Interesting Headunit

[matt-c]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Altezza-Original-Head-Unit-With-TV-Control-Not-Lexus-mini-disc-and-six-cd-/140843473537?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item20caecda81

6CD with Minidisc instead of cassette slot. What the TV control all about?

I'm guessing though this isn't UK spec IS200 compatible, and guessing my Grom wouldn't work with it?

[IHgs300]

firstly you would need a band expander as frequencies are different, secondly you would have to have sat nav unit already installed to watch tv and lastly will only fit uk spec is200 ,S, version as works without the amp.

[matt-c]

Bummer. Would be a nice little swap out if it was a direct plug n play replacement. I don't really use MiniDisc anymore - was MASSIVELY into it back in the day, before MP3 really took off. Don't think I've used cassette since I began using MD tho

[IHgs300]

I swapped the standard sat-nav for a mio unit that has tv and microsd for playing music through standard stereo so dont use cassette or cd player either, whats puzzling though is mine is the s version without amp but the sound is richer in this one than my old se with so called premium sound system....??????

[ndrk]

I´ve seen those in JDM Tezzas.

I would prefer MD as MP3 has bad sound quality (if you have good stereo setup, you´ll understand).

I didn´t understand. will it work with or without OEM amp?

[matt-c]

Minidisc, for the most part, has less bass, and less high treble, than MP3 due to the frequency cut's the ATRAC codec imposes (the idea was ATRAC would cut the frequencies you couldn't hear; the high treble (I think 17-22Khz from memory?) and the low end of the bass freq - the problem was that didn't completely work as on paper, and changed the dynamics of the music). And yes, I have a good stereo at home - although, nice as the system in the IS is, you're never going to get audiophile reproduction from it, or even swapping speakers and amps in it, so it's not going to make a discernible difference (likewise, there's little point filling an iPod with the highest bitrate FLAC, or other lossless, codec, when you won't hear a difference over 320k MP3, even those with the Wolfson DAC, when playing it through itty bitty headphones or down a piddly 3.5mm audio cable, or dock connector audio out, to an AUX in on a car stereo. On a good home amp, you will hear a difference between 128k and 320k mp3, and likewise FLAC or OGG vs MP3, but not on headphones or a car system...

[ndrk]

I know that OEm system is not high end.

I have Nakamichi headunit myself and I swear I hear difference between MP3 and some original CD

[matt-c]

I'd agree with that. For example, take Rage Against The Machine's debut, self titled record. Renowned by audio enthusiasts and pro engineers the world over as one of THE best recordings ever. I know many engineers that use this record as a bench mark for setting up both live and studio speakers, desks, amps etc. I was working with one guy doing FOH, and we were playing something or other through the PA getting the levels right, and he says to me "It sounds like somethings not there, I wonder if this system has an in line compressor?" So he put this album on, and within three seconds said "Yep, there's a compressor turned on somewhere". 5 mins later, compressor found and turned off ;)

But compare that CD to a 320k mp3 rip, and there's a huge difference - the same difference we were hearing with the compressor turned on.

But records like that aren't common place, especially these days, where the trend is now to compress the hell out of it and "brickwall" the dynamics. Good examples of this are the Chili Pepper's "Californication" - which was one of the records that sparked the "loudness war" - the 1997 remaster of The Stooges "Raw Power" and Metallica's latest album, "Death Magnetic".

Add to that, that even if you spend top dollar on transport, processing and speakers, you are NEVER going to get true audiophile status, or even close to it, in a car. It simply will not work. True quality comes not just from the components, but also the listening space, and a car with it's badly placed and angled speakers, improper airspace for those speakers, blunt soft obstacles and panels of glass to bounce the sound back, is not the proper environment to listen to music.

You can spend thousands on an amp, thousands on transport (such as a CD deck or top level turntable) and twice as much on speakers, hundreds and hundreds on cabling, set it all up at home. But a system that costs half as much, in a room suited to it, will perform twice as good.