Music set-up for camper van ?

[macvisual]

Ok, so we often wild camp in our camper van in/around West coast of Scotland without any wi-fi/3g/4g signal very often. Our portable FM/AM radio very often doesn't pick up any signal at times leaving us stranded without any music to listen to. I have an i-phone 11 Pro which blue-tooth is available/possible.

We have a solar panel (260w) on vans roof which charges up the spare leisure battery (150amp hrs) which is then converted to a 2000w inverter giving us 2x available USB sockets and 2x standard 13amp sockets to use power wise if required when off-grid.

So my query is; what's the easiest/simplest/cheapest way to add a music system so we can access music whenever we've zero signal. I can/could add the likes of two circular speakers (or one stereo speaker) on the rear panel in the van etc, but what would power it? Would the likes of a 1 or 2 terabyte hard-drive filled full of music be accessible to play from some kind of device at all? I'm totally lost on how to access music with no signal whilst parked up in remote areas. It doesn't need to be high quality sound wise....

Any advice/knowledge/experience would be greatly appreciated - thank you.


Best regards;
Peter
Scotland

 

[simon g]

Download music to your iPhone and then use a decent bluetooth speaker. Simple and what millions do on a daily basis.

Forget the terrabyte capacity, it's just not required. AAC is fine for your purposes. Even if your phone has limited memory, you will be amazed at just how much music it will hold

 

[bencat]

Of course if you used an Android phone you could add an SD card of a decent size and use that for music but being Apple no additional storage is allowed or is there a way around it ? Personally I would look at a used bu cheap music player with Bluetooth like the Pioneer or Fifo and use that leave the phone well alone . Agree about the Bluetooth speaker some of these can be very jolly to listen to JBL do some nice sounding ones and as they are quite rugged could be easily used outside as well .

If you want something cheap to keep costs down the below would work and will allow up to a 128gb SD card which will hold more than enough music .

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334496907289?hash=item4de191c019:g:gVkAAOSwd~dix1IG

 

[t1no]

Sounds like you will be better off with a Bluetooth speaker with internal battery as @simon g suggested. That means you can use it without being tethered to the mains in or out of the camper van. There are lots to choose from … for example the Cambridge Audio YoYo S can be had for about £60 refurbished on eBay (they regularly have 15% discounted offers). There are others that are waterprooof / dust proof which may be something worth considering e.g. Ultimate Ears Wonderboom. You can always get a secondhand phone or portable music player with storage if you need it as suggested by @bencat

PS Check for portable speakers that have a threaded screw base like the Cambridge YoYo I mentioned … this gives the flexibility to mount it on a support if you need

 

[audio_PHIL_e]

What's wrong with a ghetto blaster running on rechargeable batteries?

 

[t1no]

What's wrong with a ghetto blaster running on rechargeable batteries?

Because it’s 2022 not the 1980s

 

[audio_PHIL_e]

Because it’s 2022 not the 1980s

The date has f**k all to do with it.

 

[steve 57]

In my campervan I've tried a decent smart speaker, but I found I could not live with the sound I now fitted various loudspeaker combinations into the units ending up with Mark audio drivers, driven by the best of a selection of 12 volt amplifier modules I've bought over the years, connected with a mini jack wire into a tablet or phone
In my opinion there's quite a good sound from my present set up, it's better than the cab radio/cd player, and far better than the £180 sony smart speaker

 

[gninnamag]

Sonos Roam and use your phone - job done

 

[MVJ]

I used a bose blutooth in my camper that charged via usb music provided by my iphone for several years.

It works worked perfectly & sounded pretty good when your starved of tunes. I also used the speaker via the tv headphone socket to improve the sound too as the inbuilt sounds so thin & tinny.

 

[DomT]

If you just want to hear music then any portable wired or Bluetooth speaker will do. Some of the better ones still can be run on batteries. I use my iPhone playing into a Roberts radio aux input and it’s good enough. If you are looking for something better then use the aux in on your van Audio system.

 

[garn63]

A small generator and P.A for the roof would get the West Coast rocking ?

 

[Chumpchops]

Sonos Roam and use your phone - job done

correction, a pair of Sonos Roams set up as stereo pair.
i bought 1, then a second and have used them in hotels, on boat, bedroom and camping. Very satisfied.
i am looking at a T6 camper conversion but will not be installing car type stereo stuff to upgrade the OEM fit, as the smart speakers fulfill as my portable listening reqs. Loud enough, detailed enough, Trueplay pseudo EQ functionworks well in smaller spaces, splash proof, highly portable yet very easily sited.

I am not a Sonos fan for home, and their associated app is not perfect, but I have warmed to these for outside stuff.

 

[Cable Monkey]

The easiest way is a cheap laptop plugged into portable powered speakers. USB drive filled with music, and away you go. The laptop allows you to browse and select your files. Speakers can be compact, something like Bose Companion 20’s will fill a van with decent quality sound and be frugal on power consumption. They are about 100 second hand, maybe less.

 

[Le Baron]

I use my mp3 player connected to a portable speaker. It's bluetooth. but I just use a direct cable. The mp3 player can run for between 8-10 hours on a single charge and holds an enormous amount of music. The speaker runs out of power more quickly, but I have two of them. The resulting sound is ore than adequate.

This is a lot simpler than either a phone or laptop, both of which need more charge and use more energy because of the screens.

 

[Cable Monkey]

Would the likes of a 1 or 2 terabyte hard-drive filled full of music be accessible to play from some kind of device at all?

This is the reason I suggested a laptop. A decent sized screen will be a valuable asset and the laptop should power a portable drive no problem.

 

[Chumpchops]

This is the reason I suggested a laptop. A decent sized screen will be a valuable asset and the laptop should power a portable drive no problem.

Rather than hump around a laptop, portable HDD, power supply etc, yiu can also use one of the more capacious SD flash wi fi drives as a stand alone unit than phones etc can wi fi into. They create their own local wifi so great off internet. Low power consumption, rechargeable via usb small, cheap, flash-based so quick.

I have one of these, but the WD wireless items are good, and have all drivers to run from iOS or Android phone, without a pc for files access etc. movies and music.

 

[Cable Monkey]

I’d challenge the suggestion flash based memory is ‘quick’ but it is more than adequate for music library duties. I might add that a tablet might be a better proposition than a phone as the bigger screen will make browsing music easier. Also setup would need to be done prior to getting out there in case things don’t go according to plan.

 

[Chumpchops]

I’d challenge the suggestion flash based memory is ‘quick’ but it is more than adequate for music library duties. I might add that a tablet might be a better proposition than a phone as the bigger screen will make browsing music easier. Also setup would need to be done prior to getting out there in case things don’t go according to plan.

Both tablets and phones can concurrently access the storage.

Flash is faster than spinning disc in every instance for reads and most for writes, with the exception of very large sequential files. It also uses a fraction of the prowler cooling required from HDDs. MLC and SLC flash technology is advancing At Moore’s Law rates, whereas HDDs are stalling.

IME.

 

[Cable Monkey]

I didn’t realise modern solid state drives are flash based! It pretty much means differences between my preferred solution (a portable drive wired via USB) and yours via WiFi differ only by method of connection. Obviously a spinning disk is slower and less robust. But it is also very cheap!