MP3 on board

tom52

tom52

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I currently have no music on board apart from an old portable radio.

I would like to fit some speakers in the cockpit and the saloon with the ability to switch from one to the other.

Ideally the source of the music would be a memory stick loaded with MP3 files from my computer at home. A radio tuner would be nice but no CD or Cassette playing is required. The device would be permanently fitted to the boat and would be operate from the boats 12v supply and would be suitable frugal with the amps. I do not want the volume to broadcast to all the boats within 200 yards and listenable rather than Hifi is the specification

What do I need and whats my most economical option ?

Advice and suggestions please.
 
mmmmm you have upped spec with MP3 in title ........ but then wanted lower spec later in the text.

If radio only with possible input via jack plug .... then I always advise one of the older manual dial car radios. Because then you don't have to keep power on it for memory. But they are getting increasingly hard to find.

Literally any radio now is a combo and especially if you want to add MP3 ... unless you go for a transmit system that basically transmits your MP3 via FM to the radio which you tune to ...

So you could go manual radio only with FM and a Transmit option added to an MP3 player pod. By the time you've paid out though ... you might as well buy a Radio / CD combo that plays MP3 / Audio CD's and record your MP3 to cd's .... a lot less hassle ...

As to speakers .... wire up so that you can plug in where you want ? or have roving speakers that clip into place ? I converted a couple of standard back-shelf speakers from a car by cutting the screw holes so that you could press the body and slip it under a screw head ... enough hole was left to spring back and hold it. Do that both sides and it works. Only need to do it in cabin as cockpit will be temp.

??????
 
[ QUOTE ]
frugal with the amps. I do not want the volume to broadcast to all the boats within 200 yards and listenable rather than Hifi is the specification


[/ QUOTE ]

frugal is a problem, they all seem to rely on being for the motor market and thus pull oodles of power, mine is around 700mA while playing an mp3 disk.

Tis a little computer see.

Mine is getting on a bit now, so new ones might be better, but as they don't have to, I would not be surprised if any in-roads have been made to the power consumption.
 
Personally I would get an ipod and a 12volt car charger thing for it and an itrip fm transmitter and a car type cd radio player. Then you get local radio, ipod, and cd if you have random guests. All takes no power. As for speakers, dont ask me, Im a proffesional sound man and would insist on nothing short of a 5K system to blow the bulb off your keel.
 
Have you thought about an Avtex 6-in-1 LCD TV?
It has continental tv/uk receiver for TV, is 12/240v, has inbuilt RDS radio, DVD player and SD memory card and can be used as a computer screen. The screen is 15" LCD and not a bad bit of kit.
Beauty is you can just unplug at and of season and take it home to use!
British made, and no, I have no connection to the company!
Might be worth a peek.
Rob
 
Why not just buy a normal small MP3 player (they have built in radios anyway)? They're very inexpensive - a 1 GB one by a reputable manufacturer like Sandisk is around £30 or £40. Mine just plugs into the normal speaker jack, and I tuck the MP3 player behind the bookshelf/speakers so there are no wires trailing etc.

The player itself uses almost no power - mine runs of a single AAA battery for many hours, but no doubt you can get ones with adapters - preferably 12V cigarette lighter adapter or equivalent to run straight off the ship's battery.

You can put it in you pocket if you want to take it home and swap files.

The marine environment quickly destroys speakers, as I discovered when my last (expensive) pair expired after a couple of years. But you can get excellent computer speakers for £30 or £40 which give very listenable sound quality. There are lots of desings available, so many of them look like small home hi-fi speakers - they don't have to look computer-ish. Only they are a fraction of the cost. Not sure if you can get these to run off 12V though??? - maybe, so you may need to use an inverter (I do).

In total, you can get a pretty decent and convenient system for the cabin for less than £100. Then add on a simple switch + waterproof cockpit speakers, and Bob's your uncle.
 
get a sony cdx gt200 car stereo radio ( I paid £60 for mine) It has a socket in the front for an Ipod connection. a couple of sets of jbl speakers and a small Ipod and you are away. car radio uses most power when spinning a disc, the ipod solves this.
 
Splash out and get one of these. I managed to get a similar one from ALDI in December for £40. I am very pleased with it. Not only does it have a USB port for memory sticks but will take all kinds of memory cards as well and it has a remote control so you can mount it anywhere you like.
 
Sorry if I am being thick but the MP3 player just plugs into the normal speaker jack on what ?
 
The computer speakers normally have a standard plug identical to that used in the MP3 player's headphones, so you can just plug them straight into a standard MP3 player's headphone socket and off you go!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Splash out and get one of these. I managed to get a similar one from ALDI in December for £40. I am very pleased with it. Not only does it have a USB port for memory sticks but will take all kinds of memory cards as well and it has a remote control so you can mount it anywhere you like.

[/ QUOTE ]

I second this suggestion. I bought one of these last week for use in a car in Spain where the radio reception is cr*p. It works far better than the price reflects, plays regular and MP3 CD's, has a jack plug type audio input and the USB port can be used to connect to an iPod. Also has a memory card slot
My only complaint is that the lights are a bit bright and the USB port doesn't charge the iPod
 
Two points
<ul type="square">
[*]Plain mp3 player will not produce enough power to drive 2 speakers (let alone 4). You will need either an amp between the mp3 and the speakers or speakers with an integrated amp (like most PC speakers).
[*]Be carefull about speakers' position. Place them far from compass and autopilot.
[/list]
 
Re: MP3 on board .... PC speakers ...

ALL my PC speakers on all PC's in office and home have built in amps and volume control ... so MP3 to them is more than possible.
I even have a set with battery (C-Cells) possibility as well as from mains ... Funny enough these work with switch on / off ... as that only controls the amp......... but all others with switch off - they are off.
 
Re: MP3 on board .... PC speakers ...

Get an iPod and a set of JBL-on-Tour speakers. If you want fm radio, buy an fm accessory for the iPod. You won't have to carry cd's around - rip them to mp3 at home and stick the music on the iPod. IgB = 240 songs. 8gB = 2000 songs. You can get a 12v adaptor to charge the iPod, and rechargeable AA batteries for the speakers. Look at the Apple website for the technical details, then Froogle for the cheapest prices.
 
I totally agree with Stoaty: get yourself a car CD/MP3 radio unit from aldi (£40), and a few 2GB SD-cards from Amazon (£13 each); connect your cockpit speakers to what should be the rear speaker output, and your saloon speakers to the front speaker output, and then you can use the "fade" setting on the head unit to play your music either up top, down below, or both. The latest model from Aldi (Dec. 2006) came with a remote control, so you could control the whole thing from the cockpit even if the head unit is fitted at the chart table.
Incidentally, I tried plugging my Creative Zen Xtra MP3 player directly into the USB socket of the head unit; it doesn't work because Aldi's head unit only recognises FAT-16 or FAT-32 type file storage systems, and Creative use their own patented type of file storage system... So that's why I've had to resort to SD cards. MP3 files stored on my USB-key play fine when it's plugged directly into the unit, and so do the ones off my Creative Zen Nano Plus...
Help!!! I've turned into an MP3-geek!!! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
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