I found a different MP3 module that has, it appears, an interesting feature. It has an aux input that is remotely switchable. If I'm looking at this right you could add this module to an am xmitter, mount a 1/8" stereo input plug, wire it into the aux input and you could switch between the built-in mp3 player and an external cd player, or other audio source. Am I figuring this right? This unit also has an FM tuner built-in.

http://www.emartee.com/product/42066/Remote%20USB%20SD%20Mp3%20Radio%20Player%20Module

It's also available on Ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Remote-USB-SD-Mp3-Radio-Player-Module-/270773847526?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f0b6105e6





Larry

A number of these cheap MP3 player modules have an aux input but they're not easy to find at emartee because their search engine stinks. Like, put in "mp3 module" and you'll get nothing because it looks for the exact string and that one, for example, has "radio player" in-between MP3 and module. But I digress.

The deal extreme unit has a different layout, but otherwise similar, and less expensive at $10.50. But the cheapest I found, so far, is at geminideal for $9.22 http://www.geminideal.com/Digital-Audio-MP3-Player-Module-with-Remote-Controller-Black-1-4-quot-LCD_p116087.html

There is a review for the deal extreme unit http://www.dealextreme.com/p/digital-audio-mp3-player-module-with-remote-controller-1-4-lcd-57558

Here's part of the description from the manual:


I may have missed those features on the other modules but I did not see them. Those additional features, and others, may have something to do with the higher price. The downside is that apparently you get no connectors with it. EDIT: It did arrive with a full set of connectors.

Larry

Bingo!!! Those are the magic words.
And you are correct. Those features are not on the other ones that we've discussed.

Also of interest--I just had a brief look through the manual--they mention a network connection. That could have some useful implications.

You'd miss them on that one too from the web page description.

I didn't notice the manual link before and if what the manual implies is true then it's different than the others (The review at dealextreme specifically says those features are not in their unit) but I'm not sure I trust it. It mentions ID3 tags but the display is nothing more than a 4 digit numeric. It mentions 'playlist' but when describing how to use the remote and panel buttons there's no mention of it, and I don't know how you'd find it anyway. The manual says 24 bit DAC while the web page says 16 bit and the web page product pictures don't match the manual's product pictures which, ironically, look more like the dealextreme unit that users say don't have the features listed in the manual.

Typical Chinese "have to buy it to find out what it is" product.

I vote that Rocketeer buys one and then gives us a review.

Who am I to disagree? So, in a spirit of cooperation, I vote yea.

Aw, you guys are too good to me!

Flipperhome, the display is described as:

and:

On the other hand the manual says this:

Huh?

Larry

Very interesting... I may shell out the $20 just to try this one.
I really miss having shuffle or a playlist capability in the two players I've already bought
I guess ambiguous documentation is better than none?

-Sam T.

Yeah, I know what the manual says but there's a picture of the thing on page 1 and you can clearly see the four 7 segment numeric digits, with a colon in the middle for, no doubt, the 'clock''. It looks like the same kind of display you see on LCD watches or 20 buck portable CD players and looks to me like the 'graphics' are a couple of itty bitty ('graphical') status symbols around the edge, like a curled arrow indicating 'repeat' is on.

I could be wrong but that's my best guess from what I see.

I have an old 'stick' MP3 player with an itty bitty LCD display... and you can select which 'color' LED backlight illuminates the thing.

Without seeing one I can't 'prove' that's what they mean but it's a "multi-color LCD display."

Yeah, almost all of them make some mention of "smart rules," whatever the heck that means, and for all I know they might figure finding the files and playing them, in whatever order, is pretty darn 'smart' already.

You may have noticed I'm not particularly impressed with 'Chinese manuals'.

Back in 'the good ole days' there used to be a raft of jokes about how difficult it was to follow 'bicycle assembly instructions' (and similar) but Chinese manuals make those look like literary works of sheer genius.

I'm frustrated by the Chinese manuals too, but this one actually gives some meaningful data, including pinout info:
http://www.electway.com/download/EWM-654.pdf

-Sam T.

That's the same manual as the link I posted, just with additional dealer info overlayed.

Flipperhome, I'm discounting the illustrations in the manual as generic. If you notice, the top illustrations don't match the lower line drawings, which are supposed to be the same units, and those don't match the surface mount drawings. The original pic I posted is more likely the correct illustration. At any rate, I'm going to order one and we'll see what it's actually like when it gets here.

OK, I ordered one, I've got my fingers crossed. FWIW, the Ebay deal is better by $4. Emartee shows a lower price but adds shipping. Ebay's price includes shipping plus you get buyer's protection.

Larry

These all require some external power and a housing etc.
But does anyone make one complete?

All I really want is an mp3-player with a remote... to plug into my amp.
... so I can listen from across the room.

I want it to accept all the various inputs like usb mem drive or memory cards etc..
But I want to control volume remotely as well as shuffle and skip or advance and back up.

It should do all the thing any normal mp3 player does but also a remote control and accept other input ram stuff.
Does one exist?

I also came across this while searching. Seems to be a cheap way to add MP3 to your car or truck radio. It plugs into the power outlet and transmits on FM to your radio. It's only $8.09 with free shipping. Interesting.

http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs/485308816-Car-MP3-player-Car-FM-Transmitter-Car-MP3-USB-SD-MMC-TF-w-Remote-Control-Retail-wholesalers.html



Larry

As a maybe paranoid warning, some devices with network connections have been known to install spyware on computers and then phone home to a server in China or elsewhere. The most notorious were digital photo albums that did their dirty work over a simple USB connection, allowing the remote servers to access banking, etc.

Interesting world we live in.

That's what I mean about contradictory information.

Maybe, but that picture doesn't match the surface mount drawing either. I just don't know, which is all I meant to say. And, by the same token, if they can't get the pictures/drawings right I don't know if they have anything else right either.

That 'manual' is written almost as if it's a 'capabilities' statement of what they think they 'could do', if you want to order a hundred thousand custom units, but not necessarily what any particular unit actually 'does do'. It's also possible the middle pictures are of a prototype or 'rev 1' unit because it looks to me like the two 'big' connectors have been re layed out to match the inline pinout of the LCD display board rather than using cables. But I'm just speculating.

I'm sure there are a lot of folks who'll be interested to see how it turns out. I know I'll be interested to hear if it has flat frequency response or if it’s oddball, like the one Bob worked on.

The MP3 player panel arrived from China today. The good news is that contrary to what's posted on the blog on their website, all the pigtails are included in the kit. There were no instructions with it, but the downloadable manual should cover it. I guess it's time to get started on the new kit.

I took a closeup of the front to show exactly what's in the display.



Here's the rear of the unit I received.



Larry

The portable FM xmitter player arrived today. I haven't tried it out yet. It plugs into the 12v power outlet on the dash and accepts a thumbdrive or SD MMC card. Set the FM frequency on the player, tune your car radio to that frequency and you're off and running. For some of you experimenters out there it might be interesting to connect it to a 12v supply at home and see how your post-war FM radio sounds playing OTR. It also comes with a pigtail to connect an external CD player to it. Might be a really inexpensive way (about $4-8) to broadcast to your FM radio.

Larry

Well I gave the car MP3 FM xmitter a test run today. The wife and I had to run to town about 45min away so I plugged it in and gave it a shot. First thing is you have to make sure it's plugged into the power outlet all the way. It can give you a false feeling when you insert it. Second, it came with no instructions so I had to feel my way. The only problem spot was that it did not retain the FM freq when it was unplugged. However, when I got home I searched the bejeebers out of the net and finally found some semblance of instructions and discovered that it is capable of storing multiple freq settings that can be recalled using the FL+/FL- buttons. I assume (now) that FL means Freq List. Live and learn. It does remember exactly where it is as far as what it's playing.

All that being said, this is an impressive little $8 xmitter. Harry James was tooting away like nobody's business on the radio all the way to town and Benny Goodman all the way home. For what it cost I'm very pleased with this little thing.

I have no idea of range. Some users of similar units have claimed only 15 feet or so while others have claimed 75 feet or more.

Larry

Hey Larry, did you run the MP3 player yet?
The directory navigation/shuffle features are what I'm interested in.
If you had folders on the memory card named music, comedy, variety, westerns for instance -
Can you see these folder names on the display, and skip to the genre you want?
Then if you chose say comedy, I assume it would start there and play everything in that folder.
But could you select 'shuffle' within that folder?

Thanks,
-Sam T.