Autoblog

Scion has selected iBiquity Digital to provide HD Radio technology in some of its audio systems. Scion hasn't said how it plans to integrate iBiquity into Scions, or which cars will get the systems first, but the partnership marks another incursion of HD Radio into the mass market -- BMW, Ford and Jaguar already offer it, with Volvo opening the HD spigot next year. HD Radio offers stations the ability to transmit multiple programs over a single FM frequency with crystal clear reception -- and there are more than 1,600 stations across the nation, available to 83-percent of the country. In the future, HD plans to introduce features that will match or better those offered by satellite radio. But unlike satellite radio, HD is free.

[Source: Toyota]

Click above for a high-res photo gallery of the Naim Audio System

Dropping us yet another hint that ultra-luxury automobile buyers really do listen to Kanye West when their windows are rolled up, Bentley Motors has announced an exclusive partnership with British high-end audio manufacturer Naim to fit the world's most powerful in-car production amplifier to their full model lineup.

The bragging rights center around an 1100-watt amplifier driving up to 15 speakers (depending on the model). Cutting-edge technology on each system includes Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and Dynamic Equalization to offer passengers an 'as-live' in-car audio experience. To adapt the system to each particular Bentley model, Naim analyzed each car and then designed a unique speaker drive unit for it. According to Bentley, the painstaking measures taken to match the acoustics to the particular vehicle are so effective that even with rapper Kanye West belting out tunes at full system power, only a low level of sound can be heard from outside the car. Too bad the same thing can't be said for the Honda Civic that my teenage neighbor drives...

[Source: Bentley Motors]

Click above for a high-resolution gallery of the 2007 Toyota Prius Touring.

While the Toyota Prius and other hybrids may be the next best thing to riding a Vespa for the environment, one group has been concerned about their lack of noise they produce. Members of the National Federation of the Blind are voicing their concerns to a Maryland legislative committee today regarding the safety of hybrid vehicles while running in all-electric mode. It's been reported over the last couple of years that individuals who rely on sound to safely interpret and navigate their surroundings are at risk when navigating congested urban environments populated by hybrids. The legislative task force will study the effects of a vehicle's noise levels on pedestrian safety and make a recommendation by the end of the year. If this initiative gets traction, we don't think a Prius will start singing like the Ferrari F430 anytime soon... but maybe they could give it a nice growl like the Audi R8?

[Source: Automotive News (subs. req'd)]

The great thing about vintage cars is, well, they're vintage cars. One of their drawbacks is vintage sound from vintage speakers and vintage playback capabilities. For those times when neither 8-tracks nor some gaudy modern stereo system will do, the Retro Sound Model One keeps things looking smartly classic.

The Model One is essentially modern mechanicals in a classic face -- it's even got chromed knobs, and the mounting system is so flexible that it works with stereos that only use one knob. In addition to 24 presets and a host of outputs, it's also got a USB connection and an auxiliary port, so you can play from just about anything, and the display shows the track names. And if the Retro Sound is still too modern for you, you can get the remote and hide the radio entirely in the glovebox.

[Source: Retro Sound]

Since the debut of the original C70, and even before, Volvo's had a hi-fi fetish. That first C70 debuted the idea of in-car surround, running a Pro Logic head unit with available Dynaudio drivers arranged around the cabin. Volvo wants to continue offering its customers a euphonic experience, so they're equipping virtually all 2009 models with HD Radio receivers beginning in late 2008. HD Radio offers expanded programming, like the satellite services, but there's no fee. The selection may vary by geographic location, and variety may be spotty, but that's not as bad as it seems. Rather than blanket the country with the very same show from Atlantic to Pacific, HD offerings vary by locale, just like good old radio. Volvo's effort will give their vehicle fleet the largest base of standard-equipment HD receivers in the world, though the base S40 and V50 will not be available with the head units.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

When a new car lists "iPod Jack" in its feature list, you never know just how much of a feature that really is. Sometimes it just means your iPod will play and charge while plugged in to the car stereo, but forget about changing artists or choosing a new playlist unless you fish it out of whatever oddly-shaped hole that's been left for it. And retrofitting for a lot of cars means an expensive stay at the electronics store, or wires that cross from here to there.

Toyota has just released an iPod integration retrofit kit that will make your new auxiliary input look like it came straight from the factory. And it will give you full control of all iPod functions from either the head unit or the steering wheel. Click Read to check out the full press release.

[Source: Toyota]

It'll cost you about the same as an iPod, but it's so much cooler. Or obnoxious. Mike Kosco dreamed up a way to make his Hummer growl, as well as sing whatever nuggets that could be crammed into 256 megabytes, too. If you're driving around a Hummer with the Incredible Hulk on the hood, you should probably expect verbal abuse. That's just what happened to the San Clemente, California resident at a coffee shop when teenagers gave Kosco a good heckling over his airbrushed mural. Fast forward two years, and the Horntones system made its debut at CES in Las Vegas.

The system consists of a player, and amplifier and a speaker. It costs $250, and it's light years beyond the old musical horns of the late '70s that would play horrid renditions of songs without the gift of polyphony. The player has a control unit that can navigate through your themes and tones and the entire setup looks high quality and well-designed. There's a website where you can custom organize and configure your sounds and songs, and then load the file onto a thumb drive that you then use to transfer the goods to your FX-550 rig. If you've just got to have Rico Suave at the ready, units are available and shipping, and look for Horntones at SEMA.

check the press release after the jump

There's already been a silent technology explosion in automobiles over the last ten years. Command and control has become largely a computerized affair. With high and low speed data buses throughout the automobile, your car is basically a network. It used to be that you'd press the power window switch and current would flow to a motor, or it would trigger a relay. It was simple to execute in the design and manufacturing stages, and troubleshooting was a matter of time spent with a test light and a meter. Modern cars use protocols like CAN, or Controller Area Network, to facilitate the liberal smattering of increased functionality we all desire in our vehicles. Press that same window switch now, and a message is sent to the central processor that you desire a change in the window status. The central processor then alerts the window motor to energize in the proper direction, and then it's off to the races for the glass. Sounds overly complex at first blush, doesn't it?

The old way had some drawbacks that the new systems hopefully alleviate. Firstly, there were lots of potential failure points with analog control systems. Also, components had to be wired to each other for functionality, and that required lots of wire. Wire is expensive (checked the price of copper lately?), and it adds weight and takes up space. Networking protocols allow automakers to integrate functions as never before – check out the way the MazdaSpeed 3 dials down its power output depending on steering angle – while using less wire and having a system that's more reliable. These changes have gone on virtually unknown to most motorists, but the cool stuff is just around the bend.

[Source: Automotive Design Line]

The naming is appropriate for a low-frequency addicted BAMF - Sub Mofo. If you're looking to jiggle the teacups in Aunt Millie's breakfast nook over in the next county, this is the vehicle for you! It appears to be some sort of promotional vehicle for mobile audio manufacturer Power Acoustik. In fact, Mofo is a particular model line of extremely beefy subwoofers from the California-based electronics manufacturer. The Mofo-10s appear to be part of what this truck's equipped with. From the specs, these woofers require serious current, so we hope that's a generator truck underneath all the line arrays, crossovers and electro-shock graphics. With a motor structure that weighs 270 ounces, a couple of these babies in the trunk of an RWD car, with the supporting cast of amps, active crossovers, stiffening capacitors, and a battery for good measure, you'd have plenty of snow traction. Subtle it's not, but it is an impressive way to go deaf. What?

[Source: techeblog]

A few short years ago, getting a CD player or better yet, a multidisc changer in your car was an upgrade. Now, the little silver disc has taken up residence with cassettes as cast-off technology. Even with the cheap digital to analog converters that are in car stereos, CDs have a sound advantage over lossy data codecs like MPEG, but only us geeks seem to care that hi-hats sound like someone whisking an egg. Besides, portability and flexibility easily trumps esoteric sound quality. Truth be told, even though the original CDs sound better, my mp3 player is so much more convenient that I'll be adding an auxiliary input to my factory stereo – no small feat on some cars.

Ward's Automotive Interior show, currently underway at the Cobo center, is allowing automakers to show their wares to the masses over the next few days, with the realization that future vehicles are bound to dispatch that awkward center control unit for something more intuitive and user-programmable. Several automakers have already realized that people have all sorts of portable devices, and as such, new car interiors bristle with input jacks and 12-volt power sockets.

[Source: Detroit News]