ohh i see what alpine did with their headsets. What they did in the past is sell a seperate unit serving as a middle man between your iPod and the AI jack on the back of most Alpine headsets. Now it looks like they have an iPod module built in the their decks so now all you need is the KC cable thing.
Either way reason im posting to your thread is because i got really sick of using the Alpine head unit to control my iPod. Not sure what the controls are like now but was very cumbersome, slow, of course no scroll wheel. I pretty much got really sick and tired of using the radio to control my iPod. I instead wanted my iPod to control my music.
iPod is so much better at navigating and playing music and i got tired of shoving it into a glove box like dead weight
. I also refused to use those funky FM transmitter options..what a pain those things are...and the horrible sound quality....dont get me started.
So this was my solution: What i used: 2 cables:
1. Cable: AI (the alpine connecter on the back of the headunit) to RCA (red and white plugs) .... it cost less than $20bucks i think. sorry no link..its out there somewhere on the internet.
This pretty much eliminated the need for any funny devices and can be used with just about any audio device..ipods, walkmans, anything with audio out pretty much.
2. Cable:
http://www.xtrememac.com/audio/ipod_cables/roadshow not only does this cable use the clean audio out option from your iPod (USB) ..it also recharges your iPod. This product i found doesn't get enough credit though. A lot of people complain that they hear a buzzzz humm sound when the charger is hooked up to the 12v cig lighter. The problem there isnt xtrememac. the problem and solution is that the 12V cig lighter has to use the SAME GROUND as the alpine deck. if not then the 2 differenet sources of power create a hum sound.
The great thing is i have my iPod mounted on my dash now using a sleek iPod dash holder. The sound quality is pristine for lack of a better word. Trust me on this one...i know sound quality, i wouldn't pound 3000watts of garbage sound through 4 - 12" subs and 4 6x9's. Best part is i use the iPod to control my music. The only reason i touch my Alpine deck now is for FM/AM and an occasional CD. Im actually trying to figure out a way to get rid of the Alpine deck and place my iPod soon the be iPhone dead center where a normal radio would go.
of course