Recommendations on new mp3/usb deck

[purplewhenclean]

It's been about 9 years since I last replaced my stock cd player with a minidisc player. Those were the days, when I'd be the only one around listening to cd quality music without paying through the nose for cd rewriteables. My, have times changed.

I'm looking for an upgrade. Here are my needs:

• USB input, for USB pen drives. A lot of decks advertise USB compatibility, but I've read reviews for at least one deck that the stereo will not remember which song it was at when you shut off the car. Is that still a problem anymore?
• Steering wheel capability, without buying a separate harness. Only a few sites will specify accepting steering wheel control, but they aren't very specific on whether I need to buy another 50-70$ harness for this. I've lived without using my steering wheel controls for 10 years, but I'd really like to get this fixed. Do any stereos exist for this? I totally don't mind joining wires, if that's what it comes down to.
• Playlist capability. I'm not too picky about the format that it supports, as long as it supports some kind of format. I'd imagine with thousands of songs at my disposal, I might want to narrow down my searches through playlists
• True random across all folders on drive. Some stereos seem to only randomize songs within specific folders.
• Compression feature. To be honest, I don't expect this to exist unless I'm spending big money on a system, but I listen to a fair number of soundtracks with a lot of acoustic variation within a song, and it would be nice if the system automatically adjusted for that rather than me having to have my finger hovering over the volume button.
• At least a 2 band equalizer.
• Bonus feature: a way to rate songs directly on the deck, so the changes get persisted in a file somewhere and I can import it back into Windows Media Player or iTunes (or an open format that I can convert myself)

All other audio components are currently stock.

Thanks for your help! Even if you don't have a specific recommendation, it'd be nice to know whether my expectations are even realistic.

 

[BkzTafetta]

You have a budget??

 

[purplewhenclean]

I had my eye on the pioneer deh 4200ub, but I could probably go up to $200. I know I won't get everything for that price, but I want to see how close I can get. The compression features will help deal w/ road noise, so if there's some alternate solution (saveable eq presents, for example) I'm open to that as well.

 

[purplewhenclean]

Presets, i mean, not presents.

 

[WilliamW]

I prefer the Kenwood Excelon line personally. I picked up a Kenwood KDC-HD942U for a family member for around 130 dollars. It's a very nice deck, and it has the USB port in the back which keeps the appearance very clean (the only way to go imo). Plus it has a built in HD radio tuner.

 

[purplewhenclean]

Thanks for the recommendation, WilliamW. I liked having the USB port on front for accessibility reasons, but on thinking about it, I'm not likely to change USB sticks too often. I'd probably just want to leave it plugged in, without worrying about it being stolen because it was left plugged in on the front, so a rear USB port might have its own benefits.
When playing from a USB stick, will the head unit remember what song was playing when the car is turned off?
Does it support playing from playlists?
Can I randomize the playing across the entire music collection?

 

[WilliamW]

The reasons i don't like having those usb ports on the front, even though they are incredibly easy to get to, is because it only takes one time to accidentally knock the stick and break the face plate or usb stick. Also those little doors seem really cheap to me and I'm sure buying replacement USB doors isn't something fun. When the door gets broken off that just leaves a nice area for dirt and whatever to float into your connection and the possibility of having corroded terminals is higher.

I'll stop by my mom's house and see she'll let me play with her stereo for a while. I'll let you know what I find on playlists, track resume, and randomize.

 

[tunerbum147]

im glad this came up cause im going today to get my girlfriend a new headunit for her car so she doesnt have to use those dumb radio transmitters for her ipod.

I prefer the Kenwood Excelon line personally. I picked up a Kenwood KDC-HD942U for a family member for around 130 dollars. It's a very nice deck, and it has the USB port in the back which keeps the appearance very clean (the only way to go imo). Plus it has a built in HD radio tuner.

is the sound quality good with this unit or one similar? i know kenwoods tend to be pretty good.

 

[ryan s]

your budget would end up in the ****ter, but i really think you're looking for an ipod in conjunction with a headunit that can control it.

my pioneer (with USB addon box) does resume play from the stick, but...it only supports folder hierarchies and i'm not sure if you can randomize through the whole memory or just the selected folder or its root directory.

 

[WilliamW]

im glad this came up cause im going today to get my girlfriend a new headunit for her car so she doesnt have to use those dumb radio transmitters for her ipod.

is the sound quality good with this unit or one similar? i know kenwoods tend to be pretty good.

I think with that specific model it will control an Ipod, but it needs to be a certain generation in order for it to work properly. Here is a like with the Ipod list http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113HD942U/Kenwood-KDC-HD942U.html?tp=5684&tab=detailed_info

And yes, the sound quality is VERY good with the Kenwood Excelon line. I have a 25th anniversary edition that is about 5-6 years old now and the only reason I'm hanging onto it is because it is an amazing deck. Just about anything out there right now can't even touch it IMO.