How to Add a Car Radio USB
Car radio USB is one of the many features of new cars and aftermarket car stereos that were not available a few years ago. Some functions are more difficult to crack than others, such as adding them to an older head unit without paying expensive upgrade fees, but there are actually two ways to add USB to a longer head unit without paying too much trouble. In the old car stereo. The easiest way to add a USB interface to a car audio is to connect an FM transmitter with a built-in USB port, but if the head already has an auxiliary input, there is another way to provide better sound quality.
The Trouble With USB and Older Car Radio
Although USB seems to be just another auxiliary input method, it is actually more complicated than many people realize. Normal auxiliary input requires analog signals from devices such as satellite radios, CD players, or MP3 players, which is no problem, but USB allows the device to offload digital audio data to the head unit, letting it do the heavy lifting. This is why you can insert a USB flash drive that contains songs but no MP3 player hardware into the USB head unit, and then play music directly from the storage media.
This is also why USB to auxiliary cables don't work, you might expect, or hope, they will. If you plug the USB end into a device that can only passively provide storage access via a USB connection, nothing will come out on the other end. Of course, there are exceptions. For example, mobile phones and MP3 players can output analog audio signals through the USB connection.
Adding Car radio USB With an FM Transmitter
The easiest way to add a USB connection to a car stereo is to use an FM transmitter with a USB port. This is a true plug-and-play solution that requires no installation work. All you have to do is to connect the transmitter to the power supply, connect your mobile phone, MP3 player or USB flash drive to the transmitter, and then adjust the radio in your car to the empty position on the dial.
In order to provide the same functions as a real car radio USB, it is important to find an FM transmitter that includes a built-in DAC and MP3 player. If you wish, this will allow you to insert a USB flash drive, in addition to using your phone or MP3 player.
The main disadvantage of using an FM transmitter to add a USB to a car audio is quality and reliability. Some FM radios provide good audio fidelity, while others have many areas for improvement, so it is important to find a radio with a reliable reputation.
Even if you are using a high-quality FM transmitter, if you live in a place with a lot of strong FM radio signals, you may still encounter problems. The FM transmitter relies on finding a relatively blank position on the radio dial, which is more or less impossible in some places.
