Car audio & ipod adapters
 

Hi guys, apologies for another car audio question but I am after some info relating to a 30 gig video ipod and a car head unit....

Basically I have an aftermarket cd/mp3 head unit which has seen better days so needs to be replaced... it does hav a AUX port on the front but you can't control the ipod through the stereo (which for me is no good for me) the solution... a new head unit with an ipod adapter...

For example: http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/prod...oducts_id=5406

Just a few questions:

Does the ipod adapter actually charge the ipod's battery while plugged in?
Where do you normally install the adapter? glove box? under the dash?
What is the sound quality like?
Is it easy to control the ipod through the head unit?

Anything other random pieces of information?!

- Yes, that Alpine unit does charge the iPod while connected (but not all brands/models do)
- Those are options, as well as under seat, trunk or the other usual locations
- SQ won't be as good as CD, maybe not radio either, depends on song quality (bps rate, etc)
- Depends on what brand/model is used, but generally same or better than iPod interface

The sound quality should be about he same as you get with your current auxillary input when the iPod is connected to it. I've got a HU with such an aux input and found the SQ of my iPod to be unacceptabe, but placing the same MP3s on a CD and playing that through the same HU, it sounds 10x better than the iPod.

Be very careful when shopping for such devices, there are more coming out every day, and not all are or will be compatible with every generation of iPod!

Cheers for the reply nodsetse...

Iv'e been looking around for the same sort of thing. And have recently discovered this item, which can be had for £150 from Argos. Any thoughts?

I had that setup (different deck, Alpine 9835) and it was great, kept the ipod charged and i could control it from the head unit. The wire connects to the back of your deck, then goes to the "control box" (i kept mine behind the glove box) and then a wire goes from there to wherever you want to keep the ipod ( i kept mine in the pocket below the cd deck) sound quality was very good but thats because the songs i had on the ipod were very good quality, it was very easy to control, just make sure you have the music on your ipod very organized otherwise it will take some time to sort through it all. The new alpine decks have a similiar setup with the only major difference is the interface is 20x faster which if you have used the older setups would be very nice and the cable is cheaper ($20 for the new one vs $100 for the old one) + cost of the deck of course, no complaints overall except it being a bit slow but that was taken care of in the one ones