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Help needed: Sound system

Discussion in 'Motorcycle Tech Talk' started by snydley, Jun 27, 2012.

  1. snydley

    snydley Active Member

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    I just bought a , new to me, 2006 FLHTCI and since the AM/FM-CD player has no USB port in it I want to buy some kind of a "Ipod type" Mp3 player to connect to the Aux. in connector on the receiver to play my music through it. I figured this would be just as cheap as buying an aftermarket receiver with a USB port in it, and a handlebar controls adapter for it, and save me a lot of work and probably a big headache to boot.
    Can anybody recommend a good Mp3 player for the bike? The only requirements I have of it is that it's at least 16G in size, be able to connect it to a computer and drag and drop song folders to the player and have it sort the music by folders. I don't like having to create "songlists", I just want to copy the music over to it and play it. I also want it to have a shuffle,(random), play feature, which I think most of them have.
    I put an aftermarket AM/FM/CD/USB receiver on my old bike, a 1988 FLHTC, and was able to put over 135 CDs, in MP3 format, on a 16G flash drive,(with room to spare), and play it through the USB port. I set the receiver on shuffle mode and it would pick songs at random, just like a radio station, but all of the music I wanted to hear. I miss that and figure buying an "Ipod" type device would be the easiest way to do this on the new bike. I appreciate any suggestions you guys might have.
    Thanks,
    Snyde
    snydley, Jun 27, 2012
    #1
  3. hotroadking

    hotroadking Super Moderator Staff Member

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    Any MP3 player will work as long as it has an earphone output jack, simply go to Radio shack and get the appropriate male to male cable. plug into the output on the MP3 and put in the Aux jack on the radio.

    Turn the radio to AUX and you're golden.

    Check compusa.com for deals on MP3 players, and they have
    plenty of options however I didn't see 16GB, 8 GB seems to be the largest
    but for $20 you can get 8GB so get two LOL

    Click Here for 8GB Units

    Price depends on what you want to get feature wise, big screen so you can see it, mount on the bars with a Ram mount so you can control it (only when stopped)

    There are some reviews, that might be helpful and you can find what features you want and price point, starting at $40

    BTW depending on the quality and bit rate you can get 150 to 250 songs per GB that means an 8GB player will hold potentially up to 2000 songs, so 135 cds with 10 songs per CD = 1350 songs so you should be ok, check the size of your files.

    Also remember how songs would be low on some and you'd crank the volume up, then the next song would blow your speakers out, get the Mp3 Gain Utility and run it on the songs, you can set the volume as you like and have it hit every song and they will all have the same volume so no more up and down.

    MP3Gain
    hotroadking, Jun 28, 2012
    #2
  4. snydley

    snydley Active Member

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    Thanks for the tips!! I've been "normalizing" Mp3 files for years now before burning them to CDs so I know about the volume levels. I just have to decide if I want to do the Ipod thing, or bite the bullet and buy another AM/FM/CD/USB receiver and handlebar control unit and have complete control over the music. I think the Ipod thing would be very distracting, trying to change music when driving, or,(what I should do), pull over when I want to change it. That would be a real pain in the ass.
    I guess I have to just give it some more thought and just use what I have for now.
    Thanks,
    Snyde
    snydley, Jun 28, 2012
    #3
  5. FLHTbiker

    FLHTbiker Moderator Staff Member

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    For your bike do like HRK said and go with the MP3
    FLHTbiker, Jun 28, 2012
    #4
  6. hotroadking

    hotroadking Super Moderator Staff Member

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    You can change out the head unit, problem is the HD speakers have a different ohms requirement, so you need to replace them as well, not bad as you end up with a better sound system anyway.

    http://www.biketronics.com/categories/Complete-Audio-Packages/?gclid=CL_9pafX8bACFQW0nQodoVR-uw

    Biketronics has a good plug n play system allows you to do all you talked about
    upgraded speakers, radio, think it still uses the stock controls.

    [YOUTUBE]5BI3Afbkn9g[/YOUTUBE]

    I have the new iPod connected to the HK radio works great.

    Now if you have an iPhone, you can download Pandora and IheartRadio apps and stream either free tunes, any artist, any genre with Pandora or pick any radio station, play through the AUX input.

    If you do that get a RAM mount cradle and bar mount for the iphone then go on Amazon.com and get the iSimple cable for car/bike harness, this allows you to run to the Aux input on the radio, and, hook up to the phone or ipod and the bike will charge it as you ride. Easy to use, I did this on my 09, and I hooked up a spare aux jack in the HK it's easy to do and had it come out the back of the radio under the fairing so I could connect the iSimple in a protected place

    Road Glide iPhone, Android, Garmin Zumo, GPS Mount

    Check out the pictures of the cable, I bought it for much less on amazon, and you will need some pins and the grey 4 position connector to your switched aux power under the seat. Running the wire under the dash.

    You can also get adapters for the speakers to allow you to run larger diameter speakers with tweeters etc

    start doing a little research and you can get some rocking tunes.

    If it were me I'd opt for a new head unit from Biketronics
    hotroadking, Jun 28, 2012
    #5
  7. JohnnyBiker

    JohnnyBiker Well-Known Member

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    don't need just an eyefone to download Iheartradio or pandora. If he has a droid he do that as well..:gah::gah::rant::rant::roflmao::roflmao::D:D
    JohnnyBiker, Jun 28, 2012
    #6
  8. hotroadking

    hotroadking Super Moderator Staff Member

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    yeah but do you see an Idroid cable out there, nnoooooo you dont'

    you see an iPhone/ipod connector... That's why I posted the iSimple link....
    hotroadking, Jun 28, 2012
    #7
  9. cardboard

    cardboard Well-Known Member

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    Play sirus on my Iphone all day. I got a 12volt HD plug in the tourpac I can use to charge if if I need. I have the Sena SMH10 headset I got from Eastern Performance . Bluetooth it into my sena headset and listen to music.

    Have about 250 songs on my Iphone. Don't have to use CD's

    Also have Sirus on my Iphone.
    You can fight the Iphone like you fight Woods cams. But you can't beat it.:gah:

    If you want a amp and speakers. Look at Bagger nation

    Paul Yaffe's Bagger Nation
    cardboard, Jun 29, 2012
    #8
  10. snydley

    snydley Active Member

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    Thanks for all the help guys. I think I'm gonna go with Crutchfield, get a steering wheel control adapter and buy an aftermarket AM/FM/CD/USB receiver for it. The biketronics stuff is nice, but more than I want to spend.
    Snyde
    snydley, Jul 2, 2012
    #9
  11. hotroadking

    hotroadking Super Moderator Staff Member

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    Good idea, I think that Sony has an aftermarket control adapter that hooks right to it, made by another company.

    Lots of speaker adapter companies to get larger speakers in there...
    hotroadking, Jul 2, 2012
    #10

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