soundmotor
super modified
Agreed on HD, it's great. I'm in Boston so there are many side channels. When not streaming I'm tuned to one of those.
New stereo for the car- it's a love/hate relationship.
- Thread starter Farmhand
- Start date
Agreed on HD, it's great. I'm in Boston so there are many side channels. When not streaming I'm tuned to one of those.
Mitkraft
Super Member
Sure, but to be fair, I also remember having to cut out a fair amount of dash in an old Mustang II in order to get the original long shaft two knob radio out.
I finally got my new Pioneer mounted the other day. Looks pretty good I think but I was a little disappointed to have to trim some of the bezel opening. When I bought the metra kit there was no info that I could find stating that it would be a necessity. Fortunately I recently acquired a dremel tool so that did the trick. The sound is a big improvement over my Sansa Clip+ music player I was using to play FLAC through the US Spec aux input. I was getting engine whine before because the input volume was too low and I had to crank up the amp. Now I can just play off a 128gig thumb drive smooth as can be and have the benefit of bluetooth as well. The bezel damage you see didn't come from the install, that's just 15 years of wear and tear.
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beat_truck
Addicted Member
Having a USB port with MP3 playback is an absolute necessity for me anymore. I'd never really want to go back to using tapes or CDs in the car. And for the most part, I sure can't rely on the radio to play anything I want to hear.
Farmhand
Super Member
Mitkraft, that's the same unit I just installed- unless yours is not just the basic model like mine. I have made some strides in figuring the darn thing out. Being able to optimize imaging for the driver's seat is great, as are the more advanced tone controls. I have not been able to connect my Kindle Fire via Bluetooth; I get an "invalid code" message.
I'm really clueless about computer stuff, but I do think it would be a good idea to load all my CDs onto a thumb drive and just leave it there. Buuuuut... that means I have to get out the old "wiggle the screen just right until it comes on" laptop with the disc drive, rip all the CDs, then send them to the thumb drive. Maybe I can pay one of the kids to do it.
I'm really clueless about computer stuff, but I do think it would be a good idea to load all my CDs onto a thumb drive and just leave it there. Buuuuut... that means I have to get out the old "wiggle the screen just right until it comes on" laptop with the disc drive, rip all the CDs, then send them to the thumb drive. Maybe I can pay one of the kids to do it.
Mitkraft
Super Member
Pretty sure mine is the basic one also. The more expensive one has HD radio which I might have sprung for but was a gift.
I think that code is the code you need to enter on your device when pairing. I believe the radio displays it on the screen when you start to pair the two. I can always re-pair mine to verify the steps. I just did it without thinking.
damacman
Resident Psycho
My first deck was a KP-7500 ...
Farmhand
Super Member
The best indication of how car stereo technology has advanced is that my new head unit weighs 1/3 what the old one does and does five times as much. So let's hear it for microprocessors!
OTOH, maybe there should be a particular category for Old Guys where we can play a CD, plug into a stereo jack or connect via Bluetooth without much fanfare- my needs are few and simple.
My kids can do all this stuff without even thinking about it, which blows my mind. I'm from the olden days where you had a particular device that did a certain thing. Plug it in, there you go.
The wiring for this new head unit is so vaguely described in the instructions that I inferred that colors matched, and went with that. Seems to have worked.
With the factory head unit, the left channel was quieter than the right until I turned it up to a certain level and then it seemed to come on. The new one seems to be the same way, so either it's a bad connection or it's my ears. Which is entirely possible. Too many years standing next to a drummer!
OTOH, maybe there should be a particular category for Old Guys where we can play a CD, plug into a stereo jack or connect via Bluetooth without much fanfare- my needs are few and simple.
My kids can do all this stuff without even thinking about it, which blows my mind. I'm from the olden days where you had a particular device that did a certain thing. Plug it in, there you go.
The wiring for this new head unit is so vaguely described in the instructions that I inferred that colors matched, and went with that. Seems to have worked.
With the factory head unit, the left channel was quieter than the right until I turned it up to a certain level and then it seemed to come on. The new one seems to be the same way, so either it's a bad connection or it's my ears. Which is entirely possible. Too many years standing next to a drummer!
soundmotor
super modified
toxcrusadr
Omelette au Fromage
HVAC controls are a dead ringer for Honda!
TudorTurtle
Well-Known Member
I was thinking you guys are a bunch of backward looking whiners. But Mrs just brought home her brand new German wundercar. OMG, what a terrible radio interface.
The only joy in the thing is the ability to use Android Auto, so we don't have to deal with the equally terrible navigation system.
The only joy in the thing is the ability to use Android Auto, so we don't have to deal with the equally terrible navigation system.
Beatnik
What's this ?
Actually it's a Ranger.
