I realize I can use my cd changer input... have any of you guys already worked on this? Can you post any pic's, instructions and advice?
Thanks.
Thanks.
iPod '04 Cobra Solutions
- Thread starter Abe Abromowitz
- Start date
how can you use the cd changer input? If this isn't too bad, I may have to do this one myself.
My friend at work just showed me a new thing for the iPOD. it plugs into the top of the iPOD and it transmits a signal to any radio near by and plays through that radio. You tune the radio to 87.9 FM, it will work in your car, at home anywhere. it was pretty neat, and sounds good to. All wireless.
Dave
Dave
I tried one of those wireless transmitters, and the audio quality was not up to par with what I had hoped for. If you hit a bump, or moved it, it would produce static. I think the signal was just not strong enough.
In a home though, on a home stereo, it seemed to work very well.
In a home though, on a home stereo, it seemed to work very well.
Do you know the brand of the one you are talking about? Assuming there is more then one. I did not hear it in a car so you may be right. I heard it inside on a portable stereo and it sounded good. He said it worked great in the car. i guess i will have to check it out in person
I believe it was a belkin. It cost around $40 at best buy. It had a battery, or you could plug it into the cigarette lighter.
I thought maybe it was the one I bought, but I read some reviews of other ones, and found out the same thing about them. One review I read said that it was very hard to use in detroit, as I guess we have a lot of strong radio signals here to block it out.
I'd just ask your friend if you can borrow it for one night. If it works great for you, then I'd get that one.
I thought maybe it was the one I bought, but I read some reviews of other ones, and found out the same thing about them. One review I read said that it was very hard to use in detroit, as I guess we have a lot of strong radio signals here to block it out.
I'd just ask your friend if you can borrow it for one night. If it works great for you, then I'd get that one.
OK - First - someone told me I have to post a pic of my car to be taken serious here.... I will.... Its a Yelllow '04 Cobra and its 2 days old. I need to find a name for it... Pics will be posted soon.
Now - the iTrip and other things that use FM signals don't work well. There is supposed to be an adapter that takes the CD Changer input - and lets you play your iPod or MP3. Also - If you go to iPodlounge.com and look at "Car Solutions" you will see that there are many solutions for other cars - but ZERO for Mustangs.... I was hoping that someone already did all this. I expect that in the next two weeks I'll have the SAT radio installed and I wanted the guy to also do the iPod. Maybe he'll have an answer and I'll post it. My previous car had a cassette deck and I used the Belkin/cassette option. It was just OK - not great.
Now - the iTrip and other things that use FM signals don't work well. There is supposed to be an adapter that takes the CD Changer input - and lets you play your iPod or MP3. Also - If you go to iPodlounge.com and look at "Car Solutions" you will see that there are many solutions for other cars - but ZERO for Mustangs.... I was hoping that someone already did all this. I expect that in the next two weeks I'll have the SAT radio installed and I wanted the guy to also do the iPod. Maybe he'll have an answer and I'll post it. My previous car had a cassette deck and I used the Belkin/cassette option. It was just OK - not great.
In addtion - here is a site for converters for aux inputs. I don't know much about this stuff so I can't say it would work. Can anyone here help?
http://store.yahoo.com/logjam/auxford.html
http://store.yahoo.com/logjam/auxford.html
True_stang
Banned
the piece for the ipod is an
"fm trasmitter"
"fm trasmitter"
I found this link for someone's solution. But, I'm not crazy about it. Check it out. We have to be able to do better than this.
http://www.ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=40478&highlight=mustang
http://www.ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=40478&highlight=mustang
I thought that also, but there are converters for the CD changer. I just need help in finding them.
My friend just stopped by. The thing he has is called "itrip" i didnt try it in the mustang but in his dodge pickup. He walked to the end of my street which was about 1/8th mile down the road from the truck and the signal finally got all static. We went for a ride and if you move it around or hit a bump it didnt do a thing. Worked good for what i saw.
Dave
Dave
OK. I found it. This is the end all thead for installs of iPods. You audio guys who know what your talking about, please review and post what you think....
http://www.ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31503&highlight=car+solutions
http://www.ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31503&highlight=car+solutions
Here is my .02.
For the 04, well, you are basically out of luck. You can use one of the FM transmitters, but in gerenal the sound quality is not there. I have a 03 Cobra and the manufacturer of the AUX-POD says that non of their devices will work. Some people have tried to go this route and have had success.
I, personally, do not have the time or patience to go for the $180 unit and find out it does not work. Nor do I want to remove the entire system. So, for $18 I'm getting the Metra kit for replaing the head unit with an aftermarket Alpine. Some Alpine radios have AI-Net -- that is the basic building block logic that Alpine then creates specific hardware interfaces to cd changers, external devices, etc. Racerat (Tracy) turned me on to their offering due out in late Sept 04. There will be a unit for the ipod. You will be able to choose tracks, power on/off, real line level audio (from the port, not after the headphone amp), and display.
The AUX POD only gives you power on/off and fwd/rev tracks. So, I'll be dropping $500 for the 9835 radio, $100 for the interface, $50 in mounting hardware and trying out the Metra interface. My gut feeling tells me that the rear eamps will be fed by line levels and the front speakers will be direct wired to the speakers.
Once I do all this, I'll have a write up and pictures. Now, if it does not work, it really won't matter -- I have JL audio woofers (12W3 x 2) and XR570 components for the car. Once I decided to do it, I'll build a custom box and get a good set of amps to drive everything.
First things first, to get the new head unit and try the "Phase One" changes. I expect to order things in a few weeks (no, the ipod interface won't be out, but I will have one on pre-order) and I will suffer with the RCA in cable (wasted money, but its only $20).
Best of luck, I let you know how I make out. I think, tho with the 2004 you are basically in a rough spot. The wiring harnesses are different then the 03. Even my plan may not work....
John
For the 04, well, you are basically out of luck. You can use one of the FM transmitters, but in gerenal the sound quality is not there. I have a 03 Cobra and the manufacturer of the AUX-POD says that non of their devices will work. Some people have tried to go this route and have had success.
I, personally, do not have the time or patience to go for the $180 unit and find out it does not work. Nor do I want to remove the entire system. So, for $18 I'm getting the Metra kit for replaing the head unit with an aftermarket Alpine. Some Alpine radios have AI-Net -- that is the basic building block logic that Alpine then creates specific hardware interfaces to cd changers, external devices, etc. Racerat (Tracy) turned me on to their offering due out in late Sept 04. There will be a unit for the ipod. You will be able to choose tracks, power on/off, real line level audio (from the port, not after the headphone amp), and display.
The AUX POD only gives you power on/off and fwd/rev tracks. So, I'll be dropping $500 for the 9835 radio, $100 for the interface, $50 in mounting hardware and trying out the Metra interface. My gut feeling tells me that the rear eamps will be fed by line levels and the front speakers will be direct wired to the speakers.
Once I do all this, I'll have a write up and pictures. Now, if it does not work, it really won't matter -- I have JL audio woofers (12W3 x 2) and XR570 components for the car. Once I decided to do it, I'll build a custom box and get a good set of amps to drive everything.
First things first, to get the new head unit and try the "Phase One" changes. I expect to order things in a few weeks (no, the ipod interface won't be out, but I will have one on pre-order) and I will suffer with the RCA in cable (wasted money, but its only $20).
Best of luck, I let you know how I make out. I think, tho with the 2004 you are basically in a rough spot. The wiring harnesses are different then the 03. Even my plan may not work....
John
Thank you John. Please keep us informed as to how it goes. I'm gonna see what I can find to help us. I'm also looking into the Alpine solution.
I'm just hoping Metra (or someone) comes up with a real kit for the 03/04 Cobras. I keep looking at the kit (it is Metra part number 70-5519) and there is a good pic of it here:
http://www.shopforelectronicsparts.com/products/item5015.html
My take is that this kit has the power and other control lines on the black connector. The white connector has four wires and two rca's. This is where I believe the speaker outputs would go. The Mach 460 stereo system has three amps... eight speakers. The radio power *should* drive the front speakers (tho, I do not know how they split the tweeter from the crossover) and the set of RCA must send the low levels to the rear. I cannot find a wiring digram pdf online, so I'll bite the bullet and spend $20 and try it out.
John
EDIT: On closer expection, the front outputs may be sent by lines on the black connector (besides the power, grround, lighting, etc leads). The rear would be the white connector. High pass is probably amplified by the in dash stereo and the amps push the woofers. Just a thought, will know more when I pull the trigger (after my vacation).
http://www.shopforelectronicsparts.com/products/item5015.html
My take is that this kit has the power and other control lines on the black connector. The white connector has four wires and two rca's. This is where I believe the speaker outputs would go. The Mach 460 stereo system has three amps... eight speakers. The radio power *should* drive the front speakers (tho, I do not know how they split the tweeter from the crossover) and the set of RCA must send the low levels to the rear. I cannot find a wiring digram pdf online, so I'll bite the bullet and spend $20 and try it out.
John
EDIT: On closer expection, the front outputs may be sent by lines on the black connector (besides the power, grround, lighting, etc leads). The rear would be the white connector. High pass is probably amplified by the in dash stereo and the amps push the woofers. Just a thought, will know more when I pull the trigger (after my vacation).
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Possible Solution!!!
There is a company called Blitz Safe that has a kit that will let us toggle from the CD multichanger to an AUX unit - like an iPod. Its a direct connect with out any need for an FM Mod. From what I read in their forum, they are currently testing for the Mach 460 and should have a product ready to ship in the very near future. I'm going to wait for this and will post pics after I install.
Those of you who what to read their info, the link is...
http://www.blitzsafe.com/blitz_catalog/blitz_catalog.html
Do a search for "Mach 460" on their message board.
There is a company called Blitz Safe that has a kit that will let us toggle from the CD multichanger to an AUX unit - like an iPod. Its a direct connect with out any need for an FM Mod. From what I read in their forum, they are currently testing for the Mach 460 and should have a product ready to ship in the very near future. I'm going to wait for this and will post pics after I install.
Those of you who what to read their info, the link is...
http://www.blitzsafe.com/blitz_catalog/blitz_catalog.html
Do a search for "Mach 460" on their message board.
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Be careful... the Mach 460 is not a single solution. The cars up to the 2003 model had one type of inputs, the 04+ have a different style. If they are developing something, make sure it is for the 04 cars as well...
John
John
For the 03, you can use an adapter from PIE - part # FRDN-AUX Even though their site says it doesn't work for the 03 radio, it does. I have it and it works great with my Ipod. The 04 supposedly has a different data format and from what I have seen so far, there isn't an adapter available. I also have an FM transmitter from Monster Cable, and it works OK if you are in an area with weak FM signals in the band it uses, but it definitely does not sound as good as being directly wired. I used the FM transmitter in my wife's car, and in rental cars.
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