hooking up an mp3 player

kasia · 03-22-2006, 07:46 AM

I have a griffin RoadTrip for my ipod and it worked well for me in my previous car. Unfortunately, the insight has a bit shakier ride which makes the RoadTrip a little less practical (the ipod bounces little too much in it sometimes losing the connection on some of the crappier local roads in snowy CT).

What have others done for their mp3-goodness? I'm thinking hooking up an aux input to the radio would work well but haven't a clue as to how to go about doing that.

2006 insight, really, just a baby.

HafNHaf · 03-22-2006, 11:58 AM

i found a wiring diagram online for the cd changer/sat radio input for my kenwood. i made a harness for it and now i can plug in anything with a stereo headphone jack, including my palm pilot which plays mp3s.

kari · 03-22-2006, 12:05 PM

I have a radio with an aux input built in, and am just waiting for the time to do the swap. probably not the solution you're looking for though!

jbrasure · 03-22-2006, 01:39 PM

Adding an aftermarket stereo with an AUX input is the easiest way to go (although it costs more money). If you really want to go nuts, get one of the new 2006 Alpine headunits that supports the "iPod Fullspeed" connection. You don't need an adapter. The iPod plugs right into the back of your stereo, and you can control it from the stereo controls.

James

goat961 · 03-23-2006, 12:55 AM

kenwood headunit with ipod adapter for me. works great and i even operate the 'pod though the headunit.

the adapter alone will run you about $100 though

kasia · 03-23-2006, 07:25 AM

I went the cheap way and built a 'stabilizer' for the road trip.. sort off.. out of rubber bands and other such high-tech materials

Works like a charm now!

I mostly listen to audio books when commuting so not exactly concerned with quality.

goat961 · 03-23-2006, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kasia

I went the cheap way and built a 'stabilizer' for the road trip.. sort off.. out of rubber bands and other such high-tech materials

duct tape or no? lol

rmnelson · 04-04-2006, 10:36 PM

I bought a Blitzsafe adapter from Logjam Electronics. It plugs into the cd port on the back of the stock head unit. It won't work if you have the changer in the back of the car. It doesn't provide power to your mp3 player. You will also need a "Y-adapter" to connect the Blitzsafe to the player. I put the whole thing together for about $75, and it took a couple of hours to take the dash apart, plug in the adapter, cable tie the box to a cross brace behind the panel, and put the dash back together. The plug on the Y-adapter that goes to the mp3 player hides behind the pax side of the front console with enough extra slack to reach the player in one of the cup holders. Works like a charm! Usual disclaimers apply; I don't work for Logjam or Blitzsafe.

http://www.logjamelectronics.com/blitzhonauxdmxv1.html

InvisibleGold · 04-09-2006, 03:17 PM

I just bought a cool FM transmitter from Walmart for my sister's and brother-in-law's birthday. Basically, it is a $30-$35 device that looks like a little shift knob. You plug it into the cigarette light and it sticks out about 1 inch.

The cool thing is that it can take a cable to plug into an iPod (or whatever) and also takes USB "pen drives". They both bought 512MB drives for $20 and are able to fill them with 6-8 hours of music. Although I haven't tried it myself, they say that the FM transmitter works great (not much static) and are excited about buying a collection of the USB drives to hold different collections of music.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product. ... id=3579125

(imagine stored 200 CDs of music on non-scratchable media in the ash tray or cup holder).

-John