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[Cotton-Eyed Loo]

Hiya - I really really want a personal audio device for my car so I can pull songs from MJ8 into my car (sadly 3G networking is not ubiquitous yet - nor are the onboard receivers in car stereos with MJ clients I'll assume you're already working on this JimH)

I don't care to much about features. Ideally the device is encoding independent (or allows APE, or at least WAV).

Here's the nasty bit... I don't have a decent input into my car stereo.

There is a coax digital input in the trunk which I can wire to easily if need be but as far as I can tell no PADs have digital outputs (yet). This would've been ideal - or close.

Next I've looked at tape adapters. Tape adaptors don't work well for my car b/c the tape deck is hidden behind the GPS display [I can hear the worlds smallest violin player warming up for a big round of "we all feel so bad for you" :]. This means that the wire that goes from the PAD to the tape adaptor will be very unhappy when the GPS display whirrs back into place [cue violin]. I've had reasonable success with tape adaptors in the past [ie before I could afford a CD player for my car]. They're ok - they do not do the CD justice, but much better than a tape which I've played 50 times and store in the car.

Next I've looked at FM adapters. These seem to have great potential. Seem to. Potential. I've found two basic types - those with a wide frequency range and those with precise settings. I live in the SF bay area - there is a radio station pretty much on every single .frequency {89.1, 89.3, 89.5......). This means that depending on where I am in a 15 mile radios - I must be using a different channel. The wide range ones allow me to change frequencies fairly easily, but never have great sound. The precise settings one have 4-6 settings (89.1, 89.3, 89.5, 89.7) but this won't always work (though when it does, the sound is decent).

I can't really replace the a/v device in the car as it is a factory job that is tightly integrated physically and electrically with the car.

Got any ideas here?

The best I can think of right now is to get a better FM transmitter (more powerful but still precise).

[JJ199]

The OEM system you want to keep could be connected to a new amp via a switch that would allow 2 or more inputs.
You could then connect your PAD to the second input. Not nessacarly easy.....put clean and you would get the benefit of a better, more powerful amp in the process. Just a thought......

[Cotton-Eyed Loo]

Thanks for the suggestion - a good one for sure. However... when getting directions from the car, she (Bertha) lowers the stereo volume and talks to me.. she also adjusts the volume to adjust for wind and engine noise. I'd lose this if I switched inputs as I'd get either my audio or Bertha's feed.

[JimH]

Loo,
Our local expert on car audio is dragyn.  Here's a page on his car:

http://www.gpgtx.com/

I have the same problem you do.  Or similar.  I don't want kids replacing my car radio again because they broke it last time.  The pro I talked with didn't have a solution either.

I want a mini-stereo input on my car radio so I can plug anything into it.  A tiny car computer would be still better.  I'd like to drive in my garage and be on the wireless network so things happen while I sleep.

I'm probably going to wait a couple of years.

[Cotton-Eyed Loo]

very nice system Dragyn!

[ama_mmmc]

I am no expert on Car Audio, but if your stereo can control a 6 disc changer, but does not have one attached, then there are audio inputs that are not being used.  In addition, if you have a separate unit for a tape deck, then most likely there would be wires that could be tapped into from the tape deck to the main unit.  Since I am not an expert, I would go to a high end car audio place to discuss.  

Drew

[Cotton-Eyed|PLS|Loo]

Thanks Drew you're absolutely right. I can use the changer's connection (digital) or the tape deck's connection (analog) instead of [or switched with] the PAD input. This is a reasonable alternative to using tape/FM adaptors. As this is the first new car I bought myself I don't want it modded.

[cjdshaw]

Check out this system
http://www.phatnoise.com/products/systemoverview/index.php
Kenwood have licensed it and made a version called the Music Keg, but unfortunately it only works with Kenwood head units.

[Cotton-Eyed Loo]

Sweet!

[sekim]

I've been eyeballing the Kenwood unit for a while now. Maybe if I talk really sweet to sweetie I can start the adventure into highend auto audio. I drive a LOT, so this would make my day. Also worth noting, Sony has a deck that has a built in harddrive. Check their website for more details. I can envision in the not to distant future where a guy could possibly load MJ into some sort of micro-computer for car audio.

Seen one of the Alpine 7 inch displays a few weeks ago. What a clear screen. Look even better with MJ diplaying visualizations.