Hooking up a portable Hard Drive to a head unit
Hooking up a portable Hard Drive to a head unit I'm looking into getting a new head unit, I've heard a bit about using a portable hard drive into an USB port on the head unit. Will any USB head unit work? or do I need a specific one? Where should I put the hard drive?
Could someone make suggestions on head units? I would like to have the ability to play CD's, but I guess thats not necessary.
Could someone make suggestions on head units? I would like to have the ability to play CD's, but I guess thats not necessary.
I currently have a Sony HU with a front USB. While it reads a thumb drive just like a regular drive, the problem is how the HU allows access to the files/folders. Unlike an iPod where you can quick scroll through folders, this HU makes you click through each folder alphabetically, which takes forever if you have a lot of music on your drive. It's the same situation with my iPod. So what ever HU you choose, I would make sure there is a quick way to scroll through your music. I DON'T recommend the Sony unit I have, CDX-GT610UI, in fact I'm going to sell it and look for something else.
Another question is if the USB port is powered. I would assume so, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to make sure since I've had USB hubs that required a separate power supply. I don't know if any HU's have a rear USB, but you'd probably want one so you won't have wires hanging all over the place.
Just a suggestion: I like your idea of using a hard drive, but you can buy an older iPod with a 30gb hard drive or even upgrade the hard drive to more than 30gb, buy a iPod compatible HU with a good scroll system, and you'd have a much more functional system. That's what I do with one of my cars and I just leave the iPod in the glove box, out of site, but accessible.
Another question is if the USB port is powered. I would assume so, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to make sure since I've had USB hubs that required a separate power supply. I don't know if any HU's have a rear USB, but you'd probably want one so you won't have wires hanging all over the place.
Just a suggestion: I like your idea of using a hard drive, but you can buy an older iPod with a 30gb hard drive or even upgrade the hard drive to more than 30gb, buy a iPod compatible HU with a good scroll system, and you'd have a much more functional system. That's what I do with one of my cars and I just leave the iPod in the glove box, out of site, but accessible.
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,273
Likes: 1
some headunits read em faster then others. the more data the slower it will read
with a portable harddrive you are most likely going to need to get a usb hub or something like that as the headunit usb output most likley wont be able to spin a harddrive up
with a portable harddrive you are most likely going to need to get a usb hub or something like that as the headunit usb output most likley wont be able to spin a harddrive up
i have an alpine ida-x200 and it navigates very well
through the folders on my usb thumb drive.
this is solely for usb/ipod and i tried to hook up my
80GB drive to no avail, probably because it needs a y-cable and/or
it is NTFS files system and the HU calls for fat32.
FWIW
my 4GB flash is loaded with almost 700 songs @ 320kb each.
through the folders on my usb thumb drive.
this is solely for usb/ipod and i tried to hook up my
80GB drive to no avail, probably because it needs a y-cable and/or
it is NTFS files system and the HU calls for fat32.
FWIW
my 4GB flash is loaded with almost 700 songs @ 320kb each.
