Kenwood, Pioneer Offer AAC

By Amy Gilroy On Feb 7 2005 - 8:00am

Two suppliers, Kenwood and Pioneer, will ship new AAC-ready head units this year. AAC is the codec used by the Apple iTunes Web site, which recently announced that it sells 1.25 million songs a day (on track to sell one-half billion songs for the year).

Both the Kenwood and Pioneer units can playback CDs with AAC recorded files.

Kenwood introduced AAC capability on a new flagship CD receiver, model XXV-01D, that also allows connection to an iPod and control of the iPod via a remote control module. The unit also plays back WMA and MP3 encoded CDs and has a new Graphic Motion equalizer so the display may change as the car turns. The XXV-01D is expected to ship in June at a suggested $700.

Pioneer will ship this year three players that support AAC files, including models DEH-P7700MP, DEH-P770MP and FH-P4200MP.