Good BB Integration on Car Stereo?

I'm going to be purchasing a new aftermarket car stereo head unit soon. I'd really like to get one that would be the most compatible with my Torch. I was browsing in Best Buy tonight and found all kinds of stereos that are designed to work with an iPhone or and iPod, but I know that all of those cool features aren't available to us BB users. For example, an Alpine unit that I really liked was made to work with Pandora--even had thumbs up/thumbs down buttons. You'd just plug your iPhone into the USB port and all the Pandora information would show up on the display and you could pick a station, play a station, skip a song, etc without touching the phone. The Alpine website says that an iPhone is required to use those features (in other words, BBs and Droids need not apply).

Here's my situation:
I know I can use the standard 3.5 jack to connect to the phone, but are there any car stereos that use a USB connection on a Blackberry the way so many use for an iPhone? I'd really like to be able to control music (either MP3s or Pandora) on my Blackberry using my car's head unit.

Second, I just picked up a 32gb micro SD card for my phone and would love to be able to play and control the music on that card through the stereo. This question has been asked in many different threads, but I've not found a consistent answer. One consensus I've come to after doing a little research on the forums is that a USB connection would only be able to play MP3s from the phone's internal memory and not from a micro SD card--is that accurate?

If any of you have had a great experience with Blackberry integration with a car stereo, I'd love to hear it. Thanks so much!

By the way, the Alpine unit I was talking about is model number CDE-123

i'd like to know this as well. i doubt there are any stereos that use the usb connetor, but you might want to look for something with bluetooth... this way you could use it for A/V, as well as calls

Do you think any units would allow not only bluetooth audio streaming but also bluetooth audio control (play, skip, etc)?

it's very possible.. i have a pair of usb ear phones that can be used as an A/V remote over bluetooth... no reason a car stereo shouldn't be able to

I think I'm just going to take my phone and a USB cord into Best Buy with me to see what I can do. I'll report what I find. In the meantime, please feel free to jump in.

Originally Posted by jhunt2

I'm going to be purchasing a new aftermarket car stereo head unit soon. I'd really like to get one that would be the most compatible with my Torch. I was browsing in Best Buy tonight and found all kinds of stereos that are designed to work with an iPhone or and iPod, but I know that all of those cool features aren't available to us BB users. For example, an Alpine unit that I really liked was made to work with Pandora--even had thumbs up/thumbs down buttons. You'd just plug your iPhone into the USB port and all the Pandora information would show up on the display and you could pick a station, play a station, skip a song, etc without touching the phone. The Alpine website says that an iPhone is required to use those features (in other words, BBs and Droids need not apply).

Here's my situation:
I know I can use the standard 3.5 jack to connect to the phone, but are there any car stereos that use a USB connection on a Blackberry the way so many use for an iPhone? I'd really like to be able to control music (either MP3s or Pandora) on my Blackberry using my car's head unit.

Second, I just picked up a 32gb micro SD card for my phone and would love to be able to play and control the music on that card through the stereo. This question has been asked in many different threads, but I've not found a consistent answer. One consensus I've come to after doing a little research on the forums is that a USB connection would only be able to play MP3s from the phone's internal memory and not from a micro SD card--is that accurate?

If any of you have had a great experience with Blackberry integration with a car stereo, I'd love to hear it. Thanks so much!

I can address your second question. I have a Pioneer DVD/CD player in my car with a USB connection and an SD slot. I upgraded my micro SD card in my BB, put the old 8GB in an SD adapter and put that in the head unit. It takes a minute or so to read the SD card, but I have upwards of 500 songs, sorted by artist and playlist.
I haven't tried connecting my BB, so I cant address that. Hope that helpas a little.

Bluetooth will probably be your best bet if you really want to use the phone (streaming or playing from the giant mSD card).

Otherwise, I'm pretty sure the USB of the BB won't output audio. It won't--using the BB media player through my Pioneer CD-IB100 USB add-on box--that's for sure, but the newer units might. I can't remember if Pandora/iHeart can be outputted via USB...I need to put my tweeters back in then I can try it again.

My experience in using Bluetooth for audio has resulted in the same audio quality as using an FM transmitter, which is not desirable. I'd definitely shoot for a direct connection if possible.

Originally Posted by oldtimeBBaddict

I can address your second question. I have a Pioneer DVD/CD player in my car with a USB connection and an SD slot. I upgraded my micro SD card in my BB, put the old 8GB in an SD adapter and put that in the head unit. It takes a minute or so to read the SD card, but I have upwards of 500 songs, sorted by artist and playlist.
I haven't tried connecting my BB, so I cant address that. Hope that helpas a little.

It does! Thanks. I'd really like something that would enable me to use my phone to play music, but that is a compelling option if the phone thing doesn't workout.

Originally Posted by Thuoudo

Bluetooth will probably be your best bet if you really want to use the phone (streaming or playing from the giant mSD card).

Otherwise, I'm pretty sure the USB of the BB won't output audio. It won't--using the BB media player through my Pioneer CD-IB100 USB add-on box--that's for sure, but the newer units might. I can't remember if Pandora/iHeart can be outputted via USB...I need to put my tweeters back in then I can try it again.

It seems that you aren't able to play anything through the USB on a BB. I don't know how seamless bluetooth streaming is--whether it lets me control the phone from the headunit. Still trying to figure all that out. Thanks for your help!

Originally Posted by Blacklac

My experience in using Bluetooth for audio has resulted in the same audio quality as using an FM transmitter, which is not desirable. I'd definitely shoot for a direct connection if possible.

Yeah, I've heard this. I'm not a HUGE audiophile (I still have factory speakers, for example), but I think cut-outs, skips, interference, etc would get on my nerves in a hurry. I'm starting to wonder if using the 3.5mm jack and just controlling the music with the phone is my best option. Definitely nothing to get excited over, but I'm not finding a lot of other choices. It's almost enough to make me want an iPhone. Almost. :)

I recently bought a new stereo for my car. One thing I discovered during research is that there are a lot of units out there that have Bluetooth built in for use of a telephone but do not stream audio over Bluetooth. My personal suggestion, go to Crutchfield.com and play with the "outfit my car" option and choose the options you want and narrow it down that way. Don't have to buy from them, but they are a good research resource.