i pod / mp3

[IB6376CY]

Rather than cart around a load of CDs I am considering putting them in digital format and using i pod with adaptor to plug in and play, I have had a bit of a scan on the web to see if I can make the car mp3 AND Ipod friendly as it would be convenient to offer both, but have not found a way to have both. Perhaps there is an adaptor from the i pod docking plug to an mp3 player. Anyone know how to do this please / if its possible?

[boxclever1753]

hey mate

i bought a no make stereo from egay that has an SD card reader and a USB port in the front. the stereo doesn't look so hot but i had more than 350 songs on my SD card - great way to travel.

and...

the iPod lead that connects to your pc fits straight into the USB port so no mucking about. unfortunately the stereo won't read WMA / MP4 / M4A files, only MP3... and my daughter's no make MP3 player plugged straight in the USB port also.

a halfway house maybe...

[IB6376CY]

hey mate

i bought a no make stereo from egay that has an SD card reader and a USB port in the front. the stereo doesn't look so hot but i had more than 350 songs on my SD card - great way to travel.

and...

the iPod lead that connects to your pc fits straight into the USB port so no mucking about. unfortunately the stereo won't read WMA / MP4 / M4A files, only MP3... and my daughter's no make MP3 player plugged straight in the USB port also.

a halfway house maybe...

.....now there is an idea, find an adaptor for USB plug in, thanks for that 1753!

[boxclever1753]

no worries.... !!

[tailoutcharlie]

mate

i just got an alpine head unit (about £200). it let you play cds etc or all kinds of mp3/aac/wma off a cd.
best bit is it has a cable going into the glove box that plugs straight into your ipod.

allows you to control it form the head unit as quickly as you can on the pod itself. some of the lder adapter boxs are very slow but this seems to work well.

have found it very convenient, it even charges it.

cant beat it really, 200 albums and you can take them with you. other makes eg panasonic do the same thing but i always preferred the sound quality from alpine.

as you can see im quite impressed, hope this has been some help.

[IB6376CY]

mate

i just got an alpine head unit (about £200). it let you play cds etc or all kinds of mp3/aac/wma off a cd.
best bit is it has a cable going into the glove box that plugs straight into your ipod.

allows you to control it form the head unit as quickly as you can on the pod itself. some of the lder adapter boxs are very slow but this seems to work well.

have found it very convenient, it even charges it.

cant beat it really, 200 albums and you can take them with you. other makes eg panasonic do the same thing but i always preferred the sound quality from alpine.

as you can see im quite impressed, hope this has been some help.

I can have the ipod plug in cable from my Pioneer with pod in glove box as you have , but tell me more about the mp3/aac/wma off a CD option please.

[brummimatt]

I got a ripspeed head unit with ipod connection as standard. It works ok and charges the ipod while you drive. plus it was cheap. But before you buy one try and get a demo or use someone elses because my one is very hard to use.

If i want to select an artist or song, you have to scroll all the way through the alphabetical list with the knob on the head unit! this would take about an hour to get to z!

i think harmon cardon do an extra controller which looks pretty trick. Also saw the other day in auto express that alpine have bought out a new head unit which has an ipod interface built in! have a look around and play with one before you buy and see if it is easy to use!

GOOD LUCK!

[tailoutcharlie]

you can normally try them in halfrauds if you take your pod in. on the alpine one you can use the number buttons to skip to certain parts of the list.

I can have the ipod plug in cable from my Pioneer with pod in glove box as you have , but tell me more about the mp3/aac/wma off a CD option please.

er basically it will play anything you can throw at it. just copy AAC files from itunes on to a cdr or whatever your using and it plays them. the quality with AAC files especially is very good.

do a few internet searches should give you the info you need.

[placey]

any head unit with a pre-in socket can accept any media player input. the difficulty is charging. ipods require 3.3volts - a common voltage acheivable through cannibilising many different power supply adapters and hard wiring them to your ipod - see this link:

http://ipodlinux.org/Dock_Connector

(the connector costing a massive £2.19) giving the plug/jack part number required and the pin numbers for wiring to the charge adapter and into the rca leads to the head unit. (everything bascially!)

the connector, once wired, can be attached to the inside of the ashtray lid - thus allowing the ipod to play through the head unit while being charged by the car, with the added bonus of folding down the lid for a completely out of sight install when parked.

maybe this is helpful. at least it's a cheap solution - certainly cheaper than changing to an ipod controlling head unit.

paul

[tailoutcharlie]

does work well, thats pretty much what i did.

got tired of nearly dyig whilst fiddling with the pod in the end.

try the cheaper option first, if you dont like it at least you not spent much.

good luck IB6376CY