What’s the Best iPod Adapter for the Stock Radio?
December 15, 2006 – 11:52 am by Dan Volkens
Filed under Audio
Ok, buddies, a “special someone” is getting a shiny new 30gb video iPod this Christmas, and I’d like to allow her to hook it into her MkIV Jetta’s stereo system. Any recommendations you have would be greatly appreciated!
I’ve been browsing through the various adapters on Apple’s site, but nothing is really jumping out at me yet. I’d like to keep the price down, but I don’t want to go too El-Cheapo. Rumor has it that the iTrip is pretty sucky, so I think that one is out from the get-go.
What’s the Best iPod Adapter for the Stock Radio?
December 15, 2006 – 11:52 am by Dan Volkens
Well, I’m an avid iPod user and I’ve been struggling for years to find a great solution to connecting my iPod library to the radio in my car, and I’ve found a couple solutions work okay, but nothing is perfect.
I first bought a 1st generation iTrip, that plugged into the headphone jack. It was okay, but it wore out my headphone jack by removing it and replacing it so often. It ended up costing me the iPod I was using at the time.
Then after purchasing my new 30gb video iPod, I also purchased a Griffin iTrip docking station for the car. This thing has one end that plugs into the car adapter, an extendable and movable arm, and a dock for the iPod itself. It had four preset channels you can program (if you travel with it, and you know certain frequencies are blank, you can switch channels on the dock and then change your radio to match), and it charged the iPod while it played. It was a great solution, but the problem came when after repeated removing and messing with the dock, the place it plugged into the car got worn out and it lost the ability to stay connected to the car charger. It basically broke. This option cost me $80 at the time (and I think that’s still the cost for this little thing). It lasted about a year.
I recently purchased a new Griffin iTrip (the one that plugs into the bottom of any dockable iPod) and it works alright…the sound quality is nowhere near that of the dock but it’s a quick and easy solution to my issue. I’ll probably end up investing in a dockable iTrip in the future, but for now, this will do.
Thanks for the info Matt. We’re iPod lovers ourselves, and the lack suitable in-car options is maddening. Though, I did hear that in-car iPod connectivity is going to have it’s own segment at the Macworld expo in January, so keep your peepers peeled.
I too had the iTrip adapter, but found it difficult to find static-free stations on the go. The sound quality wasn’t very good — FM quality at best — and the connector itself didn’t fit the iPod very well, as Matt mentioned.
I’m not using the auxiliary port in my GTI for connecting the iPod. In my previous car, I had to rig a cable into the rear of my stereo. It worked, but wasn’t very clean.
If this is going to be a long-term iPod solution, I’d suggest going for a unit like the Harmon Kardon Drive.
Thanks for the responses guys. I was taking a good look at that Harmon Kardon one, pretty interesting.
I use USA SPEC Aux. Interface from Crutchfield (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-8lN2MxZAqL3/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=227450&I=581DFVW).
Instead of having my Passat’s 6 disc change plugged in, I have this adapter plugged in. I then ran an cable from the adapter through the trunk and my interior to plug it into my head phone jack. This solution has a great sound quality and still allows me to plug in my power adapter that I had purchased previously.
Hiding the cable was easy enough and it takes very minimal effort to install it while still providing very good sound quality. When I purchased this, the HK one was much more expensive, so it wasn’t an option at the time.