[WraithApe]

My old car stereo recently bit the dust, and I'm looking for a new unit. I'm not interested in listening to the radio - just my own music collection - so it seems like the best option would be a stereo with an SD slot, but a quick scout around shows these to be pretty thin on the ground. Is everyone using Bluetooth car stereos these days for hooking up external sources? That doesn't seem like a bad idea, but I'm still rocking an iPod Classic 6th Gen, so Bluetooth isn't really an option unless I get a Nano or something. I guess I could get one with a USB slot but that means having a USB key sticking out of the unit, which isn't ideal either.
 
Can anyone recommend a current car stereo with SD slot, or is Bluetooth the way to go?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I don't think there are any with SD slots, they use USB drives. 128gb thumb drives are also cheaper than 128gb SD cards.

 

Still, BT or SD card it won't matter that much in terms of SQ, only storage depending on the BT device. Why? BT isn't completely lossless, and those that use USB drives (or even iPods and HDDs, as was the case before that) don't recognize anything over 320kbps anyway. Between the two, you'd then have to pick between the ergonomic disadvantages of a smartphone which at least can use Spotify, or an SD card loaded with a lot more songs.

 

Do NOT sweat 320kbps on cars vs lossless, you have too many things to worry about that any stereo you buy that doesn't have a real processor - much less the effort to fully customize the system - won't be able to address anyway. For one, I assume your car is not a Maclaren F1, plus your tweeters are probably up on the dash with the midwoofers low in the doors. If you notice, a home system has the listening chair dead center of the speaker cabinets, every driver playing midrange and up are at the same height as your head, and the drivers are all next to each other on those cabinets. Only a real time alignment processor in a fully active system can fix that. If you're not going to fix that, then there's no point in worrying about anything else in the car's audio system with regards to performance.

 

I mean, it's not like you listen with the right ear cup pulled three inches away from your ear, and then worry about lossless or DAC quality as opposed to fixing that headphone.

 

[WraithApe]

Thanks for your answer @ProtegeManiac. I can assure you, I don't worry about 320 vs lossless at the best of times, being unable (I suspect, like most other people who have done proper level-matched tests) to reliably ABX the two. My concerns here are purely with ergonomics and storage capacity, not SQ.
 
My old Pioneer unit did actually have an SD slot, but Pioneer no longer seem to offer a unit with that - presumably, as you said, due to USB storage being cheaper than SD. The thing I like about SD as opposed to USB is simply that it slots in flush with the face of the unit (or as with my old one, behind the unit).
 
You assume correctly BTW, it's not a McLaren F1 

 It's actually a Maser 3200 - still with the rather mediocre stock speaker system, which I also intend to upgrade in the not to distant future, but that's another story!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Thanks for your answer @ProtegeManiac. I can assure you, I don't worry about 320 vs lossless at the best of times, being unable (I suspect, like most other people who have done proper level-matched tests) to reliably ABX the two. My concerns here are purely with ergonomics and storage capacity, not SQ.
 
My old Pioneer unit did actually have an SD slot, but Pioneer no longer seem to offer a unit with that - presumably, as you said, due to USB storage being cheaper than SD. The thing I like about SD as opposed to USB is simply that it slots in flush with the face of the unit (or as with my old one, behind the unit).

 

I use Pioneer too but Alpine did a better job of transitioning away from CDs. First they offered those HU's with no disc transports, and instead made it basically a music server with a USB input in the rear for the HDDs; then, later on, instead of offering a midrange HUs with an active system processor, they offered a $150 processor that will work with any Ai-Net HU whereas older processors from all brands only worked with HUs that had digital output, not to mention the need for a separate control unit for the processror. 

 

You can look up which one has a USB input in the rear but I think only Alpine does that, so you can hide the USB stick or portable HDD in the glovebox.
 
 

 
You assume correctly BTW, it's not a McLaren F1 

 It's actually a Maser 3200 - still with the rather mediocre stock speaker system, which I also intend to upgrade in the not to distant future, but that's another story!

 

If you have a car like that might as well blow a bit more money so whenever you can't "listen" to the engine - like in traffic - you can still enjoy listening in it 

 How soon is that planned upgrade? If it's near enough then might as well invest in the headunit now so you just need to install everything else later before the HU gets dated or worn out.

 

You can go for Alpine, then just find a PXA-H100 processor so it will work with any Ai-Net unit later on. Plus they might still have some with the USB tail on the rear of the unit.

 

[WraithApe]

 

You can look up which one has a USB input in the rear but I think only Alpine does that, so you can hide the USB stick or portable HDD in the glovebox.
 

 
Nice - didn't realize you could get HUs with rear USB inputs: I like the idea of hooking it up to a HDD in the glove box actually. Will have to check out the Alpine range.
 

 

If you have a car like that might as well blow a bit more money so whenever you can't "listen" to the engine - like in traffic - you can still enjoy listening in it 

 How soon is that planned upgrade? If it's near enough then might as well invest in the headunit now so you just need to install everything else later before the HU gets dated or worn out.

 

You can go for Alpine, then just find a PXA-H100 processor so it will work with any Ai-Net unit later on. Plus they might still have some with the USB tail on the rear of the unit.

 
Maybe not that soon 

 The engine needs a new throttle body and that ain't gonna be cheap, but such is the nature of the beast. A new speaker system is pretty much bottom of the list of priorities, in truth.
 
I think it's worth buying a head unit now though, it's relatively cheap and beats the hell out of driving around with a little portable speaker on the dashboard as I have been for the last couple of months! I'll do a bit of research on Alpine HUs available here in the UK which have a degree of future-proofing, as you suggest.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

   
Nice - didn't realize you could get HUs with rear USB inputs: I like the idea of hooking it up to a HDD in the glove box actually. Will have to check out the Alpine range.

 
The thing with those Alpines though is that they're the ones that don't even have any CD transports, so they were made specifically to serve as music servers. Kind of like the Olive players, but it won't be able to rip from a disc.
 
Newer cars now also have the USB cable hidden in the glovebox.
 

 
Maybe not that soon 

 The engine needs a new throttle body and that ain't gonna be cheap, but such is the nature of the beast. A new speaker system is pretty much bottom of the list of priorities, in truth.
 
I think it's worth buying a head unit now though, it's relatively cheap and beats the hell out of driving around with a little portable speaker on the dashboard as I have been for the last couple of months! I'll do a bit of research on Alpine HUs available here in the UK which have a degree of future-proofing, as you suggest.
 

 
Get an Alpine then track down the PXA-H100 processor later on.

 

[fuego]

Get a Pioneer head unit with a port for Aux.
Aux cable is what you need for an old gen of ipod.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Get a Pioneer head unit with a port for Aux.
Aux cable is what you need for an old gen of ipod.

 
They use USB inputs now, you can easily access the contents on the interface right up on the dash instead of having what basically is a wired remote that at best will be hung on the dash with some clumsy device that might even block the A/C vents or other controls.

 

[WraithApe]

   
They use USB inputs now, you can easily access the contents on the interface right up on the dash instead of having what basically is a wired remote that at best will be hung on the dash with some clumsy device that might even block the A/C vents or other controls.

 
Yep. No-one uses aux in any more to hang objects out of the front of a head unit surely! I settled on an Alpine HU in the end with rear USB and took a cable into the glove box for hooking up my iPod. Because the HU is specifically designed for iPods, its interface can control the device. It's not the nicest interface I've ever seen but it does the job!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

   
Yep. No-one uses aux in any more to hang objects out of the front of a head unit surely! I settled on an Alpine HU in the end with rear USB and took a cable into the glove box for hooking up my iPod. Because the HU is specifically designed for iPods, its interface can control the device. It's not the nicest interface I've ever seen but it does the job!

 
The new 2-Din NAV units from Pioneer use Android now I think. My brother got one but since he isn't anal about SQ he hasn't gotten around to trying if FLAC works off a USB.