WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

Nope, the single CD head units didn't get changer capability until late in the 99 model year. Since there's no easy way to tell if a CD HU has changer capability, you're best to stick with 2000 or newer.

Mike02Z

iTrader: (13)

Gotcha. I just sold my ipod changer adpater to a guy with a 99 and he said it worked so I guess he just got lucky that his car was a later model. I was only selling it as "gauranteed to fit 01-02 Fbody's"

bradmb

i never stated the hard wired fm modulator would sound cd quality. you invented that. and i said it was the most econmical choice. read it again.

i did state that the ipod2car wouldnt have cd quality, or any other adpator from an ipod to a HU. the adaptor will NOT have cd quality. this is due to the wiring from the ipod to the HU, and the quality of the song files. but mainly the way the song file is transmited to the HU. you may not be able to tell the difference, but that doesnt make it cd quality.

Mike02Z

iTrader: (13)

Hmmm...maybe you should go back and read what I wrote...I never said that you said the hard wired modulator would have cd quality I said any fm modulator will not have the same sound quaility of a hard wired adapter plugged into the CD changer port.

I will disagree with your claim about quality of songs. If you rip the songs with NO compression there will be NO difference in sound quaility. This is basic digital 101. CD is a digital source...with no compression a copy is an EXACT replica it either transfers a 1 or a 0. Add any type of compression and sound quality will suffer but it WILL NOT if there is no compresssion used.

I won't debate you on the internal wiring of the ipod2car as I do not have one and don't know how it is wired internally. If the CC HU takes a pure digital handoff from the CD changer and so does the ipod2car than even that statement is incorrect. If however the CD changer does the D/A conversion then you may be correct on that one item. If the HU does the D/A conversion than your statement is incorrect.

Dex

iTrader: (5)

http://www.discountcarstereo.com/detail.aspx?ID=724
Theres also this one.

koolaid_kid

iTrader: (21)

You are correct in a literal sense, because there is a one-to-one relationship. However, your method negates the benefits of MP3 compression. It would be like making a DVD without MPEG compression enabled. Yes, it would be the most correct, but would take several discs to record just one movie.
Test have shown that the human ear cannot tell the difference between the source and the compressed file if 192 or higher compression is used. Some audiophiles go as high as 384, just because they can. But the compression algorithms still let the user put more music on one disc (or iPod).

bradmb

my bad, i cant read

BUT, let me see if im responding correctly to your claim. if not disreguard. A cd is a digital source for music. It doesnt matter if you rip a cd at 900 bit rate through windows media player(you can) it still will not play through your ipod into your car at that bit rate. This is b/c th signal goes from your ipod, a digital signal, then converts to an analog signal, then your cd player converts it back to digital. Then, if your cd player has a digital amp it amplifies it, if not it goes to an analog signal again and to your speakers, or in my case component amp. I hope i got that right.
I havent seen any audiophiles hooking up their ipods to their systems. There is loss, you probly cant hear it, but its there.

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

Not exactly...the analog output from the iPod (or CD changer) is passed from the changer port directly to the head unit amplifier without any additional processing. So the sound quality is the dependent on the output quality of the DAC in the iPod.

The fact that it's analog input is meaningless in terms of audio quality. It is a direct-to-the-amp connection so it's the best quality you can get out of the factory system (of course, that isn't saying much ). Otherwise you'd have to say that any external amp reduces sound quality because it takes analog input.

bradmb

it does reduce quality. Thats why you find multi-thousand dollar HU's with digital inputs and outputs, they dont make them for fun. but anyways, we are kinda off topic now, were kinda arguing somehting that only a computer can detect.

koolaid_kid

iTrader: (21)

O.K., let me see if I can clear up a few things. WB, I can't fully agree that the DAC would have an influence. In the early days of digital-to-analog conversions, perhaps. But the technology is so mature that a good DAC would be easy to integrate into the chip on the iPod.The only thing I would be leary of is the internal amp of the iPod. If it is in the loop, it may lower sound quality. Although the F-body stereo is not exactly audiophile quality itself, as you point out.
An external amp will improve sound quality if it bypasses the internal amp, which is almost always very low quality (high distortion).
bradmb, you are getting a little confused. Only the iPod knows the bitrate. The DAC converts it into an analog signal, which goes out RCA jacks. It decompresses the file internally, and the iPod will decode any bitrate to analog. The HU may convert it into digital so the equalizer can massage it (this is HU dependent). It must be analog to the speakers. So, at worst, you have D-A-D-A. This is what audiophiles hate. They want D-A, where everything is done in the digital domain until being output to the speakers.
You do, and will, see audiophiles using MP3 files. That is all an iPod is, an MP3 player. Yes, there is loss. But it is not audible. Just as there is loss in MPEG II (DVD movies) files. But it is not visible in quality units/discs.

Mike02Z

iTrader: (13)

Guys, I may be mistaken but I know the headphone jack is sening out an analog signal but I thought the port connector sends out a digital signal. That is why you can use your ipod to dump data to. you could not send data to your ipod over an analog connection. After all it's nothing but a small laptop drive right?

Mike02Z

iTrader: (13)

I'm one of those sick people who think Records still sound better than CD's so when I wanted to put my CD collection on an Ipod I had to buy the 60GB so I could store them uncompressed. When my CD collection still would not totally fit I waited for the 80 GB ipod to come out. I know the idea of the i[pod and other portable players is to give you tons of space for your compressed recordings but I didn't even look at ipods until the 60 GB models came out because compression in any form pisses me off. Even when talking about Dolby Digital and DTS.

Tests have shown the human ear cannot hear certain sounds but I maintain that those sounds you cannot hear impact the sounds that you can hear leaving you with "holes" in the music. Ok, so I'm nuts on the subject of audio but I ain't changing now Yes, I still have a turntable and still use it when I really want to "Listen" to music but I admit it does not happen that often anymore with work, family etc... Only when everyone leaves on a quiet afternoon do I put on my Dark Side of the Moon record and fall away into a translike state....

koolaid_kid

iTrader: (21)

Mike, I cannot disagree with you on albums. I have 2 turntables and over 800 albums. I would much rather listen to the "warm" sound of my vinyl than my CDs.
But alas, we are dinosaurs. And turntables in cars just never worked out. Sigh.
However, with today's music being digitally mastered, DD or DTS is absolutely amazing in a correctly configured system. Not that an fbody has such an animal, of course.
And I ignore MP3s that are not at least 192 encoded. I just can't stand to hear the mud.

koolaid_kid

iTrader: (21)

Well, the adapter being referenced uses RCA inputs (from the iPod). This indicates that an analog input is required.

Mike02Z

iTrader: (13)

I know we are now way off topic but just think about how good 5.1 would sound fully uncompressed! Now with Bluray discs holding so much more maybe we will someday get fully uncompressed 5.1 Ok...Back on topic

Mike02Z

iTrader: (13)

Ok, mine plugs into my new Alpine via a propriatary connection so I was not sure if it was using analog or not.

ExceSSive

iTrader: (13)

I used this before replacing the whole system. This PAC-AUX box plugged into the CD changer port in the back of the HU and allowed the steering wheel controls to work.

bradmb

both are analog signals. and if the ipod had a digital output, very few cd players have digital inputs. and they are exspensive as crap. it is analog despite popular belief. and like a said before, we are getting into stuff only a computer can detect.


also, thanks koolaid kid for fixing what i tried to say. i was thinking it went from, d-a-d-a-d-a. with and external amp. in my system i got the ipod-hu-external amps. i dont use any HU power, other than the 5 volts it provides me.

and also i forgot to mention with the hard wired fm transmitter youll hear some faint static, but nothing major. and works great all for 42.99.

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

So, we're back to the fact that the changer port connection on the Monsoon is CD quality (other than any loss from compression of the music) because there's only one digital to analog conversion (in the iPod). This is no different than the single D-A conversion done when the internal CD player is used.

I know...we're off topic but it's still somewhat related to the original question about the best way to connect an iPod and it's nice to see the discussion go back and forth without flames.

koolaid_kid

iTrader: (21)

IMHO, while it may not be CD quality, it is certainly better than FM quality. I have never installed an FM adapter because of this loss of frequency response. If you can live with FM quality, this is an easy way to go. If you have the CD plugin (I do not, unfortunately) this is a very good way to go. If you can afford to completely replace everything (HU, amp, speakers) you will be so tickled that it will be difficult to get you out of the car.