Kensington LiquidAUX - Highly Recommended

[Lemons!]

They make a version of the LiquidAUX that comes with a mount sticking out of the 12v plug. May or may not work depending on your car. I suppose technically you could use it for handsfree calling but probably wouldn't work too well with the positioning of the mic.

I looked at getting a LiquidAUX (you know they're $20 cheaper on places like Amazon right?) but reviews seemed to indicate it was cheaply made and the remote fell off a lot (and yes complaints about needing a ground loop isolator, seemingly specific to this unit, but that's only anecdotal). Curious what the OP's experience with the remote has been like.

That LiquidAUX deluxe with the mount won't work with my car, the position is different.

What's a ground loop isolator? What's it for and how would you use it?

 

[batcatman]

Can it Multitask??

OP, cud u check if it allows for changing tracks while I am in another app, like google maps? I read this in another review:

"Say I have the music playing, an am using the Google Maps... I hit next on the liquidaux and it exits and goes back to the ipod. These seems to completely defeat the usefulness of the unit!?"

That wud be a big dealbreaker for many of us!!

 

[SooneratND]

What's a ground loop isolator? What's it for and how would you use it?

Whenever you have both power and audio signals being handled by the same device, there is a risk of interference if the power supply is not grounded properly. In essence, the audio wire picks up interference from the power cable and you get an irritating whine in your music. It only happens in certian vehicles, when the 12v plug hasn't been grounded properly.

To solve this, you can either take apart the 12v plug unit in your car and ground it properly, or you can simply plug in a ground loop isolator, which is basically just a filter that blocks out this unwanted interference (although you have ot be careful to get a good GLI, so it only blocks the bad signal and you don't end up losing frequencies you want in the process).

 

[Lemons!]

Whenever you have both power and audio signals being handled by the same device, there is a risk of interference if the power supply is not grounded properly. In essence, the audio wire picks up interference from the power cable and you get an irritating whine in your music. It only happens in certian vehicles, when the 12v plug hasn't been grounded properly.

To solve this, you can either take apart the 12v plug unit in your car and ground it properly, or you can simply plug in a ground loop isolator, which is basically just a filter that blocks out this unwanted interference (although you have ot be careful to get a good GLI, so it only blocks the bad signal and you don't end up losing frequencies you want in the process).

So does Kensington give this out for free?

 

[SooneratND]

So does Kensington give this out for free?

If you read the thread, posters are saying that the amazon page for the LiquidAUX says that Kensington will give you one for free if you call them.

I did not know that when I bought mine though. If I had, I would have at least tried the free one to see how it performed before buying the one I am using now.

 

[MrScott]

Recently purchased the liquidaux -- haven't been able to avoid the "accessory not supported" consistently. Sometimes it doesn't pop up, sometimes no matter how many times I plug/unplug/reboot I can't get rid of it. I wouldn't mind if I could just dismiss it but when the message pops up the remote doesn't work. This is on an iphone 3G. I'm going to try backing up/restoring.

 

[crocodiluQ]

Did anyone find a solution to the biggest problem of this device, the fact the it will completely drain power of the ipod if left in car with engine off ?
When I turn the engine off, it pauses the iPod as it should but it does not allow it to go to sleep mode => battery is drained in the morning.
EXTREMELY annoying to unplug it every day and plug it in back in the mornings.
I've search the internet and besides a lot of people complaining about this, I couldn't find any solution.

 

[JNGold]

@SooneraND,

I have a 2008 Lexus IS250 and I opted for the $300 integration kit. For convenience and functionality, it cannot be beat. While what you say is true and the Kensington solution is certainly accomplishes song selection at a much cheaper price, I think a MAJOR feature of the integration kit is song and playlist selection on the built-in GPS navi screen. The ability to interface with the larger GPS screen while driving is head and shoulders above reaching for the smaller screen of the iPod. plus the obvious built-in steering wheel controls is a plus. For simple song fwd/rwd, the Kensington solution sounds great. My integration mount is in the glove compartment so I don't need clips and such which I find such a PIA. I put the iPhone in the glove, have it charge and have the BT connect to the BT integration.

Also another advantage to having the integration is that the music is lowered any time the GPS issues a voice command then return to the playing level after it completes. I can't tell you how many time in the past using a media player and a GPS where I would have to make the music lower just to hear a voice command.

I also have a 2003 Saab that my wife uses with her iPhone. That only has an AUX in jack, so I might have to check out for that car. I am little hesitant about having something on my steering wheel. Can the remote be mounted elsewhere?

Here is the integration kit in iPod/iPhone mode:

 

[crocodiluQ]

I installed the remote on the hand brake. Very convenient

No info from anyone on the power drain ?

 

[ProwlingTiger]

Glad my Ford has this function built in.

 

[SooneratND]

@SooneraND,

I have a 2008 Lexus IS250 and I opted for the $300 integration kit. For convenience and functionality, it cannot be beat. While what you say is true and the Kensington solution is certainly accomplishes song selection at a much cheaper price, I think a MAJOR feature of the integration kit is song and playlist selection on the built-in GPS navi screen. The ability to interface with the larger GPS screen while driving is head and shoulders above reaching for the smaller screen of the iPod. plus the obvious built-in steering wheel controls is a plus. For simple song fwd/rwd, the Kensington solution sounds great. My integration mount is in the glove compartment so I don't need clips and such which I find such a PIA. I put the iPhone in the glove, have it charge and have the BT connect to the BT integration.

Also another advantage to having the integration is that the music is lowered any time the GPS issues a voice command then return to the playing level after it completes. I can't tell you how many time in the past using a media player and a GPS where I would have to make the music lower just to hear a voice command.

I also have a 2003 Saab that my wife uses with her iPhone. That only has an AUX in jack, so I might have to check out for that car. I am little hesitant about having something on my steering wheel. Can the remote be mounted elsewhere?

Here is the integration kit in iPod/iPhone mode:

I don't have the navi in my model, so the Kensington was the way to go for me. If I did, I would think hard about opting for the factory set up.


Also, the remote is just a piece of plastic with a loop of velcro on the back, so you can mount in in a lot of places other than the steering wheel. I've actually taken mine off of the steering wheel and been keeping it in my cupholder, as the plastic had some ridges on the back to keep it from sliding and I was concerned they might dig into the leather on the steering wheel and leave marks.

 

[SooneratND]

I installed the remote on the hand brake. Very convenient

No info from anyone on the power drain ?

I discovered this problem too. Haven't found a work around yet. So, far, I've been waiting about 5 minutes until there's enough charge for it to begin accepting remote commands again whenever I forget to unplug it.

 

[AuburnApple]

I've had this for about a year. It worked great for a few months, all the while occasionally giving the "Accessory not supported" pop-up. I had a slight Ground loop problem that wasn't bad enough for me to buy an isolator. After about 6 months the charge function stopped working, as did my remote, so essentially all I have now is an expensive Auxiliary cable. I have a friend that experienced the exact same thing. His no longer charges either. The charge function didn't quit immediately. Initially it began with me having to jiggle the cable to get the charge function to work. Eventually it just stopped working entirely.

 

[R.Youden]

I am looking at one of these but I have a quick question. How long is the cable from the 12V socket to the iPhone dock connector? At the moment my charger only just reaches the dash and I want to move the iPhone over to the right-hand side next to my steering wheel (in the UK, other way round to you in the US), I guess it won't be long enough but I thought I would ask.

Thanks.

 

[lochtess]

Kensington LiquidAUX

Hi,

I just purchased the Kensington LiquidAUX for my iphone.
Everything works when my car radio is hooked up.I can
charge my phone and hear the music at the same time.

My problem is when I want to listen to my iphone music without the car radio and charge the phone at the same time I get no sound. It will only work if I unplug the charger from iphone.

Can the Kensington LiquidAUX charge the iphone and
can you listen to music on the iphone without using
the car stereo?

I hope you what I'm saying makes sense.

Tess

 

[SooneratND]

Hi,

I just purchased the Kensington LiquidAUX for my iphone.
Everything works when my car radio is hooked up.I can
charge my phone and hear the music at the same time.

My problem is when I want to listen to my iphone music without the car radio and charge the phone at the same time I get no sound. It will only work if I unplug the charger from iphone.

Can the Kensington LiquidAUX charge the iphone and
can you listen to music on the iphone without using
the car stereo?

I hope you what I'm saying makes sense.

Tess

I understand what you are saying, but I'm not sure I understand why would you want to do that? Why would you ever want to listen to music out fo the tinny iPhone speakers (can you even hear them in a car on the highway?) when you have car stereo speakers to listen to?

Also, why spend the money on the liquid aux if you aren't going to use the main benefit? A cheap car charger would have been better, it sounds like.

 

[lochtess]

Yes I would normally use it with the car radio but I would like to also charge it and listen to music in a car doesn't have a AUX as awful as it may sound...