AUDIO EXPERTS...PLEASE CHIME IN ON I-PODS and OUR CARS

[cheftjpeck]

Ok, I am looking at getting an I-Pod for me...kids and wife have them...and I love the fact you can hook it up through the console in our cars into my shaker 1000.....question I have is..is there a better I-pod or a specfic model that works better in our cars...I noticed that the audio signal coming out is weak and you really have to turn up the volume to get a decent sound...any I-Pod advice would be welcome..I am looking at the ipod 8gb nano...besides storage capacity are any of the other ones better at audio signal? thx for the advice...

[tekheavy]

Haven't owned one, but I've heard amazing things about the Ipod Touch.

[VaporDude]

My wife has that one and she uses it in her Fusion. She has the audiophile system in her car and she doesn't complain about it at all. There should be a volume control on the iPod itself, turn it up until it distorts then turn it down until it clears up. After that, adjust the volume on the radio.

[SpeedRacer]

I have used the IPOD and the IPOD Mini connected through the RCA jack in the center console. Works great. I wish we had the sync function, it would make the operation a lot easier...

[Joker]

I have the Ipod Nano 4 gig. Works good for me. No real complaints. I haven't done alot of reasurch on the ipod's etc, but the biggest issue I think you are going to have with any of them is the compression that .mp3's use. It cuts out alot of the quality of the song. Original CD's will sound much better imho.

[JTB]

Originally Posted by cheftjpeck

Ok, I am looking at getting an I-Pod for me...kids and wife have them...and I love the fact you can hook it up through the console in our cars into my shaker 1000.....question I have is..is there a better I-pod or a specfic model that works better in our cars...I noticed that the audio signal coming out is weak and you really have to turn up the volume to get a decent sound...any I-Pod advice would be welcome..I am looking at the ipod 8gb nano...besides storage capacity are any of the other ones better at audio signal? thx for the advice...

I use a nano 8G and it works great, set the volume on the iPod to about 75% and then use the shaker volume to set the in car volume level.

[iceman]

Originally Posted by JTB Consulting

I use a nano 8G and it works great, set the volume on the iPod to about 75% and then use the shaker volume to set the in car volume level.

same here - some songs record onto the iPod better than others - like downloaded or origian CD's rather than burned copies from a friend.....other than that I couldn't control the I-pod on the radio and that bugged me so I made sure when Iput in the after market system i would be able to do that.

The 8gig is nice - I have a bunch of movies for the kids on it too.

sorry - min is an 80 gig - just for more movie space. - then no changing dvd's for movies.

[Johnny Lupara]

I have an 30gb ipod and used it for a while in my car; what I found is that it was more convenient to just burn the mp3s to CDs, and leave them in the radio. With a 6 CD capacity, you can keep many thousands of songs in the system, and just not fuss with the ipod. I do use the ipod for many other things such as movies and photos, and for trips (flights etc)

[Alloy Dave]

Originally Posted by Joker

I have the Ipod Nano 4 gig. Works good for me. No real complaints. I haven't done alot of reasurch on the ipod's etc, but the biggest issue I think you are going to have with any of them is the compression that .mp3's use. It cuts out alot of the quality of the song. Original CD's will sound much better imho.

I have the Nano 2Gb. I do notice the same thing chef mentions...where the volume is not as loud as with the radio. Not sure there's anything you can do other than amplify the entire sound system or start with a shaker 1000.

Other than that I have lots of complaints/suggestions.
1) Need an accessory that firmly attaches the Ipod to the car so you don't have to "fiddle" for it to change songs.
2) Would be nice if you could (after plugging in the Nano) use the car audio controls...I think the new Ford Synch system does this, right?
3) Wireless should come into play soon...as long as you have the Ipod near your car stereo, it should automatically download your songs and you should be able to play them from a "hard drive" in the radio.
4) Why are we still using delicate CDs in cars when we have flash drives, SD cards, and other improved storage media?

Dave

[iceman]

All of these are pretty much addressed with the propper after market stereo. It likely will be upgraded in a future mustang but for us the answer is to change the unit - I have a USB port, touch screen controls, etc. Blue tooth on the stereo but not the ipod. Perhaps the bigger ipods sound better? Mine at 80 gigs is better than a CD usually - I love the touch screen but I still set up a car play list so I always get what I want on a nice long drive

[Johnny Lupara]

dave

I believe that you can actually buy an interface for our systems that allow the use of the radio controls....but you have to pull the radio to install

[Johnny Lupara]

Originally Posted by iceman

All of these are pretty much addressed with the propper after market stereo. It likely will be upgraded in a future mustang but for us the answer is to change the unit - I have a USB port, touch screen controls, etc. Blue tooth on the stereo but not the ipod. Perhaps the bigger ipods sound better? Mine at 80 gigs is better than a CD usually - I love the touch screen but I still set up a car play list so I always get what I want on a nice long drive

yours is actually the best answer by far....unfortunately it is hard for me to justify since I just do not spend that much time in the car (only 8k after two years) If I went for a nicer system, it would go in my 02 escape...

[Alloy Dave]

Originally Posted by iceman

All of these are pretty much addressed with the propper after market stereo. It likely will be upgraded in a future mustang but for us the answer is to change the unit - I have a USB port, touch screen controls, etc. Blue tooth on the stereo but not the ipod. Perhaps the bigger ipods sound better? Mine at 80 gigs is better than a CD usually - I love the touch screen but I still set up a car play list so I always get what I want on a nice long drive

Sounds like you got the hot ticket. I was just posting to say that I don't think what the market offers (not just Ford, I mean anyone) is not up to the standards I think it should be given where technology is headed in audio.

Dave

[Alloy Dave]

Originally Posted by Johnny Lupara

yours is actually the best answer by far....unfortunately it is hard for me to justify since I just do not spend that much time in the car (only 8k after two years) If I went for a nicer system, it would go in my 02 escape...

It just seems silly to me that we have to buy a $45k car and then start changing things out. Yes, sometimes you want "more" than stock, and that's fine (I have a TVS). But things like control arms to fix wheelhop, and an audio system that's supposed to be their "top of the line".....I think in general all car companies have room for improvement in this area. As a matter of fact, I don't understand why the Big3 even design their own. Heck, pull in one of the big names as a supplier and have them design/build the darn things....that's what they did with Hurst in the '60s....that's what they do with Tremec today.

[JTB]

Originally Posted by Alloy Dave

It just seems silly to me that we have to buy a $45k car and then start changing things out. Yes, sometimes you want "more" than stock, and that's fine (I have a TVS). But things like control arms to fix wheelhop, and an audio system that's supposed to be their "top of the line".....I think in general all car companies have room for improvement in this area. As a matter of fact, I don't understand why the Big3 even design their own. Heck, pull in one of the big names as a supplier and have them design/build the darn things....that's what they did with Hurst in the '60s....that's what they do with Tremec today.

Agree with most of your comments here, but it is a Stretch to call anything from Tremec "Top of the Line" considering their reliability record with the 6 speed in our GT500s. Further, traditionally the Big Three have never made their own transmissions.

[JTB]

Originally Posted by iceman

All of these are pretty much addressed with the propper after market stereo. It likely will be upgraded in a future mustang but for us the answer is to change the unit - I have a USB port, touch screen controls, etc. Blue tooth on the stereo but not the ipod. Perhaps the bigger ipods sound better? Mine at 80 gigs is better than a CD usually - I love the touch screen but I still set up a car play list so I always get what I want on a nice long drive

No iPod made will produce CD quality sound, even if you set your iTunes burn settings to Lossless, you will not duplicate the CDs quality and that is because of DRM (Digital Rights Management), not lack of technology. That said, the audio difference are for all intents and purposes are not detectable by the human ear.

[The Bone]

Here is my take on the Ipod.
I had the nano 2 gig but it didny hold all my music so for Christmas my wife got me the classic Ipod.
it will hold 33,000 songs now that seems like a lot of music and for sure it does but I now will not fill it up. I move it from car to car as most of my car radios suck. In my Durango I jse a cassete with a hook up for the pod. get at radio shack. in the cirrus i have a controler because I have after market radio in there.
The Ipod touch is cool but do you raley need all those features or are you just into music. you can upload photos to the classic if you want.
Art

[JTB]

Originally Posted by Alloy Dave

I have the Nano 2Gb. I do notice the same thing chef mentions...where the volume is not as loud as with the radio. Not sure there's anything you can do other than amplify the entire sound system or start with a shaker 1000.

Other than that I have lots of complaints/suggestions.
1) Need an accessory that firmly attaches the Ipod to the car so you don't have to "fiddle" for it to change songs.
2) Would be nice if you could (after plugging in the Nano) use the car audio controls...I think the new Ford Synch system does this, right?
3) Wireless should come into play soon...as long as you have the Ipod near your car stereo, it should automatically download your songs and you should be able to play them from a "hard drive" in the radio.
4) Why are we still using delicate CDs in cars when we have flash drives, SD cards, and other improved storage media?

Dave

Try turning the volume up on your iPod, by doing that you should be able to get all the volume you need from your shaker. You can go up to 80% on the iPod output and not have any distortion when running the signal through your input jack into your shaker.

[Johnny Dangerously]

Originally Posted by Johnny Lupara

I have an 30gb ipod and used it for a while in my car; what I found is that it was more convenient to just burn the mp3s to CDs, and leave them in the radio. With a 6 CD capacity, you can keep many thousands of songs in the system, and just not fuss with the ipod. I do use the ipod for many other things such as movies and photos, and for trips (flights etc)

I have Sansa Clip, 2GB & while I have had it hooked up to the stereo via the jack, I do the same thing as JL. I've got 4 cds (RW versions) full of MP3s of all the music I want to listen to. When my son or daughter are with me on a long trip, I will let them hook up their MP3 player & listen to there music for a little while.


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[gr8snkbite]

i didn't know we could plug it in..i got the 30g...time to play...i take it an extra patch cord is needed...