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Alpine iDA-X100 Car Stereo

M

m477h3w

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 9, 2007
339
8
Bristol, UK
Firstly, I just bought this deck along with the bluetooth box, and in one work, SUPERB :D I can now plug one cable into my iPhone and control all the music from the stereo, hands free calls from the stereo, and charge the phone :D

Does anyone else have this stereo? I was hoping to be able to play videos on the iPhone with the sound coming out of the car speakers, but this is not possible with the USB cable connected. Does anyone know if there is a cable you can plug into the back of the stereo to the iPhone headphone jack? I have read the manual and can't find anything?

Cheers
 
yes I have this unit,
It has AUX inputs (Red and White plugs) so all you need is a headphone -> RCA adapter cable for a couple bucks and it'll work

HRCA.jpg
 
Donz0r said:
yes I have this unit,
It has AUX inputs (Red and White plugs) so all you need is a headphone -> RCA adapter cable for a couple bucks and it'll work

HRCA.jpg
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply!!!! I noticed there were three sets of RCA connections on the rear of the unit but it says two of them are outputs to amps, and the third is for running to a sub???? :confused:
 
Oooo, you're right! Looks like this is what we need
306b437008.jpg


Hooks into the "Full Speed" port on the back of the unit and then the other end into your iPhone headphone jack.

It's called KCE-236B and can be purchased here
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-fxaTQRNcZTC/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?i=500KCE236B for $25

or on eBay
http://cgi.ebay.com/MP3-PLAYER-AUX-...-KCE-236B_W0QQitemZ320284374107QQcmdZViewItem
for $16 shipped

or on eBay
http://cgi.ebay.com/MP3-PLAYER-AUX-...18&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&timeout=1218467847060
this one ships from California as opposed to Hong Kong - should arrive faster and is same price as other one w/ shipping

We'll also probably need an extension cable for that thing, the one on ebay looks pretty short.
You can find something like this at radioshack or on ebay just search "headphone extension" or something similar.
headphone-extension.jpg


Here's one from a great website (I've used them a lot) for $0.61
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...d=10218&cs_id=1021802&p_id=648&seq=1&format=2
 
Haha, you had me confused for a sec :D The only problem I see with this cable is that the connection on the back of the stereo is already being used for the KCE-300BT bluetooth unit :confused: However, I did nothice the same connection on the KCE-300BT, so could this cable plug from here into the iPhone jack???

This is all so confusing :D
 
m477h3w said:
Haha, you had me confused for a sec :D The only problem I see with this cable is that the connection on the back of the stereo is already being used for the KCE-300BT bluetooth unit :confused: However, I did nothice the same connection on the KCE-300BT, so could this cable plug from here into the iPhone jack???

This is all so confusing :D
Click to expand...


yeah, you can plug it into the KCE-300BT
 
No problem :)

I plan to do the same thing kinda (except w/o the bluetooth) so I'm glad you pointed out that the RCA cable wouldn't work! I'm gonna mount my iPhone on my dash and use the Radio apps on it and GPS when the TomTom software comes out. I have a 30GB ipod that I keep in my glovebox w/ all my music on it hooked into the USB of this unit.
 
Donz0r said:
No problem :)

I plan to do the same thing kinda (except w/o the bluetooth) so I'm glad you pointed out that the RCA cable wouldn't work! I'm gonna mount my iPhone on my dash and use the Radio apps on it and GPS when the TomTom software comes out.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I am doing! Just out of interest what dash mount you getting? I really want one that swivels (for Tomtom usage), and that has the cable permanently plugged into the bottom, so I only have to slot the iPhone in without fiddling with cables :D
 
m477h3w said:
Firstly, I just bought this deck along with the bluetooth box, and in one work, SUPERB :D I can now plug one cable into my iPhone and control all the music from the stereo, hands free calls from the stereo, and charge the phone :D

Does anyone else have this stereo? I was hoping to be able to play videos on the iPhone with the sound coming out of the car speakers, but this is not possible with the USB cable connected. Does anyone know if there is a cable you can plug into the back of the stereo to the iPhone headphone jack? I have read the manual and can't find anything?

Cheers
Click to expand...

How does the hands free operation work - when a call comes in, does it switch the music off, do you have to hit a button, etc? Does is use the iPhone itself for the mic/talk input? And this all works just with the USB to phone dock connection, or is the headphone jack connected also? TIA
 
Slip Jigs said:
How does the hands free operation work - when a call comes in, does it switch the music off, do you have to hit a button, etc? Does is use the iPhone itself for the mic/talk input? And this all works just with the USB to phone dock connection, or is the headphone jack connected also? TIA
Click to expand...

Ok, my set up is the Alpine iDA-X100 stereo, and KCE-300BT bluetooth unit which I have hidden under the dash (the stereo itself does not have bluetooth built in). The iPhone is plugged into the back of the stereo using only the USB to iPhone cable that comes with the stereo, and the bluetooth unit is wired into the back of the stereo.

When a call comes in the music fades out and the ringer fades in on the car speakers, and the caller id flashes up on the stereo's screen. You can then either press the phone button on the stereo to answer the call, or set up the stereo to answer calls automatically. The callers voice plays through the car speakers, and your voice is picked up by a microphone supplied with the bluetooth unit (I installed it by the sun visor).

When you have finished the call, you hang up by pressing the phone button on the stereo, and the music fades back in right where it left off :D

Everyone I have spoken to so far can't believe how clear I sound for a car hands free, and it is very clear in the car as well, no feedback!!!!

If you are willing to spend a bit of money I cannot recommend this stereo enough, the hands free is excellent, the music quality is very good and fully controlled using the car stereo (the album artwork is also displayed on the stereo), and on top of all this, you can use other functions on the phone like sat nav whilst controlling music from the stereo and making and receiving calls!!! O yeah, and it keeps the phone charged :D

Sorry about the long post, but that just goes to show how pleased I am with this set up, and I hope this helps someone who is looking for THE BEST in car iPhone solution.
 
m477h3w said:
Ok, my set up is the Alpine iDA-X100 stereo, and KCE-300BT bluetooth unit which I have hidden under the dash (the stereo itself does not have bluetooth built in). The iPhone is plugged into the back of the stereo using only the USB to iPhone cable that comes with the stereo, and the bluetooth unit is wired into the back of the stereo.

When a call comes in the music fades out and the ringer fades in on the car speakers, and the caller id flashes up on the stereo's screen. You can then either press the phone button on the stereo to answer the call, or set up the stereo to answer calls automatically. The callers voice plays through the car speakers, and your voice is picked up by a microphone supplied with the bluetooth unit (I installed it by the sun visor).

When you have finished the call, you hang up by pressing the phone button on the stereo, and the music fades back in right where it left off :D

Everyone I have spoken to so far can't believe how clear I sound for a car hands free, and it is very clear in the car as well, no feedback!!!!

If you are willing to spend a bit of money I cannot recommend this stereo enough, the hands free is excellent, the music quality is very good and fully controlled using the car stereo (the album artwork is also displayed on the stereo), and on top of all this, you can use other functions on the phone like sat nav whilst controlling music from the stereo and making and receiving calls!!! O yeah, and it keeps the phone charged :D

Sorry about the long post, but that just goes to show how pleased I am with this set up, and I hope this helps someone who is looking for THE BEST in car iPhone solution.
Click to expand...

No problem at all for the long post, I really appreaciate you taking the time to explain it.

I don' t kniw if I'd ready to go without a CD option in the car, but maybe. One last question if you will -

Does the Bluetooth unit pair with the iPhone, or with the stereo? If it pairs with the stereo or rather direct connects, then that means the phone audio is being sent from fhe phone via doce connector to the stereo. We were speculating on another thread if this could occur only via the headphone jack.
 
Slip Jigs said:
No problem at all for the long post, I really appreaciate you taking the time to explain it.

I don' t kniw if I'd ready to go without a CD option in the car, but maybe. One last question if you will -

Does the Bluetooth unit pair with the iPhone, or with the stereo? If it pairs with the stereo or rather direct connects, then that means the phone audio is being sent from fhe phone via doce connector to the stereo. We were speculating on another thread if this could occur only via the headphone jack.
Click to expand...

No worries. OK, the bluetooth unit is wired into the back of the stereo, and the iPhone pairs with the bluetooth unit itself which then sends all the data to the stereo via the cables :D Hope that makes sense. Personally the lack of CD player is fine for me, but I can understand how that would put some people off of the unit.

I am no expert, but as far as I understand it the audio from phone calls can only be sent via the headphone jack or bluetooth, and not the dock connection directly (it may be possible if the iphone is docked and a feed taken from there???).
 
Just thinking of getting one of these.

How easy is it to get tunes into it from iTunes via a USB memory stick/pen? It decodes AAC (ok, not +, that's fine for me mostly) so should be ok.
 
m477h3w said:
No worries. OK, the bluetooth unit is wired into the back of the stereo, and the iPhone pairs with the bluetooth unit itself which then sends all the data to the stereo via the cables :D Hope that makes sense. Personally the lack of CD player is fine for me, but I can understand how that would put some people off of the unit.

I am no expert, but as far as I understand it the audio from phone calls can only be sent via the headphone jack or bluetooth, and not the dock connection directly (it may be possible if the iphone is docked and a feed taken from there???).
Click to expand...

That seems to be the case - another poster on the thread on Car Crades has a Cradle with dock which adapts to the Aux line in of the stereo. Music plays, and even the ringtone comes through, but the call it self is over the phone.

It's not the most elegant of solutions, perhaps Apple wasn't thinking cars when it didn't inlcude this.
 
emotion said:
Just thinking of getting one of these.

How easy is it to get tunes into it from iTunes via a USB memory stick/pen? It decodes AAC (ok, not +, that's fine for me mostly) so should be ok.
Click to expand...

You wont be dissappointed :D I have never used a USB stick with the stereo so I am not sure to be honest, but I'm sure it'll be easy. The iPod cable that comes with the stereo plugs into the back of the stereo via USB, with a female USB on the other end to plug a stick into. There is then an adapter included that converts the famle USB to the iPod dock connection for use with iPod's/iPhone's, if that makes sense :confused:
 
m477h3w said:
You wont be dissappointed :D I have never used a USB stick with the stereo so I am not sure to be honest, but I'm sure it'll be easy. The iPod cable that comes with the stereo plugs into the back of the stereo via USB, with a female USB on the other end to plug a stick into. There is then an adapter included that converts the famle USB to the iPod dock connection for use with iPod's/iPhone's, if that makes sense :confused:
Click to expand...

Yeah it does thanks. :)
 
Display

Hey,

I have the IDA-x100 and was wondering how do I upload the i-personalize pictures to the head unit?? I copied them on to a flash drive but when I put it in the USB port I could not upload the backgrounds??? How do you do this? Second, have any of you had any problems with your display? You know how when you press "view" you've got 4 options: 1: song and title, 2:song, title, and album cover, 3: pic of album and song title, 4: clock. Well mine does not have title and album cover nor pic of album and song title no more. How do I change the settings so i can see a picture of the album on my display??? it was there but then it just went away??

Thanks
 
albers13 said:
Hey,

I have the IDA-x100 and was wondering how do I upload the i-personalize pictures to the head unit?? I copied them on to a flash drive but when I put it in the USB port I could not upload the backgrounds??? How do you do this?
Click to expand...

I have not done this myself yet, is there nothing in the manual? Just grabbed this off another sight though if it is any help?

"The backgrounds must be transferred from a usb pen drive, wont work off hard drive formatted to FAT - 16 or 32. It must only contain the wallpapers and nothing else. The unit will only read the first 10 files on the stick as well.

You need to download irfanView and the converter at http://www.xoned.net/content/xoned/p...-apn-converter (or see http://www.riotcreative.co.uk/tools/AlpineConverter.aspx).

To obtain a working RAW image you can freely use IrfanView with this plugin pack:
http://irfanview.tuwien.ac.at/plugin..._400_setup.exe

step 1) Just open your preferred image in irfanview, then use Image->Resize/Resample to set the image to 320x240 72 dpi.
Finally save your image as a RAW in the location: c:\tools\x100\, choosing RGB Interleaved in the dialog box, without using Flip Image.

step 2)
Converter:
1) extract exe and dll in c:\tools\x100\
2) convert your image in RAW and put it in c:\tools\x100\ ----this is what the 1st step was about.
3) click Start->Run and type "cmd.exe" (without quotes)
4) in the cmd prompt type "cd c:\tools\x001\" (without quotes)
5) now type "xndconverter.exe myfile.raw" (without quotes)

If no error occurs your converted apn file should be ready in c:\tools\x100\."

albers13 said:
Second, have any of you had any problems with your display? You know how when you press "view" you've got 4 options: 1: song and title, 2:song, title, and album cover, 3: pic of album and song title, 4: clock. Well mine does not have title and album cover nor pic of album and song title no more. How do I change the settings so i can see a picture of the album on my display??? it was there but then it just went away??

Thanks
Click to expand...

I have never experienced problems with this I'm afraid. Again, nothing in the manual under trouble shooting? It could be something to do with the album cover files you have saved on your iPod?
 
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