[sts9fan]

Has anyone done this?  I would like to just copy my music server to a HDD and have a nice interface to control it.  Are there head units that can read disks?   
I  don't use an ipod much becuse I hate itunes and importing a disk twice is not something I generally do. 

[Phil A]

Have not done it.  My vehicle has an input for an MP3 player so I have my Zune attached for it so I have lots of storage.  In addition, underneath the Nav screen of my vehicle I have slot for a card reader.  I have a 2G compact flash.  It does just MP3 but at 320pbs it is almost CD quality.  There are devices like - http://www.crutchfield.com/p_130CDUB100/Pioneer-CD-UB100-USB-Adapter.html?c=3&tp=422&avf=N

[Phil A]

There are also rec'rs like this where you can use a SD card -  http://outlet.crutchfield.com/p_070XR4110/Dual-XR4110.html?tp=5684

[Scott F.]

I haven't tried it yet but this might work....

Slim Device Touch for a car

[decal]

Just get satellite radio.Easy and cheap.

[enjoythemusic]

Just get satellite radio.Easy and cheap.

FEH!!!  Low fi, no REAL choice of music etc. Sorry and all.

i use the Kenwood GPS/USB/Bluetooth/etc double-din unit that acceots a thumbdrive and you could adapt an external HD and use the USB out of it. The smallish 16GB thumb provides me with a 1/2 decent amount of music.

Also, i use the analog input of the Kenwood and my cell phone analog output to feed in Pandora/Last.fm/etc.

[sts9fan]

Pandora from my iphone sounds fun.

I generally dislike sat radio.  The quality sucks.
The thumb drive seems like a good option.  Too bad I bet none will play FLAC.

[Phil A]

I hardly listen to Radio really did not think much of the Satellite Radio I had for 3 mos. free when my car was new 3 years back.  It was a no brainer not to continue it.  I'm fine with a portable player.  You can record lossless if you like (either Apple if you have an iPod or WMA if a Zune).

[MerlinWerks]

There are plenty of head units out there with usb inputs that will do what you want. However,  when using a hdd as opposed to a flash drive, extra care needs to be taken to ensure that the drive is compatible with a given head unit, sometimes there are power/interface issues. Many head units have a 500 folder limit on the file structure on the drive, meaning it can't "see" anything in folder #501 and beyond. I forgot about this limit with my Pioneer 6000UB when I bought a 64gb flash drive for use this winter. I loaded it up with approximately 32gb worth of music which I maintain in a "normal" artist/album file structure. Unfortunately, I can only access up to the artist "Roomful Of Blues" before exceeding the 500 folder limit

The other thing you need to be aware of is how things get sorted on the drive. If you just copy a bunch of your library in folders over to the hdd using Windows Explorer they won't get written to the drive in alphabetical order. Unfortunately, most head units don't have the cpu horsepower to do any sorting and will only display the files as they were written to the disk and as a result it can be difficult trying to get to a specific artist. There is a free little program out there called "DriveSort" which will rearrange the File Allocation Table (FAT) on the drive into alphabetical order which makes life much easier. I did discover with the aforementioned flashdrive that if I "sync" my music to the drive with JRMC it does write the files in alphabetical order automatically.

I did buy my HU two years ago, so some of these limitations may be eliminated with newer and more powerful processors.

The Pioneer and Alpine units do have great iPod interfaces, all digital connections bypassing the iPod's internal dac and good searching and sorting features. As a result I do prefer using an iPod and normally leave a 5th gen in the glovebox all the time, except for winter because of the hdd. There are several programs besides iTunes to manage iPods, I've never had iTunes installed.

 That being said, I am very curious to see if the Squeezebox Touch can be adapted for use in a car without being too "kludgy"...

FWIW, DIY Mobile Audio is one of the better car audio sites I've found.

[enjoythemusic]

Pandora from my iphone sounds fun.

I generally dislike sat radio.  The quality sucks.
The thumb drive seems like a good option.  Too bad I bet none will play FLAC.

Well, the Kenwood (and others) have analog input and you could use an iPod or the like. If you really want to go tweaky, use the Kenwood head unit as a controller, use the dig out of the iPod to feed an external DAC that feeds the analog in of the Kenwood. So far i am having trouble finding mainstream head units that have digital input.

YEARS AGO (about 10) a guy used a small screen that worked a Win98 computer. i guess you COULD use a Windows 7 system box with a touch screen, mount the touch screen in your dash, etc. Am sure this has been done before and should not be that hard to implement. Getting 120V conversion from 12V car is very easy. Of course boot up times would be what it is. Maybe find a WinCE or like device to reduce boot up and WinCE supports touch screen. Am sure SOMEONE somewhere must have done this type of install recently on the high-end car audio boards so you are using a home computer system in the car and, thus, you can use external DACs and 1.5TB(+) of HD.

Agree, there ARE file limits on the Kenwood and other units plus they do not handle FLAC, etc. Wanna go really tweaky, a home machine, 6TB NAS drive, $$$$$ tubed DAC unit... and MAKE SURE you use a few good filtering/power caps that feed the 12V to 120V convertor.

[konut]

Just bought a car with an aux input and a SanDisk 8gb Sansa Clip+. The Clip+ plays native FLAC files. Plugged the + into my laptop, dragged and dropped files from my external HD to the +. Could not have been easier. The + also takes microSDHC cards for expansion. More info here
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=119

[moboman]

Well, the Kenwood (and others) have analog input and you could use an iPod or the like. If you really want to go tweaky, use the Kenwood head unit as a controller, use the dig out of the iPod to feed an external DAC that feeds the analog in of the Kenwood. So far i am having trouble finding mainstream head units that have digital input.

YEARS AGO (about 10) a guy used a small screen that worked a Win98 computer. i guess you COULD use a Windows 7 system box with a touch screen, mount the touch screen in your dash, etc. Am sure this has been done before and should not be that hard to implement. Getting 120V conversion from 12V car is very easy. Of course boot up times would be what it is. Maybe find a WinCE or like device to reduce boot up and WinCE supports touch screen. Am sure SOMEONE somewhere must have done this type of install recently on the high-end car audio boards so you are using a home computer system in the car and, thus, you can use external DACs and 1.5TB(+) of HD.

Agree, there ARE file limits on the Kenwood and other units plus they do not handle FLAC, etc. Wanna go really tweaky, a home machine, 6TB NAS drive, $$$$$ tubed DAC unit... and MAKE SURE you use a few good filtering/power caps that feed the 12V to 120V convertor.

people have been putting computers in cars for years. I used to have a carputer, but sold the car it was in. www.mp3car.com is a great reference.

The problem with hard drives is that they do not like the cold weather and they do not like being bounced around. Hard drives need to stay warm or they will condensate inside the drive.
One option is a SSD, it's solid state so you dont have to worry about the cold, or the bouncing of the drive around. The tradeoff is that they are expensive.
hope this helps.

[sts9fan]

Now that sounds like what I am looking for Konut!