Car audio?

[diw]

Since the original post I have changed the head unit in the car to a Kenwood one which plays Flac files and am generating a copy of my home library in Flac so that i can play anything...I did find a very small 1tb Samsung solid state drive which will contain it all...main problem is going to be navigation ( of the library not the car ) as the screen is v small and its hard to find what you want. Same problem with the Pono player, which otherwise sounds excellent. Tidal via Dragonfly Red from the iPhone is also convenient and sounds reasonable...the best solution though may well be Roon...I rigged up an old Macbook as a Roon Core ( connected to the AUX input) which lives under the front seat and operates with the lid closed ( an app called NoSleep does that ) and the iPad Mini is mounted on a dashboard bracket and acts as the remote. Unlike any other car interface solution I have seen its easy to navigate the library without problems in navigating the car. You can either connect the iPad wirelessly to the Macbook or use Duet for a wired connection. I used the Macbook because I had it and it seems tricky to power a MacMini in the car without power supplies that deal with starting and ignition issues ( the car not the computer) Battery power and a car charger seemed simpler. Whats the cheapest laptop that will run Roon Core? or do any of those little Intel computers run off batteries?

 

Although a car is a challenging acoustic environment, if you treat it like a big headphone that you sit inside and optimise it for the driver then it can sound good.I have found that the better the source the better it sounds, even without dsp manipulation. Maybe you also dont want it to be too engrossing as you are actually in the car doing something else.......

[wwaldmanfan]

Wow, hat's off to you. You're certainly "into it". I get in my car to travel from point A to point B. Music is an afterthought on longer trips.

I'm using a 16GB iPod Nano to play 320 kbps AAC files through the Infiniti's stock stereo system, and it works for me, even though the tiny POS only holds about 120 albums.

I have digital audio capability in five rooms in my house, so...the car is the car.

[diw]

Obviously a sign of a mis-spent youth...I do a fair number of long solo road trips across the US and those wouldnt be possible without some audio stimulation...but driving across Death Valley listening to Hilary Mantels " Wolf hall" or up to the north rim of the Grand Canyon listening to a CD of Navaho flute music I bought in a Reservation store...those are powerful memories....