My New Head Unit!

thecraft · February 1, 2008

Just got my new Pioneer DEH-P6000UB head unit in Tuesday! I have it hooked up to a 16GB Patriot Razzo flash drive with my entire music collection on it, no more CDs! Now I just need some decent speakers and a sub to go with it.

Hey, now my dash lights match!

The Razzo sitting in the ash tray. It has an auxiliary input too!

Zembonez · February 1, 2008

Looks slick. The lights look like they match up nicely. How is that MP3 thing working out?

conrad1995 · February 2, 2008

Nice Choice, I put the 5000UB in mine a couple weeks ago and love it! Haven't been able to get a flash or hard drive to work with it yet, and prefer not to leave my Ipod in my truck. Any tips on loading up your Razzo? Mabye I need to get rid of the install files on my root directories??

thecraft · February 2, 2008

Looks slick. The lights look like they match up nicely. How is that MP3 thing working out?

Works great! Almost 800 songs at my fingertips, easy to use too, controls just like an iPod.

Nice Choice, I put the 5000UB in mine a couple weeks ago and love it! Haven't been able to get a flash or hard drive to work with it yet, and prefer not to leave my Ipod in my truck. Any tips on loading up your Razzo? Mabye I need to get rid of the install files on my root directories??

I heard if you have other files on your drive that it can't play, it will seriously slow down the loading time. You might want to check that your drive is using the FAT16 or FAT32 file system. You can check by right-clicking on the drive under My Computer and then clicking on Properties.

[Edit] Hey Big Red, does your Pioneer have a lot of background noise? Mine has a TON, it's almost bad enough to make me return the unit. But it's really the only thing I don't like about it.

conrad1995 · February 3, 2008

[Edit] Hey Big Red, does your Pioneer have a lot of background noise? Mine has a TON, it's almost bad enough to make me return the unit. But it's really the only thing I don't like about it.

My local shop wasn't able to get the 6000 yet so that's how I ended up with the 5000. No background noise at all. I amped it and put new speakers/sub in as well so even at increased volume and wattage it's silent between tracks, but that's through the pre-amp outs so I don't know if you are running on lines or pre-outs, might make a difference. I would say if you have a lot of background noise, something is wrong, and either exchange it or trouble shoot it for a loose connection.

I have had it mess up with my I-pod one time, but I hadn't run a reset on the I-pod since I bought it a month ago, all has been fine since than. Ipods tend to get finicky without a reset every once in awhile especially when they are getting connected / disconnected to external controls.

I was thinking the same thing about extraneous files on my flash drive. I have a couple 4-gig Sandisk units that use the U-3 I think it's called software for management, gonna delete all the extraneous and load a couple folders to see what happens.

I had a maxtor 120 gig USB drive, but I don't think it was getting enough power from the USB to run, so I'm looking for another to replace it!

For the price and the features, Pioneer has stepped up their game quite a bit lately! Sure hope you get yours worked out!

thecraft · February 5, 2008

Hope you get your USB working. I don't think I could go back to CD-RWs.

Crutchfield (rocks!) is letting me exchange my receiver, so hopefully it's just a defective unit and not inherit in the design. If it is, this may be the last Pioneer I own for a long time, which would be a shame because I like everything else about the head unit. The noise is so bad I have trouble hearing the intro to One by Metallica over it at some volumes!

conrad1995 · February 5, 2008

Hope you get your USB working. I don't think I could go back to CD-RWs.

Crutchfield (rocks!) is letting me exchange my receiver, so hopefully it's just a defective unit and not inherit in the design. If it is, this may be the last Pioneer I own for a long time, which would be a shame because I like everything else about the head unit. The noise is so bad I have trouble hearing the intro to One by Metallica over it at some volumes!

I was listening to Rick Wakeman "Journey to the Center of the Earth", an oldy but a goody. The quiet passages and transitions were just that. I'm loving his unit more and more everyday!

Good thing you went with Crutchfield. My local shop would take it out and send it for repairs, can't stand the thought of being without!

OUMike · February 6, 2008

Very cool unit man. Maybe you guys could help me out. My girlfriend has an 05' Ford Focus (I know, I know) and the CD player (OEM) quit accepting CDs. We were gonna try to get her that 2 DIN that pioneer makes so that it would look nicer and fill the entire slot.

But after seeing this setup here I think I may give her my hard drive. I have a spare 80 gig drive I could convert to USB, but I'm not sure about getting power to it, or placement of it. Any ideas? Where do you guys keep yours?

EDIT - also...how difficult is the interface. I imagine if you have 10-20 gigs of music if could be rather difficult to cycle though the folders?

conrad1995 · February 6, 2008

Very cool unit man. Maybe you guys could help me out. My girlfriend has an 05' Ford Focus (I know, I know) and the CD player (OEM) quit accepting CDs. We were gonna try to get her that 2 DIN that pioneer makes so that it would look nicer and fill the entire slot.

But after seeing this setup here I think I may give her my hard drive. I have a spare 80 gig drive I could convert to USB, but I'm not sure about getting power to it, or placement of it. Any ideas? Where do you guys keep yours?

To start with I won't complain about the Focus. My wife has one that replaced one that replaced a series of Escorts. BUT she's happy so life is good. Her 2007 is her favorite, it has a tilt telescoping wheel so she can pull it all the way out, move her seat all the way forward and up and drive happy. Its a Gutsy little thing and I have fun driving it, but could never do a trip in it.

As for the USB power, that was the problem on my drive. It wasn't getting enough power from the USB. Maxtor One Touch III, the cable that came with it even has 2 usbs on one end to plug it in to 2 usb ports to draw enough power.

If your drive usually works with 1 usb cable, you are steps ahead of me. If you have one with a power adaptor, you may be able to run an inverter, but your probably better of just buying a USB powered drive. Pioneer has a nice video showing how the USB works, but can't tell what brand drive they were using.

I actually looked at a double din for my car, AVIC, but don't like the idea of not having at least a removable face plate. Sure they can steal the head unit and buy a face plate, but they aren't going to rip my dash out trying to remove it like they would a double din.

My Ipods got about 60 gigs of music, so turning the rotary know gets irritating. Cool feature though I can push the source button and it returns control to the ipod so I can select artist or album from there and switch control back to the head unit.

With a hard drive, a lot will depend on how well your folder structure is. But anything with a lot of scrolling is painfully slow.

OUMike · February 6, 2008

Very cool unit man. Maybe you guys could help me out. My girlfriend has an 05' Ford Focus (I know, I know) and the CD player (OEM) quit accepting CDs. We were gonna try to get her that 2 DIN that pioneer makes so that it would look nicer and fill the entire slot.

But after seeing this setup here I think I may give her my hard drive. I have a spare 80 gig drive I could convert to USB, but I'm not sure about getting power to it, or placement of it. Any ideas? Where do you guys keep yours?

To start with I won't complain about the Focus. My wife has one that replaced one that replaced a series of Escorts. BUT she's happy so life is good. Her 2007 is her favorite, it has a tilt telescoping wheel so she can pull it all the way out, move her seat all the way forward and up and drive happy. Its a Gutsy little thing and I have fun driving it, but could never do a trip in it.

As for the USB power, that was the problem on my drive. It wasn't getting enough power from the USB. Maxtor One Touch III, the cable that came with it even has 2 usbs on one end to plug it in to 2 usb ports to draw enough power.

If your drive usually works with 1 usb cable, you are steps ahead of me. If you have one with a power adaptor, you may be able to run an inverter, but your probably better of just buying a USB powered drive. Pioneer has a nice video showing how the USB works, but can't tell what brand drive they were using.

I actually looked at a double din for my car, AVIC, but don't like the idea of not having at least a removable face plate. Sure they can steal the head unit and buy a face plate, but they aren't going to rip my dash out trying to remove it like they would a double din.

My Ipods got about 60 gigs of music, so turning the rotary know gets irritating. Cool feature though I can push the source button and it returns control to the ipod so I can select artist or album from there and switch control back to the head unit.

With a hard drive, a lot will depend on how well your folder structure is. But anything with a lot of scrolling is painfully slow.

Yea man, I actually like her Focus. Other than the stupid radio crapping out, its been a pretty solid little car.

My hard drive is actually resting inside my comptuer right now, so I'd have to buy an enclosure for it. She has an MP3 player that I bought her, but its only 512mb I believe...a gig tops. Might as well use CD-Rs for that.

While I was sitting here I came up with an idea to sit the radio on the top part of the slot, and the hard drive below. The only problem with that would be removing the drive to change songs or what have you. There really isn't a good place for it other than the glove box. Maybe I could use Velcro or something like that to secure the drive in the glove box.

conrad1995 · February 6, 2008

Yea man, I actually like her Focus. Other than the stupid radio crapping out, its been a pretty solid little car.

My hard drive is actually resting inside my comptuer right now, so I'd have to buy an enclosure for it. She has an MP3 player that I bought her, but its only 512mb I believe...a gig tops. Might as well use CD-Rs for that.

While I was sitting here I came up with an idea to sit the radio on the top part of the slot, and the hard drive below. The only problem with that would be removing the drive to change songs or what have you. There really isn't a good place for it other than the glove box. Maybe I could use Velcro or something like that to secure the drive in the glove box.

If you go single din radio, you might be able to find the metra kit with the storage compartment for the other half!

As for the CD crapping out. DW's is out as we speak. Gonna take it back to the dealer, but I have been told to just unplug it and see if it resets. Might wanna give it a try!

OUMike · February 6, 2008

Yea man, I actually like her Focus. Other than the stupid radio crapping out, its been a pretty solid little car.

My hard drive is actually resting inside my comptuer right now, so I'd have to buy an enclosure for it. She has an MP3 player that I bought her, but its only 512mb I believe...a gig tops. Might as well use CD-Rs for that.

While I was sitting here I came up with an idea to sit the radio on the top part of the slot, and the hard drive below. The only problem with that would be removing the drive to change songs or what have you. There really isn't a good place for it other than the glove box. Maybe I could use Velcro or something like that to secure the drive in the glove box.

If you go single din radio, you might be able to find the metra kit with the storage compartment for the other half!

As for the CD crapping out. DW's is out as we speak. Gonna take it back to the dealer, but I have been told to just unplug it and see if it resets. Might wanna give it a try!

Yea, I think I'm gonna try that too. Thats actually a really good idea about the metra kit. So I guess the only other issues are the steering wheel stalk controls and maybe power to the hard drive.

Thanks a lot!

thecraft · February 6, 2008

Alright, I should be getting my new unit in this Friday, hopefully that will solve my problem.

Yea, I think I'm gonna try that too. Thats actually a really good idea about the metra kit. So I guess the only other issues are the steering wheel stalk controls and maybe power to the hard drive.

Thanks a lot!

If whatever receiver you decide to go with has a wired remote input, there are aftermarket adapters that will allow you to keep your steering wheel controls.

As for powering a hard drive, my Pioneer's owners manual states that it can supply up to 500mA.

OUMike · February 7, 2008

Alright, I should be getting my new unit in this Friday, hopefully that will solve my problem.

Yea, I think I'm gonna try that too. Thats actually a really good idea about the metra kit. So I guess the only other issues are the steering wheel stalk controls and maybe power to the hard drive.

Thanks a lot!

If whatever receiver you decide to go with has a wired remote input, there are aftermarket adapters that will allow you to keep your steering wheel controls.

As for powering a hard drive, my Pioneer's owners manual states that it can supply up to 500mA.

Thanks a lot Kyle, good luck wiht your troubles.

Think 500mA enough to power a 3.5 inch drive?