In addition to its announcement of new navigation units, Sony announced four new car stereo receivers on Wednesday.
The Sony CDX-GT630UI features a USB port on the faceplate for iPod connectivity.
(Credit: Sony Electronics Inc.)At the top of the new lineup is the CDX-GT630UI ($160), a unit that Sony touts as its first car stereo that connects to iPods/iPhones and USB devices via a USB connection. Our experience is that in the past, Sony head units either supported USB or iPod via a 30-pin dock connector, but not both. Interestingly, the GT630UI's USB port appears to be located directly on the faceplate, which solves the problem of routing a USB pigtail during installation and allows a thumb drive to be popped right into the front, but creates the issue of an unsightly USB cable (or iPod sync cable) sticking out of the front of the unit.
Sony's included a few tricks to help users navigate the gigabytes of MP3, non-DRM AAC, and non-DRM WMA-encoded digital audio they'll be connecting. First up is Sony's new ZAPPIN function that operates similarly to the scan function of many FM radios. The unit scans the attached media, playing short music clips until the listener finds the song she wants. For smaller devices, such as USB thumb drives, where there's not a ton of music to sort through, this could prove useful, but sorting through the 4,000-plus songs on our iPod would probably be slow going. Sony has also included its Quick Browzer that we saw in use on the CDX-GT920U and a Jump Mode feature that lets users quickly search large libraries. A passenger-control feature allows the iPod to be directly controlled while plugged in.
The next model in Sony's lineup is the CDX-GT430IP ($130). The "IP" at the end of the model number means this model is specifically designed to interface with the iPod/iPhone and drops its USB connection in favor of a 30-pin dock-connector pigtail. The GT430IP keeps the ZAPPIN, Quick Browzer, and Jump-mode tech of its sibling.
Further down the lineup is the CDX-GT330 ($100), which loses USB/iPod connectivity altogether, but still supports MP3 and non-DRM WMA playback, presumably via CD. iPod connectivity can be restored through the addition of an iPod adapter, but the $50 cost would make the GT330 more expensive than the GT430IP, which has iPod functionality built in.
At the bottom of the lineup is the CDX-GT130 ($80), which appears to be a pretty basic CD receiver without any digital audio decoding functionality. All units will be available in September, featuring an aux in on the faceplate and 52-watts x 4-channel amplification.
In all the brouhaha of Sony's announcements on Blu-ray burners and Internet-connected TV, it's easy to miss the real news from the technology giant at CES: the unveiling of four new single-DIN stereo head units. Following the trend to USB inputs we've seen elsewhere, three of Sony's new stereos come with USB 2.0 ports built into the faceplates. Although, unlike new stereos we have seen this week from Pioneer, the Sony players will only play back files from a thumbdrive or from a digital walkman (not from iPods, Zunes, or other digital music players, according to the Sony rep here). The top-of-the-line product in the new lineup is the CDX-GT81UW, which, along with its USB capabitility, plays MP3s, has an auxilliary input jack, and 4-volt front, rear, and sub preamp outputs.
Sony CDX-GT81UW
(Credit: Sony)
Sony CDX-GT610Ui
(Credit: Sony)The more basic GT710 is similar in appearance (we don't have an image for it--you'll just have to believe us), featuring the same motorized faceplate as the GT81UW, but it comes without either the preamp outputs or the USB port.
Sony CDX-GT410U
(Credit: Sony)The nonmotorized CDX-GT610Ui offers the most connectivity options: in addition to a USB port and a generic aux-in jack, it comes with a 30-pin iPod connector, transferring all of the iPod's control functions to buttons on the faceplate. The entry-level CDX-GT410U boasts only an aux-input and will not play MP3 discs.
All four of the head units can be connected to separate modules for XM or Satellite radio, and each is compatible with Sony's XA-110IP iPod adapter.
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