Car radio: what it is, types, how to choose

When your favorite music with a good combination of sound and bass plays from the car radio, even a boring long road becomes pleasant. How to choose a device that plays music well? Consider the types of car radios and the features that pay attention to first.

Size

Car radios are available in several sizes with these designations:

• 0.5 DIN or 178x25 mm. The most compact, they are installed inside the glove compartment or in a hidden shelf. With sufficient equipment, they can give a quality sound.
• 1 DIN or 178x50 mm. Standard dimensions, the most common.
• 1.5 DIN or 178x75 mm. Unusual size, found on American cars.
• 2 DIN or 178x100 mm. These large car radios are mounted in some models of American, Japanese and Korean cars.

OEM car radios are made for specific models and brands of cars. They are installed at the car factory. OEM car radios are often not suitable for other models of cars. They can be used only for those cars for which they are made.

Connecting elements

The connection connector on modern car radios is ISO. It is a harness with wires and connectors under the speakers. It is desirable that it was included and you do not need to buy it separately. Additional interfaces and connectors may be useful:

• Line In - for connecting to audio and video sources.
• Line output - for connecting external devices.
• RCA - to connect your monitor.
• Subwoofer output - to connect low-frequency speakers.
• USB - to read a flash drive, micro-USB for compact data carriers, a jack for Apple gadgets.
• Bluetooth to transfer files from other devices.

Audio and video playback formats

If the car radio "reads" the main formats of audio and video playback, it is universal. You won't have to spend time searching for suitable recordings or converting them to the desired format. It is desirable that your car radio supports MP3, WMA, MPEG4, AVI, DVD, AAC, FLAC and other formats.

How to choose a car radio

Pay attention to such parameters:

• Signal/noise - gives the purity of sound. The optimal indicator starts from 90 dB and above.
• The number of sound channels. The more there are, the more sound reproduction media can be connected. Two channels will only be enough for speakers. And 5 inputs you can connect 4 speakers and a subwoofer - the sound will be surround sound.
• Output power - the higher it is, the better the sound will be at minimum volume. It is specified as the number of sound channels. For example, 50 W x 4. It is important to keep in mind that the manufacturers specify two types of power. Nominal - designed for standard continuous operation. And the maximum - through the amplifier for a short time. The nominal value should not be lower than the maximum, it can be found in the technical documentation.
• External amplifier - for manual sound tuning, allows you to remove noise.
• Equalizer for fine correction of the playback quality.
• Mute button. It is useful if you need to take a call or talk to the passengers, while the music is playing. One press mutes or returns the sound in the car radio to its previous volume level.

The type of mounting of the car radio also affects the choice. Standard car radios are installed on the front panel of the car permanently. Removable models are easy to remove. They can be taken away with you if necessary. Hinged car radios are special in that the disc slot is located behind the panel. This leaves more space for the display and control system.