Jul 15, 2009 I have just bought a S.W.A.T5 car stereo that has usb connectivity for Ipod. All you have to do is plug in and play however when I try this the 'do not disconnect' warning sign comes on, the same as when its plugged into mac. It is clear that increasingly the design motivation for motor vehicle head units has been to provide devices that do all things for all people. But video too, both for entertainment and practical purposes (eg. For use with a reversing camera). Navigation to get you where you want to go, and hands-free telephone calls. Sony, of course, does that with the best of them. However with the RSX-GS9 it has gone back to the roots of car stereo, delivering a device designed only for pure, high fidelity audio. Hi, high-res Actually, not just high fidelity, but high resolution. That is, this unit supports such formats as ALAC (Apple Lossless) and FLAC, plus uncompressed (Mac friendly) AIFF and (Windows friendly) WAV. It can handle resolutions up to 24-bits and 192kHz. Plus Sony’s own Direct Stream Digital format. It can play the standard version of this, with 2.8MHz sampling from USB, and both that and the double rate 5.6MHz version when in USB DAC mode. Of course it also plays MP3, WMA and AAC, so your not-so-high resolution audio is fully covered. We will return to that. Why high res? Will you get any real advantage out of that in a car? Likely, but if you want to, you’ll need to get some high resolution super tweeters. And indeed a suitable amp, because the RSX-GS9 really is a source device and sound processor only, not an amplifier. Sony provided the high powered XM-GS4 four channel bridgeable power amplifier ($499) and a pair of XS-GS1 super tweeters ($399) – capable of delivering over 40,000 Hertz – to assist with the review. Autocad 2012 for mac update. But even if one doubts the sonic advantages, it’s damned convenient because it means that you can play the exact same files that you have in your high-fidelity system at home in your car, without having to convert to MP3. But let’s get into the details. The RSX-GS9 is a standard DIN-sized head unit (sans amps, as mentioned). But it looks nothing like any head unit you’ve (or we’ve) seen. Instead, once installed it looks like a very classy piece of high fidelity equipment. To the left there’s a simple, single-line alphanumeric display with four small keys underneath. To the right is a 3.5mm auxiliary input, a USB socket and a Micro-B USB socket. In the middle is a large rotary volume control knob with a nicely-lit ring around its base. There are further inputs around the back: another USB (supplied with extension lead) and on the main loom two speaker level inputs for feeding in the output of an existing car stereo. There’s also Bluetooth support, for audio playback, for control and for hands-free phone operation. For the latter purpose a microphone is supplied. For Bluetooth music playback the standard SBC codec is supported, along with AAC (good news for those who use Apple devices) and LDAC, Sony’s own high bitrate codec. That last should make for improved Bluetooth sound for those with compatible Sony Android phones. Those Android phones supporting AptX – such as my own Samsung Galaxy S6 – will have to make do with the lesser SBC codec. Or connect using the Micro-B USB socket. It is this which provides access to the USB DAC function. You can, in fact, use this with a Mac or Windows computer, but its main use is with Android phones. The two regular USB sockets support a direct digital feed from iPods and iOS devices in addition to flash memory. The Micro-B USB socket supports a direct digital feed from Android phones. But only Android phones that support On-The-Go (OTG) connections. If you’re unlikely to change phones soon and you’re uncertain, I’d suggest checking compatibility at your local Sony car audio retailer. ![]() Finally, the unit has an FM tuner, but not AM nor DAB+, so your broadcast listening options are limited unless you leave your old car stereo installed, running through this unit’s auxiliary input. Details, yet more details The Sony RSX-GS9 is not just a source device, though. It’s a proper car audio front end, needing only plain power amps to complete it. So it has six RCA outputs: two front, two rear and two subwoofer. There is a full set of setup features, such as a 10-band graphic equaliser (with a bunch of presets in addition to your own custom settings); such as a low-pass filter for the subwoofer outputs (which can be set to mono) with eight frequencies from 50 to 250Hz and an adjustable filter slope (12 to 48dB per octave); such as a high-pass filter for the main speakers with similar settings; and such as a time alignment facility. There’s enough there to thoroughly tune the sound for your position in your car.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |