I have a Sony Xplod 50W x4 CD HU right now, and I'm thinking about getting an MP3 player for my f150, but I don't know anything about them. I don't know if they are better than CD decks or if they are worse. I'm sick and tired of making 30,000 cd's with 18 songs on the cd and them getting scratched.

Are MP3 players worth the money? Are they reliable? They are probably the same wattage output as most CD units aren't they? Anyways, any help would be great.

 

Are you talking about a portable mp3 player or a mp3 player deck for your car? A car MP3 player is that same setup and a cd deck but it plays the MP3 format along with the regular n cd. I'm sure they are as reliable as any cd player. You can get more songs on a cd if they are in mp3 foramt versus the .wav file that they are normally in.

 

Which are the best brands? Panasonic? Pioneer? Clairion?

 

Pioneer is generally considerer the best bang for you buck. They are good reliable decks. Others that come to mind are Alpine and Kenwood. Sony used to be decent but their latest "explode" series seems to last the quality once associated with Sony. MP3 is definately a space saving way to go verus CD's. I have heard that the black cdr's perform better than the sliver or gold ones. As long as you have a burner your set to go. Kenwood and Alpine also make add on mp3 player that work like a cd changer.

 

I found a nice Clarion MP3 Head unit in crutchfield on sale from $320 for $199. I have had it since January of this year and love it, instead of having a 15 cd's in my truck, have one cd in a slim jewel case in the visor, easy as pie!

 

Oh and the tag viewing is nice, scrolling titles was one of the features that first drew me to an MP3 player, but since it takes about 2 seconds for the title to be read, i usually know the song by then anyway, but it does look nice!

 

I recently bought an Alpine Receiver MP3 Player, CDA-9807. It works great, same setup as a normal cd HU, but less CD's. Alpine also includes a "MediaXpander" that restores quality to compressed music. (MP3 format compresses audio files to smaller files but sacrifices quality). If you go to a store and listen to the difference, it really is obvious. Also, Alpine is the BEST bang for the buck-in higher quality circles, while Pioneer is considerably cheaper, it plays that way too. I ordered mine brand new from Ebay, for alot cheaper than Crutchfield (they sell at near retail). Also Etronics.com has pretty good deals.

 

I would go with an Alpine. The MP3 feature is nice, you do loose some quality. You can't really tell on a stock system but on a high end system it is easy to hear. The Alpines are awesome! You can still play normal cd's, burned cd's and burned MP3 cd's. A few of the new Alpines have built in cross overs now. You can connect amps to them and cross them over right at your deck. They are not as clean as a good cross over unit but the fact you can control it right at the deck, don't have to find a place to mount the cross over and no extra wires to run. Most of them come with remotes also.

 

I took a different approach last year. I installed an AudioControl HPX in my vehicle. This little device does many cool things, one of which is it accepts a 1/8" auxiliary input. Install the HPX between your head unit and your amp, and you can connect your portable MP3 player into the HPX, giving you access to all the songs on your MP3 player. This was a truly hot setup...wish I still had that vehicle. You can find an HPX on eBay for a lot less than MSRP, too...

 

Many of today's CD Players come standard with aux. inputs for portable MP3 players and other auxillary items. This really is a much cheaper route than a HU MP3 player. But you also have the hassle of connecting and buying a portable MP3 player if you don't own one, or keep it with you. YOu also cna't burn CD-R's, you have ot download MP3's directly into the player or into small cartidges that only hold a small number. CD-R's-I have 157 songs on one CD.

 

As you say, it depends on what other equipment you have. I have the old, 5GB Apple iPod, and connecting that to the HPX (or to a HU with aux. input) was/is a snap. In my old rig, I converted a cell phone car cradle into an iPod holder, and it was a very slick setup.

The iPod obviates downloading issues (unless you have an absolutely enormous music library) and is, as you point out, less expensive than many MP3-compliant HUs. It may not be for everyone, but I think it's a pretty decent way to go.

 

i had 2 mp3 HUs and loved em. i will never get a normal Cd player again. i had a jensen but my current one is last year model alpine and i love it, never had any trouble with it and the SQ is nice. this one has the internal crossovers and its a nice feature.

 

Jc77-f100...how do you have 157 songs on a cd-r...and what is a cd-r...are you taling about burnt cds or what?

Because I'm going to get a HU for my car, my friend tells me to get a pioneer, that they're the best bang for you buck right now.

Should I get the HU CD DECK, MP3 or what?

Thanks for the input.

Dave

 

Yeah, burnt MP3 disc. My alpine can play MP3 discs and Windows Media Files (.wav). It also plays regular music CD's. When you burn MP3 files onto a disc, it doesn't burn as music, but as files instead. Like on CD-R disc, it says 80 min or 700 MB, well one song is about 5 min while one song in MP3 format is only 3 MB. This greatly compresses the amount of CD's you have to carry. But if you have a portable MP3 player-like one you download songs directly into, then you may want to look into a HU with an aux. input connection, this way you can just hook your portable player into it, and just listen to regular music CD's.
The CD/MP3 Deck is more expensive than just a CD deck, but it also eliminates the need for 50 CD's. I have over 500 songs on 4 discs. As for Pioneer, they're good players once you get into the real high dollar HU's. Alpine gives great clarity and great response for a reasonable price (I believe it's a better bang, for a slightly higher price). Clarion also carries very good recievers. However, they are also a little higher in price. Basically, you get what you pay for. I like Alpine. Most people can't afford it (Although it is a great price for what you get) so they go with Pioneer. I see Pioneer as being the top of the line-low quality brands, while Alpine and Clarion's of the near same price are in the middle range of the High Quality brands.

 

Alright thanks a lot jc77f-100 I appreciate your input...yeah like I posted on the other thread I'm looking to spend about 800-1,000 bucs on a system for my explorer. Thanks again

Dave