If you are like many people who love music you have a vast collection of MP3 files, and are dying to get a deck that can play them all, but your wallet runs screaming every time you look at the price tags. Well, Jensen has come to the rescue with the new MP5010K. This is easily the best bargain you will find on an in-dash CD receiver with MP3 capability.
The faceplate is smart looking; it has big buttons for control functions that glow with blue light and surround the LCD display. Across the bottom are ten buttons with red numbers "1" through "9" and "0" for track and station preset selection. The volume control is a large rotary encoder knob at the left-hand side, and includes a select button in the center that you press to access the main audio functions. The display is split horizontally with status indicators and level meters on top and a large, 12-character display below. You can remove the faceplate and take it with you when you leave the vehicle, storing it in the provided hard-shell case.
The faceplate covers the CD slot; you access it by pressing the "open" button to trigger the mechanically damped faceplate to drop down. When you want to eject a CD, you have to hit the button once again after the faceplate is open. Closing the faceplate requires that you manually push it back into place until it clicks.
The CD mechanism has a buffer memory to avoid skipping, and it also prevents the silence that normally accompanies the selection of a new track by continuing playback while the head moves to its new position on the disc.
Tracks can be accessed directly with the number buttons, or you can move up and down one track at a time with the corresponding buttons. The repeat function is available for each track, and the deck always repeats the full disc. "Random play" will choose randomly from all of the tracks on the disc, and there is an intro scan, which plays the first ten seconds of each track. A program mode lets you choose the playing order of tracks with storage of up to 24 tracks. There is an audible "fast forward" or "fast reverse" feature for moving around within a track using the "up" and "down" buttons. You can stop playback momentarily with the pause button, or you can use the "mute" button to shut off the sound while playback continues. An optional CD changer can be connected and utilized with the same control capabilities as the built-in CD player.
The MP3 player supports variable bit rate (VBR) files in addition to fixed rates up to 320Kbps. ID3 V1 tags and ISO 9660 level 1 and level 2 formats are supported. ISO 9660 allows a depth of up to eight folders/directories up to a maximum of 255, a maximum of 30 characters for file names and 28 characters for folder names, and the characters "A" thru "Z" and "0" thru "9" for files and folders. You get a scrolling display of the ID3 tags, which you can set to view track name, artist name, or folder name. Tracks can be selected directly, although the numbering of the tracks is simply sequential across the entire disc. Folders can also be selected directly. When you pause or power off/on the player remembers the exact location it was playing and starts there again.