Playing my iPod in the car. Options??

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2,421
United States
Southern California
What options are available to me as far as listening to my iPod in the car? I know about FM Transmitters, but I'm not too crazy about the loss in sound quality.

What other options are available to me? What do you guys use??

NOTE: If it helps, I have an 80Gig iPod Classic and an older model Alpine stereo (CDA-7893).
 
Does your stereo have a front AUX jack? I just use a standard AUX cable between my iPod and stereo. It works fine. I still have to control it through the iPod, but I actually find that easier than reaching to my stereo controls (I have a dash cradle for my iPod).
 
pretty much the FM transmitter is the best option if the car is not equipped with a AUX jack. In some cars this is not a problem. In my Excursion it is usually just fine. In my Toyota I find my self jockeying between the 4 station options for the best sound as I drive thru the city.

You can go with the $20 unit or up to about $80 for one that lets you choose any open station, and recharges the iPod.
 
Crutchfield
most of these are going to plug into your CD changer jack and give you a 3.5 mini stereo input to use with any MP3 player with a headphone jack. this will give you better quality sound than an FM transmitter or a tape deck adapter.
 
Is there a rear AUX jack? Sometimes in the back of the headunit there is a input jack that can be selected through the interface. All you do is run a cable somewhere. I had that set up in the Blazer and it worked great.
 
I use the DLO TransDock micro FM transmitter with my iPod Touch. It charges and you can select pretty much the whole FM spectrum. It also includes a USB port to charge other gadgets and auxiliary in and out for other devices. The display glows blue like custom car alarms, so it thwarts thieves on the cheap. :)

tdmicro_touch_lrg.jpg


But, like land sea air said, it's better to just get a new face plate if it's available.
 
I've never liked FM tranmitters til I found griffin itrip auto. At $40 (what I paid) it's a hell of a lot better than paying whatever outragous price for the permanent solution. Why? because I don't travel that far usually and even if I do the sound quality loss is minimal. If I go on a trip in someone elses car it can be transferred to it with no problems at all.

Griffin iTrip Auto FTW!
 
A friend of mine has a C-casette player in his car and he has this cassette he puts in and plugs his iPod into. It's an aux cable that he plugs into the cassette and then puts the cassette in the stereo. Works fine and, well, let's not go to the sound quality, okay :P

But as you have a cd player that might not work all that well 💡 Unless you want to go all retro and get rid of the cd-player and get a cassette player instead :dopey:
 
Gashlycrumb
Does your stereo have a front AUX jack? I just use a standard AUX cable between my iPod and stereo. It works fine. I still have to control it through the iPod, but I actually find that easier than reaching to my stereo controls (I have a dash cradle for my iPod).
Click to expand...

I have that as well. My head-unit is a JVC, actually a pretty good setup the previous owner placed in the car. Keep an eye on your wire though, mine frayed slightly at one end and now is just plain useless.
 
Solid Fro
But, like land sea air said, it's better to just get a new face plate if it's available.
Click to expand...

well it's not necessarily a new face plate, it's an adapter that plugs into the cd changer jack on the back of the unit. then you run the cord around to the interior whichever way you want
 
I have the UK version of that stereo (CDA-9812RB), and you'l find it has a AI-net (versatile-link) port (same one is used for cd-changer) on the back. The european part number for the ipod adapter box is KCA-420i - should be the same in the states. If you buy this box it will charge your ipod and give you full control of the ipod through the stereo and show song/artist information, the only downside is that there is a "brain" to the unit - this is about the size of a desktop pc's harddrive. I have mine mounted behind the glovebox, with the wire leading into it, so i can just leave my ipod in there out of the way. Over here you can find them for about £20, but i'd give ebay a go. I've been using mine for the last 2 years (30gb video) and has been absolutely brilliant, quality is much better than an FM tuner etc as it takes an un-amplified source (uses jack on the bottom of the ipod). depending on how youve got your stereo set up, and the compression used, it will happily rival a cd, and your headunit is plenty powerful enough to drive a decent set of speakers if your worried about quality

By the way, how is your stereo wired in? you should have a feed direct to the battery?
 
tabs
What options are available to me as far as listening to my iPod in the car? I know about FM Transmitters, but I'm not too crazy about the loss in sound quality.

What other options are available to me? What do you guys use??

NOTE: If it helps, I have an 80Gig iPod Classic and an older model Alpine stereo (CDA-7893).
Click to expand...

You might try this guy:
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?i=127ICALPA&tp=120
h127iCALPA-f_dgp.jpg


You could try a different route:
http://www.tradekey.com/product_view/id/81504.htm
B102881-20060725121622.jpg
 
I use an iTrip and the sound quality is reasonable so long as you keep it high up in the car. I would prefer a wired system (most new cars have aux outlets) but mine is older and I don't want to change or remove the stock stereo.

iTrip is the cheapest hassle free solution..

Robin
 
well it says on crutchfield that your particular unit has the option of an aux. out but it doesn't say whether it would be on the back or on the front, there's a possibility that all you will need to buy is a 3.5 stereo mini to 3.5 stereo mini cable at radio shack which is about 10 bucks. Just check on the back of the unit for what looks like a headphone jack. If it isn't there then I would strongly recommend either a specific ipod adapter or one that will work with any mp3 player. This will give you the highest quality sound with no station hunting and in the case of the universal adapter will allow you to plug any device with a headphone jack into your car (at the expense of not being able to charge or control the ipod through the head unit itself). I have a JVC with this setup in my car and I use my psp as an mp3 player more often than I use CDs.
 
land sea air
well it says on crutchfield that your particular unit has the option of an aux. out but it doesn't say whether it would be on the back or on the front, there's a possibility that all you will need to buy is a 3.5 stereo mini to 3.5 stereo mini cable at radio shack which is about 10 bucks. *snip*
Click to expand...

It's on the back of his unit using Alpines proprietary connection as seen in the picture I supplied.
 
Yup, Pako's correct. That cable will work fine, but you won't be able to control it through the stereo, or get information on the headunit's display, BUT it is a fair bit cheaper. Depends how much your willing to spend, and how you want to control the iPod. Nice find Pako, i havent seen any like that over here!
 
I've got a DLO docking station that plugs into the outlet and tranmits a signal for the radio. It works alright but as time goes by the connection gets worse and the sound quality has never been top-notch.
The others of similar design are just as bad. Also, the ones that don't plug in are even worse since they don't charge the battery or work off the car's battery.

My suggestion would be to buy a new head unit and get a cable. Even though you might not get control through the head unit, you will be able to control everything with the iPod. Plus, the sound will be much better and more reliable over time.

Bottom line:
Avoid the transmitors and try to go with direct input. If you can't go direct input then go with the best deal you can get on some sort of transmitor. 👍

Good luck. :cheers:
 
I sometimes use this, an iPod/Nano/Video 5-In-1 FM Transmitter Car Kit, which I also bought on eBay for about $10 shipped. Works great.

5_1ipodcarcradle3.jpg
5_1ipodcarcradle4.jpg


The 5-in-1 Car Kit is a portable ipod charger, FM transmitter and holder for users on the go. Simply plug it into your car?s cigarette lighter and enjoy full stereo quality sound.
  • Simply plugs it into car cigarette socket
  • Digital wireless radio transmitter
  • Output frequency: FM 87.5-108.0MHz, with LCD display
  • Radio play
  • Powered via 12V car cigarette socket
  • Adjustable clip: 38 - 95mm
  • Angle adjustable arm: 0 - 180 degrees
  • Digital wireless radio and transmitter
  • Can hold your iPod, mp3, mp4, charge and transmit to your car stereo at the same time
  • Suitable for iPod Nano, iPod mini, iPod photo, iPod 4G, iPod 3G and iPod 2.0
  • Headphone socket in 3.5mm and 2.5mm is for audio signal input
  • Built-in USB interface for battery charge for iPod, MP3 players and MP4 players
Click to expand...
 
UPDATE

So I ordered this...

Pako
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?i=127ICALPA&tp=120
h127iCALPA-f_dgp.jpg
Click to expand...

...and have been using it for the last 2 weeks or so. I'm pretty damned happy with it. The sound quality is awesome; as far as I can tell, it sounds just as good as a CD. MUCH better than going the route of FM Transmitters. It also charges the iPod while it's plugged in so after a long drive, my iPod is fully charged and ready to go. And installation was a breeze, too. 👍
 
Pako
Right on! Glad it's working out for ya.
Click to expand...

My parents were actually getting me a Belkin Tunebase FM transmitter like my mom uses, but I may just cancel the order and get that cable if I can find out how to pull out my head unit.

Edit: I need a 3.5mm input for my head unit. Is there a cable like that one that can still charge it while playing?

Edit2: Will this work? With my car and head unit selected its not saying it won't like the other one did, but that USB part and being designed for Clarion units may be an issue. I guess the USB could be cut off. =P

I'll try to get the head unit yanked out tomorrow and see how it is.
 

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