iPod car adapter question (1 Viewer)

[Jonathan Peterson]

What is the best adapter to purchase for listening to an iPod in the car? Also, can you control the iPod's volume and change songs with the steering wheel controls?

 

[Matt Stryker]

I would say, in order of preference:

1) direct wiring - if your head unit is ipod ready or even if it just has RCA jacks on the back, hook it up that way. Best sound quality, and may be relatively inexpensive if you can run the cable.

2) tape adapter - not quite as good sound quality-wise, but still not bad. Plus you probably don't use your tape deck much anymore, so you can just leave the cassette adapter in there until you need it.

3) FM transmitters (Tunecast, etc) - while they can potentially give you better sound than a tape adapter, if you live near a decent sized city or travel you will have to constantly find clear FM stations to broadcast on. Even then the sound quality tends to be somewhat poor, and the unit either requires batteries or you have to hook it up to your cigarette lighter.

You could potentially use bluetooth if your car supports it and you got a transmitter for your iPod.

 

[MarkHastings]

in 2004, BMW was the first company to integrate an iPod directly into the radio. Mine is hooked up via the 6 CD Changer connection and the wire connection lives in the glove box and plugs right into the bottom of the iPod (not the headphones or other crappy output). This way, I can control the iPod (to an extent) through the steering wheel.

You create 5 custom playlists and can select them as "discs" like you would select CD's from the 6 CD Changer. The 6th button is an "All Play".

You can flip through songs and even use the random function (right from the radio). Of course, the downside is, you can't see what song is playing and you can't search for a specific song.

I know other manufacturers have jumped onboard with this integration, so you should look into your cars possibility.

Of course, I have heard of radios that allow better control (with song and artist display), but I don't know what those are like.

Also, just as an FYI, the direct connection from the iPod actually sounds better than anything I've ever tried (i.e. Casette adapter, FM transmitter, etc.) - and, in fact, it even sounds better than burning the songs to CD.

 

[Jonathan Peterson]

Matt,

With this option:

1) direct wiring - if your head unit is ipod ready or even if it just has RCA jacks on the back, hook it up that way. Best sound quality, and may be relatively inexpensive if you can run the cable.

How would I know if my stereo has those jacks? My car is a 2004 Honda Accord. It is the 6 CD with XM radio version. Is there a kit I can purchase?

 

[Matt Stryker]

I just found this on google, step by step for a 2004 accord:

http://www.distantcreations.com/accordipod/

there were other results that might help - try googling 2004 honda accord ipod. Another mentioned there is a way to disable the XM radio (if you don't use it) and run the ipod in through that input and maybe even be able to see song titles on the display of your radio.

 

[Ray Chuang]

A number of car manufacturers now offer special adapter kits that allow you to use the iPod's data connector so the car stereo can directly control the iPod. Honda has such a kit for the current Honda Civic and Accord models and most Acura models.

Also, many new car stereo head units now can directly control an iPod through the data connector with special adapter kits, too.

 

[drobbins]

I am currently using one of these. Mine is a combo charger / transmitter.
Pros: Only one wire to the plug - hardly noticeable. I don't lock my car. Always charged. Turns off with the car, but I still have to press play when starting.
Cons: I have a 45 minute rural drive to work. The last 5 minutes in the morning I get some static when I am in town. I am still using the default frequency though. I haven't had time to scan. I have about 600 songs from various sources and the volume level is different on each song. Strangely, only the songs that I purchased from itunes are the hardest to hear. Even with the car volume all the way up, the music sounds flat & hollow - no bass. Most of the time the songs are close enough so I don't mess with the volume.

I am planning to stay with the transmitter because the car is less cluttered and I don't have to remember to turn it off or charge it. It is a small Ford ZX2 (escort) and the kids were always getting tangled in the wires of the tape adapter.

 

[MarkHastings]

Dave, I had the same issue with the FM transmitter. Having a 50 mile commute made it almost impossible to get a clean signal the whole ride into work. Not to mention the interference from trucks on the highway, but yeah, it's better than the cassette adapter.

In fact, even my cassette adapter (when I actually had a cassette player in the car) had issues. Over time, the heat would warp the cassette slightly and the head wouldn't make a good connection in the stereo. Sometimes I had to stick my finger in there and press down on the cassette to get it to line up. Of course, after a little bit, it would work it's way back to not connecting. :frowning:

I know the direct connection isn't the easiest (or most practical) solution, but it is SO much better than any other method that I can't ever imagine going back. Not only does it get power from the car, but I leave it in the glove box and never have to see it or futz with it. It's very "James Bond"

 

[drobbins]

Mark,
Currently I am about 2-3 months from completing the house I am building (still have tiles to install, hard wood flooring, finish paint, wood trim, drop ceiling) & my DVD player just died. After I get moved in and my new theater set up, I will probably look into the direct connection. It sounds like the way to go.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

> 3) FM transmitters (Tunecast, etc) - while they can potentially give you better sound than a tape adapter

How do you figure that? A tape adapter has a physical connection and provides better sound than a transmitter.

 

[Yee-Ming]

My guess is because it's a fudge. The tape head is designed to read tape, not another gadget that changes magnetic signals pretending to be moving tape. And as Mark's experience shows, once alignment of the tape head and the adaptor gadget go out of whack, sound quality is affected.

Having said that, we used to use an FM transmitter (Griffin iTrip), and since we're in a tiny city-state, surrounded with two other countries also bombarding the airwaves, there's basically practically no clear spectrum with which to use an FM transmitter reliably (I checked listings; there are very very few slots left open).

I've recently gone the "basic" way, just get an RCA cable attached to the head unit, and plug into the iPod. Works great, fuss-free. Downsides are it doesn't recharge the iPod, though if I really wanted to I could simply get a charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter, you have to fiddle with the iPod, and it doesn't auto-turn off when the car is parked and off. Small problems, considering how cheap it was to get it installed. A friend has a Harmon Kardon kit that really looks cool, uses the dock and therefore the kit custom-mounted into his dashboard (or rather, the console below) has an LCD display replicating the iPod's display (iPod is tucked away in glove compartment) with controls for iPod. Not cheap, though.

 

[Matt Stryker]

As Yee said, you can get some strange distortions/warbling depending on how well your car takes to the tape adapter - In my 01 Accord the sound is great, but in my dads 7 series BMW there was a lot of tape hiss and it took a lot more volume to be able to hear clearly. Also some cars with auto-reversing decks can have a real problem just staying on one side with a tape adapter - they keep flipping back and forth.

In Mexico(i'm in the US right now) there is very little crowding on the FM band, and my FM transmitter works extremely well and sounds clearer than the tape adapter....I hardly ever need to switch the station either, even on long road trips thru multiple cities. But here in Atlanta, I would have to switch it 2+ times just on a drive through the city. If you do get one, get one that will tune the whole FM range and isn't just limited to a few frequencies on the low end of the band. That way you can hopefully find a "hole" in FM stations that will work for your area.

And while the tape nor my FM transmitter charges the unit, I picked up a $5 generic iPod car charger a month or so ago that I just keep in my console in case it ever the batteries die on the ipod.