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Hi-MD Car Unit

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alieninhead

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Ah, I've answered this a million times but I like you so I won't scorn. We have no idea when or if a Hi-MD car unit will come soon. If one were to come around, I would probably expect it to come later this year or early next depending on if Hi-MD is a success or not. Keep your fingers crossed!

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The one I'd get wouldn't be a head unit, it'd be something I'd mount maybe in my trunk.

I already have a Sony CD-MP3 player. And yes, it doesn't play ATRAC cds. I considered getting a line in and playing my MD that way, but it'd be feeding it analog so whats the point?

~a.i.h.

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I'm definitely sitting on the fence right now... my car (Passat) has a tape/CD combo deck, for which I could get a tape adapter, but then the cables become an issue. There are one or two car decks (MDLP capable) that I could get, but then I may be left out when Hi-MD rolls around. Leland, I can only imagine the convenience (and utter coolness) of an in-dask MD player. It always seemed like a perfect fit ... small discs for carrying in your car means less CD cases filling up all those compartments...

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And they do hiss (or it did with an old Goodmans one for a CD i had) so it kind of defeates the object of digital noise free music.

Both my dad and brother have MD units in their car and they are awesome, sound just as good as a CD player. If car manufacturers would give the option for MD decks in their cars the formats popularity would sky-rocket. :smile:

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I'll be looking forward to a HiMD car deck. I have a Sony MP70 head right now. It plays MP3s from CD/CDR/CDRW, which is what I wanted at the time. At that time, I hadn't considered MD, as MD was just out of sight/out of mind at the time.

Then I got my NetMD a couple months ago, and learned of HiMD. My Sony head unit does have an aux in, but it sounded pretty crappy with my NetMD plugged into it. The MD player seemed to have too low and output level for good sound. Last night, I decided to go ahead and snag an NH600D and play with it. I like it so far, and can tell the output seems a little stronger, so I'll plug it into my car head unit and see what it sounds like.

I would still much rather have a dedicated MD headunit in my car. The portability of the MD format would lend itself well to swapping from car to portable easily.

We'll see what we see, and hope that HiMD catches on in the US.

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A car deck with a combined Hi-MD/CD player would absolutely rock! I mean, a plain Hi-MD deck would be fine, because I plan on putting most of my CDs that I listen to onto MD, but if I am traveling with someone who has a CD he/her would like to play, it weould be nice to have a built in CD player. i know they built them for regular MD, so I pray they make one by around Christmas. I would LOVE to take christmas money and go out and buy one.

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PDOG, yeah, that sounds great! I'd love a combo unit, but I would be pretty dang happy with a HiMD only unit. I rarely listen to CDs in my car anyway. I mean, new/master CDs... I rip to MP3 and copy to a CDRW for listening in the car. With a HiMD unit only, I'd just get a HiMD disc, record my favorite albums on it, and I'd be set.

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PDOG, yeah, that sounds great!  I'd love a combo unit, but I would be pretty dang happy with a HiMD only unit.  I rarely listen to CDs in my car anyway.  I mean, new/master CDs... I rip to MP3 and copy to a CDRW for listening in the car.  With a HiMD unit only, I'd just get a HiMD disc, record my favorite albums on it, and I'd be set.

exactly right.

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Hi folks,

I've had 'em all - an indash unit, a cassette adapter, a changer mounted in the trunk, and an FM modulator.

Rankings:

1. Best by far was the in-dash unit. It was easy to change discs, no cables, etc. Nice if you can get it.

2. Second-best was the changer. It was pretty annoying because I'd forget to change discs for weeks on end, so the same 6 discs were playing over and over, but it was a lot more convenient than either #3 or #4. With a changer inside the car (in a center console or other reachable area) it would definitely be great.

3. The cassette adapter was not really that bad, especially if you are running the portable MD unit on battery power (so you don't have to deal with the power cable, just the cassette cable).

4. Belkin FM modulator - by far the worst of these options. If you have lots of room in the dash (in a tray or whatever) for the portable and the modulator and the connector cable, and if you have the dexterity to fiddle with both radio units each time your "unused station" suddenly becomes a "real station," then this might be better.

I am hesitant to invest in Hi-MD - I don't feel that it will be that much of an improvement over MDLP - so I am saving up for an indash MDLP unit for my current car instead of waiting for a Hi-MD unit.

Donna

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First off, excellent topic and info as always, Donna. I look forward to reading your insight. :happy:

I am hesitant to invest in Hi-MD - I don't feel that it will be that much of an improvement over MDLP - so I am saving up for an indash MDLP unit for my current car instead of waiting for a Hi-MD unit.

Now that's something I must contest with. Hi-MD is leaps and bounds beyond MDLP, and it even employs MDLP too! The bitrates and encoding [ATRAC3plus] are definitely much better than what MDLP had to offer.

Be sure you read this so you know what's up:

http://www.sony.net/Products/Hi-MD/capacity.html

Also, if you are going to seek a MDLP DIN unit [or have one in mind], please state your price/budget so I can verify that you're getting a good deal? I can also link you to some online stores that have a great selection, too. :happy:

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Hi kurisu,

What I should have said was, I don't feel that as a listener I will gain much by investing in Hi-MD. I only listen to music in the car, and with ambient road noise (and the chattering of my 4-year-old) it's likely that any noticeable improvement in sound quality will go unnoticed. I have a MDLP portable unit that sits by my desk permanently for recording purposes, and hopefully will get a car unit soon.

Plus there is the cost factor involved; cost of a new recorder...and given the uncertainty surrounding Hi-MD car units (and since I want a car unit NOW!) :smile: I think I'll stick with MDLP.

Who knows, maybe next year I'll change my mind, but right now the benefits of Hi-MD are not outstanding enough to warrant the purchase of a new unit and the postponement of my in-dash receiver.

Thanks for the advice. I'll keep you posted about my car unit. I have the Sony changer which I could have installed *if* I switched out the factory radio for something Sony - which is always reliable and it wouldn't have to be an MD head unit. But the Sony ones are so boring :whatever: I just can't make up my mind.

D.

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Hm, good points - Hi-MD car units are definitely up in the air and a MDLP unit is static and available ASAP. :happy:

Hm, you need [click on picture for more info]..

affiliate_show_banner.php?ref=5&affiliate_pbanner_id=658

or..

affiliate_show_banner.php?ref=5&affiliate_pbanner_id=662

Of course, those are double-din and quite expensive, but if I recall correctly your tastes were in the exquisite range, no? :rasp:

If you're referring to single-din Sony, then yes, I agree..they're not very attractive. I'd seek the Sony MDX-CA790X or MDX-CA680X if you must.

btw, look a bit in that site I linked via the pictures, espesically the car audio [din units, etc] part. You'll be drooling, I promise. :happy:

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Believe me, I'm on audiocubes all the time, that stuff is right up my alley. Unfortunately the money is not yet present. But I am offloading bunches of junk on ebay so maybe I can use the profits for one of those units!!

Thanks for the pointers,

Donna

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