Where Is Car Audio Going?

I do think the ipod type thing is hear to stay. It is easier to use than multiple CDs and a changer. The satelite radio thing isnt really big anyway. Everything nowadays is "on demand." They know what they want so they get it. This is why the ipods are more popular than sat radio. They choose what is on when.

 

I think the Ipod idea will quickly grow.

People hate buying/making new cds because of lost or scratched old ones. There are already some companies that make HU's with hardrives in them right??

Hopefully this idea will expand soon as I want to upgrade my HU and not have to buy an ipod and an interface also.

Peace.

 

Ah yes, 8 track in the car and some dual cone dash speakers and the home audio 12 inch 3-ways in the trunk, **** that brings back memories! I never had the steam powered pioneer amp, but did use Kraco and sparkomatic for the "power boosters" Nothing like speakers on the roof of the car at the creek crankin out CCR and Ozzy at 20% distorion!

I have seen it all, just like you SVO, been a long journey! Remember the high-way fidelity series from clarion? That was Freekin COOL!!!!!!! A HU with an external amp!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!! wow times have changed!


Todays car audio is on a whole nother level. It exceeds what I ever thought was possible 15 years ago. High excursion woofers, d class amps, video, extreme spl's, digital signal processing was just coming into play halfway through my car audio career, now today...............wow!


With the advent of todays technology, I am quite uncertain of what tommorrow holds. Los of "fads" for sure. But I for one keep it simple and sounding good. Dont need an ipod or sattellite radio. CD's do just fine and yes, hard drives in the car for music storage will haooen. And I like that idea.

 

Im 26 and can recall looking into my dads Vega and seeing his 8 track player and in Dash tv, yes T.V that thing was huge but it fit....


I have a head unit made by Eclipse ( AVN5495 ) that has a 30GB HD which records any cd you put into it and Sd card, it even records off the radio. So that technology is here but like you know its still pricey. But as long as Ive been messing around with car audio, If you wanna play you gotta pay.

I never even thought of buying a Sat reciever, never tickeld my pickle, I have friends who have them but I belive its a waste of money.
If I traveled by car alot I might think about it but then I would just borrow one.

 

I wish manuf. caught on to more mp3 players on the market than just the crapod err I mean Ipod. I don't buy into the ipod. It's nothing special. It's not any better than my mp3 player (Cowon IAudio X5L) which I love. I'm going to get a HU soon that just has an Aux input. The interfacing is a nice idea but I just hate how they bought into the apple machine. In a way it's sort of forcing a customer to buy an ipod if they want to play mp3 or AAC files in their car. Damn monopoly.

 

Most HUs play discs with mp3 files so your wrong on that. aac is an apple made format and most people usually only have it becuase they convetered wma to aac.

 

some times i just hook up my laptop to the aux input on my pioneer.(long trips) i ve got like 800 or so songs on it.i saw on pimp my ride a head unit with a touch screen that interfaces with a lap top.so you dont have to fumble with the lap top at all.the screen is like a mouse pad.i thinck is was a clarion.not sure.

 

No Im not wrong at all. Most HU's now do play Mp3's from a cd. However HU's now do not display MP3 info from any mp3 player other than an ipod becuase there are interfaces made for ipod to send that information to the HU. If it were made more universal then that ID3 tag feature and control of the mp3 player wouldn't just be limited to ipod.

 

OK, here is what I want to see in car audio


a REAL soundstage.


In all my years of this damned job/hobby, i have yet to hear a REAL soundstage. Ya, some sytems excell in the sound quality and such, But, I never hear a GREAT soundstage,

now i am comparing to some NICE home audio systems, granted, but shoudnt our cars approach that level? even be close?

i dont care WHO you are, your soundstage in your car sucks compared to a fine home audio system.

digital time aligmnement and speaker placement have made good progress, years ago, I have yet today to hear a competion car that makes me cream my jeans when i hear a good recording.

If anyone who is serious about car audio wants to hear what a good soound sytem sounds like, dont go to wal mart or even the best best buy, go to a HIGH END home audio store, ya know, the places that sell Mark Levinson, carver, Mcintosh, Electrostatics, B$W, ....you fet the idea, take ina cd you really know WELL. iAnd not some ****ing rap ****. something musical, a good one would be Bachbusters....look it up. you think your subs are driven hard now LOL!!!!!!!!!!! but it has good imaging, or even somehthing recoreded live, hell this is a whole nother topic!!!!

GIVE ME A GOOD SOUNDSTAGE! that is what i want from the future if car audio.

 

The reason the new HUs interface with iPod is that iPod is a machine. Seams like more than half the people who have an mp3 player have an iPod. Since iPods are really all the same it is easier design software to work with this specific brand. If the iPod interface is successful then companies will start to look into interfacing with other brands.

 

ok iwent to audio itch a HIGH end shop in tampa and went in looking for a component set and talked to the owner and he showed me this set dyna audio's(might be spelled wrong)made in denmark.and oh my god they sounded sooo smooth.i took in a jazz cd that i got from boston acoustics.called boston bass.got it in the early 90's.and it rocks in my truck,and i use it to tune my system.but those speakers made my set up sound like crap.i said give me a pair,but at 1200 a pair.they were out of my price range. when i get some serious money for an upgrade i will be looking for a set for sure.if you guys can find them take a listen.all else fails to compare in my opinion.oh yeah and they were being run of off only 40 watts or so(per ch).wow.that's all i had to say.those made for a pretty sweet sound stage.that was a 2 way.he had a 3 way on the way.8in mid bass,4in mid,3/4 tweet.something close to that size i think.i know for sure about the 8.

 

my bad they are 7 in midbass.and 3 1/2 softdome mid

 

I told you
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20060803/bs_nf/45108

 

Thats the truth, lap top drives do not cost that much to justify the prices car audio manufactures chargs for the units. Considering the limited functionality of the units. One thing I notice is, if a unit adds one new feature they drop three features that need to be there for a unit in that price range. My example will be the Clarion DRZ 9255, this unit has phenominal SQ but thats it nothing else a 3 way active crossover and a DAC for each channel but no ipod, S-Radio, CD changer control etc. I want a HU that will do everything. It seems like car audio is laggin behind the rest of the technology field and it ****es me off to no end.

 

Thats because there is little demand for good technology. The manafacturers all see a demand for shiney stuff that shakes your car to peices. Most people dont know what they are buying so they buy HUs with the multicolor graphical faces. Many people dont have a clue about good sound quality so they just go with raw power. You can find the stuff you want but it is always a little dumbed down for the "average consumer."