Digital media players

[hobson]

one of the things i love about the smarts is the simplicity, the design of 'it's there only if needed' so as the standard stereo is pretty rubbish, and seeing as most of my music is now MP3, i wondered if it was possible to get a solid state/MP3 only stereo?

Well it is, they're called Digital media recievers, and it's basically an MP3 player with an amp. Some have a stereo, and most have USB, AUX and SD card input.

Sounds great, no CD's, tapes or other stuff rattling about in the smarts little cabin, but i wondered if anyone on here had used them, and if there was any advice or recommendations anyone could give?

If i install one it will be with better speakers too...

[NeilP]

Re: Digital media players

its doable quite easily given that enough time has gone into researching the right solution.

slightly more complex than what you've proposed, but many people who run iPads in their cars as their only source will usually do the following:

run an external DAC (namely the HRT iStreamer http://highresolutiontechnologies.co...duct=istreamer)

this will give you a clean signal ready of amplification, arguably of better quality that that possible straight from your iDevice.

from here either into an audio processor such as the Audison Bit series processors for equalisation, time delay, custom crossovers etc or with a volume control cable such as the JL Audio CL-RLC (http://www.jlaudio.com/cl-rlc-car-au...xpansion-98117)

and then into an amplifier of choice and then speakers...

Not sure what DMR you're referring to in particular but I firs think of an Apple TV or Roku equivalent when someone says DMR to me.

[hobson]

Re: Digital media players

I was looking at something like this: http://www.google.co.uk/products/cat...ed=0CEIQ8wIwAQ

Not necessarily this exact one, but something along these lines, so i can put everything on SD/flash drive and away i go!

[stephen lander]

Re: Digital media players

I have one fitted , single din size, it's a revelation, brilliant. Pioneer mvh 8300bt. Would recommend one to anyone and by the sound of you criteria it fits the bill perfectly.

[NeilP]

Re: Digital media players

Oh.

I'm with you!

yeah, they're the way forward. Avoid beat, or any of the cheap halfords brands.

Stick to Pioneer, Alpine or Sony (for those wishing to complain about Sony, their new product lines are fantastic!)

[Evilution]

Re: Digital media players

We got a media player PCB, display and button setup and put it all the drawer under the 450 stereo.
The first time we installed the display and buttons into the front of the drawer, second time we put it all in the drawer with a sprung flip up screen that flipped up when the drawer was opened. Saves altering he standard look of the interior and you can have an SD and USB slot for different media.

[hobson]

Re: Digital media players

We got a media player PCB, display and button setup and put it all the drawer under the 450 stereo.
The first time we installed the display and buttons into the front of the drawer, second time we put it all in the drawer with a sprung flip up screen that flipped up when the drawer was opened. Saves altering he standard look of the interior and you can have an SD and USB slot for different media.

cheer for that Kane, It'd be nice to keep it standard, so the way you've described it sounds great, i'm not too bothered about screens or anything flashy, i just want to stick a flash drive or SD card into something and get it to play, i'm not even too bothered about playlists or random order, as i can put them on the SD/USB in random order.

Any chance of a guide or some pictures of how you did the setup? or is this a topic to be added to your excellent site?

[problemchild1976]

Re: Digital media players

I went for a pioneer app radio

No CD player but runs apps from your phone.

So I have Internet radio, on screen obd2 data, YouTube, nav, MP3 player etc etc

JJ

[Evilution]

Re: Digital media players

There was no guide for a few reasons. Firstly although it worked, it wasn't pretty. Secondly there are so many different types of media player you can use I didn't want to specify 1 type that I used and have people emailing me 4 months later when it became unavailable. Lastly, you can just buy an MP3 player that takes SD card and plug a smartmods.co.uk mp3 lead into it from the stereo so there wasn't any real need to complicate things.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-12V-Auto-Remote-USB-SD-Car-Stereo-Audio-Music-Digital-MP3-Player-FM-Radio-/281009832572?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item416d7dc27c&_uhb=1

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Handheld-wireless-Mobile-Phone-Shape-Car-mp3-Player-FM-Transmitter-DC12V-24V-New-/330720354371?pt=UK_MP3_Player_Accessories_FM_Transmitters&hash=item4d00782043&_uhb=1

These sorts of players can be taken apart and stuffed into the drawer.

Or just buy an SD MP3 player and plug it into a USB power adapter and an MP3 lead.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-Portable-Mini-Micro-SD-TF-Card-1GB-2GB-4GB-8GB-MP3-Player-Metal-Clip-/230855231669?pt=UK_CE_MP3Access_RL&hash=item35c00b48b5&_uhb=1