Help with Car Audio & Ipod

[Bullit]

So I want to connect my ipod direct to my amp via a Headphone to RCA cable.
(I have an iTrip but I dont like the sound quality).

Some dude at a car audio store was saying it was a bad idea because the amp can feedback and fry my ipod. He said this is one of the big differences between car audio & home audio (the feedback).

I think he's full of shit and just wants me to buy a $400 deck that has Aux In.

Is he truthin' or fibbin' ?

Anyone see a problem with the headphone to RCA solution?

 

[JMazz12]

i have no answer for you there, but i am curious to see the answer so ill bump it. BTW do you have a tape deck? i had iTrip, hated it, returned it, and just bought the tape deck adapter. i think the sound quality is pretty good.

JMazz

 

[Agathe]

I think my friend did that but he had an xbox installed in there so somehow he ran it through there.

 

[Bullit]

Well?

 

[alien amp pharm]

Huh?

 

[Bullit]

w hat

 

[CENTURION44]

why would u be hooking up your ipod directly to your amp...your amp powers your radio..and you want to hoook the ipod up to your radio

 

[Bullit]

why would u be hooking up your ipod directly to your amp...your amp powers your radio..and you want to hoook the ipod up to your radio

The amp takes the radio output and amplifies it. It doesnt power the radio.
I dont care about using my radio, I just want to use my iPod.

 

[juiceddreadlocks]

hey you'll have really shitty quality if you do that. The output on your ipod will be around 1% of what a normal pre-amp output would send to an amplifier. The guy is pulling your leg with the feedback bullshit, but its still not a good idea. Most new pioneer head units have a digital IPOD hookup where you can add an ipod and I believe control it from the head unit...

 

[alien amp pharm]

Since you have the pink ipod, i think you need a special adapter

 

[CENTURION44]

The amp takes the radio output and amplifies it. It doesnt power the radio.
I dont care about using my radio, I just want to use my iPod.

your right i got it wrong..but you still want it hooked up to the radio...not the amp directly...

 

[jackangel]

Anyone see a problem with the headphone to RCA solution?

the only problem i see with that solution is that an insuperable douchebag is attempting it.

 

[CENTURION44]

radio shack sells hook ups specifically for the ipod to hook into your car.....like 30$

 

[Buddy_Christ]

I have no clue what this guy is talking about with "feedback" from the RCAs. You are sending a signal through them to the amp, there should be nothing coming back through.

I don't have an iPod and havn't messed with them, but there should be an RF adapter you can use to plug it in with. What it'll do is plug into your antenna line and then right into the factory (or aftermarket) stereo. You'll be able to play your iPod through the radio by selecting the station that it's set for. The quality isn't the greatest if you're an audiophile, but the average person would probably never notice.

This is actually common for people to do on leased (and sometimes cars they own) cars when they want to add a changer but don't want to hack anything up. It gives you the appearance of a factory unit yet you'll have the changer and a remote for it as well.

I wouldn't plug directly into the amp because you could accidently crank up the volume, push too much signal into the amp, the amp will respond accordingly, and you'll blow your speakers. Plus when you unplug the iPod, you have a live connection sitting there. Touch it and you'll send some nasty signals into your amp and out of your speakers. Doesn't matter if you have your amp turned all the way down, you can still push max power out of it if the incoming signal is loud enough.

 

[alien amp pharm]

If anyone knows it's me. Amp is my middle name.

 

[Illuminati]

you will not get feedback by using RCA cables. in order to get feedback, there has to be a way for the output to be feed back into the input. an example of feedback would be a PA system. you speak through a mic, it comes out across a speaker, the speaker noise goes through the mic, and you get that high pitch squelch. feedback will either make a circuit more stable (negative feedback) or unstable (positive feedback.)

at any rate, you dont need to worry about feedback with using your iPod in you want to hook in right into your amp. you might have some loss of signal due to impedance matching from the iPod to your amp.

no, and amp does not power a radio, your car battery does that.

not sure what kind of car you have, but they do make kits for almost every car. this would be your best bet. here is a link for you...

http://www.mp3yourcar.com/

 

[blut wump]

I use a tape-deck adapter.

 

[Carl Carlson]

What kind of headunit do you have? I have the factory headunit on my car so I just bought an auxilary input adapter that plugs into the CD changer port... It's a lot cheaper than buying a new headunit.


There are also cheaper headunits available that have aux inputs too, but I'm sure you already know that.

 

[Buddy_Christ]

What kind of headunit do you have? I have the factory headunit on my car so I just bought an auxilary input adapter that plugs into the CD changer port... It's a lot cheaper than buying a new headunit.


There are also cheaper headunits available that have aux inputs too, but I'm sure you already know that.

Very true about cheaper head units having an AUX input. Gf's car didn't have a CD player or tape deck, so I replaced the factory head unit with an Aiwa for around $120 and it has a 1/8" AUX input right on the face. I'm sure there's even cheaper ones than that availible, just depends on what you want in a head unit.