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The Omnifi? DMP1 consists of a compact hard drive module with a removeable 20-gigabyte hard drive (left) and a dash-mountable controller (right).

We might be living in the Golden Age of mobile audio/video entertainment. The old standbys of cassette, CD, and AM/FM radio are still alive and well, and they have been enormously juiced up by DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, MP3, XM and Sirius satellite radio, and HD Radio technology. Clearly, no one has an excuse to say they are bored during their daily drive time.

Of all the technological improvements, perhaps none is as pervasive as MP3. MP3 kicked off the file-sharing revolution that is legally (and illegally) changing the business of music, and reshaping how we bring music into our lives and carry it with us. Although a few oldsters still resist, most music lovers now routinely rip CDs into MP3 or WMA files. They burn the files to CD-R, or transfer them to the flash memory or microdrives in their portable players. It is often difficult to connect the output of portable MP3 players into a car playback system (and let's not even discuss the issue of how dangerous it is to drive while wearing headphones), but many modern car head units can play the MP3/WMA files on CD-R. That means a single disc might hold 10 hours of music — not a bad little library, and one reason why non-MP3 CD changers and players are now passé.

But what if you need to carry a really BIG music library with you? What if you don't want to swap out discs every few days, or what if you are driving from New York to LA and need a lot of tunes? The answer is a new niche of products that can record hundreds of hours of music on a removable hard drive, then navigate and play back the contents through your car's audio system. Even better, the task of putting the music on the hard drive can be done wirelessly with Wi-Fi®. In other words, there is a new generation of products such as the Omnifi DMP1 Digital Media Player.

The Omnifi™ DMP1 (Omnifi™ is a division of the well-known audio manufacturer, Rockford Fosgate Corp.) is a hard disk player for the car. Because its music content is ripped or downloaded MP3/WMA files, the DMP1 presupposes that you have a source of files, such as a home computer. (If you are a music lover, your PC might already have a few thousand songs on its hard drive). Also, although the DMP1 can be operated entirely by itself, you might also consider buying Omnifi's DMS1 Digital Media Streamer, designed for home playback of MP3/WMA files. Finally, using optional equipment, operation of the DMP1 (and the DMS1) can be made simpler by using a Wi-Fi® connection. As you might have already guessed, the DMP1 is a sophisticated product that is far removed from ordinary car audio players.

Using the optional D-Link DWL-121 wireless receiver lets you update your mobile music library wirelessly.

How does the DMP1 work? Let's first consider the part of the system in your home. The DMP1 comes with a CD-ROM holding proprietary SimpleCenter software for PC. It lets you create MP3 and WMA files and store them on your PC's hard drive. The software is compatible with the Windows 98SE, 2000, ME and XP operating systems and also requires Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher. (Not compatible with Macintosh at this time). Also, your PC needs about 100 Mbytes of hard drive space to store the program. If you want to connect the DMP1 to the optional DMS1 Digital Media Streamer (the home version of the Omnifi), you'll need a local area network connection, while if you want to use the optional Wi-Fi® receiver (D-Link DWL-121), you'll need a LAN connection with a wireless router. (A LAN is not needed to use the DMP1 by itself).

SimpleCenter lets you rip CDs to MP3 or WMA files, and then manage those files in a hard disk Media Library archive. As with any ripper, you can choose from a wide range of bitrates; low bitrates provide longer playing time on a storage media but also decrease sound quality, while higher bitrates do the opposite. In this case, there are nine MP3 bitrates from 32 to 320 kbps (kilobits per second), and six WMA bitrates from 48 to 192 kbps — your choice. (A rate of 128 kbps consumes about 1 Mbyte of memory for every minute of music).

No one likes to type in album and song titles, and of course you don't have to. SimpleCenter automatically accesses the online Gracenote service and supplies album information such as titles and times. The Media Library is quite nice; you can place files into categories such as album, artist, and genre. You can also create your own custom playlists. One more perk: you can access streaming Internet webcasters such as Live365.com and Launchcast, and listen to and download tunes or music information. The downside is that after your free 90-day access is over, this feature requires a paid subscription.

The removable hard disk connects to your computer via a USB 2.0 cable (included).

The next step is to move music files from your PC's hard drive to the removable 20-gigabyte hard drive that is the heart of the DMP1 (at a reasonable bitrate of 128 kbps, this capacity can hold almost to 360 hours of music). This module measures about 6" x 3-3/8" x 7/8" and is powered (at home) with a supplied AC adapter. It plugs into one of your PC's USB ports using a supplied USB cable. Then, you use the SimpleCenter software to move selected music files from the PC hard drive to the removable hard drive module. It takes only a few minutes to move dozens of music albums. After the hard disk drive has music installed, it's time to look at the car side of the equation.

The hard disk module is small enough to fit under a seat. The ultra-thin controller easily mounts on your dash.

The car hardware has two main components: a hard disk drive player, and a controller. The player measures about 7-3/4" x 6" x 2" and has a slot on one side; that's where the removable hard disk drive plugs in. The player also has two USB ports and a socket for a connecting cable. In this case, the player can be installed in the back of an SUV, the trunk of a sedan, or even under a seat. It's small enough to go almost anywhere, and it simply screws to the floor. Just make sure the top cooling fan is ventilated, and you can get the removable drive in and out.

The hard disk module has a connection for the 13-pin control cable and two USB ports.

The player's cable (about 16 feet) connects to a small hideaway module; it has a fuse, two RCA jacks for analog stereo output, four leads for battery, ignition, ground, and illumination, and an output socket. This socket connects to another cable (about 10 feet) and it connects to the controller. The face of this unit (1-7/8" x 6-3/4" x 1") looks like a standard size DIN head unit. But since it is so thin, it can be mounted on the surface of a dash, or simply used as a hand-held unit. If you decide to mount it, you can use a supplied bracket, and you can also hit an Eject button to release the controller from the bracket so you can take it with you for security reasons. The last step in the installation is to connect the module's stereo outputs to your audio system's auxiliary inputs. If you don't have auxiliary inputs, you can purchase an optional FM modulator and play signals through your radio, but this decreases sound quality.

After installation is complete, the fun can begin. Simply insert the removable hard drive into the player. You can now access all of the songs on the drive, and listen to them over your car's sound system. The controller is very simple to use. Its blue, back-lit, 3-line display shows you the album and song titles, and it's easy to scroll through the listings using a big scroll knob. Even better, there are menu buttons for Artist, Album, Genre and Favorites; if you hit the "Artist" button, for example, the titles are listed by artist names. That makes it easy to find the desired selection, even if your drive has hundreds of albums. Actual playback is done with typical transport controls such as Play and Pause. Also, you can bookmark a song, then later access the Muze web site to download artist and album information.

It's pretty cool to have an entire music library at your fingertips. But, a library isn't much good if the sound quality is poor. Anyone who has listened to MP3 or WMA files knows that sound quality can range from very good to very bad. To cram as many songs as possible into their memory or drive, some people use very low bitrates; this is a mistake because they will always sound poor.

The DMP1 gives you a choice of bitrates (but it cannot play back uncompressed music). Very generally, MP3 files coded at 128 kbps sound pretty good for portable playback, sound quite good at rates above 160 kbps, and excellent above 256 kbps. Also, generally, WMA sounds better than MP3 at the same bitrate; a WMA rate of 128 kbps can sound very good for car playback.

To test the playback sound quality, I listened to several WMA bitrate versions of Seal IV (Warner Brothers). Seal has always remained somewhat out of the mainstream, but each and every album is filled with expressive, passionate, and extremely well-produced songs. The first single, "Waiting For You", features a sparse, funky beat — in fact, the slightly off-beat feel is what makes it more interesting. Coded at a low 48 kbps is unacceptable. There is significant phasing in the chorus, so much so that the horns that wrap up the chorus are almost completely masked. This clears up very nicely when the bitrate is bumped up to 128 kbps. Part of Seal's distinctive sound is created by doubling his vocals. This can really mess up the ripped sound, but at rates above 128 kbps, there really isn't an issue. At 128 kbps, the incredible bass sound in the verses is strong, with a solid punch. The strong acoustic guitar that kicks off the reprise of "Get It Together" has a sharp attack, with a rich resonant sound that was practically indistinguishable from the original at 192 kbps. At anything lower, the guitar loses some of the brilliant high end. The sense of air and the imaging is terrific. The DMP1 proved to be an excellent system at high bitrates.


When you have listened to the hundreds of albums on your hard drive, it's time to swap them for others. That is simply accomplished by carrying the removable drive inside, and connecting it to your PC. It is easy to delete the songs (or move them back to your PC) and transfer new ones to the drive. On the other hand, for the ultimate cool factor, you might want to do that swapping chore wirelessly. With your PC's LAN connection, and some extra hardware, you can leave the removable drive in your car (parked in the driveway or garage) and transmit files from your PC to your car. Very slick. Here's what you need to do: connect your home PC to a Wi-Fi® (802.11b) network using an optional Wi-Fi® adapter and D-Link router, and connect another Wi-Fi® adapter to the car player.

For example, if you are using a notebook at home, plug in a Wi-Fi® PCMCIA card that will talk to a D-Link DI-614+ wireless router. Then, connect a D-Link DWL-121 wireless adapter to the USB port on the car player. Voila. Files can be wirelessly transmitted from your home PC to the player's hard drive. Using SimpleCenter, you can even set the system to automatically update your files, for example, automatically transmitting at 3 am when your car is likely to be parked near your home PC. Of course, Wi-Fi® only operates over relatively short distances, so you can't park down the street or in a remote parking lot. Moreover, Wi-Fi® transfer rates are slower than USB dumps. The DMP1 owner's manual suggests that you install your first massive music library via wired USB, and mainly use the Wi-Fi® to keep it updated with smaller files. In other words, the Wi-Fi® option for the DMP1 is very cool, but not keenly necessary.

The Omnifi? DMP1 is light years beyond traditional car audio products. If you've ever tried to load a CD changer in your trunk while it's raining, or dropped your disc wallet in a puddle, or lost or scratched a valuable CD, or are simply tired of radio, you'll appreciate the value of a secure music library with hundreds of your favorite albums. Moreover, unlike a portable MP3 player that cannot be easily operated in a car, the DMP1 was specifically designed for easy and safe operation while behind the wheel. Most important, the software backbone of this system is easy to use and does everything you need it to do, and it provides the additional perk of setting up your home PC as a music jukebox. Throw in the option of a Wi-Fi® home-to-car connection, and you have one of the most interesting mobile audio products to hit the road in years.


Leslie Shapiro is an audio engineer and a freelance technical writer for several leading consumer electronics publications.