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Kenwood KDC-MP438U and USB thumb-drive
Kenwood KDC-MP438U and USB thumb-drive
I'm tired of having to burn my music as MP3 files onto CD media.
But I have no interest in owning an iPod or other portable player.
Thus, I'm intrigued by this new Kenwood unit which sports a front
panel USB and auxiliary input.
Am I correct in believing that I can simply burn a bunch of MP3s
to a thumb-drive, the biggest I can buy, plugging it into the front
panel USB input, and navigating the various folders by artist, album,
etc ?
Thanks, John
I'm tired of having to burn my music as MP3 files onto CD media.
But I have no interest in owning an iPod or other portable player.
Thus, I'm intrigued by this new Kenwood unit which sports a front
panel USB and auxiliary input.
Am I correct in believing that I can simply burn a bunch of MP3s
to a thumb-drive, the biggest I can buy, plugging it into the front
panel USB input, and navigating the various folders by artist, album,
etc ?
Thanks, John
Re: Kenwood KDC-MP438U and USB thumb-drive
JGE Wrote:
> [..]I have no interest in owning an iPod or other portable player. Thus,
> I'm intrigued by this new Kenwood unit which sports a front panel USB
> and auxiliary input.
I would suggest the next model higher that places the USB input on a
pigtail from the rear of the unit; it can be placed, for easy access, in
the govebox or pocket beneath the unit. Having a 3" USB stick out from
the front panel of your receiver is inviting damage .. one thoughtless
reach by the front can result in broken USB as well as damaged receiver.
I sell these and have seen all kinds of things happen.
JGE Wrote:
> [..]Am I correct in believing that I can simply burn a bunch of MP3s to
> a thumb-drive, the biggest I can buy, plugging it into the front panel
> USB input, and navigating the various folders by artist, album ..
Yes, and it works beautifully; I usually suggest nothing bigger than 2g
sticks due to the amount of time required to index (read) the contents,
but some have told me they were alright was it up to 4g sticks -- it can
take a full minute to start working once the stick is inserted. Kenwood
states that you can nest 8 levels of directory's:
i:/rock/90/Lenny_Kravitz/Let_Love_rule/ is an example of 4 levels ..
I've never imagined anything required beyond 4.
--
Lee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
View thread: http :// www .caraudioforum,com /showthread.php?t=297152
CarAudioForum,com - Usenet Gateway w/over TWO million posts online!
JGE Wrote:
> [..]I have no interest in owning an iPod or other portable player. Thus,
> I'm intrigued by this new Kenwood unit which sports a front panel USB
> and auxiliary input.
I would suggest the next model higher that places the USB input on a
pigtail from the rear of the unit; it can be placed, for easy access, in
the govebox or pocket beneath the unit. Having a 3" USB stick out from
the front panel of your receiver is inviting damage .. one thoughtless
reach by the front can result in broken USB as well as damaged receiver.
I sell these and have seen all kinds of things happen.
JGE Wrote:
> [..]Am I correct in believing that I can simply burn a bunch of MP3s to
> a thumb-drive, the biggest I can buy, plugging it into the front panel
> USB input, and navigating the various folders by artist, album ..
Yes, and it works beautifully; I usually suggest nothing bigger than 2g
sticks due to the amount of time required to index (read) the contents,
but some have told me they were alright was it up to 4g sticks -- it can
take a full minute to start working once the stick is inserted. Kenwood
states that you can nest 8 levels of directory's:
i:/rock/90/Lenny_Kravitz/Let_Love_rule/ is an example of 4 levels ..
I've never imagined anything required beyond 4.
--
Lee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
View thread: http :// www .caraudioforum,com /showthread.php?t=297152
CarAudioForum,com - Usenet Gateway w/over TWO million posts online!
Re: Kenwood KDC-MP438U and USB thumb-drive
On Mar 13, 9:46 am, Lee <Lee.367...@no-mx.caraudioforum,com > wrote:
> JGE Wrote:> [..]I have no interest in owning an iPod or other portable player. Thus,
> > I'm intrigued by this new Kenwood unit which sports a front panel USB
> > and auxiliary input.
>
> I would suggest the next model higher that places the USB input on a
> pigtail from the rear of the unit; it can be placed, for easy access, in
> the govebox or pocket beneath the unit. Having a 3" USB stick out from
> the front panel of your receiver is inviting damage .. one thoughtless
> reach by the front can result in broken USB as well as damaged receiver.
> I sell these and have seen all kinds of things happen.
> JGE Wrote:> [..]Am I correct in believing that I can simply burn a bunch of MP3s to
> > a thumb-drive, the biggest I can buy, plugging it into the front panel
> > USB input, and navigating the various folders by artist, album ..
>
> Yes, and it works beautifully; I usually suggest nothing bigger than 2g
> sticks due to the amount of time required to index (read) the contents,
> but some have told me they were alright was it up to 4g sticks -- it can
> take a full minute to start working once the stick is inserted. Kenwood
> states that you can nest 8 levels of directory's:
> i:/rock/90/Lenny Kravitz/Let Love rule/ is an example of 4 levels ..
> I've never imagined anything required beyond 4.
>
> --
> Lee
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> View thread: http :// www .caraudioforum,com /showthread.php?t=297152
> CarAudioForum,com - Usenet Gateway w/over TWO million posts online!
Thanks Lee. Hmm, yes, good thought about the damage potential of the
flash-drive sticking out the front.
I wonder if there is any adapter for going from the CD changer plug to
USB ? I have a perfectly good Kenwood CD/MP3 unit in my car now,
and hate to spring for a new unit just for this. Maybe I should just
find a cheap-o MP3 player and connect via the CD-changer to 3.5mm
mini-plug adapter (which I already have).
John
On Mar 13, 9:46 am, Lee <Lee.367...@no-mx.caraudioforum,com > wrote:
> JGE Wrote:> [..]I have no interest in owning an iPod or other portable player. Thus,
> > I'm intrigued by this new Kenwood unit which sports a front panel USB
> > and auxiliary input.
>
> I would suggest the next model higher that places the USB input on a
> pigtail from the rear of the unit; it can be placed, for easy access, in
> the govebox or pocket beneath the unit. Having a 3" USB stick out from
> the front panel of your receiver is inviting damage .. one thoughtless
> reach by the front can result in broken USB as well as damaged receiver.
> I sell these and have seen all kinds of things happen.
> JGE Wrote:> [..]Am I correct in believing that I can simply burn a bunch of MP3s to
> > a thumb-drive, the biggest I can buy, plugging it into the front panel
> > USB input, and navigating the various folders by artist, album ..
>
> Yes, and it works beautifully; I usually suggest nothing bigger than 2g
> sticks due to the amount of time required to index (read) the contents,
> but some have told me they were alright was it up to 4g sticks -- it can
> take a full minute to start working once the stick is inserted. Kenwood
> states that you can nest 8 levels of directory's:
> i:/rock/90/Lenny Kravitz/Let Love rule/ is an example of 4 levels ..
> I've never imagined anything required beyond 4.
>
> --
> Lee
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> View thread: http :// www .caraudioforum,com /showthread.php?t=297152
> CarAudioForum,com - Usenet Gateway w/over TWO million posts online!
Thanks Lee. Hmm, yes, good thought about the damage potential of the
flash-drive sticking out the front.
I wonder if there is any adapter for going from the CD changer plug to
USB ? I have a perfectly good Kenwood CD/MP3 unit in my car now,
and hate to spring for a new unit just for this. Maybe I should just
find a cheap-o MP3 player and connect via the CD-changer to 3.5mm
mini-plug adapter (which I already have).
John
Re: Kenwood KDC-MP438U and USB thumb-drive
Lee wrote:
> I would suggest the next model higher that places the USB input on a
> pigtail from the rear of the unit; it can be placed, for easy access, in
> the govebox or pocket beneath the unit. Having a 3" USB stick out from
> the front panel of your receiver is inviting damage .. one thoughtless
> reach by the front can result in broken USB as well as damaged receiver.
> I sell these and have seen all kinds of things happen.
Why not just use a USB extension cable? My local computer store has 6'
A-to-A extenders for $5... plug it in and stash the drive in the glove
box or any dash pocket...
Lee wrote:
> I would suggest the next model higher that places the USB input on a
> pigtail from the rear of the unit; it can be placed, for easy access, in
> the govebox or pocket beneath the unit. Having a 3" USB stick out from
> the front panel of your receiver is inviting damage .. one thoughtless
> reach by the front can result in broken USB as well as damaged receiver.
> I sell these and have seen all kinds of things happen.
Why not just use a USB extension cable? My local computer store has 6'
A-to-A extenders for $5... plug it in and stash the drive in the glove
box or any dash pocket...
Re: Kenwood KDC-MP438U and USB thumb-drive
I just realized, on this trip I will carry laptop along (together with
inverter for the charger). So I can just go from 3.5mm mini-jack
output of MacBook into aux-in (courtesy of CD-changer to 3.5mm
mini-plug adapter) of existing Kenwood HU.
Duh ...
John
I just realized, on this trip I will carry laptop along (together with
inverter for the charger). So I can just go from 3.5mm mini-jack
output of MacBook into aux-in (courtesy of CD-changer to 3.5mm
mini-plug adapter) of existing Kenwood HU.
Duh ...
John
Re: Kenwood KDC-MP438U and USB thumb-drive
On Mar 12, 3:49 pm, JGE <j...@cs.unc.edu> wrote:
> I'm tired of having to burn my music as MP3 files onto CD media.
> But I have no interest in owning an iPod or other portable player.
> Thus, I'm intrigued by this new Kenwood unit which sports a front
> panel USB and auxiliary input.
>
> Am I correct in believing that I can simply burn a bunch of MP3s
> to a thumb-drive, the biggest I can buy, plugging it into the front
> panel USB input, and navigating the various folders by artist, album,
> etc ?
>
> Thanks, John
I have a Dual unit with a USB port on the front. I love it and so far
haven't had
problems with passengers or myself hitting the usb drive sticking out.
Depending on your model, there might be different features. I have a
4GB stick right now (I think
owners manual said it can accomodate up to 8GB), and I don't have any
lag issues when it reads
the drive. It takes maybe 1 second to initialize, then it's playing
songs, and moving from
song to song or directory to directory is pretty instantaneous.
Mine doesn't navigate by the ID3 tags, but does display this
information. It navigates by file and directory.
So I just stick it on random and just skip something I don't want to
hear. I think you also have to stick
the files into directories, because having too many in the root will
cause problems. I made three directories
on my thumb drive, one for me, one for my wife, and one for my
daughter, so we can each have our songs
on the drive, and just flip to their respective directory to listen to
their music. It is really convenient.
My unit also has the CD drive that plays regular audio and CD-R/RW
data discs. Now, it takes forever to read
CD if it's loaded with mp3's. But having 4GB worth of music on a
thumbdrive only taking 1 second, it's really
a no brainer. I'd look for different make/models to see if they offer
different options when it comes to playing
your music, like by artist or genre, etc.
Overall, I recommend a car unit with a USB connector.
Chris.
On Mar 12, 3:49 pm, JGE <j...@cs.unc.edu> wrote:
> I'm tired of having to burn my music as MP3 files onto CD media.
> But I have no interest in owning an iPod or other portable player.
> Thus, I'm intrigued by this new Kenwood unit which sports a front
> panel USB and auxiliary input.
>
> Am I correct in believing that I can simply burn a bunch of MP3s
> to a thumb-drive, the biggest I can buy, plugging it into the front
> panel USB input, and navigating the various folders by artist, album,
> etc ?
>
> Thanks, John
I have a Dual unit with a USB port on the front. I love it and so far
haven't had
problems with passengers or myself hitting the usb drive sticking out.
Depending on your model, there might be different features. I have a
4GB stick right now (I think
owners manual said it can accomodate up to 8GB), and I don't have any
lag issues when it reads
the drive. It takes maybe 1 second to initialize, then it's playing
songs, and moving from
song to song or directory to directory is pretty instantaneous.
Mine doesn't navigate by the ID3 tags, but does display this
information. It navigates by file and directory.
So I just stick it on random and just skip something I don't want to
hear. I think you also have to stick
the files into directories, because having too many in the root will
cause problems. I made three directories
on my thumb drive, one for me, one for my wife, and one for my
daughter, so we can each have our songs
on the drive, and just flip to their respective directory to listen to
their music. It is really convenient.
My unit also has the CD drive that plays regular audio and CD-R/RW
data discs. Now, it takes forever to read
CD if it's loaded with mp3's. But having 4GB worth of music on a
thumbdrive only taking 1 second, it's really
a no brainer. I'd look for different make/models to see if they offer
different options when it comes to playing
your music, like by artist or genre, etc.
Overall, I recommend a car unit with a USB connector.
Chris.
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