car can do with digital music. First of all, there are MP3 players that can hook up to your car. These give you a form of digital music that you can play right through your car speaker system. This gives you the upper hand, because you can put more music on a MP3 player than you can on a disc. The other type of digital music would come from digital radio. Both these things are very good in their own ways.

iPod Connector Honda Element

First of all, it’s very important to point out that both forms of digital music are good in their own way. No matter what kind of digital music your car can play, you should just be happy it can play one of these two types. Now that we have the basics out of the way, we need to talk about what the difference is between the two. One form you will have is a digital MP3 player hooked up to your car. The only kind of music you can listen to with this thing is the music that you download onto it. With that being said, you are only going to have music that you like. After all, you are not going to download music that you do not like to have on your MP3 player. Next is the digital radio. This is where you can listen to different stations, and pick what kind of music you want to hear. No matter which one you go with, you are going to have great music that sounds amazing.

First, we will talk a little bit more about the MP3 players. There are different types of CD players that you can get in your car that will hook up with MP3 players. This is great, because then you do not have to carry around so many different CDs. All you have to do is load all your music up to your MP3 player, and then you can listen to all your music off the MP3 player. This will save a lot of room in your car, because you are not going to have to worry about finding a spot to put all your different music CDs. Although, it’s important to remember that you are only suppose to upload music that you own to your MP3 player. It’s a copy right fraction if you do not own the rights to that song. To do that you must of bought the CD first.

iPod in Honda Fit

Next, is the great and powerful digital radio. If you like listening to tons of different music, this is the way to go. After all, with this bad boy you can choose from thousands of stations, and choose the one that is right for you. This means that if you like all types of hip-hop, you can just put it on a hip-hop station and listen to nothing except all kinds of hip-hop. They have tons of stations so you will always be able to find what you are looking for. Although it can cost a lot of money to have one of these radios, you will be happy at how much music and play time you are going to get out of it. This is the perfect top off for any car that you might own.

Basic Tips For Car Antenna Installation

Car Audio Blogger — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:38:06 +0000

Although car antennas take five to seven years to be completely useless by becoming rusty or broken but installing an antenna in your car is pretty easy that anyone can do it with some few general tips. Old cars may not have a car antenna but come with an antenna hole that can be used otherwise drilling an antenna hole is also an option. Antennas are needed to be replaced only if they are broken, rusty enough to get an unclear signal or cannot transmit any AM/FM radio stations. In luxurious cars like BMW, Rolls Royce or Lexus it is best to get a professional help while other cars can be installed with an antenna by yourself.

Car Antenna

The importance of car antenna is known to people who do not have one. The main source of entertainment in your car is live FM/AM radio without that you are going to hate long drives and jam packed traffic. Now mostly cars come up with at least an antenna hole if there is not one but you can drill in to make an antenna hole yourself. The general tips needed to install a car antenna start with of course taking out the old one first carefully making sure you do not damage or cut any of the wires. Do not jump to conclusions either a little disturbance in the radio signals does not mean you need a new antenna. Consider changing it only if it is broken, rusty or damaged by some kind of accident.

Now if you have a car which has a can antenna hole but no antenna then what you can do it start by using the Master Sheet of the car to find out the interior wiring and holes. Do not pass the antenna wire through other wiring as the reception of it will be affected. In case of an antenna that came built-in from the factory is to remove the old antenna along with the old wiring. The wires can be pulled out easily from the hole while inserting a new wire requires another personвЂ™s help to get it in the right hole. After that the antenna will come in contact with the exposed hole whereas you can tighten it with a nut to avoid it from falling down.

Car FM Antenna

For installing car antenna mounted between your windshield and front door or on the roof then more or less the same kind of technique is used as mentioned for fender-mount antenna. The wiring of mounted antennas goes till the kick panel area so you would need to remove the kick-panel trim to reach the wires and change them. As for cars that come without a car antenna hole you can do a little research and find out the same location of the cars of the same model. Once you have chosen a location make sure the area under the marked hole is clear. Drill in 1/16″ under the desired location and follow the above steps for installing wires in your car interior.

The basic tips for installing a car antenna are here but for more details and professional help you can consult the manufacturers of your car or a car repairing shop. In my experience you may survive without AM/FM radio for a couple of months may be an year as well but one day or the other you are going to realize how important it is to have live radio in your cars to pass that awful jam packed traffic or boring drives to your work or back home everyday. I believe radio stations are more entertaining than CDs or cassettes as every station is available for sports, news, music, weather etc providing everyone with something.

Kenwood DDX6019 DVD Player with 6.95″ screen

Car Audio Blogger — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:21:10 +0000

Kenwood DDX6019 DVD player brings you a vivid 6.95″ video screen that sits flush in your double-sized dash opening, with touchscreen controls and easy-to-follow menus that give you total command over all the system’s functions. The screen motors down smoothly to give you easy access to the CD/DVD slot. And the screen tilts forward and back to ensure you get the best viewing angle, whatever the slope of your dash.

When you’re parked, you’ll love watching DVDs on the spacious screen. Connect a backseat video screen and some wireless headphones to keep the kids in back entertained while you drive – they can watch movies in privacy while you listen to another source, like the radio, up front.

Kenwood DDX6019 key feautures:

in-dash DVD player with built-in amplifier
fits double-sized dash openings
motorized faceplate with 6.95″ LCD video screen with adjustable display angle and touchscreen controls
Kenwood DDX6019 plays DVDs, DVD-+Rs/RWs, CDs, CD-Rs/RWs, MP3/WMA discs, JPEG, and MPEG1 and 2 files
Satellite radio-ready (tuner, antenna, and subscription required)
System E’s+ Advanced Crossover system
System Q Sound Control
compatible with Kenwood CD changer, TV tuner, HD Radio tuner, or iPod Control Interface
compatible with Kenwood’s Bluetooth adapter for hands-free calls with compatible cell phones
rear-view camera input
input for a compatible Kenwood navigation system
audio/video input (output)
dual-zone capable
front, rear, subwoofer preamp outputs
remote control
compatible with most factory steering wheel audio controls (adapter required)
designed for use with “Region 1″ coded DVDs

User Reviews:

Jay fro, Dallas

I bought Kenwood DDX6019 this week and installed it 2 days ago. The installation was very easy, but I expected the unit to completely fill my 2-din slot. Unfortunately there were some gaps on the sides so I had to modify the black filler plate that came with the unit. It was very easy to cut with a dremel tool. The large screen looks great in the 2-din slot.

Overall the unit is great. The coolest thing thus far is the use of DVDs for audio. I burned about 500 songs on a DVD-R and organized it by artist, album and song. The Kenwood’s menu allows you to easily scroll through the folder structure on the DVD. The user interface seems dated and counter-intuitive. I would imagine that I could design a better interface with with cooler wallpapers, buttons, etc. With that said, the interface wouldn’t keep me from buying this unit. It seems that most of the interfaces on these in-dash DVD units are weak.

The control over the sound levels is very good. You can adjust each range (low, mid, high) at various frequencies and you can even change the curve of the modification (Q-level). It really lets you dial in the system to your listening preferences. Unfortunately I find myself changing the settings for each band that I listen to.

Hassan from Catonsville

This was my first time buying anything from Kenwood. I bought Kenwood DDX6019 last month and returned it due to following reasons.

Pros: Plays lots of different media formats, played some of the copied DVD’s “backups” and media files that no other unit (I tried) could play. Kenwood DDX6019 is Simple to use and very easy to navigate through the menus. Loads the disk very quickly, 7″ display screen (if ВЅ inch makes you happy) The unit was very easy to install. MP3 and WMA playback is a breeze. Lets u see all the folders from the root of the disk and you can use the touch screen to click on a song to play. Excellent picture quality in the DVD playback.

Cons: Plays MPEG-1 and VCD’s in black and white. Coming from a Pioneer unit – this unit sounded extremely bad.EQ: Lack of low-bass and too much distortion in sound, mids are good (clear) but then u are bombarded with the highs again. Menus and wallpapers are terrible; I ended up keeping the background blank. Remote is very badly designed and has too many un-necessary buttons. Sound in a $1000 head unit is very important to me, if you are not the EQ type of listener then this is the unit for you. I have swapped this unit with an Eclipse

Official site: kenwoodusa.com

Clarion MAX385VD and VRX485VD multimedia systems + SIRIUS direct connect

Car Audio Blogger — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 14:17:51 +0000

Clarion Corporation of America, a leading manufacturer of mobile electronics, announces that two of their key mobile multimedia source units now offer SIRIUS Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) direct connection.

ClarionвЂ™s MAX385VD double DIN multimedia center offers SIRIUS direct connect where no black box or adapter cable is required. Simply plug in the SIRIUS tuner (SCC1) into these Clarion source units and youвЂ™re good to go. The Clarion MAX385VD boasts a 6.5 inch monitor with touch panel control, MP3/ WMA playback, iPodВ® audio control and iPod video playback with ClarionвЂ™s USB iPod cable (CUIPOD1).

The Clarion MAX385VDвЂ™s sleek 2-DIN design also features rear AUX input and 6 channel 2 volt RCA output to round off its already awesome system capabilities.

вЂњWe are very exicted to introduce this new feature in 2008,вЂќ says Ralf Engelbrecht, Senior Vice President of Retail Sales at Clarion Corporation of America. вЂњThe new Sirius direct connect feature increases the value of our products to customers by eliminating the need for for a translator box.вЂќ

The Clarion VRX485VD 1-DIN AV Center has stylish cosmetics with intuitive user-friendly controls. It features a 7 inch flip-out monitor with touch panel control, MP3/ WMA and DivX video playback. It is iPod audio and video ready with ClarionвЂ™s CUIPOD1 cable. The SIRIUS direct connect feature is achieved by simply connecting the SIRIUS SCC1 tuner and antenna with no additional cables or translator boxes required. It is that easy.

The Clarion MAX385VD and Clarion VRX485VD are both full-featured multimedia source units with similar cosmetic styling and comparable pricing, but the determining factor is single or double DIN preference.

A February 2008 consumer launch is planned for both the Clarion MAX385VD and VRX485VD multimedia systems.

Key features:

Clarion MAX385VD (MSRP $599.99)

2DIN AV Center
6.5вЂќ Auto Sloping Motorized Touch Panel Control with Tilt Angle Adjustment
MP3/WMA Playback
SIRIUS Direct Connect
iPod Audio Control/Video Playback (Via optional CCUIPOD1)
Rear AUX Input
1-A/V Input
CCD Camera RCA Input
45w x 4 Built-In Amplifier
6ch/2V RCA Output

Clarion VRX485VD (MSRP $599.99)

1DIN AV Center
7вЂќ Flip-Out Monitor with Touch Panel Control
MP3/WMA Playback
SIRIUS Direct Connect
iPod Audio Control/Video Playback (Via optional CCUIPOD1)
Rear AUX Input
1-A/V Input
45w x 4 Built In Amplifier (TBD)
6ch/2V RCA Output

Full news: clarion.com

JVC Introduces 5 New 2008 CD Receivers

Car Audio Blogger — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:22:09 +0000

JVC Mobile Entertainment has added five CD receivers with enhanced connectivity to its product line for 2008: JVC KD-G140 / JVC KD-G340 / JVC KD-PDR80 / JVC KD-BT11 / JVC KD-PDR40

The KD-BT11 features built-in Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free calling and audio streaming, and is updatable for pairing with new cell phones. The unit is equipped for readiness with CD changer, HD radio, Satellite radio, and is MP3/WMA compatible. The JVC KD-BT11 also features a 3-Band Parametric iEQ, MOS-FET 50W x 4, variable color display, and front AUX Input. A wireless remote is included. The receiver is available in February with an MSRP of $219.95.

The KD-PDR80 CD Receiver features a direct USB 2.0 connection for iPod providing high speed song selection, charging, and digital audio transfer. The unit is also equipped for readiness with Bluetooth, HD Radio, Satellite Radio, and CD changer. The receiver is MP3/WMA compatible and has a front auxiliary input, loudness control, dual color illumination, variable color display, and wireless remote. The JVC KD-PDR80 also features MOS-FET 50W x 4 and 3-band iEQ. The receiver is available in February with an MSRP of $209.95.

The KD-PDR40 CD receiver features front auxiliary input and 2-way iPod control вЂ“ enabling users to make iPod song selections from either the stereo or iPod itself using the included cable while keeping the iPodвЂ™s internal battery charged. Also included is a wireless remote control and MP3/WMA playback capability. The JVC KD-PDR40 also features MOS-FET 50 watts x 4, and front and rear preouts with switchable rear subwoofer out. The receiver is available for shipping in January and has a MSRP of $149.95.

Also new for 2008 is the JVC KD-G340, a Ready for Bluetooth CD receiver that features front auxiliary input, wireless remote, and MP3/WMA playback. Expandability options also include Satellite radio, HD radio, and iPod capability. The KD- KD-G340 also features MOS-FET 50 watts x 4, 3-band iEQ, and front and rear preouts with switchable rear subwoofer out. The receiver has an MSRP of $119.95 and is also now shipping.

The companyвЂ™s JVC KD-G140 receiver features front auxiliary input, wireless remote, MOSFET 50 watts x 4, 3-band IEQ, HS tuner, rear/subwoofer switch, and subwoofer level/frequency control. The JVC KD-G140 is offered at a list price of $99.95 and is now shipping.

About JVC Mobile Entertainment: JVC Mobile Entertainment products are marketed by JVC Mobile Company of America, a division of JVC Americas Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Victor Company of Japan, Limited. JVC is a leading developer and manufacturer of sophisticated mobile, audio and video products that use superior technologies to deliver high quality sound and images.

News source: jvc.com/press