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iPod Car Audio Integration

T

TheWitePony

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 24, 2003
101
0
Ok, so I have an iTrip and it works pretty good with my iPod in my car. The problem is, that I do a lot of traveling between a few different populated areas around me and I have to keep switching between the best stations that I have found to get the best sound for the particular area that I am in at the time. And even when I do change stations the sound quality is not the best, and I know it can't be the best anyways because its just a low power FM signal.

What I was wondering is if anyone here has hardwired their iPod into their car stereo, and what I would need to do to hook mine up. I wanna get the best quality I can out of the iPod and into my car speakers. Problem is I know less about car audio than I do about interior decorating. I'm guessing I'm gonna need to get a new stereo with some kind of an auxiliary input right? I currently have a Pioneer DEH-1400 , which pretty much just plays CDs.

Also, isn't Alpine making some kind of car interface for the iPod, so all you have to do is plug it in and then you can even control your iPod from the dash? I thought this was coming out this summer but I'm not sure. Anyone know how much these might cost? Would I be better off waiting for the snazzy Alpine setup or try to hardwire something myself?

Thanks
 
Yes you will need to get a new stereo. The alpine seems tempting but it all depends on when it comes out and also how much it will be. I would recomend getting a newer pioneer with the ip-bus which would be cd changer controls or XM satellite controls. Go for the cheapest one you can find with that if you don't want all the bells and whistles (BTW i have a Pioneer DEH-6300 and its great.) Then you would need to get an RCA switcher from Pioneer that plugs into the ip-bus and then an RCA to mini plug for the iPod. That should cover it. No you won't be able to control it from you stereo but you will have full integration with your car and no need for the iTrip.
 
I bought a 1/8" out jack with the split audio outs ( left and right ) and plugged it into the aux ins on the back of my receiver.

phonemonkey
 
After looking at the Pioneer Website i would recomend the DEH-P2600, the CD-RB10, and an RCA cable to miniplug from Radio Shack or something. According to the Pioneer site the P2600 will cost you $170 and the CD-RB10 wi cost $35, then like $5 for the RCA to mini. Total of $210 although youcan probably get a decent price on Ebay or something as that is where i got my $2200 system for under $1000
 
djbahdow01 said:
After looking at the Pioneer Website i would recomend the DEH-P2600, the CD-RB10, and an RCA cable to miniplug from Radio Shack or something. According to the Pioneer site the P2600 will cost you $170 and the CD-RB10 wi cost $35, then like $5 for the RCA to mini. Total of $210 although youcan probably get a decent price on Ebay or something as that is where i got my $2200 system for under $1000
Click to expand...

Wow, that sounds what I'm looking for. All I need now is a decent mount for my iPod and I'll be in business. As far as installation goes, is it pretty much plug and play? I've always gone to a pro to have a new CD player or whatever installed, so if this is something I can do on my own that would save me another 50 bucks at least.
 
Id say if anything your old pioneer should have a plug (wiring harness) that goes from your cars wiring to the stereo, if you can take the old stereo out look at the back of it and see if there is a plug system there. If not the installer did a "hardwire" and directly connected your cd player to your car, if that is the case bring it in to an installer. There will be a lot of wires there becareful. If there is a "harness" all you would need to do is unplug the old stereo and plug in the new one. Before putting the new stereo back you would want to plug the IP-bus plug and figure where you want the wires from that to go (your iPod) all you would need to do from there is make sure everything works and you should be all set.
 
Just get a car radio with a input in and a cable (headphone jack to split audio outs) and you are all set. For a stand you can use almost any universal carphone holder, although you pod will tend to slide out of that. If you get one with a magnet your ipod will stay put even on the bumpiest roads!
 
or you can throw in in a cup holder, or a belkin dune dock, i think that is what its called, i got one off of ebay for around 25 dollars... it works great, except in my car, its not to handy becuase the cup holders are under the dash, which is a unhandy spot for drinks as well... but enough about that. I would recommend the belkin tune dock to everyone who is an ipodder, and a driver, its very handy even in a limited environment
 
Dreadnought said:
Just get a car radio with a input in and a cable (headphone jack to split audio outs) and you are all set. For a stand you can use almost any universal carphone holder, although you pod will tend to slide out of that. If you get one with a magnet your ipod will stay put even on the bumpiest roads!
Click to expand...
:eek: You did not just say that you want to put your HD-powered iPod next to (even worse: on) a magnet that holds it? Bad idea, if you consider how HDs store data :rolleyes:
 
the stereo that came w/ the car had an AUX input, unfortunately i had BMW install it so i never found out if it was an RCA input (assume so) or minijack. i've got a wire running out of the back of the stereo's AUX, mounted to a minijack input in the inside of my glove compartment & i've got just a headphone extension cable running out of that into my iPod.

again, one of these days we'll have some sort of integration w/ the car stereo/iPod (the Alpine sounds interesting from what i've seen), but until then at least i'm not carrying around all my CDs to be stolen.

yeah, i'm hoping the person suggesting the magnet approach was joking. i can't imagine that would be good for the hard drive. mine fits nicely into my ashtray sideways so the 'next >>|' button is right in front of my hand when it's on the gearshift.

good luck...
 
If you have some knowledge of wiring it is not too bad to wire in your own aux. input. I have something like this on mine, I also bought an adapter from Sik Store that is a dock connector with audio line out and cig. lighter power in, it was $30... Here is a link to a few pictures, though the sik adapter is not in the pics. copy and paste the addys....

http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/17850/ipodmount.jpg
http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/17850/ipodmount.1.jpg

for the parent directory just skip the file name at the end of the address
 
I also own a BMW product (2003 MINI Cooper). The stock radio has aux input, but to use it you need to buy an adapter from the manufacturer at a cost of around $40. It terminates in a female mini-plug, which you can put just about anywhere in the car. The output level from the earphone jack is kind of low IMO so it might be worth buying one of those Belkin adaptors that give you access to the iPod's line-out. I suppose you could also use the dock for that, but it would be awkward to haul it around.
 
TheT said:
:eek: You did not just say that you want to put your HD-powered iPod next to (even worse: on) a magnet that holds it? Bad idea, if you consider how HDs store data :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Guys I am not saying that you have to attach it to a magnet from a big bass speaker. But there are phone holders out there that have a small magnet in it that isn't that powerfull, but just to hold your phone/pod in place! I have a carholder that doesn't have a magnet and mine pod falls out sometimes when riding on a bumpy road.
 
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