I wanted to post another suggested ipod install method... some of you have amazing setups, but for various reasons this was the best install for me.

I wanted the ipod to have a clean and constant volume signal, turn on and off with the car and not lose its place, sit in a location where it was easy to see/control fully, and be totally stealth and secure when parked, with a quick teardown. I also wanted it to be cheap and straightforward. And I didn't want to lose any cig lighter sources, or cupholders, or storage space. So this is what I came up with:

parts used:
-$85 AAI-NIS2 http://www.mp3car.com/store/product_...roducts_id=186
-$18 shipped, belkin F8V7058-APL-BLK (find it on ebay, but here's the link to the belkin on froogle.com:site)http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=...line&scoring=p
-$7 shipped, silver aluminum ipod case (find it on ebay for this price from eforcity seller, but here's a link that describes it) http://www.eforcity.com/dappipodca22.html
-$2 3.5mm out to RCA Y-cable (buy it anywhere)

I installed the AAI-NIS2 as everybody else does, and thanks for the description on this page http://g35ipod.com/installHW.php?skin=1
This lets me keep my sat function if I want, which is why I liked the AAI-NIS2.

The belkin is a great product because it takes a fixed-volume line-out from the ipod while charging it. It is meant to install into the cigarette lighter, but I cut into the wiring behind the cig lighter and hard-wired it to the pos/neg there, which allows it to only get power when the car is on. Here is a link showing how somebody did this on the infiniti FX (must log in to view pics, and this guy used the turbo1 line driver which is totally worthless in this setup since you get a line out anyway): http://www.infinitifx.org/phpBB2/vie...rdwire+install

So I had the belkin hardwired to power, then had the 3.5mm out fixed to a Y-cable with RCA ends, and plugged that into the AAI-NIS2. The belkin device does let you set volume, but I fixed it to about 75% of maximum (max will distort) and then covered it over with tape to prevent it from moving.

I then crammed all the remains back into the area behind the cigarette ash tray panel, leaving the tail end of the belkin out the lower trim piece on the driver's side of the transmission.

For a mount, I used that aluminum case (I removed the back attachment from it) and simply placed a sheet of strong velcro across the back, and another sheet of velcro as a tongue coming out of the ashtray. It matches the infiniti fake-titanium color well. It ends up mounting in a very usable location so that I can control and see what is playing without fancy adapters. I've seen the devices to get control of the ipod over the steering wheel and the song playing over the head unit, but these devices are always expensive and complex and are never as user-friendly as the ipod itself, so why not mount the ipod where it can be used?

When it's not playing, the velcro tongue tucks back into the ashtray, the ipod gets stored out of sight of criminal scumballs, and the belkin cable tucks under the trim out of sight.

One nice thing about the belkin is that the way I have it set up, the power to the ipod cuts off with the ignition... so stopping the car kills power to the ipod, which pauses itself in response. In a couple minutes the ipod shuts itself off when it is paused, so no power wasted and the song remains at the same position when the car is started.

I'm pretty happy with the setup and thought it was a simple solution with the best of all worlds for me.

Here's a couple pics of it mounted and off. Thanks to all of you who have already described the components of this install previously to make it easier!

 

Nice man, i'm speechless.....btw did u do it urself?

 

does the mini-plug to RCA degrade the signal?

 

The signal is high quality, though I agree that I would prefer a non-3.5mm output, this was the option... I noticed that other device (can't think of the name at the moment) that allows an aux-in with a bottom hookup to the ipod built in, but it was more expensive and did not work with systems that also had an xm radio, so this was the only option I could think of.
I think it still beats the 3.5mm headphone out by a lot. I get no alternator noise, either.
My own bias is that, if no alternator noise is present, the expense of ultra high quality cables is lost in many automotive setups... I have a decent ear for things, but fail to see improvements with better cables and things. So bottom line is, with no alternator noise or distortion, I care very little about the cables. Besides, it's just an ipod!
I should point out that I did get some distortion when the output from the belkin was at maximum, even when the car's volume was not high, so better to keep the belkin volume dial around 3/4 max output.

I did a similar setup in my other car (honda prelude), and built an RCA signal selector switch out of a DPDT switch from radio shack with very fine wires and soldering, and the signal was not hurt by it.

 

if you take the output from the ipods minijack to rca, it is crappy because the quality is reduced in playback through the headphone jack right? so does the belkin unit take signal from the dock connector and then convert it with some integrity into the minijack or does it do the same thing as the ipod? if it takes it off the dock connection i don't see why it allows volume adjustment?

I don't have XM but I had a loaner with it and i thought the head unit's xm controls sucked ballz. just my 2 cents.

 

i think that belkin thing just uses the ipods internal amp for output

 

nice job

 

Well, it has to use the ipod's internal amp to get a signal at all... there's no other way around that. Although it does have a volume adjustment on the belkin, that does not mean it boosts the line-out via the ipod's amp, I think it is a passive volume adjustment. As an example, many headphones like the sennheiser mx500 have passive volume adjustments that function independently of the source amp. I think this is similar to the belkin's volume adjustment.
For no good reason, I would feel better if it had cool big cables carrying the signal, but the output from the ipod is still via a couple very small contact points anyway, so I don't feel like the cable is the weak link.

Either way, the signal sounds very good overall. The best thing about the line-out is that it has a fixed volume with no surprises like what you would get from the headphone out. And I can charge and get signal with a single hookup. Remember, it's just an ipod playing compressed mp3s in a car via the stock headunit, I don't think it's possible to achieve perfection... but even then, I can personally not tell a difference between my ipod playing (VBR average 192 rate songs) and the car's CD player on the same song.

I'm pleased with the clarity of the signal regardless of price, especially considering that the $1500 and many, many hours I spent on the complete system in my Honda still has a faint hint of alternator noise that I was never able to get rid of! Increasing the volume has solved that problem, though!

 

Hehehe that was my install on the FX. LOL! The turbo1 line driver is to keep volume levels appropriate. Fortunately the Belkin, which I found out, has built in amplification, so it isn't needed, as I commented on the write-up. Otherwise, had I used the headphone output, the Turbo1 would have been needed because the volume on the HU would have had to be turned up too much most likely.

There is a huge difference between a CD and an MP3 by the way, and it doesn't matter how you get it in your head unit. It's this simple, MP3 is compressed music. It doesn't sound as good, however it allows you to put 10 times the music in the same space. I've listened in my G (where my Ipod is hardwired through my Pioneer AVIC D1) and in my FX35 where you've seen the install. It's just a factor of MP3 being compressed music.

I like to compare it to watching HDTV vs. Regular Cable TV. The music is so much more crisp on a CD. The highs are where I really notice it. The music on a CD vs. MP3 is so much more brilliant. Anyway, my $0.02.

 

Indeed, that's your post on the fx forum. Thanks for your help with that, Inno!

I had been considering that belkin for the application and was glad to see your post on the fx forums that you were able to get it to work well. I'm pretty happy with it!

 

maybe if you have stock HU an speakers you can't tell the diff between mp3s and CDs but on High end system you can hear how the clipping effects the range of notes in the music.

 

At the risk of changing the topic of this thread, imho a high bit-rate mp3 can be virtually perfect, just as a minimally compressed jpg can be... It seems intuitive to me that there is room for reduction of a .wav level file without losing anything worthwhile.
I agree that the quality of a system can reveal flaws in music, but I would also humbly suggest that there is a strong bias for people who invest time and money in a system to over-praise the improved quality of that system. Which is fine. Believe me, I've been there with other systems I have installed.
I think this article is interesting... http://www.geocities.com/altbinaries...l/mp3test.html
The last 3 paragraphs sum up my view on the topic.

I have always wanted to get some self-proclaimed audiophiles in a room and have them all distinguish equipment in a blinded fashion---while I agree that it is possible to refine one's musical ear, I think that it can be overstated by some.

In my car, I tend to err on quantity over quality of music with plenty of wonderful noise interference from my engine at about 3500 rpm!

 

you would have to agree that an amp with more headroom will make a discernable difference compared with the stock amp when trying to distinguish between mp3 and cd quality audio. the clipping that occurs during the mp3s encoding process reduces the frequency range in output so if your amp is capable of playing the full range of a cd file you will hear the difference. at least i think so.

 

Ah, I see your point... yeah, I agree.

I think mp3 can be encoded with a full frequency spectrum, depending on settings, but I do agree that it would take a quality system to discern compression artifacts. Heck, I know some people claim that CD-quality sound is suboptimal, and in theory they are correct.

Along those lines, one could argue that it's not worth having a high-fidelity/balanced system if you are playing mp3s, but I would still prefer to err on the quality component side like I think you are suggesting. I wish I had the time and resources to swap the infiniti stereo, but I doubt that will ever happen.

And as I thought about it, perhaps the belkin does have a small amp inside it, since it does not play at all when it is not connected to DC power through the car... a truly passive device could probably still pass on the ipod's lineout signal, I would think.

I agree that the belkin may not be the highest-quality theoretical output, but I am pleased with its sound. I have it in this type of configuration in my other car now as well, which I had earlier completely gutted for a high-end system, and my initial impression switching between CD and ipod was that I tended to prefer the ipod sound a bit more (same song, same volume setting) than CD.

Your audio components, by the way, look amazing BigSash! I'm impressed.

 

well my ipod input goes into my eclipse head unit using the sirius connector, it can also be connected using the eclipse cd changer input, both of these are far superior to any miniplugged cable. the output from the ipod is via the dock connector. the I pod controller i use is the IPC-106 and it also gives me full track info on the HU screen. volume is controlled by the HU. This works just the same as plugging my ipod into the bose sound wall or the inmotion ipod speakers, and the amplification works in the same manner as those setups. the miniplug and the fact that you retain the ipods internal volume control makes me feel like something is different there