iPod stereo setup

[SigENeaT]

hey

i was told people here are friendly and helpful =P

been looking at a few different ways of setting up a sound system in my car... and all of them are pricey ¬_¬

one of the other things on my wish list is an ipod however.. so i was thinking perhaps the possibility of setting up a nice amp (not top shelf but not a cheap pos either) to interface with an ipod... that way i get the best of both worlds >.>

ive seen a few gimmicky setups that use a similar method, interfacing an ipod with a stereo but looks unsightly and dodgy =S

im not really one who knows alot about car audio and what is the best way to do things etc... so was hopping some of the seasoned veterines could offer some advice..

cheers

[siksII]

all u have to do is get an 3.5m --> 2rca adaptor, stick one end into the ipod and the other into your amp/head unit input.

just remember the ipods amp(for the headphone socket) is a peice of crap and u wouldnt want to use that output. u have to get a cable that connects to the bottom of the ipod with a female 3.5m plug on the other end. this non-amplified output is much cleaner than the headphone output.

although it still is not good.

[someonestolecc]

I've seen two ways of doing this.

Both ways involve a decent head unit, and personally if I was going to the effort I would not bother doing it any other way than properly.

The first is using the dock that you can buy for normal use. ie. the dock is designed to a. plug your firewire in for recharging and b. plug in RCA outputs to plug into your stereo (or in this case your HU).

You just use this, obviously you can't plug in firewire to power your ipod (if you find out the proper voltage which I can't remember off the top of my head I think you easily could however), but more importantly you use the RCAs and plug them into the extra port of your HU. In my case, this is done through buying a converter that converts RCA plugs into the special cd stacker input at the back. I think this converter is like $30 or $50 max from the US (worst case scenario).

I'd be going down the above path.. the cost is basically RCA cable, ipod docker and RCA>CD-in converter. And if you want your car to charge your ipod you'll have to figure that one out yourself but basically it just needs to get the dc power of whatever voltage it is and then you would hook that up to your firewire out on your dock.. It's been done before too (google).

The second is the alpine method, I assume its the same sorta thing but I haven't messed with it, nor do I really know how it works.

http://www.alpine-usa.com/products/leading...ch_kca-420i.htm

Good luck. If you need any help with the method I've described lemme know.

[someonestolecc]

Oh, and I should probably say.. overall if I wanted to play mp3s in my car, Id use my car mp3 player. It's easier and less fidgety.

Ipod in car (in my mind) is for show/novelty factor.

Either way its still pretty cool

[SigENeaT]

cheers siksII and someonestolecc

definately something for me to check out there >.>

one of the reasons why hooking up an ipod appeals to me more is that i can go from sitting infront of my pc -> car -> somwhere else, without interupting my music

but it sounds like alot more effort than i first thought and effort.. well.. meh =P

cheers tho.. definately alot there to push me forwards >.>

[someonestolecc]

Don't get me wrong, once it's setup its easy. I mean the last stereo I setup it has 3 RCA inputs that can be "high jacked" without taking anything out. This allows for easier plugging stuff up.

It's the same sorta thing, when you install youir HU you just use the CD-in converter thing (I know it works with Pioneer type cd-in thingies but I don't know about other brands). And once you mount your dock somewhere you can slot in your ipod (without it falling out when you brake or go round a corner and hitting you in the head) its all done.

From there you just run into your car and put the dock in, press CD/input on your headunit and thats it.

Shrug just remember (i just thought of this now) the ipod would be a fairly nasty missile so where you mount it should be safe and secure.

GoodLuck!

[P1E]

There is a wiring diagram on this forum somewhere showing how to connect an AUX input to Pioneer headunits (which beats paying $100.00 plus for the proper Pioneer cable).

I did this and it cost me less than $5.00 for the wire, connections, etc. I have run the cable from the back of my deck, behind the dash and into my ash tray. Originally I had my iPod dock sitting in my ash tray and I just jumped in the car, sat down, docked my iPod and off I went.

Two problems with this though:

1. If people see the iPod dock in your car, chances are they're going to break your window to look around for the actual iPod unit. I should probably add that you cannot close the ash tray with the dock in position.

2. My iPod got scratched to shit.

So, I ended up cleaning my iPod with BRASSO to remove the scratches and then I bought an iSkin, which protects the unit and looks preeeetty damn good too. Only problem with the iSkin though (which I realised after I had bought it) is that the iPod will not dock with the skin on. Considering I bought the skin to protect the iPod in the car, removing it each time I wanted to use it in the car wasn't really an option.

I ended up taking the dock out of my car and just having a plug sitting in my ash tray. When I get in, I open the ash tray and plug in my iPod via the head-phone socket (sounds just like line out to me). Easy as pie and 5,000 songs (plus a bit of pr0n) in my car. And when I'm not using the iPod, I close the ash tray and there's no sign of the installation at all.

[someonestolecc]

Sounds like the setup I'm talking about.

Did you notice any sound degredation without using the dock?

Depending on the rest of your stereo I believe if it was really good you would hear the difference but I"ve never heard it so I'm only assuming.

In my not that good setup I can hear the difference when I burn audio cds from 128kbit and 192kbit. *shrug*

[P1E]

I could hear a difference originally, but I bought a better connection plug (at the iPod end) and I can't notice the difference now. But maybe you would. I'm not sure.

[sewid]

I was doing this with my the old GTSt. I had run into a problem where the headunit needed that special CD Changer to Line-In adaptor and I had to order it from JVC. It took more than 4 months to arrive and by the time it did arrive I had sold the car.

The adaptor cost 100 bucks by the way.

Anyway for the GTR I will buy a headunit with RCA inputs.

[Craved]

I just wish there was a way to plug a USB flash disk in to use as a media for music in a car!

[sewid]

Im sure sony make a headunit that can take memory sticks. Too bad memory sticks suck.

[Craved]

i just use em heaps here at work... good when there is no burner handy.

[Beer Baron]

I was doing this with my the old GTSt. I had run into a problem where the headunit needed that special CD Changer to Line-In adaptor and I had to order it from JVC. It took more than 4 months to arrive and by the time it did arrive I had sold the car.

The adaptor cost 100 bucks by the way.

Anyway for the GTR I will buy a headunit with RCA inputs.

For sure. Forget all the hassle with converters and sh1t. Any good head unit has an auxillary input these days. I bought a sony one nearly 2 years ago that has three, 4 volt RCA out puts and an auxillary RCA input. I can plug in my minidisk player, or whatever and just select "aux" and away you go.

Richard

[lwells]

The best option for hooking up a iPod to the car stereo if you don't own an Alpine is....

http://www.densionusa.com/x/index.php?opti...d=375&Itemid=79

LW.

[uneekwahn]

For those with Alpine decks with AiNet connections:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-YtslvXITD9d/c...fo&i=500KCA121B

Then just plug a male RCA cable with 3.5mm headphone jack in to it, and you can plug that in to your ipod.

I'm about to buy the bits to do this. Sure, I don't get control of my ipod through my deck, but I can always set up playlists on the ipod and then use one of the ipod remotes (not the wired remote) to change tracks, just velcro it to the steering wheel or something