Return Kensington Liquid Aux???

[wayland1985]

I just bought a Kensington Liquid Aux on Sunday at the apple store. I've been hearing a lot of feedback from the car's electrical system through it. It's not an issue I had with my old Belkin Charger...


Is this an isolated problem (should I swap it?)? Or should I return it? $80 is a lot of money to have sound issues like this... I mean, the concept is great, but the execution isn't.


Also, if I do return it, what other chargers/audio out options do I have? I have an auxilary port on my stereo, and would love to utilize it. I mean, i guess I could buy a dock with line out...


And, anybody know the apple return policy???

 

[revildab]

That buzz you're hearing is a ground loop from your alternator. This isn't a LiquidAUX problem, but a car manufacturing design flaw. Some cars are more susceptible to GL interference than others (I know my car has that problem and a noise filter solved it).

You need: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_127SNI135/PAC-SNI-1-3-5-Noise-Filter.html?tp=2653

To make sure, try just plugging the your iphone through JUST the aux in and see if you're hearing the buzz (you shouldn't because if you do, then the problem lies elsewhere). Then try charging it while playing music. If you get interference then, that means its a ground loop problem.

Also, did your Belkin charger also have a an AUX-in or was it solely just for charging?

 

[wayland1985]

That buzz you're hearing is a ground loop from your alternator. This isn't a LiquidAUX problem, but a car manufacturing design flaw. Some cars are more susceptible to GL interference than others (I know my car has that problem and a noise filter solved it).

You need: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_127SNI135/PAC-SNI-1-3-5-Noise-Filter.html?tp=2653

To make sure, try just plugging the your iphone through JUST the aux in and see if you're hearing the buzz (you shouldn't because if you do, then the problem lies elsewhere). Then try charging it while playing music. If you get interference then, that means its a ground loop problem.

Also, did your Belkin charger also have a an AUX-in or was it solely just for charging?

The Belkin charger had the Aux out and "amplifier" built in. (it was this one: http://shop.i4u.com/0/651163.html) I never had the ground loop in that...

 

[revildab]

Try the test with the luquidAUX anyways. And I'd suggest researching whether your car has a GL problem or not. Just because you receive little to no interference with one product doesn't mean your car isn't prone to GL interference with another.

Who knows, perhaps Belkin has a built-in noise filter in the amplifier.

 

[wayland1985]

Do you think a ferrite core would do the trick???


Or, do you think if I just bought a Dock, male to male stereo cable, and a charger I could make my own setup without the issue???

 

[revildab]

Do you think a ferrite core would do the trick???


Or, do you think if I just bought a Dock, male to male stereo cable, and a charger I could make my own setup without the issue???

Probably not. they're used typically for RFI suppression, and those are generally external sources that don't come from within a vehicle.

If you were to get everything you mentioned here and you did in fact have a GL problem, then you would still get interference even when you're using different cables and components. The liquidAUX is essentially a dock/m2m/charger wrapped into one package.

Have you tried testing it with just the aux-in and then doing it again while being charged? The engine has to be started btw. Until you do that, there's really nothing else I could offer at this point since there are tons of causes for GL interference (i.e. aftermarket stereo, improper grounding, etc.)

If really think the product is defective, you try your luck with returning it and hopefully you get one that doesn't cause any unwanted buzzing. If the new one still causes problems, then I'm almost certain all you need is a noise filter. But at that point, you might not even want to deal with it anymore.

 

[wayland1985]

Probably not. they're used typically for RFI suppression, and those are generally external sources that don't come from within a vehicle.

If you were to get everything you mentioned here and you did in fact have a GL problem, then you would still get interference even when you're using different cables and components. The liquidAUX is essentially a dock/m2m/charger wrapped into one package.

Have you tried testing it with just the aux-in and then doing it again while being charged? The engine has to be started btw. Until you do that, there's really nothing else I could offer at this point since there are tons of causes for GL interference (i.e. aftermarket stereo, improper grounding, etc.)

If really think the product is defective, you try your luck with returning it and hopefully you get one that doesn't cause any unwanted buzzing. If the new one still causes problems, then I'm almost certain all you need is a noise filter. But at that point, you might not even want to deal with it anymore.

I've got the day off tomorrow. So I'll give the troubleshooting tips a shot then. If worse comes to worse, I'll swap it at the apple store (do they allow exchanges???)... Or, I may try the Griffin chargers.

I feel like more auto manufacturers are including AUX inputs in their cars, yet many iPhone accessory manufacturers are failing to acknowledge this. I mean, this Kensington Product has great potential, but the cost is twice as much as the Belkin product I bought 3ish years ago, and the execution seems to be worse??? Weird...