How Can I Get My Ipod Through My Car Speakers?

[garro]

I am a bit dumb when it comes to cars.

Is there a way that I can get my ipod to play through my car speakers.

I have a CD/radio in there now.

Can I just pay somebody to put a connection?

Is this expensive?

[ashacat]

I recently bought an FM transformer thing which plugs into both your cigarette lighter and your i-pod and then transmits the i-pod output as an FM radio freqency so you can pick it up on your radio. The theory is great but unfortunatley there is such a mash up of radio stations in BKK that it is hard to find a blank frequeny which means that the reception is not that good, however when you get out of the city it gets much better.

You can get similar models from I-pod outlet stores such as the ones in the main malls in BKK.

[madjbs]

Best thing to do is go to your local stereo place and get them to fix a wire into the back of your stereo. Only should take 10 minutes and 100 baht or so. At the moment I use an FM transmitter but it is crap.

[tavarich]

another option: some car radio players have an accesory plugin, if you have this all you need is a cable to plug into the ipod and then the radio

[AJS 7R]

If you have an AUX port just plug it in there.

[Crossy]

Yep, as the others have implied, it is very much dependent upon the CD player you have now :-

1. An FM transmitter is crap, but works with anything
   
2. some have an 'aux' jack on the front
   
3. others have an 'aux' jack on the back
   
4. you may be able to hook up to an input intended for a CD changer
   

Time to visit your friendly car audio place, or indicate the make and model of the current player here, maybe we can assist

[madjbs]

My Sony CD player has an Aux option on the screen but no Aux in jack on the front. I assume there must be one on the back, does anyone know if Sony puts jack connectors back there or will the cable need soldering into the loom?

[garro]

Yep, as the others have implied, it is very much dependent upon the CD player you have now :-

1. An FM transmitter is crap, but works with anything
   
2. some have an 'aux' jack on the front
   
3. others have an 'aux' jack on the back
   
4. you may be able to hook up to an input intended for a CD changer
   

Time to visit your friendly car audio place, or indicate the make and model of the current player here, maybe we can assist

The thing that is in there now looks very cheap and very old.

I can't read the name as it's worn off.

I can't see any aux-jack.

I think the visit to the audio place is on the cards.

[taxexile]

i bought an fm transmitter for 300 or 400 baht at panthip , plugs into the i-pod and cig. lighter and charges up the i-pod too.

it works fine , especially if the aerial is down , but not too well in bkk , where there are hardly any unoccupied frequencies.

[bubba]

For those using FM transmitters, I'd be curious to know if anyone has found a reliably clear frequency in Bangkok. Anyone care to post what they use here?

The only freq that I have found that is very clear at all is at 104.00. There are just so many stations with low-spec transmitters that bleed up and down the spectrum that I am rarely able to use my FM interface. The only option I have most of the time is to use the cassette adapter, which of course leads to more wire mess.

By the way, the cassette adapter seems to have much better audio quality than the FM transmitter, and I am using a top-end Griffin model. Apart from the dangling wires, it's a good and inexpensive option for those who do not have an aux input.

[Cuban]

Sony puts jack connectors back there or will the cable need soldering into the loom?

Very much a case of the head unit you have is either fitted with an Aux in RCA socket at the back or not. No soldering into the car's loom required. However getting them to put an on/off switch in the power feed to the car's electric ariel would help reduce co-channel interferance, you can keep the ariel down when using the iPod and FM transmitter.

Another way to increase the strength of the FM signal that your radio picks up from the iPod's add-on transmitter is to pull back some of the slack in the ariel lead that runs from the radio (head unit) to the ariel itself and loop that near to where you place the iPod's transmitter - the ease of doing this will very with the design of the unit and whether you want to be able to remove the iPod transmitter from the car.

[initiala4]

I actually have a true head unit that allows me to control the IPOD via headunit and actually shows the playlist, tracks. Currently using Siemens VDO Dayton. Alpine also as that capability.

[madjbs]

Sony puts jack connectors back there or will the cable need soldering into the loom?

Very much a case of the head unit you have is either fitted with an Aux in RCA socket at the back or not. No soldering into the car's loom required. However getting them to put an on/off switch in the power feed to the car's electric ariel would help reduce co-channel interferance, you can keep the ariel down when using the iPod and FM transmitter.

Another way to increase the strength of the FM signal that your radio picks up from the iPod's add-on transmitter is to pull back some of the slack in the ariel lead that runs from the radio (head unit) to the ariel itself and loop that near to where you place the iPod's transmitter - the ease of doing this will very with the design of the unit and whether you want to be able to remove the iPod transmitter from the car.

Thanks for the advice, My head unit is a Sony CD player but I can't remember the model, it says it has an Aux in but I'm just not sure of the connection type. I can't get it out because I don't have the Sony removal keys, I should probably just take it to a garage and get them to do it. I think my main problem with the FM transmitter is that it's a cheap mbk one with hardly any power.

Edited May 8, 2008 by madjbs