Help finding unit with auxiliary input

[lubells]

Hello,

I'm looking into a birthday gift for my boyfriend. He would love to be able to listen to his iPod in his car, so I would love to get him a new stereo. He's a musician, so he has extremely high sound standards, and wouldn't in a million years want an iTrip or similar product. I need help shopping [online] for a CD player head unit for him that has potential for auxiliary input that he can use to plug in his iPod. I'm not looking for too many other frills than that, perhaps also mp3 CD compatibility, but not if that is going to set it too high in price.

Seeing as I'm a poor college student, I can't spend more than $200, and preferably do not want to spend too much over $100. (Well, I suppose I just need help finding a model, and I could always find alternative places to purchase: Amazon, eBay, etc.)

Could someone please help me out, or point me in the right direction (I already tried asking my techy older brother, but he didn't really want to help me any more than telling me that Pioneer and Clarion are good, and that he wouldn't look too much into Alpine, RCA, or Sony)?

Thanks!
Lauren

[makdaddy]

Look at the Kenwood 889 it has AUX RCA inputs built in, no need for a BUS Adapter, Close to your Budget, I have the XXV-01D, if the 889 is close to the same then he will love the performance. I love Mine

[Prowler573]

Hello,

I'm looking into a birthday gift for my boyfriend. He would love to be able to listen to his iPod in his car, so I would love to get him a new stereo. He's a musician, so he has extremely high sound standards, and wouldn't in a million years want an iTrip or similar product. I need help shopping [online] for a CD player head unit for him that has potential for auxiliary input that he can use to plug in his iPod. I'm not looking for too many other frills than that, perhaps also mp3 CD compatibility, but not if that is going to set it too high in price.

Seeing as I'm a poor college student, I can't spend more than $200, and preferably do not want to spend too much over $100. (Well, I suppose I just need help finding a model, and I could always find alternative places to purchase: Amazon, eBay, etc.)

Could someone please help me out, or point me in the right direction (I already tried asking my techy older brother, but he didn't really want to help me any more than telling me that Pioneer and Clarion are good, and that he wouldn't look too much into Alpine, RCA, or Sony)?

Thanks!
Lauren

Greetings, Lauren, and welcome to our little corner of the car audio world.

I'm not trying to bag on your brother but I can't see any reason in the world not to look into Alpine excepting possibly pricepoints. They, like many other manufacturers, build some very nice equipment.

Does RCA make car stereos? If they do that's news to me but considering the average quality level of the majority of their home audio gear I can't say they would be my top suggestion for car audio.

Sony does make some bargain-basement crappola. They also make some pretty nice high-end decks but I think they'd be considerably outside of your proposed budget so you can kinda disregard them for the moment.

How 'bout a Panasonic? They make decent stuff - here's one for $140/shipped with a built-in aux input that could be used for an iPod and it plays .mp3 and .wma files.

There's something that would fit the bill, anyway - within your stated budget and as well brand new in box product with a valid manufacturer's warranty. Yes, there are better options - if you have a look through eBay and are willing to buy used your options open up extensively. This was just the first thing I found looking quickly....


makdaddy ~ the XXV-01D and the KDC-X889 are a bit outside of her budget ($200 max but preferably not much over $100)

[makdaddy]

Greetings, Lauren, and welcome to our little corner of the car audio world.

I'm not trying to bag on your brother but I can't see any reason in the world not to look into Alpine excepting possibly pricepoints. They, like many other manufacturers, build some very nice equipment.

Does RCA make car stereos? If they do that's news to me but considering the average quality level of the majority of their home audio gear I can't say they would be my top suggestion for car audio.

Sony does make some bargain-basement crappola. They also make some pretty nice high-end decks but I think they'd be considerably outside of your proposed budget so you can kinda disregard them for the moment.

How 'bout a Panasonic? They make decent stuff - here's one for $140/shipped with a built-in aux input that could be used for an iPod and it plays .mp3 and .wma files.

There's something that would fit the bill, anyway - within your stated budget and as well brand new in box product with a valid manufacturer's warranty. Yes, there are better options - if you have a look through eBay and are willing to buy used your options open up extensively. This was just the first thing I found looking quickly....


makdaddy ~ the XXV-01D and the KDC-X889 are a bit outside of her budget ($200 max but preferably not much over $100)

Prowler
I noticed the focus on quality because her boyfriend was a musician.
And aren’t budgets meant to be Broken, Just ask my wife LO

[christiankills]

you could get an ipod ready cd player and get an adapter so he could navigate his ipod through his HU. but that's pricey. 250 minimum.

Most pioneer models don't have AUX input already included, so you'd have to spend 30 dollars on the adapter so you can get the inputs, and another 10 or 20 to get the wire that has the headphone jack on it.

and remember to fit installation/wiring harnesses into your budget as well.

[lubells]

Thanks so far to makdaddy, Prowler573, and christiankills for replying! In trying to familiarize myself with this new world, it seems as though I have only gotten more confused, and I still have questions.

Why do some units that have aux input still need some sort of an adapter? I can't picture this, and where it all goes in the actual car, and then what cables are needed. My only previous understanding of aux input comes from plugging in an iPod to a regular home stereo via 1/8 inch headphone to RCA (with the red and white) cable. Does this translate similarly to how it works with a car head unit?

makdaddy, I looked up the Kenwood KDC-X889. It looks fine (I'm not sure what to say here because I really don't know anything about this stuff, sorry!), but again, where does the actual iPod get plugged in and how? Prowler573 is right; it is a little out of the price range, but it is also extremely important that it satisfies a [rightfully] picky musician (a bass player at that!).

Prowler573, thanks for the welcome! My brother's argument against Alpine is that "they have some cool features...but sound ***** usually". I don't know if this holds merit with the people in this forum and in the car stereo world at large, so disregard if you must. I looked at the Panasonic CQ-C3303U, and I have the same questions as above.

christiankills, thanks for the idea, but navigation through the head unit isn't too much of a priority, as you are right in that it would add significantly to the price. Is installation that tricky? When I take the existing one out, would it be the same sort of concept to plug in the same wires to the same sort of places? Forgive my ignorance! Also, I'm thinking about going to Circuit City to talk to someone and check out their prices, and they seem to have a free installation policy with units over $99. That could be beneficial if it's really not something I can do myself.

After I posted this thread last night, I looked around a little more on my own. I came up with some Pioneer models that I wanted to get opinions on.
Pioneer DEH-P3700MP
Pioneer DEH-P4700MP
Pioneer DEHP4800MP
Pioneer DEH-P470MP

Any thoughts on these, or more suggestions?

Thanks again,
Lauren

[lubells]

I forgot one other thing that I want to keep in mind while shopping for a head unit. My boyfriend despises preset EQ. If there are units without this, that would be preferred.

Lauren

[Prowler573]

Thanks so far to makdaddy, Prowler573, and christiankills for replying! In trying to familiarize myself with this new world, it seems as though I have only gotten more confused, and I still have questions.

Don't feel alone in this, chica. Those of us that have been involved in the (hobby, obsession, whatever you wanna call it) for several years or decades for some are still in the process of learning. Nothing in the car audio world is static (excepting possibly that steering clear of any car audio product labeled as having been manufactured by Roadmaster is probably a good idea!) New technologies come out all the time as one manufacturer or another attempts to keep a step or three ahead of the competition - and results in new things we all have to learn how to implement.

Why do some units that have aux input still need some sort of an adapter? I can't picture this, and where it all goes in the actual car, and then what cables are needed. My only previous understanding of aux input comes from plugging in an iPod to a regular home stereo via 1/8 inch headphone to RCA (with the red and white) cable. Does this translate similarly to how it works with a car head unit?

Some head units that have a built-in aux input do not need the optional adapter - but if you choose to use one it will allow you control of the iPod directly from the controls on the face of the stereo rather than having to make your adjustments via the controls on the iPod itself. Most of these "built-in" inputs are nothing more than a 1/8" stereo miniplug input (similar to what you were talking about with the home audio gear but with a 1/8" plug on both ends of the cable rather than RCA phono plugs on one end and the stereo miniplug on the other. Some decks with this feature have the miniplug input on the unit's face - the rest will be located in the rear of the deck with all the other wiring.

makdaddy, I looked up the Kenwood KDC-X889. It looks fine (I'm not sure what to say here because I really don't know anything about this stuff, sorry!), but again, where does the actual iPod get plugged in and how? Prowler573 is right; it is a little out of the price range, but it is also extremely important that it satisfies a [rightfully] picky musician (a bass player at that!).

The KDC-X889 has built in RCA inputs on the rear of the deck's chassis alongside the RCA phonoplug outputs. A cable like what you were talking about earlier (1/8" miniplug to left+right RCA plugs) would be what you would use for this particular deck.

Prowler573, thanks for the welcome! My brother's argument against Alpine is that "they have some cool features...but sound ***** usually". I don't know if this holds merit with the people in this forum and in the car stereo world at large, so disregard if you must. I looked at the Panasonic CQ-C3303U, and I have the same questions as above.

hopefully I have addressed these questions sufficiently but I'll be glad to help further if I haven't.

After I posted this thread last night, I looked around a little more on my own. I came up with some Pioneer models that I wanted to get opinions on.
Pioneer DEH-P3700MP
Pioneer DEH-P4700MP
Pioneer DEHP4800MP
Pioneer DEH-P470MP

Any thoughts on these, or more suggestions?

Thanks again,
Lauren

i have no direct experience (or knowledge) of any of these as I don't fool with Pioneer gear too often. This is merely a personal choice rather than any indicator of what I think about their products. I'll have a look online and see what I can come up with as far as suitability for your purposes and get back to you if no one else with direct experience responds. As the 2006 Pioneer models have been recently introduced, however, the models you mentioned should be more and more affordable as the new ones get into the public's buying mainstream.

I forgot one other thing that I want to keep in mind while shopping for a head unit. My boyfriend despises preset EQ. If there are units without this, that would be preferred.

Just having the preset EQ curves present does not mean your brother would have to use them. My XXV-01D (Kenwood's best non-DVD head unit) has preset EQ curves - which I use not at all.
There should be (in most if not all decks) be an option for the end-user to adjust these preset curves to their own preference or avoid them altogether.

[lubells]

Prowler573 - Wow! Thanks so much for the attention you have given my query. I really appreciate the help out and input from this forum community.

Thank you for making things clearer for me to understand. I'm gaining quite a bit of knowledge from you.

I went to Circuit City tonight to check stuff out there (not to buy, though), and to get yet another perspective on things. The guy I spoke with was very helpful, and he taught me a couple of things that I haven't found out by searching on the 'net. I told him the situation and that I was looking into a couple of Pioneer models. He said that for all Pioneer models, an adapter is needed (the CDRB10 or the CDRB20, but the 20 is more for if you have a CD changer). He said that this is because Pioneer has a deal with Apple, which is why the CD-IB100 is being marketed as "the way" to play your iPod with your HU, and the CDRB10's are fading out. As for other models, he recommended Panasonic, specifically the CQ-C5301U for my needs. It's comparable in features and quality to the Pioneer ones I've been looking at, so he says, and it doesn't need an adapter.

So there I am for now. If anyone has any other suggestions or advice, please post! Your help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Lauren

[bcleachd]

get the CQ-C5301U like me

[Prowler573]

get the CQ-C5301U like me

....he says in response to a thread that hadn't been posted in since January