HELP: Confused over best DAB bluetooth car stereo to buy

[Diplomat]

Fantastic what is available nowadays, when I think that not long ago I preferred Radio 4 long wave over FM because I liked the compression and lack of flutter. I was always gutted when the long wave outlet was turned over to cricket.

One interesting snippet from this thread is the rear USB with extension lead idea. certainly makes things neater. I don't like having memory sticks poking out of the front of the radio,, waiting to get damaged or cause injury

I do find that audio with a high dynamic range is wasted in a noisy vehicle, which is why I liked the compression which is the norm on AM broadcasting. Does anyone know of a software based compressor application or even an in line hardware device? The 'Loudness' control of yesteryear sort of did the trick.


Frank

[g8dhe]

I must admit all the MP3's tracks we carry on sticks are all individually levelled using the little utility http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ I do that on the actual stick and keep the normal album levels on the ones at home, that way the quiet tracks are still audible in the van and the loud tracks are reduced downwards! We find the slot between the console and the dashboard is just right for holding memory sticks in position with out the risk of having them projecting out from the front of the radio!

[Gefail]

[quote=" I don't like having memory sticks poking out of the front of the radio,, waiting to get damaged or cause injury
Frank[/quote]

I didn't like the sticky out usb memory stick so got one like this
fits flush to socket and 32gb too!

[mikeonb4c]

[quote=" I don't like having memory sticks poking out of the front of the radio,, waiting to get damaged or cause injury
Frank

I didn't like the sticky out usb memory stick so got one like this
fits flush to socket and 32gb too![/quote]

Ooh now that is neat

[Shaun_E]

When our stereo packed up last year, we just went into Halfords and bought the best single DIN unit they had which was this one (or very similar): http://www.halfords.com/technology/car- ... hands-free. It is DAB, has Bluetooth hands free and there is a rear mounted USB cable which conveniently reaches the glove-box.
We used the Halfords windscreen mounted DAB aerial on the passenger side and ran the wire inside the A pillar trim. We mounted the microphone for telephone calls at the top of the windscreen on the drivers side again running the wire inside the A pillar trim.
It has worked very well both the DAB and the bluetooth for calls and streaming music. I'm sure you could get something cheaper but, all in, it cost less than £200.

[mikeonb4c]

When our stereo packed up last year, we just went into Halfords and bought the best single DIN unit they had which was this one (or very similar): http://www.halfords.com/technology/car- ... hands-free. It is DAB, has Bluetooth hands free and there is a rear mounted USB cable which conveniently reaches the glove-box.
We used the Halfords windscreen mounted DAB aerial on the passenger side and ran the wire inside the A pillar trim. We mounted the microphone for telephone calls at the top of the windscreen on the drivers side again running the wire inside the A pillar trim.
It has worked very well both the DAB and the bluetooth for calls and streaming music. I'm sure you could get something cheaper but, all in, it cost less than £200.

Really useful info and thanks for posting it. I'm coming back to the idea of DAB, having realised they still usually have FM/AM tuners so you can choose to listen to either, and some even switch seamlessly from DAB to FM if the signal goes weak. You still have all the internet radio via phone options and you have the extra functionality of DAB into the future.

Is your phone Android or iPhone?

I'm now trying to find something with styling and lighting and controls i might like. I'd like something not too flashy or garishly lit. The Pure Highway H260dbi is currently on the radar though it won't import address book, which is a minor minus. I still can't decide about rear USB either

[mikeonb4c]

Right, well apart from that Kenwood, which seems great value for money, I like the styling and reviews of this one:

http://www.halfords.com/technology/car- ... car-stereo

My next thing is to work out if DAB / FM aerial splitters are any good as this would allow me to do it all with the standard Bongo aerial provided the standard aerial doesn't have an amplifier in it. I'm out of my depth here and reviews of the splitters are a bit inconclusive.

Does anyone have any experience of using a splitter with the standard Bongo aerial? Some reviews I've read suggest it might work at least as well as a windscreen aerial.

[tanglefoot]

I don't know if it has already been posted, but, I use a DAB wireless device plugged into a spare ciggy outlet which finds a free FM frequency on existing radio. You then tune your radio to that frequency and bingo! It does fade in and out depending on the reception 'shadows' but on the whole its good. As it is on all the time I have it on the starter battery, live only on starting.

[mikeonb4c]

I don't know if it has already been posted, but, I use a DAB wireless device plugged into a spare ciggy outlet which finds a free FM frequency on existing radio. You then tune your radio to that frequency and bingo! It does fade in and out depending on the reception 'shadows' but on the whole its good. As it is on all the time I have it on the starter battery, live only on starting.

Yes i'd noticed you could get those. My problem is the radio appears kaput so needs replacing. Also of course i want bluetooth for satnav/music/hands free calling from the phone.

One thing that's making me dither is that is my wiring may need redoing. Currently the radio is running off the leisure battery since i fitted the Willinton leisure battery kit and its fuse jumpers which reroute several devices. The old radio started losing its prestored stations every time i switched it off manually, and later the radio stopped working properly.. And could a new unit be similarly affected! I've often wondered if the various issues were linked and whether i should revert to running it from the ignition live/aux source. That then means working out how to do that since the willinton kit seems to have altered what's going into the radio wiring harness. It also deters me from considering letting a Halfords person fit it. And i've no spare time, skills etc to tackle it. Frustrating!

[cmm303]

I actually have a similar problem. Radio loses all its settings if I don't use it for a couple of weeks or so. Not a problem in summer but a pain over winter. When you have found the cause ......

Radios typically have two power feeds. One that would go on and off with the ignition (Fuse , the other is permanently on (Fuse 1) to keep the settings. Both these fuses are usually transferred over to the LB but I can't see how that would affect the radio keeping its settings unless the LB is disconnected. Instead I wonder if the permanent live has not been connected through the Japanese/English radio wiring adaptor?


P.S. The fuse numbers above are as per the Fuses fact sheet. Wiring diag here

[mikeonb4c]

I actually have a similar problem. Radio loses all its settings if I don't use it for a couple of weeks or so. Not a problem in summer but a pain over winter. When you have found the cause ......

Radios typically have two power feeds. One that would go on and off with the ignition (Fuse , the other is permanently on (Fuse 1) to keep the settings. Both these fuses are usually transferred over to the LB but I can't see how that would affect the radio keeping its settings unless the LB is disconnected. Instead I wonder if the permanent live has not been connected through the Japanese/English radio wiring adaptor?


P.S. The fuse numbers above are as per the Fuses fact sheet. Wiring diag here

Cheers for that. Definitely something weird afoot as it all worked fine until the willinton kit shifted things to the leisure battery. I see that DAB stereos have a blue wire for supplying power to a DAB aerial splitter, should i choose to fit one. That raises the issue of whether that power supply gets switched off when i use the OFF button in the stereo, as i will have to do if it is working off the leisure battery. If does not get switched off then there'll be a constant drain on the leisure battery

[mikeonb4c]

Nipped into Halfords today, liked the guys there and might have gone for Kenwood but fell in love with the look of the Pioneer DEH-X8700DAB. Its such a cool looking item, gets excellent reviews, and i actually think i'll prefer the nudge wbeel over push buttons for radio selection (i can never see or hit the right one in a moving vehicle). I'm going to let Halfords fit it as i talked through my wiring oddities with them and reckon they're a lot more likely to sort it all than me. They insist the windscreen aerial is a better bet than the splitter option so i'll go with that also. Booked in for Tuesday and really looking forward to having posh gear in the old girl and being able to take advantage of all that my new smartfone offers via bluetooth. Thanks for all the thoughts and input and I'll post again with impressions of the new unit.

[Diplomat]

I must admit all the MP3's tracks we carry on sticks are all individually levelled using the little utility http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ I do that on the actual stick and keep the normal album levels on the ones at home, that way the quiet tracks are still audible in the van and the loud tracks are reduced downwards! We find the slot between the console and the dashboard is just right for holding memory sticks in position with out the risk of having them projecting out from the front of the radio!

Thanks for that link, Geoff. I will give that a try.

I sometimes put broadcast FM out of the FT817 through my Timewave DSP 599zx which feeds my domestic cordless headphone system. That has an AGC mode but the communications bandwidth doesn't let music through very well! All right for BBC Overseas Service in the wee small hours after Radio 4 shuts down.


Frank

[Diplomat]

[quote=" I don't like having memory sticks poking out of the front of the radio,, waiting to get damaged or cause injury
Frank

I didn't like the sticky out usb memory stick so got one like this
fits flush to socket and 32gb too!

Ooh now that is neat [/quote]


Makes one wonder how small the chip actually is in the normal sized sticks.


Frank

[cmm303]

I actually have a similar problem. Radio loses all its settings if I don't use it for a couple of weeks or so. Not a problem in summer but a pain over winter. When you have found the cause ......

Radios typically have two power feeds. One that would go on and off with the ignition (Fuse , the other is permanently on (Fuse 1) to keep the settings. Both these fuses are usually transferred over to the LB but I can't see how that would affect the radio keeping its settings unless the LB is disconnected. Instead I wonder if the permanent live has not been connected through the Japanese/English radio wiring adaptor?


P.S. The fuse numbers above are as per the Fuses fact sheet. Wiring diag here

Cheers for that. Definitely something weird afoot as it all worked fine until the willinton kit shifted things to the leisure battery. I see that DAB stereos have a blue wire for supplying power to a DAB aerial splitter, should i choose to fit one. That raises the issue of whether that power supply gets switched off when i use the OFF button in the stereo, as i will have to do if it is working off the leisure battery. If does not get switched off then there'll be a constant drain on the leisure battery

Oops my Fuse 8 reference turned into shades

You should have no worries about the drain through the permanently live feed, the current is going to be infinitesimally small with a decent radio. It is designed to be permanently on. Every airport car park would be jammed with cars with flat batteries, not just mine.

Here are the ISO radio connector pinouts.
Tomorrow, I'd get Halfords to check that A4 (permanent live) is actually live.

I don't know your new toy, but for what it is worth, my radio (an old Sony) has two off modes. Standby (illuminated and receptive to the remote control) and Off (dark and dead). It has a configurable timer to switch OFF when left in Standby for x minutes. However the factory default is to stay in Standby forever or for the battery to go flat, whichever is the sooner