Today I finally got around to iPodding my car. I've wanted for a long time now, to be able to plug my iPod into my car radio and just have it work. I've tried the FM trasmitters (limited success in GTA - generally crappy sound) and the cassette tape adapter (works well but crappy sound). But I've been waiting for adapters that connect the iPod directly into the car stereo to become a little more mainstream.
I drive an Audi (2001 model year). From what I can gather on the internet, Audi recently released a factory-approved part that enables iPod connectivity. While I briefly considered the approach, I figured that an Audi-labelled part would cost too much. I researched several different options, all listed on the Apple iPod Your Car pages:
Factory Solutions - http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipodyourcar/
3rd Party Solutions - http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipodyourcar/accessories.html
I decided on the piece from Peripheral Electronics. I went to BestBuy and picked one up. You need to purchase the iPod2Car module and a vehicle specific "harness". The module plugs into your iPod and translates the iPod digital output from the dock connector into something your car radio can understand. The harness is really just the wire that goes from the interface module to the rest of your car.
iPod -> interface module -> harness -> car
The interface module costs $220 and the harness runs another $30. Including taxes the total came to $287.48. It's not cheap, particularly when you consider that a number of iPods are less than that. Still, it's about the same price as an hour of time with our favourite ladies so it's not unaffordable either. A small benefit to this is that if you change cars, you can take the interface with you and just buy a new harness.
Depending on your car, there are 2 installation options. You can install in the trunk where your CD changer goes, or you can remove the radio and plug it into the back of the radio. Either way, you lose the capability to use a CD changer. In essence, your iPod becomes a CD changer. It's not a bad deal considering a CD changer only holds 6 CDs whereas an iPod holds many times that.
BestBuy offered to install for me for another $50. I would have had to wait several hours though so I didn't bother. Instead, I went for the easy option of installing the unit in the trunk. The instructions were clear and easy to follow. The interface has some DIP switches you need to set according to the car you drive. After that it's a simple matter of plugging a few cables in and you're set. I did my "installation" in the parking lot of BestBuy and it took me less than 5 min.
So how does it work? Well the sound is what you would expect. It's just like having a CD playing except it's an iPod. The fast forward and rewind buttons, as well as the track forward & back on the radio control the iPod as you would expect then to. When I turn the radio off, the iPod goes off. When I switch from CD Changer to FM radio, the iPod pauses automatically.
But ... it's not perfect. I expected to be able to access the first 6 playlists by pressing the appropriate button on my radio. No go - I can only play my entire library. If I want a specific playlist, I must manually select it on the iPod first. This is not a problem really, except the iPod is in the trunk. This means I have to start a playlist first, then get into the car and be on my way. Not the most convenient thing to do!
I will be trying to plug the iPod directly into the back of the radio. First I have to get some radio removal keys. I know some people who probably have them. I'll either borrow them for free or pay someone $20 to do it for me. I suspect that plugging in the back of the radio might a little better and possibly offer access to playlists, but I guess I'll find out. In any case, once the interface is plugged into the back of the radio I'll be able to have the iPod in the glove compartment where it'll be easy to change playlists.
Another small peeve is the radio display. All it shows is "CD1 Track x". This is really a limitation of the radio itself. The new radios in the new cars probably have the capability to display track names and stuff. (Time for a new car!) A small plus though is that the interface also charges the iPod so I don't have to worry about getting an extra power source from the cigarette lighter.
So overall, I've achieved the goal of having the iPod connected to the car stereo without having to sacrifice sonic quality. It's not cheap and it's not perfect in terms of functionalty, but it is good!
Looks - N/A
Attitude - N/A
Service - 10/10
Repeat? - I'm glad I did it.
http://www.peripheralelectronics.com/web/ipod2car.asp
I drive an Audi (2001 model year). From what I can gather on the internet, Audi recently released a factory-approved part that enables iPod connectivity. While I briefly considered the approach, I figured that an Audi-labelled part would cost too much. I researched several different options, all listed on the Apple iPod Your Car pages:
Factory Solutions - http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipodyourcar/
3rd Party Solutions - http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipodyourcar/accessories.html
I decided on the piece from Peripheral Electronics. I went to BestBuy and picked one up. You need to purchase the iPod2Car module and a vehicle specific "harness". The module plugs into your iPod and translates the iPod digital output from the dock connector into something your car radio can understand. The harness is really just the wire that goes from the interface module to the rest of your car.
iPod -> interface module -> harness -> car
The interface module costs $220 and the harness runs another $30. Including taxes the total came to $287.48. It's not cheap, particularly when you consider that a number of iPods are less than that. Still, it's about the same price as an hour of time with our favourite ladies so it's not unaffordable either. A small benefit to this is that if you change cars, you can take the interface with you and just buy a new harness.
Depending on your car, there are 2 installation options. You can install in the trunk where your CD changer goes, or you can remove the radio and plug it into the back of the radio. Either way, you lose the capability to use a CD changer. In essence, your iPod becomes a CD changer. It's not a bad deal considering a CD changer only holds 6 CDs whereas an iPod holds many times that.
BestBuy offered to install for me for another $50. I would have had to wait several hours though so I didn't bother. Instead, I went for the easy option of installing the unit in the trunk. The instructions were clear and easy to follow. The interface has some DIP switches you need to set according to the car you drive. After that it's a simple matter of plugging a few cables in and you're set. I did my "installation" in the parking lot of BestBuy and it took me less than 5 min.
So how does it work? Well the sound is what you would expect. It's just like having a CD playing except it's an iPod. The fast forward and rewind buttons, as well as the track forward & back on the radio control the iPod as you would expect then to. When I turn the radio off, the iPod goes off. When I switch from CD Changer to FM radio, the iPod pauses automatically.
But ... it's not perfect. I expected to be able to access the first 6 playlists by pressing the appropriate button on my radio. No go - I can only play my entire library. If I want a specific playlist, I must manually select it on the iPod first. This is not a problem really, except the iPod is in the trunk. This means I have to start a playlist first, then get into the car and be on my way. Not the most convenient thing to do!
I will be trying to plug the iPod directly into the back of the radio. First I have to get some radio removal keys. I know some people who probably have them. I'll either borrow them for free or pay someone $20 to do it for me. I suspect that plugging in the back of the radio might a little better and possibly offer access to playlists, but I guess I'll find out. In any case, once the interface is plugged into the back of the radio I'll be able to have the iPod in the glove compartment where it'll be easy to change playlists.
Another small peeve is the radio display. All it shows is "CD1 Track x". This is really a limitation of the radio itself. The new radios in the new cars probably have the capability to display track names and stuff. (Time for a new car!) A small plus though is that the interface also charges the iPod so I don't have to worry about getting an extra power source from the cigarette lighter.
So overall, I've achieved the goal of having the iPod connected to the car stereo without having to sacrifice sonic quality. It's not cheap and it's not perfect in terms of functionalty, but it is good!
Looks - N/A
Attitude - N/A
Service - 10/10
Repeat? - I'm glad I did it.
http://www.peripheralelectronics.com/web/ipod2car.asp