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Boss Audio 630U MP3 / CD Receiver with USB and Memory Card Ports
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Technical Details
- In-dash car stereo with CD player, AM/FM tuner; 20 watts RMS power x 4 channels (60 watts peak)- Auxiliary audio input for connecting portable digital audio player; SD/MMC memory card slot; USB port
- 5-volt preamp front/rear output, subwoofer output
- Large white-on-black display; illuminated blue buttons; detachable front panel
- Compatible with CD-R/RW discs and MP3 files; includes remote control
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By TJ Hock (New York, NY United States)
I recently bought the Boss 630UA car stereo from Amazon (Oct 2007) when it was on sale ( Eighty three bucks with Free Shipping since I got it directly from Amazon and not one of the side vendors). The Boss 630UA replaced a JVC--nothing wrong with the JVC but I wanted to be able to play MP3 digital music, which it could not.
The Boss 630UA has the following features:
-- Plays regular CDs (eg., CD-R/RW. These are CDs that you buy from the record store).
-- Plays MP3 CDs (CDs containing music in digital MP3 format).
-- Plays MP3 music contained in a USB drive (these can be flash drives or hard drives), which connect thru the USB connector
-- Plays MP3 music contained in a Microsoft Zune, Sandisk Sansa, iPod or any other portable music player capable of storing digital format music. These connect thru the auxiliary connector
-- Has radio tuner that plays FM and AM.
-- Rated at 60W X 4
-- Removable faceplate.
-- Has USB connector for USB drives, and auxiliary connector for portable music players
I won't review the regular features such as radio tuner (AM and FM stations) and the regular CDs since these features are found in all car stereos. Suffice to say, the sound quality is decent and comparable to my old JVC stereo.
When a USB flash drive is inserted, the stereo will detect it and start playing the MP3 tracks on the USB drive. If the MP3s are in folders, it will play all the music in one folder and then jump to the next folder and play the music in that folder, and so on. You can jump forward to the next track by pressing the >> button or go back one track by pressing the << button. To forward multiple tracks, keep pressing the >> button until you reach that track.
You can also search for a track and jump directly to it. Say you want track number 139--you can enter the track number and the stereo will jump to track 139--very useful since you won't want to be pressing the >> button to get to track 139 as it will take too long to move sequentially over that many tracks.
Response is quick. When a USB flash drive is first inserted (I used a 1 Gig flash drive containing about 200 songs in MP3 format), it recognizes the drive, displays the number of songs on the drive and starts playing the music within 3 to 4 seconds. When the USB drive is playing and you pop in a CD, it will automatically switch to the CD. If you want it to switch back to the USB drive, press the "Source" button and you can choose USB as the source so that it can switch back to the USB drive.
When you turn off the stereo or power down your car, the stereo will remember the last track that was playing. So when you power up the next time, it will start playing at that track (as long as the USB drive is not removed from the connector and the stereo is not removed)
There are some limitations to this car stereo, none of which were deal breakers for me:
1) The number of songs in any USB drive cannot exceed 249.
2) If you buy a stereo from Boss which comes with a SD memory connector, the SD card cannot exceed 500 MB (Note that this stereo DOES NOT come with a SD memory card connector. I mention it here just in case you're considering a BOSS car stereo that does come with a SD card connector)
3) It will only play MP3 music. It WILL NOT play WMA, WAV, AAC, OGG, etc. (MP3 means MP3!!!)
Note that these information can all be found on their website -- BossAudio dot com. I did not make these up! (I also confirmed these points with a tech at their site.)
(The above points made are based on playing MP3s from a USB flash drive and also on MP3s burnt onto a CD. I have not yet tested the auxiliary connection for portable music players.)
Overall, I'm very happy with the stereo. It allows me to play my MP3 music from a USB drive and also from a CD, and those were exactly the features I was looking for. It was the right price (83) and it had free shipping from Amazon. The stereo's display lighting is not too bright and doesn't cause undue glare when driving at night (A pet peeve I had with my old JVC player). The sound is as good as, if not better than, my JVC player. The buttons and knob on the faceplate seem a little bit more flimsy when compared to the JVC but so far nothing has broken yet. (I've only had it for a month, so this is definitely not a testament to its ruggedness!).
By Ronald P. (Sierra Vista, AZ USA)
One of the other reviews hints at this problem (a one star review), but isn't very clear.
The problem appears to be that the model number 630UA is actually a different model than is shown and described. I got a "630UA", but it didn't have an SD memory card slot as described and shown. Look closely at the picture, and you'll see the model number of what is shown.
What is especially aggravating is that the product they shipped me is actually selling for about half the price of what I paid.
Incidentally, the vendor, ANTonline, never returned the messages I left them through Amazon. Since it was a gift, I decided not to press for a return. I guess crime *does* pay.
Ron
By Hamir Padilla
I bought a system with reader cards port but thats a lie because the system don't have nothing at all.
I don't know why you advice about a system with those characteristiques and send another totally different.
By Z. Kolev (Cupertino, CA)
This unit seemed great when I first bought it. After about a month the USB and SD slots stopped working and support was minimal was to non-existent from the manufacturer. The user manual was very small and lacked info. The buttons and volume knob don't always work well. I got the model with bluetooth but that was also a very poorly implemented feature. Reception also felt a tad weaker than my stock honda deck. I mostly use it for the aux in and mp3 cds which it plays well.
By ManchesterUnited08 (Terre Haute, IN)
Overall the receiver is decent and I'd recommend it, but I would recommend using an mp3 player and AUX in instead of the USB and/or SD card reader on any device, especially this one.
Why the SD and USB are disappointing:
1. If you put more than a few files on them it takes a long time to read (can take more than 10 minutes)
2. If using WindowsXP (haven't tested with other OSs) to fill up SD card, sometimes you have to just format the card and try again because the Boss won't read it (yes, I am using the "safely remove device" feature in WinXP).
3. Navigation is horrible. The screen only shows a few characters at a time and it can take a long time to go through several tracks, especially if they're large files.
4. In a single file, fast-forwarding is a very long process (maybe 8x, so to get to the 40 minute mark in a file, it takes 5 minutes of holding the forward button). Plus, if you hit a bump or slip while fast forwarding and click the button again you'll skip tracks and have to start again.
5. Bookmarking (only works for SD) doesn't always work. It seems completely random to me (bookmarking is when it automatically picks up where if left off, i.e. the next time you turn it on).
So, if you really must have SD or USB this might be your receiver to get, but I would go with something else if you can.
Also, BOSS Audio as a company is very disorganized and unprofessional. If you look at their web site they have the wrong pictures with different models (including this one) and incorrect information throughout the page. Unless they reuse model numbers or something.
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