Whether you’re interested in DVD for video playback, or simply for its massive MP3 audio storage capacity, Kenwood’s new DVD based head units are well worth checking out.

Over the last couple of years, many people have opted to buy in-dash DVD tuners as an alternative to a conventional CD tuner. By doing so, you gain the ability to store a massive number of MP3 tracks on a single disc. Typically, a single DVD can handle around 1000 tracks per disc – with the added benefit that the discs are cheap enough to simply re-burn and throw away of they become scratched or damaged.

As a useful bonus, you can also connect the unit to an external screen and play back DVD movies to keep your passengers amused whilst on the move.

Secondary to this, the evolution of small, cheap TFT displays has resulted in the appearance of a new type of unit, with a small video display integrated into the front fascia. These can play back DVD internally and display the video image on the front panel. Whilst these displays are tiny, it’s surprising how clear the resulting image is – and it’s certainly just as viewable as a video iPod or similar.

Kenwood’s latests release includes one unit from each category – the KDV-5241U, which is a conventional style head unit with DVD capability, and the KDV-7241 which includes an integrated display.

KDV-5241U

Kenwood KDV-5241U

The KDV-5241U features a stylish common sense design, with a decent sized rotary control for ease of use. The front panel also features a USB input for connection to mass storage devices and an input for external AV sources.

The unit has 3 pairs of RCA preouts for system expansion, a 5 band EQ and all of the normal features you’d expect from a unit at this level, ie. MP3 and WMA playback, RDS-EON tuner, etc

KDV-7241

Kenwood KDV-7241

The KDV-7241 is Kenwood’s first unit to feature a front mounted TFT display and, based on the popularity of similar units from other manufacturers, is bound to be popular with the younger end of the market. As well as supporting regular DVDs, the unit can also play DIVx Ultra encoded video – again, something which is bound to be more popular with the download savvy youth market.

The unit features a motorised, multi-angle front panel, which should help to ensure that the display remains readily viewable in the widest possible array of vehicles.

Sony have announced that their second SACD in-car unit is due to hit the market shortly.

Sony MEX-DV2000

The unit features an improved output stage, including multi-channel (front, rear, centre and sub) pre-amp outputs, making it an ideal basis for a fully amplified, ultra-high sound quality system.

The unit is now available to pre-order from some UK car audio dealers.

As mobile phones with integrated MP3 players become increasingly popular, finding a way to integrate these with an existing car audio system has become a more and more popular request from end users. Head units with Bluetooth integration are becoming increasingly common, but for those who already own a good quality unit, the cost of upgrading can be difficult to justify.

To overcome this issue, Connects2 can now offer an add-on interface, which takes a Bluetooth streaming music signal from an A2DP Bluetooth device and converts this to an RCA signal. This can then be fed into an auxiliary input on the head unit so that music is reproduced via the car audio system.

Connects2 BTAV01

Priced at around £45, the BTAV01 is bound to be popular with those looking to avoid unnecessarily replacing an otherwise perfectly acceptable head unit.

For many years, the marine market has traditionally been served by car audio products, which most closely fitted the needs of marine users – but which could suffer from reliability issues due to exposure to the harsh marine environment. In recent years, car audio manufacturers have begun to tackle this issue by developing new products aimed specifically at the marine market.

Initially, marine speakers became available, but this is now increasingly being followed by marine amplifiers and marine head units.

Up to now, marine head units have stuck to the traditional in-car DIN size. With the introduction of the CDX-HR70MW, Sony have broken out of the conventional car unit mould, instead offering a unit ergonomically styled to better suit the marine market.

With large round matching controls and display, the unit certanly looks the part. The front panel includes a bright display, designed to be viewable in bright sunlight. The front panel is also splashproof to IPx5 standard and all of the unit’s components are designed to be UV and moisture resistant throughout, which should help to ensure many years of reliable service in the tough marine environment.

With the launch of the new MEX-DV1000, Sony have become the first manufacturer to offer a car audio head unit including Super Audio CD (SACD) support.

SACD uses a very different technology from CD and DVD-Audio to encode its audio data. A 1-bit delta-sigma modulation process known as Direct Stream Digital is used, at the very high sampling rate of 2.8224 MHz – 64 times higher than conventional CDs.

To date, over 4,000 titles are now available on SACD, including many titles remastered from original multi-channel recordings.

The unit also features support for pre-recorded and recordable CDs and DVDs. DVD videos can be played back, with the video signal available as an output from the back of the unit, which can be connected to an external screen. Additionally, the unit supports MP3 and WMA file formats, as well as DIVx video.

Sony MEX-DV1000

The new Performance, Tuning & Modified Show will be venue for an official EMMA UK organised sound-off event.

EMMA UK (European Mobile Media Asociation) will be running a car audio competition, offering an opportunity for anyone who wants to join in to compete on a fair and level playing field. From the novices just venturing into the world of car audio right through the spectrum, up to the out of this world systems and installs from the professionals and manufacturers in the industry.

The Performance, Tuning & Modified Show will run from the 5th to the 6th of May 2007 at Santa Pod Raceway.

Throughout Europe, members of the car audio will be eagerly anticipating the opening of CAR + SOUND, one of the world’s largest shows within the mobile electronics sector. The show is an ideal venue for suppliers, distributors and others from within the automotive industry to get together to discuss business, to find out about new products and to witness some of Europe’s best demo cars.

Last year, 213 exhibitors from 20 countries were present at the show, which this year promises to be bigger and better than ever. The show is also increasingly attracting attention from a wider area, with many visitors now travelling from the USA and Asia to attend.

The show opens to members of the trade on the 19th and 20th of April, during which exhibitors are able to devote their full attention to business partners and dealers, as well as R&D and applications engineers, who gather comprehensive information and place orders.

On the 21st and 22nd, the show opens to the general public during which visitors can marvel at optical and acoustic innovations, experience entertaining shows and presentations at the exhibitors’ booths, and keep an eye on the competitions held by EMMA and dB-Drag.

Right from the very first event in 1994, CAR+SOUND has rapidly evolved into an indispensable platform for more and more exhibitors and, in the years that followed, turned into one of the industry’s most important showcases for new products and technologies. CAR+SOUND continuously reflects the changing technologies associated with mobile electronics, where catchwords over the years have included digitisation, networking, navigation, mobile communications, mobile media and more.

Take your digital music collection on the road with Sony’s new MEX-BT2500 in car CD tuner with integrated Bluetooth™ connectivity

• Hands-free solution for safer driving with Bluetooth™ enabled mobile phone
• Stream high-quality digital audio wirelessly from Bluetooth™ enabled personal audio player or mobile phone

Modern digital lifestyles mean that nobody likes to be stuck without their personal music collection or their mobile phone especially when they’re on the move.

With safety the Number One priority on today’s busy roads, the new MEX-BT2500 from Sony is your perfect driving partner. The stylish new in car CD tuner provides a beautifully simple hands-free solution for enjoying your digital music collection with breathtaking quality and for using your Bluetooth^tm enabled mobile phone.

Now appearing as standard on many mobile handsets, Bluetooth^tm is the perfect answer for drivers who need to stay in touch while they’re at the wheel. As well as allowing safe hands-free calling with a Bluetooth^tm phone, the MEX-BT2500 also supports the Bluetooth^tm A2DP specification. Already appearing on a fast-growing choice of handsets from Sony Ericsson and other manufacturers, this new standard allows wireless streaming of high-quality digital music right from your phone to your car’s speakers.

The MEX-BT2500 offers a superbly easy-to-install ‘hands-free’ solution for receiving calls while you’re on the road. The head unit connects via Bluetooth^tm with your mobile phone. This allows drivers to accept mobile calls while they’re at the wheel with no connecting wires or phone cradles needed. Thanks to the head unit’s super-sensitive, high quality in-built microphone there’s no need to wear a Bluetooth^tm headset or install a dedicated hands-free car kit. Incoming phone calls can be accepted with a single touch of the head unit’s rotary encoder. Last number redial can also be accessed directly from the rotary encoder.

As well as a Bluetooth^tm hands free solution, the MEX-BT2500 is a great choice for today’s active digital lifestyles, making it safer, easier and more convenient than ever to enjoy your portable music collection with amazing digital clarity while you on the road. Bluetooth^tm enabled Sony WALKMAN models and virtually all other personal audio devices can be Bluetooth^tm enabled with the addition of the compact Sony TMR-BT10 Bluetooth^tm accessory that plugs directly into the audio player’s headphone socket.

An indicator on the front panel of the MEX-BT2500 confirms when a Bluetooth^tm source is connected. There’s also a front panel AUX input for connecting any personal audio player via its headphone jack. This offers extra flexibility for drivers who don’t have a Bluetooth^tm adapter for their player. An infra red card-sized commander is provided for control of main head unit functions.

The MEX-BT2500 supports the Bluetooth^tm profile A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) for streaming high quality digital audio over a Bluetooth connection. This means that music stored on your A2DP enabled mobile phone (or any other source with A2DP support) can be enjoyed wirelessly through your vehicle’s speakers with amazing clarity, dynamic range and a wide frequency response. It’s the only solution for true ‘hi-fi’ digital music streaming in the car. Compared with a conventional FM transmitter connection between music source and head unit, the difference in audio quality with Bluetooth is simply phenomenal.

Bluetooth^tm connectivity also provides a major ‘zero visibility’ security benefit. With no wires, no cradles and no mounting suckers on show, nobody needs to know that you’ve been listening to your portable digital music collection or using your phone inside the vehicle.

The stylishly-designed MEX-BT2500 is a masterful performer on the road. Protected by advanced shock damper technology for surer, skip-free CD tracking, the rugged DRIVE-S chassis packs 52W x 4 channels of super low distortion MOSFET power. CD reproduction sparkles thanks to precision 24-bit D/A conversion. Digital files in MP3 and WMA formats from a connected Bluetooth source are also reproduced with stunning clarity.

The technology packed Sony MEX-BT2500 will be available shortly from authorised Sony UK car audio retailers.

The new Pioneer DEH-P7900UB is now available from UK car audio dealers.

The unit is Pioneer’s first unit with integrated USB. The USB input exits from the rear of the unit on a lead approximately 1m in length.

Based on our experience using USB within a vehicle, we think this is the better way to do things. With front mounted inputs, USB devices such as pen drives, etc. tend to stick out from the front of the unit a fair distance, which can result in the unit being caught inadvertently by the driver. This could lead to damage to the head unit or the USB device. With rear mounted outputs, the USB device can be safely tucked out of the way within the glovebox or similar, removing this issue.

The unit also allows for easy connection to Apple iPods – simply add the optional CD-IU50 lead and you can control the iPod directly from the head unit.

The DEH-P7900UB also scores highly in the looks department, with Pioneer’s trademark blue OEL display and matching blue buttons. This may deter the more reserved sector of the market, but is bound to be popular with the youth market – particularly as the unit also boasts a trick motorised front panel mechanism.

The unit also lends itself to audio expansion with 3 high RCA voltage pre-out allowing a low noise connection to external amplification. An integrated low pass filter also allows frequency and gain control of an external subwoofer from the head unit itself.

With recent changes in legislation placing increasing penalties on drivers caught using mobile phones, it’s also useful to know that the unit can be connected to Pioneer’s CD-BT100 Bluetooth hands free phone interface. This allows calls to be made safely whilst on the move, with audio routed through the head unit and on to the car’s speakers.