How to: Semi-Expensively Get Your iPod or iPhone to Work in Your Car
July 10th, 2008I’ve been searching for years for a decent car stereo that interfaces with my digital lifestyle. I haven’t bought a CD in at least four years. All my music is on my computer and then I move it to my iPod or iPhone for listening on the go.
Most car stereos are stuck in 1985. They have a CD player. Sure, a few years back, they began to make the CD player so it would read and play MP3, WAV, and other digital files. But damn they were slow to read and by the time you tried to navigate through the folder structure using a device with the speed of a cassette driven computer circa 1983, you would have arrived at your destination. Not optimal. The interfaces on such stereos left something to be desired.
In the seven years since the iPod came out, there have been attempts to integrate the iPod with a stereo with middling success. Typically it meant an FM modulator that you had to tune to an open frequency on your car stereo and it sounded like ass. Ass is not a good sound.
A couple of years ago, I bought an Alpine 9857 for our 2002 XTerra, which sounds really good, has a passable display, but navigation on the iPod is still slow. It is faster to disconnect, get where you want on the i-device, hit play and reconnect. It’s not a bad stereo at all. Just not manvana.
So once we decided not to buy a new car and use what we have, I wanted to find something that would make me want to drive the car. As in, “I call the Honda!” I went to our local car stereo store after doing some research. Alpine is still the only manufacturer doing interesting things with iPod/iPhone integration. At the time I purchased the stereo for the truck, Alpine was on the verge of releasing a unit called the iDA-X001. It wasn’t anywhere close to being on the market, so I was out of luck. Besides, I didn’t have clearance to spend that amount of money.
Since then, Alpine has released newer players that are cousins to the X001. The one I got for the Honda is the iDA-X100. I wanted Sirius satellite radio as well and I didn’t need a separate head unit or hacky tuner to do it with the X100. There are a couple of boxes (KCA-SC100, Sirius SCC1) you buy that are hidden that hook into the X100 and allow the X100 to do all the control. It was $140 for the two boxes ($70 each) and they did a good job with the antenna, which is really small.
I got an Alpine subwoofer, the SWE-1042, with a generic enclosure. The amp I got is only for the subwoofer (an amp to power the whole system would have been $300 more and I was already pushing it with Heather) is a JL Audio A1200. It is a discontinued amp and I believe that’s why I got such a good deal on it.
I could have gotten a smaller enclosure, but the amp I would have had to buy to yield similar results would have doubled the cost of the A1200. Besides, the enclosure doesn’t look like this (despite what Heather says):
Questions? Post in the comments section. o
Tags: audio, car stereo, integration, iphone, nerdery
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July 10th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Hows the GSM noise with an iPhone hooked up to it? Does it even work with an iPhone?
July 10th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
And what would be womanvana?
July 10th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
I commented on Dooce about my husband’s NEED to have a stereo in my car since it’s the one we drive when together most often. He went on and on and on and on about how AWESOME it would be and finally in a moment of insanity I agreed. $3000 later, I found a whole new reason to love that man.
I got the IDA-X001 and really love it. LOVE IT. I suddenly remembered how much I love music and spent almost an equal amount on iTunes the very first day I had it. Before that I listened to a lot of NPR so I’m not as up to date on what’s going on in the world but I’ve found my daughter talks 73.98% less if she can listen to music in the car, even if it’s not Hannah Montana!
He paired it with Alpine amps and all new Alumapro speakers. Pictures of it all here: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=stereo&w=75274024%40N00
Since then he’s purchaces the IDA-X100 for himself and I really like it. I love that the knob is a button and that the volume knob SPINS rather than being like a toggle. Those two points were my only gripes about the X001 qnd they fixed both of them in the X100.
Anyway, I guess the moral of the comment is: GOOD CHOICE!
July 10th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Sounds sweet!
Someday I will upgrade from my tape adapter and get a stereo with real iPod capability. Although, the tape is kind of awesome because I get that vintage squeaking noise every once and awhile.
Also, you are making me jealous twittering about your ‘crappy first gen iPhone’. I can only dream of someday owning such an ingenious device. If you toss your old one try to aim in my direction.
July 10th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I have a 2002 Honda with a tape deck and subsequently purchased a converter with a fake tape with a long cord (surely there are more technical terms) that plugs directly into my iPod touch. It’s what we used when I was a kid and wanted to play a cd through the tape deck because it plugged into the headphone hole on a discman. It was like 10 bucks and is still going strong, even after 4 years of use.
But I also have no taste in music and know nothing about stereos. Mostly, I’m just lazy.
July 10th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
@chrismillar, the stereo is loud enough to drown out the iPhone GSM noise. You can, if you really don’t want to take a call, turn on airplane mode, which will silence the GSM. However, if you don’t and calls come in, the stereo fades down and pauses while you take the call. After the call is over, it unpauses and fades up to the previous volume level. Slick.
Plus, it charges the iPhone.
July 10th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Ooooooooooh, thanks. I’m definitely gonna look this up.
July 10th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
If your sub-woofer did look like the one in the picture, you’d be the coolest kid on the block!
July 10th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
On my last two Accord’s, I’ve bought a cd-changer adapter that allows the ipod to be plugged straight into the back of the deck. Sound quality is great, ipod is powered and best of all, you use the ipod just like you would with earbuds.
The interface has made the ipod what it is and all of these decks I see don’t do it justice. The iPod Touch is way easy to control in the car and sounds great.
Ipod Adapters are made by LogJam, I think.
July 11th, 2008 at 1:16 am
And here I thought I just wanted something that would allow me to jack in directly and no longer deal with the FM static.
[Drool]
July 11th, 2008 at 1:20 am
Doh! Entered too soon!
My husband keeps saying he doesn’t want to pay for satellite radio (even though he’s happy to pay a ridiculous amount for cable and TiVo) but I suspect it would be cheaper than the ER visit from me breaking his wrist the next time he won’t stop switching the @#$%^ channels looking for something that’s not a commercial. Did your box come with a subscription or do have to pay a monthly fee?
July 11th, 2008 at 4:51 am
Don’t sweat it. Everyone knows Heather exaggerates to infinity (and beyond!). Enjoy the new system, but keep it down when Leta is in the car — you don’t want her blaming any future hearing problems on you guys in her own blog some day! ;o)
July 11th, 2008 at 7:08 am
Yeah dude. This sounds sweet. Also Sirius ch. 26, Left of Center, it’s full ow win.
July 11th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
My 2007 Subaru came with an AUX input. A simple AUX to AUX cable ($10) gives me great audio out of the headphone jack of whatever MP3 player I want (typically my iPod Classic 160GB). It doesn’t get in the way of the separate charger and it rolls up and fits in the glove box when I don’t need it.
July 12th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
My newish Scion also came with an AUX input, but the ‘02 Mini didn’t nor did the first year Beetle so both of them got the Crutchfield purchased interface thingy that basically functions exactly like an AUX input. Usually there is a way to hook up a CD changer with most factory stereos and my two cars had this possibility. The interface hooks in the trunk where the CD changer would be and then you run a wire for an input that looks like a headphone wire. You put the Input selection to CD track 1 and voila it works grand! About 85 bucks with Crutchfield’s impeccable directions so even *I* could put it in!
July 14th, 2008 at 11:28 am
I’m so jealous!!! I got the X001 last year and LOVE it. So naturally when I saw the X100 I wanted it, I just haven’t ponied up the cash yet. I picked XM over Sirius as I already had a family plan with them but a great stereo overall! Congrats!
July 16th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
My boyfriend installed the exact same player in his car last month. He absolutely loves it and I’m 110% jealous. Yeah, so much for that last commandment.