Jun 27
You spend a lot of time in your car. While a raucous engine note is all well and good, sometimes you just want to sit back and enjoy some music over the long haul. These are the best in-car sound systems you can buy.
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Feb 13
You have a vintage car, but you have normal ears and want a sound system that’s up with the times. RetroSound’s new classically styled Model Two in-dash radio runs like a new-fangled modern setup because it is a new-fangled modern setup, with Bluetooth and all. More »
Jan 14
The folks at three of the biggest names in auto and/or audio have come together this month to bring on a beast of a system for the Audi Q7 for 2013. Bang & Olufsen have partnered with Audi as well as Fraunhofer IIS to bring on a “3D sound experience” for the next generation of Audi vehicles. Fraunhofer IIS, if you did not know, was the “main” inventor (as they say) of the MP3 and is an innovator of next-level audio experiences top to bottom – as any average Joe would tell you.
The Audi Q7 Concept Car brings this experience on to the universe riding high on the success of the reintroduction of the 3D movie experience here in the 21st century. While 3D movies and the technology behind that visual experience is limited to the movie theater and the home theater with special visual enhancing goggles and the like, the 3D audio experience is ready, here and now, for the high-powered automotive world.
“Bang & Olufsen Audio Systems for cars are widely renowned for their unique ability to turn a car interior into a real high-end listening room, and with the addition of the 3D sound algorithm and associated speaker units and amplifiers in this Audi Q7 Concept Car, we add a new important emotional dimension into the listening experience. Extending beyond the small confined space of the vehicle cabin, the available sound experience now ranges all the way from a very big and open sense of space to the purist setting such as a control room of a recording studio.” – Bjarne Sørensen, Senior Manager Car Concept Creation and Communication
Using the Audi Multi Media Interface you’re able to work with the vehicle’s 3D sound system, able to, as Harald Popp, head of the Multimedia Realtime Systems department of Fraunhofer IIS notes, “dissolves the geometry of the car.” Inside this vehicle you’ll find an amount of speakers placed to perfection that you’ll have never before experienced:
• Two loudspeakers in the dashboard center (tweeter and broadband)
• Two tweeters in the dashboard (left/right) with acoustic lens
technology
• One mid-high loudspeaker in each A pillar
• One tweeter in each A pillar
• Two loudspeakers in each front door with a woofer and a midrange
• Three loudspeakers in each rear door with a woofer, midrange and a
tweeter
• Two surround loudspeakers in each D pillar, consisting of a tweeter
and broadband
• One closed subwoofer box in the spare wheel compartment
This experience is such that a user will want to head out to their vehicle to listen to a new album simply to feel completely engulfed in sound. They won’t even feel the need to drive the car – no need for your own home studio anymore! Welcome to the next level – that’s what this team is saying to you, the future Audi owner.
We’ve yet to see this system in a real market-ready auto, but we’re expecting this perfectly tuned and placed system to hit real vehicles some time in 2013 – that’s just an assumption, mind you, but judging by this presentation, they’re ready for action. Have a peek at our Car hub for more information on the power present in the automotive industry today, especially in the technological breakthroughs of tomorrow!
Audi, Bang & Olufsen, Fraunhofer IIS team up for 3D auto experience is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Aug 21
Pioneer has been making some nice in-car entertainment systems for a very long time. The company has announced six new single CD receiver models that will fall into its 2013 line. The new models include the FH-X700BT, DEH-X6500BT, DEH-X5500HD, DEH-X3500UI, DEH-2500UI and DEH-150MP. The receivers share some of the same features with some models, including things such as iPhone certified connectivity, Bluetooth hands-free and audio streaming, support for apps, HD Radio, and more.
The coolest of the features in the 2013 lineup start with the DEH-2500UI and DEH-150MP models. Both of these models offer a single disc CD player and customizable multi-color illumination for controls and buttons. That feature is nice because it allows you to match the colors of the radio to the color of the lights inside your vehicle. Pioneer lights the areas on and around the buttons and volume knobs to make it easier for you to adjust settings in the dark.
Both of those higher-end receiver models are Made for iPhone certified with integrated iPhone and iPod connectivity allowing the user to access and play music from your iTunes library from the radio’s front panel controls. The radio can also charge the iPhone using a charging cable. The two higher-end models also include USB connectivity supporting music stored on flash drives and the USB port is located on the front of the radio.
The FH-X700BT and DEH-X6500BT both support Bluetooth for hands-free calling and music streaming. They support pairing with iPhones back to the 3GS version, and the systems support voice control via Bluetooth. Various 2013 versions of these in-car radios also support Android devices via the USB connection. All of the 2013 models other than the DEH-P150M support music and streaming audio apps from USB connected iPhones or iPods. These radios are all surprisingly inexpensive as well with availability across the board set for August at MSRPs ranging from $70-$150.
Pioneer debuts six new single CD car audio receivers is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Aug 15
Sony unveils in-car receivers with App Remote, taps into your smartphone music from October
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Sony has been big on smartphone integration for car audio lately, having already launched its MirrorLink receivers earlier in the year for the more well-heeled drivers among us. The company is bringing that mobile tie-in down to Earth through a new quartet of in-car CD receivers. The MEX-GS600BT, MEX-BT4100P, MEX-BT3100P and CDX-GS500R all bring in App Remote, which lets the faceplate buttons steer local music or Pandora streaming radio coming from Android, BlackBerry, iOS and Walkman devices paired through a Bluetooth wireless link. The old-fashioned USB connection is still on offer for these and the HD Radio-toting CDX-GT710HD, while the whole collection can graft on the optional SXV200V1 tuner to carry the full Sirius XM satellite radio lineup. Differences across the line aren’t completely clear from Sony’s wording, although both the MEX-GS600BT and CDX-GS500R carry two USB ports as well as 5-volt RCA preamp outputs. You’ll be waiting awhile to slip any of these receivers into a DIN slot, regardless of which one you pick: the GS500R ships in October for $199, and the rest hit the shops in November for between $149 to $249.
Gallery: Sony App Remote receivers
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment
Sony unveils in-car receivers with App Remote, taps into your smartphone music from October originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 22:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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