So I’m trying to connect my mp3 player to the car stereo. I’ve seen this thread and think I know what my options are. I currently have no visible auxillary socket on my car stereo, is it possible that there is one round the back of the unit? I’m wondering if it is worth removing the cd player from the dash and taking a look. Also, the guy who installed my car stereo used a small tool that I hadn’t seen before to remove the old one, anyone know what it is likely to have been?
Sorry for the vague questions, thanks in advance for any advice.
I don’t know any of the answers to your questions, but I can tell you that to get any real answers you are going to have to tell us the make, model, year of your car and what kind of CD player you have in there now.
Some stock units have an Aux input, so it would be worth taking your unit out to take a look. The sound quality is going to be better than any other options. Instead of going through the trouble of removing my stereo, I just did a internet search for the type that came with my car and I found pictures of the back of the unit. From looking at those pictures I could tell that mine didn’t have the input so I just use a tape adapter instead. If sound quality is really important to you, an option would be to buy an aftermarket stereo which has an aux input.
You can purchase the tool used to remove a radio but you can also make one. I’ve always been able to use a small flathead screwdriver to pry the unit out but that may cause marks on the side of the unit.
the FM trasmitter attachments are pricey and don’t work on road trips (personal experience)
you’re better off with a less expensive “cassette” attachment (if your car audio system has a cassette player, that is)
Because you have to change the frequency once in a while? It’s annoying but it’s workable. I recently drove from CA to AL and used an FM transmitter (for my XM Radio) for the whole trip.
But you’re right, a cassette adapter is more convenient and sounds better, if it works with your car stereo. For some reason it doesn’t work in the stereo of my 83 Mercedes.
This realy depends on what you’re using, both in the car and as an mp3 player.
I’m using a Pioneer single-cd in-dash Mp3 CD player in the car, and to hook up the iPod I use a wireless FM transmitter. I plug the transmitter into my iPod, and then dial the car’s FM receiver into the same frequency that the iPod is now trransmitting on.
You’ve got the following options:
WIRELESS: Buy an FM transmitter for the iPod. Something like the Griffin iTrip. There’s a slew of wireless FM transmitters around (at least for the iPods) but, like someone’s already said, they dont sound as good as wireline solutions.
WIRELINE: Your best bet. Options include:
Standard casete adapters which fit into your cars casette player like a regular tape, and have a wire with a standard headphone (3/8th?) jack that slots neatly into the headphone or line-out port of your MP3 player.
Aux cable: These could either be 1x1 or 1x2 type cables that go from the headphone or line-out (or other) port of your MP3 player into the jacks in the back (or front) of the system. Some systems come Aux-ready and some of the newer ones come iPod ready, which means you can run the appropriate cable around from the back of the system, and hook it up to the 'Pod.
You need to be more specific about what equipment you have for anyone to be able to be definitive with their advice.
Any auxilliary sockets will be on the front of the CD player, don’t bother looking for them round the back. Very few car sound systems offer this as a feature, but I think it will become standard in time.
I’m able to use a cassette adaptor on mine (not much use for a CD player, of course), but it’s not an ideal solution by any means. One day I shall take the radio out and modify it to include a 3.5mm auxilliary jack socket. You can do this with any car sound system by hijacking the signal lines to the power amp input, but it does need to be done with some thought and care to avoid popping the speakers when plugging in or making the volume pot crackle with introduced DC offsets from the output of the MP3 player.
Thanks for the replies. I don’t know the model of my radio offhand unfortunately, other than its a SONY and has no aux input on the front. I’ll check when my wife gets back with the car tomorrow, but from what fridgemagnet is saying there’s not going to be much point taking it out and looking for a jack socket round the back.
I have no tape player, just CD, and the FM transmitter doesn’t sound that appealing to me, a lot of mixed opinions on them. I’m looking for a long term solution as we do a lot of driving, so it’ll probably come down to getting a new stereo.
My car stereo plays mp3s as it is, which would be good if I hadn’t ripped my entire music collection as ogg files…
I have an FM modulator permanently installed in my car. It’s wired in between the antenna and the radio, and when switched on it cuts out the signal from the antenna. It’s not without drawbacks (I have a switch and an input cable running out from under my dashboard) but if you don’t have an auxiliary input or a tape deck, this is a good solution that’s a huge improvement over those crappy little transmitter gadgets.
Incidentally, for those of you who haven’t bought a new car recently, radios with tape decks are usually an option that costs extra!
I just installed a Dension Ice>Link Plus in my girlfriend’s Honda a couple of days ago (early Christmas present). A bit pricey, but I got an open-box model from Best Buy and it saved me a few. Anyway, as far as installation goes, I know enough about cars to know that I know nothing about cars, and I did it just fine. The dock cable comes up from the arm rest so she can plug in her Nano and put it anywhere she wants. She can also just pull it back into the arm rest if she doesn’t want it sitting out in the open in her car. Her car CD player still works, and all her controls now can control the Nano, or she can control it from the iPod itself if she wants. Works great. My only complaint is that there’s a small delay when switching play lists from the car stereo controls.
I was also going to suggest a FM Modulator. They are about the same price as a iTrip or similar wireless transmitter but I’m interested in how that sounds. I would assume it sounds as good as an FM station in perfect reception.
Before you buy a wireless FM transmitter try hard to “try before you buy.” I got an iTrip and it didn’t work in my car due to my windshield or antenna position. I tested it in about 4 cars and it only sounded listenable in one.
Yeah, it sounds like a radio station with good reception. Like I said, it’s inferior to an auxiliary input, but if you don’t have one it’s better than any of those little things that run off the cigarette lighter or, God help you, use batteries.
Cross out “like” and put hate. Cross out “well” and put poorly. That describes my feelings. YMMV with these things.
I just saw something in the Brookstone catalog that looks like a little speaker that plugs into the iPod output. I’m going to check that out. I’m mainly interested in it for audiobooks, so excellent sound quality is not top priority. However, the static of the FM transmitter is horrible for me and the cassette adapter constantly starts and stops at random, so even a low-quality speaker should be an improvement.
The ideas about the FM modulator and the auxiliary input intrigue me.
Actually, I have a Sony in dash CD player, and it does have an aux jack; well, not a jack, per se, but a short cable on the wiring harness that you can plug an auxiliary device into. If your player has a few bells and whistles, I think there is a chance it has a aux connector. However, I did just go look at some specs (on crutchfield.com) and I see that some of the less expensive models (under $100) don’t seem to have them.
That’s a step in the right direction, but what we really need is a 3.5mm jack on the front of the stereo fascia. Any auxilliary inputs on the rear of the player will be meant for a permanent hard-wired installation, and will have either phono or custom cable-header plugs. There will be a feature on the front of the player to switch in the aux input, e.g. mode is either radio/CD/aux.
For the ones with the aux plug (but no 3.5 mm jack), they sell adaptors for those kinds of things. That’s exactly what I did for the 2003 Honda Accord, OEM radio. Installing it was a breeze.
