The way it should have been done all along...

[LloydDobler]

I posted this as a reply to another thread but it deserves its own.  Kenwood just basically built the phatbox into their 2006 head units so you can plug in ANY USB DEVICE YOU LIKE!  Woot!  Okay they only built it into 5 or 6 of their head units but it's the way it should have been done from the beginning.  The only problem is your choices revolve around the single line displays for ~$250 or multi line displays for $400+  There's no mid-cost USB solution with multi line display even though they have several appropriate units in that price range.
 
Regardless, this is not getting anywhere near enough coverage.
 
http://www.kenwoodusa.com/search/?query=USB
 
I've downloaded the instruction manuals for some of these head units and it is all the same PMM software with VOIT built right in to the head unit.  You configure your device just like a Phatbox.

[markbowen]

Crap.  Just when I've got my Phatbox all loaded up and working well, here comes something better and basically future-proof.

You're right, this is the way it should have been done all along.  Would like to see some hands-on tests, but it does looks like these work identically to the Phatbox -- only with apparently limitless storage possibilities, and the added advantage of not having to deal with Phatnoise.

The only current limitation I can think of is that only notebook drives can run on USB bus power, whereas 3.5 inch drives need more juice.  Probably easy enough to work around.

[LloydDobler]

I'm going to be hands on testing it within the month, as I'm building a system for my new car with one of these headunits.  Gotta finish the car first.

You really wouldn't want to run a 3.5 in your car anyway, with the lack of shock protection.  But yeah, most external 3.5 enclosures have provision for external power.  I think I'd go with a powered USB hub of some kind and run multiple laptop drives off of it before using a 3.5 myself.  Unless the software is limited or something.  Hell I only have 30 gigs of music on my phatbox now anyway, I won't be needing multiple drives for quite a while.

[markbowen]

I just found another page with more info on this:
http://www.kenwood.com/usb/english.html

This lists the compatible USB devices as well as the specs and limitations of the Kenwood interface.

Any device belonging to the "USB Mass Storage" class is supported.  This would include pretty much any USB hard drive, memory card, etc. as well as many hard drive players, including iPod.

The maximum number of files supported through the Kenwood interface is 15,000, in maximum 500 folders.  This is the main difference between the USB interface and the Phatbox -- Phatbox supports 30,000 files (at least theoretically).  Still, 15,000 songs should suit the vast majority of people.

Better information on USB interface models can be found on the European Kenwood websites.  I think I'm going to wait until Kenwood ships a USB model with one of their higher-end (OEL) displays -- because those will display album art!

Still, looking forward to a hands-on report!

[judb]

Has anyone seen this before? The Kenwood Music Keg HD30GA9 http://www.kenwood.com/j/products/home_audio/personal/hd30ga9/index.html



also looking at the horsepower for playback capability listed http://www.kenwood.com/usb/compatibility/k.html it doesn't seem that there is a big increase in playback power since you are still limited to 192K for AAC and WMA playback.  Unfortunatlly Ogg and Flac do not appear to be supported.

[SteveC]

I seem to remember seeing something about that a while back, but it had no connection to the Phatbox crew (to the best of my knowledge). I think the "keg" name was just the brand that Kenwood was using for any hard-disk based device.