My head unit has an AUX socket (3.5mm jack). I'd like to get an audio device that plugs into the lighter socket and has a 3.5mm line out that I can plug into my head unit. The device would read MP3s from either a USB drive or an SD card.
There are lots of devices almost exactly like this, except that they use a FM transmitter to pipe the audio from the device to the head unit, rather than a wire, e.g.:
www.mobilefun.co.uk/product/12937.htm
Of course I could use one of these, but I'm worried that the sound quality won't be very good with FM. So has anyone come across one of these devices that has a line out?
Thanks
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I think you will find that the AUX should use the MP3 players headphone/speaker output, not read the MP3 files direct.
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Yes. They are called MP3 players. Many of these take SD Cards too. And can charge via the lighter socket and will have 3.5mm headphone sockets. Am I missing something?
Edited by rtj70 on 19/12/2008 at 22:22
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Yes. They are called MP3 players. Many of these take SD Cards too. And can charge via the lighter socket and will have 3.5mm headphone sockets.
Yes I realise I could use a conventional MP3 player, mount it somehow, and then connect it via a cable to the lighter, but that seems a bit messy.
The all-in-one nature of the FM transmitter devices (like the one I linked to) is what I'm after, just with a cable connection instead of FM wireless.
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But you are after something that uses a 3.5" audio cable that plugs into the lighter. That is messy.
What is the car and stereo. e.g. my Mazda stereo could have a cable plugged in the back of the stereo that (a) charges an iPod, (b) allows input to the stereo for the music and (c) allows some remote control of the iPod in the glovebox.
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But you are after something that uses a 3.5" audio cable that plugs into the lighter. That is messy.
A little messy, but I can live with it. The lighter is just below the head unit, so it would just be one short cable, and it would stay in-place all the time.
What is the car and stereo. e.g. my Mazda stereo could have a cable plugged ...
It's just a fairly cheap standard aftermarket Sony head unit - can't remember the exact model number, but I don't think it has any fancy rear input options.
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Your suggestion might lead to someone smashing a window to take a look.
You can get a stereo that accepts an SD card or USB connection for as low as £35. Aldi have some soon. Not going to be as good as a stereo with a BOSE amplifier or similar but it sounds like you might be better getting a new stereo and selling the existing one.
e.g. for Aldi: www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/2827_8339.htm
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Depends on the mp3 player. Some have switchable line outs for headphone or auxiliary (my older Sony N-HD3 for example). I understand you are better connecting some ipods to aux inputs on car stereos using a cable which uses the ipod docking port rather than the headphone out.
Edited by daveyjp on 19/12/2008 at 22:37
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Dylan - your reqiuest makes no sense at all.
1/ ALL MP3 players have "line out" to match your head unit - its called the headphone socket on the MP3 player, and you use a 3.5mm jack plug to jack plug cable
2/ Then you say I dont want to use an FM transmitter due to the quality but want to use the 3.5 mm jack on the front, then you say you dont want a messy cable plugged in to it. you cant have it both ways mate.
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Dylan - your reqiuest makes no sense at all.
Ok, let me try once more. Using a standard MP3 has the following downsides:
1. At least TWO cables. One from the lighter to the MP3 player to power it, and one from the MP3 player to the head unit.
2. Mounting.
3. Most standard MP3 players are not designed for use in a car - they have tiny fiddly buttons, or touch pads.
4. Most standard MP3 players are quite expensive because they have features that I don't need - e.g. colour screen, rechargeable battery.
5. A standard MP3 player is much more attractive to a thief, so I couldn't leave it in the car.
The device I linked to has none of these disadvantages. It's cheap and can't be used outside a car, so relatively unattractive to thieves. It's attached to the lighter plug, so no mounting. It's got simple controls that should be easy to use while driving. In other words, it's optimised for exactly the purpose I need.
But maybe I'm going mad. I'm obviously the only one who thinks this is a good idea, because I can't find any devices that fit my criteria.
Does anyone actually use a standard MP3 player in the car regularly? If so, which one? Is it easy to skip a track/folder while driving? How did you mount it?
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Aldi currently have a car stereo for £34 which takes an SD card and you will be able to control the playback of the tracks on the stereo. There will be plenty of others like this.
Regardless of small/large buttons, size of the display - if your suggestion is lugged into a lighter socket it will not be very safe to change tracks etc? Personally I use DVD-RW with my current favourite tracks on in the six-disc CD changer.
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Aldi currently have a car stereo for £34 which takes an SD card and you will be able to control the playback of the tracks on the stereo. There will be plenty of others like this.
Yes I could change the head unit, but it involves taking the dash apart again (Yaris) and I really can't be bothered. Also I may not have the car much longer, so I'd like something I can easily move to another car (either the new one, or our second car if it's not needed in the new one)
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>>>Personally I use DVD-RW with my current favourite tracks on in the six-disc CD changer. >>
It would be better to use a DVD-R (more reflective surface) than a DVD-RW disk; you can write to the DVD-R until it is full by using multi-session mode.
It is important to ensure that the folder used for adding new tracks has the contents Saved after each multi-session, otherwise it will more than likely create problems with reading some of the data.
Re the FM transmitter. This is an iPod Nano model:
tinyurl.com/7j5rdp
which I presume is a similar idea to what you are proposing?
A cheaper version of the type you list:
tinyurl.com/7ymlev
Taken from:
tinyurl.com/8pnl6d
This is just one of many such websites.
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Stuartli,
I of course thought I'd typed CD-RW ;-) There are versions of the Mazda stereo that read MP3 CD discs but mine does not and they do not read DVD-Rs. As a mod I could edit the old post to correct but some have replied :-)
Hence the discs need to be written as audio CDs, hence the CD-RWs because audio CDs are not multi-session. And I don't want a car full of CDs.
Edited by rtj70 on 21/12/2008 at 19:09
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I'm with RTJ70, as I had a similar requirement as dylan. Tried a MP3 player and FM transmitter together - but really, really messy.
Ended up with a DVD player headunit from Ebay. Result, movies when I was parked, and access to 4 GBs of music per disc - in excess of 40 albums worth pertime. More than enough, and at pennies per disc, hardly a fotune when I wanted to remix, edit music I took with me.
As an aside, this head unit also supported USB and SD media, so I could choose to plug a storage key in aswell. (It was powerful enough to run a small HD in a USB caddy, so with the price of portable harddrives being what they are now, I could probably take every mp3 I own with me.)
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For a reasonable sum, I could get a cable to plug into the back of the head unit in the Mazda which would allow me to control the iPod etc. Never bothered. As I say I use CD-RWs and also have an FM-Transmitter for the iPod. I also can plug the iPod into the TomTom and control that from there and use its FM transmitter.
I have a feeling the product the OP wants does not exist.
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I know what you want and why you would want it, but I just dont think one is available.
I have a small mp3 player which I used to use in the car via AUX. It uses 1 AAA battery which lasted for ages, so didn't need the cigarette lighter. The mp3 player cost £15 and the 3.5mm jack to 3.5mm jack cost 98p from tesco. Ticks all your boxes apart from the fact it has small buttons. (no problem as the player I had had a rocker switch to skip tracks with, so was east to use without taking eyes off road)
I now use an ipod, again batery life is very long, but it was quite expensive.
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Thanks VR6 - I think I'll probably end up taking the same approach. I use the car about an hour each week day, so I could probably get away with recharging only once every couple of weeks.
Amazon have a Sandisk Sansa Clip 8Gb for £36 which is quite tempting. The interface looks simple enough that it might be usable without taking eyes off the road, as you suggest.
Not a perfect solution, but perhaps the best compromise available short of changing the head unit.
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Battery life of an iPod Touch is very good.... and nice big touch screen controls. Mounted in a cradle..... and can be charged via cigar lighter to USB connection if needed.
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