I was wondering if there are any head units out there that let you plug into an external hard drive and play music off of it? I have a 1TB external with about 600GB of music so I'm hoping there is a way, don't want to buy all the iPods or burn all the cds needed to be able to listen to my music in the car!

 

Any of them that can use a flashdrive, i.e. have a usb connection can do this. Of course your external hard drive would need to be a USB one.

The only "variables" to this is if this external hard drive needs additional power to function, and how long you need the usb extension cable to be. As even the ones that don't actually say they "need" external power many times will have a second usb cable to get the extra power needed for them, or are actually overly taxing the rated .5 amps per usb line the USB specification actually is rated for. Then the longer the cable run is, the more amperage it will need to get the same power to the drive.

The ones that actually need external power, you would need to provide what the power supply for them calls for in addition to this. Usually 12v, just keep in mind if you don't provide a regulated source (i.e. just using the 12v delayed accessory line or the like) the drive's lifespan will likely be much shorter than usual.

Usually you can squeeze out near 1 amp from one of the pioneer units, so many of the drives that usually need that second usb connector will work, but it's not a good idea. I'd just get a suitably low power one to do this that just needs the 1 usb connector, and keep the USB extension used from the back of the unit to a quality one(higher guage wiring than normal in the cheap ones) at <=6ft. Otherwise expect it to be hit or miss for actually working.

Just to give you an idea [5v x .5A = 2.5watts]. That's how low the external hard drive would need to be to be within USB specs. Doubtful your 1TB drive is 3watts or less. Only the 2.5 drives will get close enough, if yours is 3.5, then forget just using 1 USB cable to power it.