Last week I installed my new Alpine CDA 9833 head unit, then today my new iPod interface came in. I tell you that this is the easiest way to listen to music. 3500 song at you finger tips. The box fit under the dash and the iPod just hooks up in the glove box. The best thing is that you just hook up the iPod and close the glove box, it's all control by the headunit.
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That is so sweet. And easy

 

Do you think it's really worth it? They're other way to "interface" any MP3 player to a head unit. What functionality does all of this give you other than "cool"?

 

Disregaurd, I got ahead of myself. Neat stuff.

 

haha I just bought iTrip its so much easier...!

 

How much did iTrip cost? I needed a new radio any ways so thats a wash. The ipod interface ws only $99 and you loose now sound quality with the fm modulator stuff, plus you control everything from the radio, no messing with the iPod itself.

 

3500 songs? Wow, how does all that work? Im so out of the loop when it comes to this technology. Where are the songs stored?

 

Carl,

During our great age of file sharing and pirating, music is stored as mp3 files which are much smaller than the standard format that goes on a CD. This mp3 format is what enabled websites like Napster and Morpheus to become such huge file sharing communities for music, as well as their library of pirated software. The files were small enough to be easily passed around by members of the websites (about 3-5MB). Many members of these filesharing communities amassed rediculous amounts of mp3s (I've seen 20,000 before!) but really had no way to make them portable.

Until recently if you wanted to listen to your downloaded mp3s somewhere other than your computer or car it wasn't possible. Only computers and upscale CD players had the technology to recognize the mp3 file extension. But now almost all car CD players support the mp3s as well as new portable units such as the ipod. The ipod basically allows the mp3 to reach its full potential because you can now take your mp3s anywhere your ipod can go. It's basically like the new "discman." Except the only difference is the amount of songs available to the listener.

I mentioned before that mp3s have a small file size, which means you can fit hundreds or thousands of songs on a CD instead of 15-20 using standard CD format. This is great for mp3 users because they don't have to carry as many discs around to have all their favorite songs. However, this is where the beauty of the apple ipod comes in. Instead of using discs, it has its own hard drive (about 20 gigabytes) and you can actually transfer your mp3s onto it. This keeps you from having to fumble around with a folder full of CDs to find the song you want. I'm guessing it also eliminates the skipping experienced by scratched CDs, which can become quite annoying. I have never used or seen an ipod in person, but I've considered getting one for my mp3s. A pretty neat idea, and one of the reasons that Apple Computers' stock has been skyrocketing lately.

There is also rumor of a new ipod model making it out sometime before Christmas, that boasts an even larger hard drive. So, (you guessed it!) people can take EVEN MORE mp3s with them wherever they go. After all, bigger is better!

Yay! I answered a question for Carl! 'Bout time I'm on the other end.

 

Also Carl,

I'm not entirely sure how John's setup works but I've got a pretty rough idea. I'm pretty sure that ipods aren't compatable with most CD players at this point. Meaning that to have your 3500 songs you've got wear your headphones to listen to them if your Car's headunit won't support mp3. Also, no one wants to burn a bunch of CDs when they already have the mp3s in portable form on their ipod. So, the alpine box that John bought more than likely closes the gap between his headunit and his ipod. They weren't made to communicate with one another from the factory, so the alpine box under the carpet is an add on that makes this possible. Now John can take his ipod and plug it into his Cd player when he gets in the car. All his same settings from the ipod are there so everything is just like he wants it. He has all the same songs and didn't have to burn a single CD! Gotta love technology!

 

Or you can burn your entire cd collection, which I plan on finishing up soon, and put all of the songs on the ipod. You can also buy for $30 bucks the fm modulator and just tune into a radio station on your stereo and listen to your ipod. Isn't technology great?

 

Glaze has pinned down! The headunit has all the contol functions for the iPod. You do not loose any sound quality or have to woory about disks or changing them. The only way this works is with Alpine Headunit 2004 or newer and the interface. You also have to have 2nd generation or newer iPod with all the updated software.

John

 

You really don't lose any sound quality w/ the Alpine setup? I have the iCarplay from Monster cable with my iPod thru the FM and the sound quality is horrible.

 

The Alpine set up plugs right into the back of the headunit in there AINET connector. True digital sound. No modulation no tuning.

John

 

As it should be.

 

Digital is the only way! Alpine isn't the only solution, tho.

I have a Kenwood eXcelon setup in my truck. The headunit connects to an external unit (8' cable allows placing the unit anywhere). The external box accepts harddrive-based storage units ranging from 20Gig to 80Gig. The harddrives are configured by plugging into a USB cradle attached to a PC. You can create any number of playlists which the headunit thinks are CDs in an external changer.

just another digital option!

 

i have a 40gb ipod filled to the brim and i'm still waiting for the pioneer interface to come out for it...

 

40Gb... thats huge!

can you put other non mp3 files on the ipod aswell... so its like a removable HDD?

 

^yep.

 

Jamie, thanks for the detailed explanation. I got lotsa mp3's on my comp. So I got that part down. This HDD based stuff is really neat, thanks for the info. I dont have any radio in my car right now, but plan on putting one in someday. This looks like the way to go. I'll probably wait though as it seems that this is a rapidly developing technology.

 

Is pioneer coming out with a interface to allow you to hook up the ipod like alpine? Too bad the interface for alpine won't work on any of the older decks because I have a CDA7874 that I would love to use.