anyone had a look at this particular headunit yet?
it looks promising. the idea of storing 500 songs in the faceplate is great, plus i could probably utilise the compartment where my cd stacker is to mount one of them new jl audio slim line subs.
pricing is about $350 for the sony and im guessing u would need a sony dci interface as well to keep the controls

 

I *believe* (I know alpine is like this) they only rip from REAL cds, and not CDrs. Meaning, you have to put in an original store bought CD. They are also, twice as much as an Alpine full speed, and an Ipod holds 10,000-15000 songs. You do the math.

 

I'm actually waiting on DJ Qube to see if he can do a Qube DCI for this head unit. I bought it when it first came out, and I'll let you know as soon as I get it installed what I think of it.

Incidentally, I think the MP3s get put directly on the head unit, rather than ripped from a CD.

 

Okay, I finally installed the MEX-1GP and cd changer (a cdx-757MX) today. I'm still waiting on the DJ Qube control, though, so I don't have all the info.

That said, here's the skinny. Sound quality is much improved over the stock head unit (I haven't replaced the stock speakers yet -- that's a project for another weekend!) Even without replacing the speakers, the difference is noticeable. I can only wait to hear it with new speakers installed.

Installation was extremely easy for the head unit. I bought a simple wiring harness from Crutchfield for $13, and it worked like a charm. Colors matched up, too, which made things even easier. The unit fits neatly behind the stock door that covers up the radio, so there's no way of telling the stereo has been upgraded from the outside.

The detachable faceplate simply connects to your computer via USB (a USB cable is included) and you can just drag and drop MP3s onto it (it's a USB 2.0 device, so dragging a gig of MP3s on there only take a few minutes). Once the MP3s are on there, the head unit treats each folder as a separate, much as it treats each disc in the changer as different. I've only had about 2 hours to fiddle with the radio thus far, but it seems pretty intuitive. (Note that, unlike the MEX-1HD unit, it doesn't seem to rip CDs for you -- they need to be converted to MP3 on your computer and put on the head unit, rather than ripped from the in-dash CD player).

The hardest part of the install was the wiring of the changer (of course!) Other than that, things were a breeze. I haven't done much work on car stereos before, but it took about 90 minutes from start to finish to get everything done. I'll post once I get the DJ Qube DCI installed, too. The MEX-1GP uses a different Sony remote than most of the other Xplod units, I believe, and Qube took a while to put the DCI together because it was different than past units.

More to come as I have it....

 

Okay, I've had it up and running a few days now. All I can say is: I FRICKIN' LOVE THIS HEAD UNIT!

I finally installed DJ Qube's controller this afternoon. It took about 2 hours, but I was taking my time and enjoying a relatively nice day (my dog decided to enjoy the day, too, and wandered off, which was something of a problem).

Anyway, between the 10 disc changer in the trunk (6 of them currently filled with MP3 discs), the gig of storage on the faceplate, and the CD in the head unit itself, I don't think I'll be lacking for music any time soon. As I've said before, I'm not an audiophile, but the sound quality is definitely a big step up from the stock head unit. I'm still trying to find time to install the speakers -- I imagine that'll make an even bigger difference -- but the bottom line is that this head unit is great.

Also, a quick word about the DJ Qube controller -- it costs a little more (well, almost 2x as much!) as some of the other solutions, but the folder up/folder back/song forward/song backward capabilities make it well worth it, in my opinion. Installation is not for the faint hearted, but the directions are clear and easily to follow, and it just worked once I had it installed. Art (DJ Qube) was great about everything, answering my idiotic questions promptly via email.

I don't see the controller advertised here on S2KI any longer, but if you PM DJ Qube here on the forums he'll get back to you.

Also, for those pondering something like this vs. an Ipod, the reasons I decided to go this route were two-fold. First, my damn Ipod seems to be replaced every 18 months anyway, and I don't like the idea of being without tunes in the car while it's being fixed or replaced. My personal feeling is that hard drive based car audio isn't quite here yet in terms of reliability. Second, I have a Sony credit card, so I used some points to pay for this head unit (which made the cost less of an issue). I also like this kind of solution because it's easy to select music for the wife rather than music for me by switching out CDs (admittedly you could do this with different playlists on the Ipod, too).

Anyway, love the unit, happy to answer any questions!

 

i have the sony cdx gt620ip. a pretty decent deck. price is very good $169 sound quality is very good and has many sound quality adjustments. built in equalizer. also has built in ipod link wire to play your ipod. sound quality from ipod is better than cd's. usb ipod link cable comes right out of the back of the stereo and will keep your ipod powered up all the time when vehicle is on.

one of the features i really like is the browsing feature. i am running an 80gb ipod and can easily browse through my entire library of music completely using only the controls on the deck, not like and ipod set up with only an aux cable input where you have to control everything with the ipod itself. being able to browse through your ipod using the deck is much safer when driving. it puts out 52w x 4 . also i have hooked up and a controller to still be able to use my audio controls on the dash.

all i need now is to replace the factory speakers. will try to post some of the pics when can.
i think that this deck really matches the interior color scheme.