MP3s hop in the car

Take any of three routes: built-in, added-to-the-dash or portable players

03/28/2002

By DOUG BEDELL / The Dallas Morning News

For years, a handful of computer hobbyists have sweated and strained to install computers in their cars for one primary reason – to play MP3 files.

They have coalesced their knowledge and experiences within amazing Web sites such as MP3Car.com, where they exchange detailed technical notes with extraordinary fervor.

Spoiled by the ability to mix and arrange custom playlists for use inside their homes, these novice designers simply wouldn't wait for simpler solutions.

"I had all this great music but was unable to listen to it all easily," says Robert Kawalchuk of Ontario, Canada. And if you can't take it with you, he says, what good is it?

Car stereo manufacturers and automakers are starting to recognize that MP3 collections belong in cars. Hard drives and computers offer one way to get them there, but less costly and complicated methods are emerging.

Today, they range from a simple $30 gadget that wirelessly connects portable MP3 players to FM radios to an $18,000 automobile designed around the popular MP3 music format.

The high end

What the 2001 Mazda MP3 lacked in horsepower (140), the modified Protégé made up with sound system punch. Last year, Mazda made only about 1,500 of these specially designed models, probably the first car to include a computer music compression technology in its name.

This year, the manufacturer is back with more. The limited-edition 2002 model, according to one reviewer, is "a sound system with car attached." Featured is a Kenwood Excelon Z828 AM/FM/CD/CD-R system, which allows listeners to play conventional CDs or MP3-encoded CD-Rs.

The advantages are obvious to any music lover. A single disc burned with highly compressed MP3s on a home computer can hold at least 10 hours of music. With a five- or 10-disc CD changer, boredom is simply not an option.

Mazda was the first to latch onto the MP3 craze, but it will get company in 2002. Similar players are being marketed as original equipment on vehicles including the Ford Mustang and F-150 pickup.

Middle of the road

Until more new-car models feature MP3 playback equipment, after-market units are the primary alternative.

Major car stereo makers – including Aiwa, Alpine, Audiovox, Blaupunkt, Clarion, Eclipse, Jensen, JVC, Kenwood, Panasonic, Pioneer, Rockford-Fosgate, Sony and Visteon – all manufacture in-car MP3 gear. In fact, catalog houses such as Crutchfield ( www.crutchfield.com) list more than 21 models priced between $200 and $600.

The key to these systems is the in-dash display. Without an effective way to navigate through the increased number of selections, on-the-road MP3 disc players can be frustrating and distracting. After all, more than 150 MP3 songs can be stored on a single CD-R or CD-RW.

A demo of the Aiwa CDC-MP3 (about $200) showed how crucial and quirky these systems can get. The unit handles both MP3 CD-R and CD-RW formats. CD-RW, of course, holds a critical edge: If you get tired of one set of selections, you can simply record over CD-RWs and bring a new set to the car. But if you don't completely rewrite the entire disc, some of these systems simply won't play. Recording a CD-R in multiple sessions can also cause problems in some players.

The best of these units – such as the $300 Blaupunkt MP3000 – have a bright display for showing track information (song title, track name, etc.) and include several options for navigating through files stored inside folders. Each folder acts like a separate album, which can be selected, then searched using either a steering wheel-mounted remote control or the jog dial on the front of the unit.

Meanwhile, advances are being made slowly in creating larger capacity, hard-disk-equipped mobile MP3 units. Sony this year will release its MEX-HD1 – the first in-dash unit that rips CDs to an internal hard drive right in the car. Shipping in April, the $1,500 Sony will hold about 165 hours of custom music.

Budget-minded

Makers of portable music players, including Sony's CD Walkman, have long provided mobile kits that hook into car stereos using a wired tape cassette cartridge insert.

Now First International Digital has eliminated the wire. Its irock 300W Wireless Music Adapter ( www.myirock.com) links any portable device to car or home stereos for about $30.

By simply plugging the 300W into the headphone jack of any portable music device, selecting a frequency on the adapter and tuning the stereo to 88.1, 88.3, 88.5 or 88.7 FM, a user gets instant playback of favorite tunes. The quality of playback depends partly on the tuner. And the presence of FM stations at the low end of dial can produce fuzzy sound. But, for the price, the 300W is hard to beat.

Many analysts say on-the-road MP3 players are destined to overtake and replace cassette units as standard equipment. Most consumers are only now becoming proficient at manipulating music on home computers. As a result, the portable MP3 player market is expected to balloon from 1.3 million units shipped last year to 6.7 million in 2003.

Moving MP3 into cars, they say, is the next logical step.

E-mail dbedell@dallasnews.com