New HU, iPod & CD changer
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 68
Likes: 2
From: Hillsborough, NJ
New HU, iPod & CD changer Forgive me if this is a remedial question - and I have been reading and searching.
If I change my HU, are there units that will allow me to retain my steering wheel controls, control of my stock trunk mounted CD changer and give me a USB input for my iPod?
And are USB iPod connections the same quality as listening to a CD - I mean it's not like the version that you listen to the iPod through an abandoned radio station?
If it matters, the car is a '02 convertible with Monsoon
Thanks
If I change my HU, are there units that will allow me to retain my steering wheel controls, control of my stock trunk mounted CD changer and give me a USB input for my iPod?
And are USB iPod connections the same quality as listening to a CD - I mean it's not like the version that you listen to the iPod through an abandoned radio station?
If it matters, the car is a '02 convertible with Monsoon
Thanks
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,329
Likes: 346
From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
Yes, no, yes, depends.
You can retain steering wheel controls with most recent name brand head units by using the correct adapter (e.g. SWI-PS for Pioneer and Sony).
There isn't any aftermarket HU that will interface with the factory CD changer. Even Pioneer units don't despite the fact that Pioneer made the changer for GM. Some really old Alpine and Kenwood units used to be able to use the factory changer but they are long discontinued and didn't have iPod support anyway.
Almost all recent head units include iPod support.
It's not the interface/connection that determines playback quality with a digital (USB) connection - the quality depends on the recording. An uncompressed music file or Apple Lossless compression will sound just like the original source but will take up lots of storage space since the compression can usually only cut file size in half. Lossy formats like MP3 can reduce file size to less than a tenth of the original size leaving room for more tracks on the same device. In general, the more you compress the music file, the more you lose quality.
You can retain steering wheel controls with most recent name brand head units by using the correct adapter (e.g. SWI-PS for Pioneer and Sony).
There isn't any aftermarket HU that will interface with the factory CD changer. Even Pioneer units don't despite the fact that Pioneer made the changer for GM. Some really old Alpine and Kenwood units used to be able to use the factory changer but they are long discontinued and didn't have iPod support anyway.
Almost all recent head units include iPod support.
It's not the interface/connection that determines playback quality with a digital (USB) connection - the quality depends on the recording. An uncompressed music file or Apple Lossless compression will sound just like the original source but will take up lots of storage space since the compression can usually only cut file size in half. Lossy formats like MP3 can reduce file size to less than a tenth of the original size leaving room for more tracks on the same device. In general, the more you compress the music file, the more you lose quality.
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,329
Likes: 346
From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
Why? Just because you can't use the outdated factory CD changer? You can pack far more music on an MP3 player than the changer could ever hold. Or you could use a flash drive in the USB slot and control it from the new head unit. So why would the changer be important?
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 68
Likes: 2
From: Hillsborough, NJ
you just wrote that the sound quality suffers if I compress music. So if it is an issue of having more music at lower sound quality and not cutting up a CETA convertible - the amount of driving that I do in the car - leaving it original and using CDs is acceptable.
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,329
Likes: 346
From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
You would have a point if there was any such thing as sound quality from the stock head unit. That thing is a distortion machine. Besides, I was talking about theoretical limits. Using the MP3 file format as an example, you can compress tracks at 192Kbps and you would never be able to tell that there was anything different from the original source music. Yes, there is some loss in the compression but it is so small that an average human can't hear it - especially in a noisy environment like a car. And with the falling prices of memory, you could get a flash drive or even a USB hard drive of sufficient capacity that you could store your music in uncompressed format if you wanted.
However, I can certainly appreciate the desire to leave the car looking stock.
However, I can certainly appreciate the desire to leave the car looking stock.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 68
Likes: 2
From: Hillsborough, NJ
cool - thanks. I feel like its an all or nothing kind of deal. I don't think I would be harming the value of a low mileage CETA vert if I upgrade the sound system. It would more likely improve the car's value if I were ever to sell it. At the same time - would it be a noticeable improvement if I were to change the head unit and speakers only - or am I more or less in for $1000+ to make it worth the effort.
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,329
Likes: 346
From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
To be honest... I don't know. In a coupe, replacing just the head unit and speakers will transform the sound into something much better than stock. But the convertible is a more difficult environment and your rear speaker selection is severely limited by the shallow depth needed to clear the top mechanism. Certainly a head unit and door speaker upgrade will help with sound clarity and mid-range but I don't know about bass. You might want to ask Ian at Kee Audio.
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After re reading the thread I take back my question. Even if I do buy a CD it makes more sense to put it on a USB drive and keep the quality of the music. I am not one of these people that have to have 1000 songs on there iPod.
Last edited by LilJayV10; Apr 3, 2011 at 11:48 PM.
