Head Unit USB to USB HD

[rsbukowski 10+ year member]

Kenwoods Phatnoise program seems to be for particular HU's and...I dont think the BT838U will recognize. And the Kenwood Keg is ancient technology along with being very expensive. Bummer.

Maybe a better clarification on the Kenwoods Phatnoise program and how you manipulate it Edz will help us all understand better?

thanks

 

[edzy 10+ year member]

it was the program given out when you got a 06 or earlier kenwood excelon HU. or hu with usb i think. I know the Phatnoise company is no longer, and Kenwood now uses a generic music media to organize the folders. It does not have the voice indexing either of Phatnoise.

And it came as a CD that you load on to the pc, then import your songs into it, like any media manager. make folders, add tracks, save on flashdrive.

btw, the 4gig sandisk micro cruisers that i use were loaded with programs when bought. I had to go to some online place to dl a program just to formatt the flashdrives. Scype or something like that was one that was a pain to lose. You cant just format it on the pc when new. Once its off, it becomes a generic storage device and takes the Phatnoise program. Also Phat noise will support flac file and the Ken x890 does too. Some hu's with the usb dont.

One of the reason I like the usb, being the flac files are huge.

 

[edzy 10+ year member]

btw, you can see it in action in my sig vid. talking and stuff. lol.

 

[norcrawler 10+ year member]

btw, you can see it in action in my sig vid. talking and stuff. lol.

dam thats a tight setup.lol

what do u use to organize those folders and make it say all the title for the genres and shit?lol

thats tight

 

[Ferendon 10+ year member]

Pioneer Premier DEH-P700BT

Supports up to 250GB @ .5A on USB, as well as iPod with the included adapter for USB. BT is built in, Hi-Volt pre-outs, OEL display (LCDs ****), 2 year warranty. Retails for $329. I'm sure you can get it for less online.

I have 3 entire sound rooms full of USB head units, and rarely do they work properly with HDDs of substantial size. Pioneer seems to have the best USB Mass Storage support, and even it is limited to 250GB. It's also a shit ton easier to use than anything Kenwood makes, and you won't find a comparable Alpine for anywhere near that dollar amount.

 

[rsbukowski 10+ year member]

The Pioneers, It maybe 250gb but does it have to be similarly categorized with 999 files in each of the 250 folders? No one has been able to give a detailed answer as tech support was more like customer sales.

I'm a big fan of the double wheels in the Keenwood, took my a week to get use to it but I like a wheel better then pushing a bunch of buttons. Keeps the interface clean with hardly any buttons, and looks sharp with its 2 line dot display and blue flashing led's

 

[nineball 10+ year member]

i have the jvc kd-sh1000 (amazing sq from this btw) and it works fine with a 4g or 8g usb stick but it did not work with my 80g bus powered drive. it recognized that the drive was plugged in but it would never play from it. the sd slot is limited to a max size of 2g and must be formatted to FAT (or FAT16 as it used to be called) to work. it will not recognize it with any other formatting.

i also used the pioneer cd-ub100 on a 5700 flip out. it worked perfectly with both usb flash drives and my 80g drive. still have this if anyone is looking for one.

i have an alpine ida-x100 sitting next to me waiting for the weather to warm up, so i have no experience with it yet. i did install an ida-x001 earlier and it worked with flash drives but did not like my 80g drive.

 

[norcrawler 10+ year member]

The Pioneers, It maybe 250gb but does it have to be similarly categorized with 999 files in each of the 250 folders? No one has been able to give a detailed answer as tech support was more like customer sales.
I'm a big fan of the double wheels in the Keenwood, took my a week to get use to it but I like a wheel better then pushing a bunch of buttons. Keeps the interface clean with hardly any buttons, and looks sharp with its 2 line dot display and blue flashing led's

ya i just want a solid answer and solution to this.i dont know why they have to make it so complicated //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif:wow:

 

[edzy 10+ year member]

dam thats a tight setup.lolwhat do u use to organize those folders and make it say all the title for the genres and shit?lol

thats tight

Phatnoise, Like I said it was in some of the 2006 and before models.

I tried my flash drive in some of the 07-08 models and it would not recognize it. It would still play the songs, but it was messed up. Folders and songs were missing.

So you need the HU and program in order for it to work.

Ive never tried to max out my folders or files in it, just because i dont have that many files. I have about 950 files on my 4 gig now, and when i put it on random, i can go for like a month before it re ups. Honestly i dont know what i would do with an 80 gig storage. Unless i had a dvd screen HU and was storing **** on it to play... But thats why i gots the VCR and Dtv for.....

 

[rsbukowski 10+ year member]

Impressive van with all those mixed components.

Is the software still available, I just found drivers for the MMC? I can't remember exactly, I only looked real quick, but if you think it will work with my HU then I'd be willing to give it a shot.

 

[edzy 10+ year member]

this is the CD

http://store.kenwoodusa.com/detail/KWD+W01-1673-05

It lists the model numbers that have the ac drive that it is compatible with. I tried my phatnoise drive in other models at a store, and it did not work. I had a x590, but upgraded to the x890 and it took my ages to find one new, with the kenwood 2 year warranty. They may still be out there, but are gettting harder and harder to find.

imo, The X890 is the best one to date, due to the phatnoise and the other cool stuff it can do. Also i believe it has 24 bit dacs. (burr brown). For me, i like the look of it too. Im not a big fan of that cyclopse look of the pioneers or alpines.

 

[rsbukowski 10+ year member]

Good references.

Thank you all for your input

 

[Minburn 10+ year member]

For the last half a year or so I've been using both a CD-UB100 on an Pioneer Premiere 800 and the USB connection through the back of a Premiere 780BT.

The CD-UB100 does not play WAV. That I don't like. Have reasonable mp3's on a WD 160 GB external that I play through that unit. While it can read (have about 60 CD's on it; a minute at startup before it will play) it is most annoying in that it doesn't work all the time i.e. some times "NO DEVICE", other times "NO AUDIO". I'd guess that 75% of the time no problem. But that is quickly getting to be not good enough. Came close to putting my fist into the unit just the other week.

The 780BT plays the same HDD but with WAV files. Works about 90% of the time.

I'm finding the biggest problems after shutting down the car then starting up; more so short durations off then back on. If I shut off for the night, no problems starting up in the a.m. and reading the drives.

I don't know why no 100% performance with either. The WD HDD requires minimal (and within spec) current that the head units will provide.

Of note: 16GB or 32GB thumbdrives . . . no problems and almost instantaneous read (for either mps or wav depending upon the head unit).

Thinking of dumping the 800 because of the issue. As well, not happy with the external USB not playing back WAV files. Looking at another of the Premiere that will allow WAV (perhaps even a dupe of the 780 as it works so well with everything else). The only thing stopping me is the excellent sound when playing CD's with that particular unit. Incredible sounding.

As to what is displayed in either, I don't fuss too much with that. Some quick folder/cd ID and I pick and play. I realize both are very limited, but I don't jump about other than to put another recording to play.

If anyone has any idea re: the issues with the CD-UB100, by all means open to hearing them. I've tried every conceivable sequence of actions when switching off the car and starting up. I sense it's just a finicky piece of work.

So may have the 800 and CD-UB100 up for sale . . . . . .

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

For those that are using hard drives with the Pioneers, how long does it take from turn on until music?

I don't need 100 GB worth of music...I was thinking something in the 80GB range.

 

[nineball 10+ year member]

my 5700 / cd-ub100 was pretty quick at reading the 80g i used with it.