Best device for iPod usage in the car?
I've seen various products and various reviews for products that lead me to think that car adaptors are pretty useless/shaky when considering buying. Does anyone know of any solid, sound, car devices that I can use to get the best out of my iPod in my car?
As always, thanks for even reading this.
As always, thanks for even reading this.
Comments
1) Direct-wired into the stereo
2) Cassette adapter
3) FM transmitter
Now, what I actually do with my stereo is connect the iPod to the Belkin Auto Kit for iPod w/ Dock Connector, then run a cassette adapter from that into my cassette deck. On the headphone end of my iPod I have the remote connected to click between songs. The iPod sits in the console between my two front seats.
I do know of a company that makes a (fairly expensive) kit with which you can directly connect your iPod to the stereo. I think it's Monster Cable's iCruze system.
Originally posted by DanMacMan
Until I eventually get my Scion tC which has the direct iPod interface, I simply plug the earbuds into my ears...
I think that's illegal in most states...just FYI.
CarTV clip about the Neo
Originally posted by WhiteRabbit
I wish they made a car audio product with a hard drive and worked with iTunes and had wireless connectivity so that you could sync right out to your garage.
I'm in agreement with this. I'd like to see a larger unit sans LCD with 2.5" drives in it for easy 100-160GB capacities. Yes I know you can use your iPod but the reality is some people want something that is a bit more permanent than an iPod in the glovebox. Add wireless syncing and a larger hard drive and
Originally posted by hmurchison
I'm in agreement with this. I'd like to see a larger unit sans LCD with 2.5" drives in it for easy 100-160GB capacities. Yes I know you can use your iPod but the reality is some people want something that is a bit more permanent than an iPod in the glovebox. Add wireless syncing and a larger hard drive and
PhatBox?
The primary problem with the current car iPod situation is that iPod/Car Stereo integration isn't as good as it could be.
Most car receivers are not really "aware" that there is an iPod connected. So, they use this sort of adapter which tricks the receiver into thinking there is a multi-cd player attached, it converts the play lists into CDs. Because CD commonly have less than 20 tracks, the stereo is not able to do play lists of a certain size. And also it does not show the names of the play lists, only CD1, CD2, etc.
Another thing we were talking about was wireless integration. A lot of people have home networks, and (although an additional access point may need to be installed) it seems only natural to put a wireless receiver in your car so that you can sync while parked in the garage (at least for expensive units.) As iTunes as features autonomous syncing (starts copying songs around automatically,) it would really complete the experience.
For example, while you're at the store, your wife downloads some songs. Then you come back and park in the garage, as long as the computer's on, iTunes will see that the new songs are not yet in the car and starts copying them on right as you're pulling in. The wife wants to use the car right after you, and voila the songs are already on before she leaves.
Originally posted by lanky_nathan
PhatBox?
More like PHATDOLLARS. Plus their media manager sucks compared to iTunes. I was a phatbox fan but they just couldn't get the momentum rolling.
Apple has pretty much crushed any hopes for Phatbox. They make their money on DMS carts yet their base unit is expensive as well. With Apple they have the resources to sign up Audio, Mercedes, Honda etc and work with their factory radios.
Wireless access would be nice with MIMO antenna.
you're exactly right - the interface is the key issue. I'm a cassette adapter user right now .. but wish there was a more compelling solution.
p.s - hmurch - how about 'PhatBucks' :-)
Originally posted by CosmoNut
As far as I'm concerned, your options are ranked in this order:
1) Direct-wired into the stereo
2) Cassette adapter
3) FM transmitter
I'd expand this as follows:
3a) Direct-wired FM transmitter
3b) Wireless FM transmitter
Just to demonstrate how desperate I was for something better than an FM modulator for listening to my iPod in my 2005 Subaru Legacy (one of an increasing number of aftermarket audio-unfriendly vehicles), here's a thread I started in a Subaru owners forum detailing the surgery I performed on my for-all-practical-purposes-nonreplaceable factory audio system, in order to directly wire my iPod into my car stereo:
http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21047
What I'd like to see for those stuck with using an FM solution is an FM modulator with some sort of smart dynamic range limiting. Yes -- generally speaking, limiting dynamic range isn't a great thing, but using an FM modulator means trade-offs in sound quality no matter what you do, and FM simply can't handle the dynamic range an iPod is capable of.
(I've read that a new version of the iTrip (which is wireless) has dynamic range limiting, but I have yet to see such a feature in a wired FM modulator.)
When I first installed an FM modulator, I put the loudest test signal I could find (+2db pink noise) on my iPod, then adjusted the output volume on my Belkin iPod adapter until I reached a spot just below the point where there was obvious distortion and (as apparently happens when a lot of these things are overloaded) a loss of stereo carrier. I wanted to avoid having loud passages becoming distorted and/or collapsing into monophonic sound.
I thought I was cleverly fine-tuning my system. Unfortunately, what I discovered was that once this adjustment was made most of my music was way too quiet, that I only reached satisfying volume when I turned up the sound loud enough to get a significant dose of FM tuner noise along with my music. Would others consider the noise I heard "significant"? That's going to be a matter of individual taste and hearing capability. I suspect those with poor high-frequency hearing (often self-induced by years of cranking the volume way too high) might not notice this kind of noise much.
The only thing I could do was increase the output from the Belkin adapter and simply accept the fact that every once in a while the signal might overload the FM modulator. Knowing that distortion and loss of stereo was a lurking threat however, I didn't want to boost the output of the Belkin a great deal. I still ended up with a situation where I had typically had to turn the volume up twice as high to listen to my iPod than I would for a CD or a regular FM station, and where the high-pitched whine of tuner noise was clearly evident during quiet passages or gaps between songs.
I tried a second brand of FM modulator, and a ground loop isolation transformer, but couldn't significantly improve the sound quality I was getting via FM very much. Only the desperate warranty-voiding modification of my stock audio system was able to give me the kind of audio quality I was looking for.