Just ordered my Visteon Mach MP3 player! :)

[mattadams]

I'm pretty excited... just ordered my visteon mach mp3 player for about $375 from radios and more (radiosandmore.com). He gave me a little discount cause I've been pestering him for weeks, LOL.
I took a look at a lot of the MP3 players out there, and there are ones out there that cost about the same that seem to be of much higher quality, but I'm kind of old school and I wanted to keep the stock look (when will these aftermarket companies learn that some people just like the stock look???) as well as not having to mess with adapters or anything like that. I was promised an easy installation which is good, I'm all ready for it . I'll be sure to let everyone know how it turns out! It's supposed to be delivered tomorrow (the UPS guy is probably so sick of me waiting by the door for him to see if my packages came that day, LOL)

 

[tbomb]

whoa, thats pretty nice, matt. when i was shopping for a new HU a few weeks ago, i looked at some mp3 playing ones, but i didnt think any of them were particulary attractive or user friendly - this one looks pretty simple, like a stock one

 

[Alec]

Cool! I agree there is something to be said about ease of installation. Have you upgraded the stock speakers yet? I found that upgrading the 4 corners in my X gave more of an improvement than the HU did, so since you're staying "stock", you might wanna think about it.

Good luck!

 

[mattadams]

I have upgraded my front speakers already with Pioneer TS-6865's (I think thats the model number, they're 3-ways designed specifically for Fords. I plan on replacing the rear speakers within a few weeks (have some on order but getting the the back speakers isn't quite as easy as the front ones and I want some time to work on them).
FYI - Visteon is the company that makes all of Fords head units, but they also have their own line. I'm suprised they haven't started incorporating these MP3 players into cars from the factory but I would expect them before too long!
The only future audio mod I am planning on is adding an amplifier for the speakers and removing my subwoofers (with these Pioneers its already too bassy, right now I have the subs disconnected)

 

[tbomb]

Originally posted by mattadams
I'm suprised they haven't started incorporating these MP3 players into cars from the factory but I would expect them before too long!

probably because the majority of mp3s floating around on the internet are "illegal" (dont even get me started here ) but most companies (i.e.: ford, gm, etc.) probably dont want to be caught up in encouraging mp3 sharing and then the argument of whats "legal" and what isnt. ford's got enough problems with the firestone thing, heh. not to mention that some old guy who buys a new car and asks about the "mp3 radio", then buys it to think that hes staying "hip", has no idea how to burn a cd. then you have to explain the whole process to him, then the difference between mp3s and wavs, blah blah blah. too much trouble could you imagine when this guy would burn a cd and gets a buffer underrun, then he panics and calls the dealership? hehehe.

 

[Alec]

I think they're putting the MP3 units in new concepts, I think some of the Focus concepts have had them. I think they'll definately have it as an option soon, or maybe as part of a package, like the Mazda MP3.

 

[mattadams]

LOL good point tbomb. "I got this buffer underrun, should I go set fire to my car or something?" .
The only thing this doesn't have that would be kinda nice (but of course it would take away from teh stock appearance) is text scrolling so you could "see" what song you were listening to. Like I say though I prefer to have it look stock .

 

[tbomb]

yah, it would be cool to have that scrolling name just cuz its cool. if you burn a cd full of mp3s, and you dont know what song youre listening to (considering you picked all the mp3s), you got bigger problems than scrolling text

my HU has the thing where itll display what cd im listening to, if that cd has the tag on it, otherwise i could program it, but theres no way im gonna program it - im the king of laziness.

 

[Alec]

The scrolling text isn't all it's cracked up to be. For me it's easier to just listen to the first few seconds of a song to figure out what it is and just leave it on the clock. IMO the clock is the most useful thing in a radio display by far It's easier on most HUs to shuffle through tracks than to get it to the text display and back again.

 

[aldive]

The only thing this doesn't have that would be kinda nice (but of course it would take away from teh stock appearance) is text scrolling so you could "see" what song you were listening to. Like I say though I prefer to have it look stock . [/B]

Thats not quite all the unit lacks. It does not have pre amp RCA outlets nor a subwoofer out.

I really like the fact that it is available in Black.

Good luck with it , Matt.

 

[alphasylum]

In defense of my mp3 player.....it's alot safer to have a cd full of mp3s then it is to to switch cds while your driving.

 

[mattadams]

al, those would be nice but I'm not too concerned, it's not too hard to splice wires for an hour or so . Unfortunately they DONT have black available but said they are thinking of it for future release. The unit pictured is "carbonium" which is pretty close to black, just a little fancier (but not so much fancier that it doesn't look stock)
As for the scrolling text Alec, you are correct, it's not that important. besides, you shouldn't be reading while driving anyways, its just one more thing to distract the eyes .
In the kenwood deck in my explorer to change the clock you have to remember like a 4-button push sequence. And you have to consult the manual every time or have a really good memory. Yet another advantage of the stock unit .

 

[tbomb]

well, it might not have preamp outputs on it, but thats no big deal; you can get them separately/externally, and you only really need one set and an electronic crossover, which is a good idea anyway.

sarah, thats exactly why i was looking at them before, but im just gonna get a changer sometime in the spring.

 

[offroader_69_me]

Originally posted by tbomb


probably because the majority of mp3s floating around on the internet are "illegal" (dont even get me started here ) but most companies (i.e.: ford, gm, etc.) probably dont want to be caught up in encouraging mp3 sharing and then the argument of whats "legal" and what isnt. ford's got enough problems with the firestone thing, heh. not to mention that some old guy who buys a new car and asks about the "mp3 radio", then buys it to think that hes staying "hip", has no idea how to burn a cd. then you have to explain the whole process to him, then the difference between mp3s and wavs, blah blah blah. too much trouble could you imagine when this guy would burn a cd and gets a buffer underrun, then he panics and calls the dealership? hehehe.

actually on the 2002 rangers some come equiped with mp3 players as does some little car Mazda makes

 

[TerraBomb]

tbomb

buffer underruns are a thing of the past, almost any burner you buy nowadays has burnproof technology, unless ofcourse you are still stting around with an 3 year old single speed burner.

best buy sells 16* speed burners for like 90 bucks that come with burnproof....i'm still waiting till the prices of the DVD recorders come down , have you any idea how much music i could get on an DVD

 

[leenjen]

Originally posted by offroader_69_me


actually on the 2002 rangers some come equiped with mp3 players as does some little car Mazda makes

yeah it's the protege.
it's called the mazda protege mp3.

i think the ford focus sony edition has a sony mp3 headunit.

 

[tbomb]

Originally posted by TerraBomb
tbomb

buffer underruns are a thing of the past, almost any burner you buy nowadays has burnproof technology, unless ofcourse you are still stting around with an 3 year old single speed burner.

best buy sells 16* speed burners for like 90 bucks that come with burnproof....i'm still waiting till the prices of the DVD recorders come down , have you any idea how much music i could get on an DVD

well, my laptop has an 8x burner in it and i bought it last march or april, and i get an occassional buffer underrun...but i know what you mean, my girlfriend just got a new burner for x-mas and hers wont make buffer underruns.

 

[mattadams]

I have an external 4x USB cd writer (unfortunately I couldn't find much faster then a 4x for USB, but couldn't do much else because I've got a laptop) and so far no buffer underruns . It's supposed to be delivered sometime this morning so I'm hoping to get it installed on my lunch break. Of course last night I spent a lot of time working on an MP3 CD to bring in and test it on, then I forgot it at home! LOL.
(where is that UPS guy?)

 

[rustytr]

Looks good matt, I like that stock look sometimes. The rest of the talk just lost me though since got into the letters V and X.

 

[alphasylum]

Matt....4 speed is really slow and I know you paid a ton for an external too.....


Just got a new one 2 months ago..
TDK 24x..$120.00