After this weekend, I decided the FM transmitter is a pain in the ass for long trips, which is when I most want to be able to use my iPod in the car.
The options I’m considering are these:
(1) Buying the kind of adapter that plugs into the back of my existing stereo (in the place where a CD changer would plug in, with a docking cable that goes into the glove compartment. The iPod is controlled through the stereo controls.
(2) Buying an “iPod ready” car stereo. I’m not really sure what that means, but I assume it’s basically option 1, but I’m buying a new stereo, too.
(3) Buying a car stereo with an AUX input on the front. I’m assuming, with this option, I can control the iPod only through its own controls, not the stereo controls.
(4) One of these, the Harman Kardon Drive+Play. I like this option, because the navigation is exactly like it is on the iPod. It installs through an AUX input, and I have no idea if my factory stereo has one on the back. (Is there anyway to find this out without pulling the stereo – a web site that has this info, perhaps?)
I would love advice and opinions, as well as some enlightenment about controlling the iPod with the stereo controls. How do you navigate through playlists? Does playlist and song info display on the stereo? Please fight my ignorance of car audio, of which I have an abundance.
The kit I bought allows 6 playlists set up in place of the 6 CDs the changer would have had. So I can skip around in those 6 play lists, skip songs, fast-forward, rewind, and pause using the stock stereo. If I want to navigate outside of those 6 play lists, I have to whip the iPod out and do it that way.
My only complaint is that it doesn’t display track information properly when you’re listening from the iPod (it says Track #4 instead of saying Artist - Track Name). I know this capability exists in the stereo, because it displays track information on MP3 CDs.
#4 is also an FM transmitter, or requires a line-in. Just FYI.
Basically there is a lead hanging out the back of the radio. I drilled through and fed it into the glove compartment, where I can now attach my Ipod. I can search through the radio controls by artist, album, playlist, song etc, or just start off the ipod before I connect it and it carries on once connected.
This was a good option for me as my existing car radipo was just the crappy one which came with the car, and I was glad to upgrade.
I have #4 in my truck. I do like it, but it definitely has its downsides.
You still need the line in and the main box, and to drill into somewhere convenient to install the display and control knob. I have the line and the box coming into my center console, and the display and knob on the dash to the upper right of my steering wheel.
It can respond sluggishly or oddly after being exposed to extreme cold or heat. So I let it warm up for a few minutes before plugging in on cold winter mornings.
It doesn’t completely replicate the modern iPod menus. There’s no Shuffle on the main menu, for instance, so I use the main menu shuffle on the iPod itself and then plug it in, and it continues to play from there. It only shows artist and song title (which doesn’t scroll if it’s too long for the display), not album.
My biggest problem with it is that the software is somewhat buggy and there’s no real way for me to get an update (if they even exist). For instance, special characters won’t display properly. (It always says Queensrche, as an example.) Sometimes it hiccups and will display gibberish or nothing for a particular song. It will suddenly stop playing altogether if used for more than about eight hours continuously, and will only come back on if I turn the truck off and on. Nothing earthshaking, just annoying.
If you go to the Crutchfield website, you can see which head units have which Ipod connectors.
There are ones with aux inputs on the front, and ones that have them on the back. There are some that have Ipod connector kits that let you use the Ipod controls; I don’t know if any of those plug in the front. There are some that have a USB port so you can use a USB mass storage mp3 player, but that won’t work with an Ipod.
There are also some units that play mp3 or AAC CDs, so you could burn your collection onto a reasonable number of CDs and you wouldn’t have to carry the Ipod with you or leave it in a hot car. They won’t play protected AAC files from the Itunes store though.
I did #1 because I didn’t want to give up my steering wheel controls. So far I love it, works like a champ. I bought a USA Spec adapter from Crutchfield, I had to disconnect the changer and plug this in, but I don’t miss the extra CD slots. You create five playlists on the ipod to represent the first five CD slots, and the sixth is the current ipod selection.
#3 for me. Volume is controlled through the stereo, song selection through the ipod. I can’t imagine any stereo controls that would allow easier song selection than the ipod itself.
The fact that the stereo doesn’t display track information is a non-issue because 1) it never does when I play CDs, and 2) I can check the ipod itself for that.
The only drawback to this setup is a slight loss of sound quality compared to CDs, either from the mp3 compression or the tiny aux jack. Also its a pain to forget to charge the ipod the night before a long trip.
I did #3 also. My aux input plugged into the back of my existing car stereo so I did need to take out the piece under the dash to get at it, but the part + the cable was less than $40. I can control the volume with my stereo controls (on the steering wheel) and I make playlists so I don’t have to mess with the iPod controls while driving. My iPod with its case fits perfectly in the cupholder close to the cable, so it is pretty slick.
I bought a whole new car stereo. It’s a Pioneer Premier. I am SO glad I did not buy something to connect my iPod to my factory stereo, because I had no idea what a piece of shit the factory stereo was until I got the new one.
I am in no way an audiophile, but I do love my music. One of the reasons I wanted the iPod integration was so I could avoid having wrecks while fiddling with my iPod. Unfortunately, I’m now risking wrecks because I am totally mesmerized by all the musical subtleties I’d been missing with my crappy stereo and FM transmitter.
Another option to consider: my car stereo has a USB port in the front. I’m assuming you can plug the ipod in that way. I just use an 8 gb stick so I don’t have to worry about charging anything but the concept is the same.
Just to show you how old I am, my first stereo was an 8 track which had about 90 minutes of play (and the tapes wore out). 8 gb of memory will produce 4 days of skip free continuous music at a reasonable level of clarity. I don’t have to risk any CD’s in my car. It boggles my mind that I can put a whole library of music on a tiny stick and can play it on anything with a USB port.
What my experience has taught me is that anything going into a crappy system - via CD, USB, iPod, or tuner – is going to sound crappy coming out, regardless of the quality of the source.
Believe me, Magiver, we are of an age. I cherished my 8-track of Mozart’s 40th until it wore out. And I am as astonished as you are to have all this music at my fingertips in this teeny little thing.
