When it comes to bluetooth hands free car kits, Parrot is the best. There is no company better. Hands down, their kits have the best phone compatibility of any phone kit made. Not only do they have the best phone compatibility, the kits will download your whole phonebook and allow you to access it directly from the phone kit without touching your phone. Everything is controlled from a small screen that is mounted somewhere on your dash.
continue reading "Parrot Bluetooth Car Hands Free Kit 3200-LS CK3100 LCD CK3000 Review"

I have been writing about how to electronically interface your iPod to your car, but once you interface it, where do you put it? For this I use a custom, vehicle specific, dash mount. The manufacturer I recommend is Panavise. They make many mounts, covering almost every vehicle (Application Guide). These mounts require you to drill no visible holes in the car.
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USA Spec makes two iPod interfaces for Toyota vehicles. The PA15-TOY and the PA20-TOY. The PA15-TOY is recommended for all non-navigation radios as well as all gen 4 and below navigation radios. The PA20-TOY is recommended for all gen 5 navigation radios.  A gen 5 navigation radio will play MP3 cds the gen 4 radio will not.  
continue reading "Toyota USA Spec iPod Interface Review PA15-TOY PA20-TOY"

A very good Nissan - Infiniti MP3/iPod interface is the PAC AAI-NIS2 and the Peripheral Electronics PXNI. I am giving you the part numbers from two different companies. Other than their packages, these interface are exactly the same. This interface allows for two auxiliary inputs, neither of which allow for control of the iPod from the factory radio. This is no big deal, most of the Nissan - Infiniti iPod interfaces with iPod control give you very limited functionality anyway.
continue reading "Nissan - Infiniti MP3 / iPod Interface Review - AAI-NIS2 / PXNI"

A stereo 1/8″ (3.5mm) phono to RCA cable is a cable that has a headphone plug on one side and RCAs on the other. This will work for all MP3 players as well as all iPODs. The upside is that it is pretty much universal, the downside is that it will not charge an iPOD. This cable is very easy to find.

An iPod interface cable will work for all iPods other than the shuffles. It has the long skinny plug for the bottom of the iPod on one side, and RCAs and power leads on the other. If you connect the power leads to a switched 12v lead and ground it will charge the iPod. Also, the plug on the bottom is a fixed audio out, which means no matter what the volume is on the iPod the output never changes. This eliminates a lot of distortion caused by the headphone amplifier in the iPod. There are many companies that make this cable. Most are made in the same factory and packaged for each different company.

Here are a few companies: Peripheral Electronics PAC PIE.

NAV-TV recently released their Tooki bluetooth phone interface for Porsche PCM2, phone ready radios. I was very excited when I heard about this interface because until now there was no way of interfacing your bluetooth cellphone directly to your Porsche radio (its not even offered by Porsche).
continue reading "Nav-TV Tooki Porsche Bluetooth Interface Review"

If you have an iPod, and your car is compatible with aftermarket radios (no integrated AC controls or instrumentation), an aftermarket radio with iPod control is the absolute best way to interface your iPod to your car. Now, I know there are a lot of people that like the look of their dash with the stock radio intact, thats why I went over all the other interface options. If you are not one of those people, you must consider this option.
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Bluetooth is a wireless technology is geared towards voice and data applications . It operates in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz spectrum, and can transmit distance of 10 meters or 100 meters depending on the device class. Bluetooth technology is able to penetrate solid objects, is omni-directional, and does not require line-of-sight positioning of connected devices. This means it can wirelessly transmit crystal clear sound from your iPod/MP3 player to any bluetooth audio device.

Many new cars come with built in bluetooth. The problem is, most of the built in bluetooth is specifically for cellphones. Most cars don’t have the protocol to receive bluetooth audio, so this device only works on a select few vehicles. Plus, if your vehicle is advanced enough to come with the bluetooth audio protocol, chances are it already has a direct aux input. So, even though this is a good interface, capable of transmitting crystal clear audio, as of right now it has very few applications.

There are some cars, mostly Subarus, that come with radios that do not have provisions for any external devices. This means it is very difficult to add a direct aux input. There are a few companies that came up with a solution. On one hand, their solution is a good idea, but on the the other hand, its what I consider rigging.
continue reading "Subaru Aux Input - CD Mechanism Switcher"

iPod CD Changer/Satellite Radio Emulators are also know as a dedicated iPod interfaces. This interface is the best method for interfacing your iPod to you stock sound system. These devices have a proprietary iPod connector, which means it will not work for any other type of MP3 player. They connect to you radio using its cd changer/satellite radio port, which is the same method as a direct aux input. Like a direct aux input, it will not degrade the iPod’s sound quality. Plus it uses the proprietary iPod connector, which uses the iPod’s fixed line out and charges the iPod, so there is no distortion from the iPod’s headphone amplifier.
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A direct aux input is almost the best way to get your iPod/MP3 interfaced to your car. This method will give you the clearest sound without any static or interference. Basically, a direct aux input tricks the radio into thinking there is a stock cd changer or satellite radio connected to the radio. Since these stock devices have good sound quality, the audio from the iPod/MP3 will not be degraded.
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A wired FM modulator with RDS is a product that was introduced within the last few years. It works the same way as a wired FM modulator, but also has some added features.

First I have to explain what RDS is.  RDS stands for radio broadcast data system in the US, and radio data system in Europe. It is used for sending small amounts of digital information, like title, artist, and station name, using conventional FM radio broadcasts. If your radio tells you the title, artist and FM station name, it is a RDS radio.
continue reading "Wired FM Modulator With RDS"

Lately wired FM modulators have been getting a bad name. This is not because they don’t work. Once people hear FM modulator, they associate it with FM transmitters. Even though they use the FM band to transmit the audio into the radio, they are very different.

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Wireless FM transmitters are terrible. I can’t count how many people come to my shop complaining about how bad their transmitters are. These thing cost anywhere from $50 to $150. No matter how much you spend on a transmitter, chances are you will not be satisfied. Your better off using another method to interface your iPOD/MP3 players. Even though I hate wireless transmitters they do have their purpose. Anyone can install them. Usually its just a matter of plugging it into your cigarette lighter socket. Also, since its just a cigarette plug, its movable from vehicle to vehicle.
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