Are you interested in a standalone car mp3 player ?

satriani · 10-03-2004, 03:47 PM

Hi all,
I'm working on a standalone mp3 player for my car to be used with all commercial car radios and directly with an audio amp too. It is not based on a pc but on a microcontroller and uses a 20X4 characters LCD, a keypad, a FM modulator with digital PLL system and accepts all size of CompactFlash cards.
My idea is to able all people who have a generic car radio - cd or cassette player without mp3 feature - to listen mp3 too without changing it. In other words my system is in a 13cmX6cm teko soap box and it uses the already installed car radio to amplify audio signal. What do you think about all that ? Is there somebody interested ?

PS
Forgive my errors, I'm Italian.

satriani · 10-04-2004, 04:05 PM

...it will be an open sorce project

Bootbox · 10-04-2004, 04:28 PM

The problem with something like what you're proposing is that CF media is still too expensive.

For what you'd pay for a 512mb card, (of which you'd need 3 or 4 of to even have a good amount of music on hand,) you could have a Pioneer in dash mp3 player and just put your mp3s on CD-Rs.

god_of_cpu · 10-04-2004, 04:43 PM

How is this any different from the 10 million+ mp3 players out there? I know I've seen some with built in FM modulators and CF support.

satriani · 10-04-2004, 06:55 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Bootbox

The problem with something like what you're proposing is that CF media is still too expensive.

For what you'd pay for a 512mb card, (of which you'd need 3 or 4 of to even have a good amount of music on hand,) you could have a Pioneer in dash mp3 player and just put your mp3s on CD-Rs.

...sureley a CF costs less than a touchscreen and it's more practical and effective for automotive use than an hd

satriani · 10-04-2004, 06:56 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by god_of_cpu

How is this any different from the 10 million+ mp3 players out there? I know I've seen some with built in FM modulators and CF support.

I don't think there is on the market a small unit with a FM modulator -not transmitter ! - integrated that ables the user to listen mp3s on his car stereo.

Arathranar · 10-04-2004, 06:59 PM

Quote:

standalone mp3 player for my car to be used with all commercial car radios and directly with an audio amp too.

What you're proposing is called an iPod. It's a very successful mp3 introduced by Apple. Many people unfortunately have to resort to an FM modulator or a tape interface to get the sound out of their car speakers since many (most?) stock car stereos do not have an audio input that can be used directly.

Go buy and iPod and save yourself a lot of wasted time and effort (and money).

TruckinMP3 · 10-04-2004, 07:10 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by satriani

...sureley a CF costs less than a touchscreen and it's more practical and effective for automotive use than an hd

False, Desktop drives are just fine and compared to CF costs darn cheap per Gig.

satriani · 10-04-2004, 07:19 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by TruckinMP3

False, Desktop drives are just fine and compared to CF costs darn cheap per Gig.

hd are always made of mechanical parts in movement they aren't reliable at very low temperatures (<0° in winter) or when your car goes in a hole....they are only a cheaper solution than CF.....however my system is not based on a pc..there is no boot time, no high power consuption, no high costs, easy installation...it's a different way

Arathranar · 10-04-2004, 07:19 PM

Most of the new mp3 players in fact use very small hard drive that are compatible with CF sockets. A lot of people are buying them to get the CF-compatible hard drives.

satriani · 10-04-2004, 07:21 PM

..another advantage of my project

TruckinMP3 · 10-04-2004, 07:33 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by satriani

hd are always made of mechanical parts in movement they aren't reliable at very low temperatures (<0° in winter) or when your car goes in a hole....they are only a cheaper solution than CF.....however my system is not based on a pc..there is no boot time, no high power consuption, no high costs, easy installation...it's a different way

Do some research on car based systems with 3.5"HDs... they handle car accidents better than people and the only trouble with low temps has more to do with fluid bearing use than drive platters or other moving parts. And yes I do know a 'little' about the topic.

Yes I would be interested in the product you are describing, I think due to the price point differances in storage options and the small performance benefit for CF over a HD (desktop or laptop) you will get more storage/$ with a HD solution.

Arathranar · 10-04-2004, 07:38 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by satriani

..another advantage of my project

Hardly. You'd have to buy an mp3 player that will do everything you want your project to do, gut it for the internal hard drive, and then build it back into a custom mp3 player. Kind of pointless.

satriani · 10-04-2004, 07:43 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by TruckinMP3

Do some research on car based systems with 3.5"HDs... they handle car accidents better than people and the only trouble with low temps has more to do with fluid bearing use than drive platters or other moving parts. And yes I do know a 'little' about the topic.

Yes I would be interested in the product you are describing, I think due to the price point differances in storage options and the small performance benefit for CF over a HD (desktop or laptop) you will get more storage/$ with a HD solution.

My first version used an HD....if there will be interest on this forum, I could also make a version with HD.

Arathranar · 10-04-2004, 07:46 PM

BTW, when trying to work out how to use my stock car radio as the amp, I found a lot of posts from people saying that the audio quality of the FM modulator approach really sucked.