Help me find head unit with USB connection which can Shuffle/Random play songs

Since everyone seem to hate sony xplod i have listed other options down below

Planning to buy this head unit http://www.sony.com.au/product/cdx-gt490u#manuals

But while i was searching for head units i realised some has 2 pre out some has 1.

I have read pre out is for connecting up to amp which connects to sub. Could someone please give me an overview of what pre out actually is?

I have an EP3R with 4 speakers (2 front 2 rear) and i dont have sub. Can I still use this head unit in my car or do i need to get an amp for it to work?

dont buy sony.

look at another brand.

sony is the only brand of car stereo that tells you what its going to do. Xplod™ but they mis-spelt it, they forgot to put an E at the end.

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Originally Posted by ICACHA

dont buy sony.

look at another brand.

sony is the only brand of car stereo that tells you what its going to do. Xplod™ but they mis-spelt it, they forgot to put an E at the end.

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Why not buy sony...

Its only one of the few head units which can shuffle/repeat USB songs

I believe sony is one of the better brands out there. Compared to JVC etc

Go Alpine or something good for head unit, after all it's the main hub for the music signal as such. Crappy quality head unit will make whole system sound balls, no matter how good the rest of set up is. And the other common term for "pre out" is "RCA's" it's basicly the out puts for the amps, good head units normally have 1 pair for front speakers, 1 pair for rear and 1 pair for subwoofer. Makes things easier to control from up front

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Originally Posted by PeppeX

Planning to buy this head unit http://www.sony.com.au/product/cdx-gt490u#manuals

But while i was searching for head units i realised some has 2 pre out some has 1.

I have read pre out is for connecting up to amp which connects to sub. Could someone please give me an overview of what pre out actually is?

I have an EP3R with 4 speakers (2 front 2 rear) and i dont have sub. Can I still use this head unit in my car or do i need to get an amp for it to work?

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basically, a preout allows you to connect RCA wires to an amp.

do you currently have an amp for your speakers? if not, will you plan to amp them in the future? you dont have a sub atm but will you ever plan to get one? if your answers are yes & yes then get a HU with 3 preouts.

do it once, do it right.

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Originally Posted by PeppeX

Why not buy sony...

I believe sony is one of the better brands out there. Compared to JVC etc

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sony is far from 'one of the better brands out there'. with no hesitation and without evening mentioning specific models, id rather an alpine, pioneer, eclipse, clarion and others over a sony. dunno how you got that perception of sony being great.

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Originally Posted by arverson

sony is far from 'one of the better brands out there'. with no hesitation and without evening mentioning specific models, id rather an alpine, pioneer, eclipse, clarion and others over a sony. dunno how you got that perception of sony being great.

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Yes sure alpine, pioneer, eclipse and clarion is probably better than sony. But i don't plan on putting in an amp or a sub. I just want something around 200 bucks which has a remote and can shuffle/repeat songs on the USB.

I dont think alpine can do it.

What do u guys think of these head units? I am unsure if they are able to shuffle/random play USB memory stick songs. If anyone knows please post here

The first 2 has 24 D/A converter
Kenwood KDC-U346
http://au.kenwood.com/Car_Entertainm...ivers/KDC-U346

Pioneer DEH-4250SD
http://www.pioneer.com.au/Products/C...%204250SD.aspx

Alpine CDE-100EUB
http://www.alpine.com.au/showItem.php?item_id=46

Pioneer DEH-3250UB
http://www.pioneer.com.au/Products/C...%203250UB.aspx

I would get the Pioneer one, simply because I have been using them in all ym cars without problems, and Pioneer can random and shuffle songs from USB device.

Plus it is red back lit to match your EP3 interior dash lighting.

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Originally Posted by Tai

I would get the Pioneer one, simply because I have been using them in all ym cars without problems, and Pioneer can random and shuffle songs from USB device.

Plus it is red back lit to match your EP3 interior dash lighting.

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Yes i need to get red to match my car :) haha

Which Pioneer do u own? I meant Shuffle/random play from USB memory stick not USB device.

I have read on google that if u let the song finish it will go to a random song next. But if u press next track it will just go to the next track not the next random song if u get what i mean.

cant speak for kenwood or pioneer but if your criteria is:

*something around $2-300
*remote control
*1 preout (not that it matters cus you dont plan to get future amps)
*this all magical usb shuffle/random

then i can count on one hand the number of alpine units that tick all the boxes. research harder. or simply go into a store and see for yourself

When shuffle is on

Pioneer will only SHUFFLE after a song is finished not when u press Next song
Kenwood will SHUFFLE both when a song is finished and when u press NEXT
Clarion shuffles good but it shuffles back to the same song here and there lol

Thats all the ones im sure of. Cant speak on behalf of the others

yes i went into JB hifi today and found out exactly what u said. Pioneer only shuffles if the song finishes. I couldnt find a kenwood to try, but i might try another store. Alpine shuffles too but u cant really browse the songs.

this is what im talking about. mp3 is doing peoples heads in, thats why i stick to cd's.

in my opinion pioneers way is the best because there are times on Shuffle a song thats near a song you REALLY LIKE comes up all you have to do is press next to goto it, If you have kenwood you have to TAKE IT OFF random and hope to god it doesnt shuffle WHILE taking it off random because most head units have 2 MODES of shuffling
which is DEVICE and FOLDER
(Shuffling within 1 folder and shuffling within the hole device/cd)

I went to JB hifi to play around with pioneer and it only shuffles when the song ends by itself not when u press next. I bought a kenwood and its working really well. Only thing is that u cant search the songs by artist u can only search by name of the song.

to be honest sony head units are not bad ... clean quality systems but the speakers amps n so on are terrible,
Pioneer .. have had alot of issues ... not good at all! RCA out put issues ... common problem is whinning noise
Kenwoods are good .. but now they share parts with JVC
.. for some reason now JVCs are better than Kenwood Decks ... search out the specs on a JVC 616 and JVC 816 head unit ... 5volt preouts ... clean sound!!!

Alpine are good ... but i personally not a fan of the head decks ... kinda overpriced