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New Ipod Yesterday

Spurshot

By Spurshot
in Audio, Electronics & Software

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Spurshot Senior Enthusiast

Spurshot

Posted
Posted

I bought an ipod for the first time yesterday. Moving into the 21st century. At 53, I'm getting like an old person and not all that savy about electronics. I try, but it's hard for my generation to keep up.

 

I loaded up a bunch of my Marty Robbins and other trail songs along with some Hootie, Clapton, and some others. I'm going to just plug the Nano into the 1/8" jack in the front of my 08's factory XM radio's panel.

 

Question: Will using an interface box that feeds the ipod in thru the back connectors be significantly better sound quality? (I have the Bose satellite radio, no Nav)

Crutchfield recommends the Periferal Media Gateway or USA Spec GM ipod interface.

Offshore24 Enthusiast

Offshore24

Posted
Posted

I have the aftermarket interface in my '07 with XM radio. I would think, that as long as the signal is wired into the radio you'd see no difference in sound quality. A wire's a wire whether it's in the back through a fancy interface or in the front through a jack. The difference would be that the peripheral interface gives you some ability to surf the ipod using steering wheel and radio button controls, while the jack just lets you run the tunes off the ipod and use the ipod controls.

brantmacga Enthusiast

brantmacga

Posted
Posted

if my factory radio had an audio input like the new ones, i wouldn't have purchased a peripheral interface.

 

 

the sound quality will be the same.

 

 

its easier to navigate the ipod using the ipod controls.

 

and its no harder to reach down and hit "next" on the ipod than it is to use the radio buttons.

 

 

save your money.

mkelly Enthusiast

mkelly

Posted
Posted
I bought an ipod for the first time yesterday. Moving into the 21st century. At 53, I'm getting like an old person and not all that savy about electronics. I try, but it's hard for my generation to keep up.

 

I loaded up a bunch of my Marty Robbins and other trail songs along with some Hootie, Clapton, and some others. I'm going to just plug the Nano into the 1/8" jack in the front of my 08's factory XM radio's panel.

 

Question: Will using an interface box that feeds the ipod in thru the back connectors be significantly better sound quality? (I have the Bose satellite radio, no Nav)

Crutchfield recommends the Periferal Media Gateway or USA Spec GM ipod interface.

 

 

The sound will be better with the Ipod connected to the back of the stereo. If you go thorough the jack on the front you are using an amplified output from the ipod and the output from the dock connector is a line out...........

 

 

GM finally released the pal, so that is an option for connecting the Ipod.

 

 

In my mind the huge advantage to connecting to the xm input of the radio is that it will charge the Ipod while you listen. If you go aux in your ipod will run down on battery power.

brantmacga Enthusiast

brantmacga

Posted
Posted
In my mind the huge advantage to connecting to the xm input of the radio is that it will charge the Ipod while you listen. If you go aux in your ipod will run down on battery power.

 

 

they make car chargers for the ipod.

Bill in Niantic Enthusiast

Bill in Niantic

Posted
Posted

I am a 61 yr old and have a Zune (Microsoft version of Ipod) I made sure I had the Aux Input so I could use it.

But since the Radio/CD handles MP3 and WMA files. So I used the files for Zune that I have as back up and burned the files to a CD. I got about 220 songs on each CD. I put about 1300 songs on 5 CDs. They sound MUCH BETTER being palyed on the CD player. They have all the data. You can play random, album, or artist. Plus the titles read out on the Radio screen and are easier to read.(for old farts with bad eyesight for reading)

mkelly Enthusiast

mkelly

Posted
Posted
In my mind the huge advantage to connecting to the xm input of the radio is that it will charge the Ipod while you listen. If you go aux in your ipod will run down on battery power.

 

 

they make car chargers for the ipod.

 

 

 

no sh!t?

 

I wasnt aware of that :lol:

Spurshot Senior Enthusiast

Spurshot

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I bought an ipod for the first time yesterday. Moving into the 21st century. At 53, I'm getting like an old person and not all that savy about electronics. I try, but it's hard for my generation to keep up.

 

I loaded up a bunch of my Marty Robbins and other trail songs along with some Hootie, Clapton, and some others. I'm going to just plug the Nano into the 1/8" jack in the front of my 08's factory XM radio's panel.

 

Question: Will using an interface box that feeds the ipod in thru the back connectors be significantly better sound quality? (I have the Bose satellite radio, no Nav)

Crutchfield recommends the Periferal Media Gateway or USA Spec GM ipod interface.

 

 

The sound will be better with the Ipod connected to the back of the stereo. If you go thorough the jack on the front you are using an amplified output from the ipod and the output from the dock connector is a line out...........

 

 

GM finally released the pal, so that is an option for connecting the Ipod.

 

 

In my mind the huge advantage to connecting to the xm input of the radio is that it will charge the Ipod while you listen. If you go aux in your ipod will run down on battery power.

 

 

 

I'm almost sure the front 1/8" jack is analog. Not sure about the interface boxes whether the input signal is digital or analog. I'll give this setup some time and decide if I want to have the controls thru the radio. The problem with that is that I don't have a large screen Nav radio and this radio has only one line of text capable, maybe two. I think controlling the ipod may be a PITA that way.

 

For charging, I found a host of cigarette adapters that convert to USB (5.5v) and I can simply plug in my USB ipod cable. BestBuy gets $26 for them and they're $5 on ebay.

brantmacga Enthusiast

brantmacga

Posted
Posted
In my mind the huge advantage to connecting to the xm input of the radio is that it will charge the Ipod while you listen. If you go aux in your ipod will run down on battery power.

 

 

they make car chargers for the ipod.

 

 

 

no sh!t?

 

I wasnt aware of that :thumbs:

 

 

 

Your "huge advantage" isn't worth the cost.

Griptruk Enthusiast

Griptruk

Posted
Posted
In my mind the huge advantage to connecting to the xm input of the radio is that it will charge the Ipod while you listen. If you go aux in your ipod will run down on battery power.

 

 

they make car chargers for the ipod.

 

 

 

no sh!t?

 

I wasnt aware of that :thumbs:

 

 

 

Your "huge advantage" isn't worth the cost.

 

 

I have to concur that there IS a sound quality difference, and that for me, the lack of TWO wires running in the cab is really the biggest advantage I see. If I ran the audio jack I had to have one to the AUX and power to the ipod, which looked like a real mess, plus they came out both ends of the ipod. Now I have my ipod in the glove box where no one can see it.

I WILL say that the PXAMG controls for the non-nav stereo can be a little confusing and perhaps a little frustrating even, (but I can also say the same for the factory ipod connection on my BMW, so I can't fault them on that) If it bothered me that much I have 11 feet of cable so I can either pull it out of the glove box or I could run the wires to the center console if I really wanted to get fancy. I got the whole thing for about $120 on ebay and I find it was worth it to me.

 

-Jer

Spurshot Senior Enthusiast

Spurshot

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I'm new to this ipod stuff. But, for now, I'm happy with the quality of the audio thru the 1/8" jack. Pretty darn good, IMO. I think the compression factor of the ipod would have to be decreased to allow a higher bit rate before the 1/8" jack would be the limiting factor. I'm currently using itunes default compression which I'm told is about 120 bit.

 

I can see the issue with all the cables dangling around and I'm trying to come up with a solution for my current setup. I've mounted the ipod next to my GPS by velcro-ing a small alum plate to the back of the GPS and then the ipod to the plate. This makes it easy to detach the GPS/ipod assembly and tuck it into the glove box when I park. But the setup requires 3 cables if constant charging is desired. 2 charging cables for the ipod and GPS and 1 for the audio. I'm planning to combine the charging into one cable from the assembly to the cigarette lighter jack.

 

DSC_0003.jpg

Bill in Niantic Enthusiast

Bill in Niantic

Posted
Posted
I am a 61 yr old and have a Zune (Microsoft version of Ipod) I made sure I had the Aux Input so I could use it.

But since the Radio/CD handles MP3 and WMA files. So I used the files for Zune that I have as back up and burned the files to a CD. I got about 220 songs on each CD. I put about 1300 songs on 5 CDs. They sound MUCH BETTER being palyed on the CD player. They have all the data. You can play random, album, or artist. Plus the titles read out on the Radio screen and are easier to read.(for old farts with bad eyesight for reading)

 

 

I did the above for a cost of maybe $2.50--the cost of 5 CD-Rs. Put 1300 songs on them.

The sound quality beats anything you can do using an Ipod (or a Zune) Plus it's easier to Read any Information about the file/song.

I know the point is to get away from CD's, but it's so much cheaper, easier to set-up and work with, and it's not that many CDs you have to work with.

Truthfully, I would prefer a USB connection for a USB Flash drive. But it's not on this Radio.

 

PLUS no charging worries or hassles, no cables to deal with, no cradles or mounting hassles either. Just store 4 CD's in console and leave one in the CD player. IT's great, and again---IT SOUNDS BETTER THAN ANY OTHER CONNECTION FOR THE IPOD ITSELF.

Spurshot Senior Enthusiast

Spurshot

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Bill I appreciate the elegance of the solution you're using. Sounds really attractive for most applications. During the hunting seasons, I spend some time off-road or on rough dirt roads and the CD's skip and jump around on rough roads. That's one reason I didn't get a ipod with a micro - drive in it. I'm sticking with a solid state solution.

  • 3 weeks later...
Pilot12 Enthusiast

Pilot12

Posted
Posted

Nobody in this thread mentioned a buzz or whine from the speakers while playing the ipod.....I get it and find it annoying. I'm playing through the accessory jack in front, but I get the identical noise in my Toyota Solara playing through an FM transmitter. The noise changes in pitch and volume with engine speed, being quiet enough at cruise that I'll live with it rather than spend money chasing a solution.

 

Anyone else hear this?

 

BTW Chuck, you should have too many songs at 53 to fit on a Nano....

Spurshot Senior Enthusiast

Spurshot

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Yeah, I hear it when I have the Ipod plugged into the cigarette charger. Unplug it and it should go away. It's a bit of interference from the alternator coming thru the power circuit.

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