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Head Unit Manufacturers Need to Step Up to Customers? Music Format Needs


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Many years ago, back when car audio systems were first being customized, the only method of music storage was the cassette tape. Sure, before that there was the 8-track tape; however, there really wasn?t much customization being done as far as audio systems went at the time of the 8-track tape. So, cassette tapes really marked the beginning of car audio customization.

Fast forward several years…a lot of years, actually…and now we have almost more music formats than we know what to do with. There are still a few diehards who have a few beloved cassette tapes. A great majority of the population has embraced compact discs (CD?s). Then there are the MP3-lovers, those who are hopelessly addicted to their iPods and MP3 players.

That isn?t all, though. We also have DVD?s becoming a viable music storage option these days?DVD?s can hold thousands of songs in several different formats. Plus, there are USB sticks?also called thumb drives, memory sticks, or flash drives. These can hold hundreds or thousands of songs (depending upon the storage capability of the USB stick) in WAV, AAC, or WMA format. Even mobile phones can hold music collections these days!
What does all of this mean for car audio systems? Well, it means that the era of customization must become even broader. As the storage mediums for music collections expand, so must the car stereos adapt to accept those storage mediums.

So far, the car audio world has been keeping up rather well. Last year saw many stereo component manufacturers add Bluetooth capabilities to their head units, for example. There are also now many head units that allow iPods and other MP3 players to connect to the stereo, thereby allowing the car owner to play his collection from his player on his car audio system.

However, there is room for improvement. While there are some audio systems that have USB ports, this is the minority. With thumb drives getting cheaper and cheaper all of the time, storing music on flash drives is likely to become a widely-used method of transporting large amounts of music in the car. Therefore, more manufacturers need to come out with head units that have USB capabilities. Perhaps this year will be the year of the USB head units?

Also, though, DVD?s are likely to become more significant as a transportable source of music. After all, in comparison to CD?s, DVD?s store much more music. CD?s can store possibly hundreds of songs; DVD?s can store thousands. While the price difference between the two storage mediums kept most people from wanting to purchase DVD?s for a great long time, now DVD?s have come down in price and are much more affordable. So, car audio manufacturers need to think about including DVD capabilities in their head units because more consumers may be demanding this feature as time goes on.

In the future, car audio manufacturers need to focus on compatibility?they need to make their head units compatible with as many formats of music storage as possible. That is the way for them to win the customers and beat the competition.


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Comments

  1. Thats a really nice article..I whole heartedly agree-the times of the humble cassette player and record players have gone for good..everything has moved into digital now.      by thegame
  2. the old days of casettes have ended for sure, don't think anyone uses them any longer..atleast no one in present generation uses it...these new products are definately better in all respects .good article      by dmahay
  3. Ha, I remember having a cassette player in my car with a cassette case flopping around on the floorboards. I think that the DVD is a very interesting method, and one I really wasn't familiar with. Seems likely, since most new vehicles come with a DVD player.      by megs207
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