Stock Standard Replacement / Ipod Fm Transmitters - Suggestions?

[SupraMario]

hey everyone,

I've almost had enough of dealing with the stock setup in the V35, great car, but getting the shits with having to change cds all the time..

yep im bit precious like that

Has anyone tried the itrip ? as an FM transmitter ? I know people have mentioned with some other brands you get crappy quality etc

but apparently this one isn't too bad, along with it actually does *JAP* frequencies, which if thats true is a first, since i've had every man

and his dog offer me their FM transmitter only for me to say 'sorry wont work' due to the jap frequencies...

Since I've gone against my will and now live by my iPhone and iPod Touch, an FM transmitter that did work with jap frequencies would

be fastest solution..

however failing that, what head unit recommendations do people have these days?

I used to mix it up big in the audio game years ago but time constraints are against me these days to keep up with the latest hooplah..

Double din / single din, im not concerned with either way, but quality is what I'm after.. more particularly are they're any really good

headunit solutions out there that will pair with the iPhone or any other new phone that is bluetooth enabled for hands free functionality

as well ??

that is actually good quality though? as I've heard great and horror stories of solutions with this as well.

I know chris rogers can do the work, dont have time to annoy him on the phone just yet, however I figured someone here must of already

tried to find a solution with similar resolve as im chasing.

Obviously I'm presuming since the stock stereo gear pumps in these cars, well its not bad I should say, upgrading the head unit alone

should get even more bang for buck out of the basic setup.

So yeah guys, I'm open to ideas / options that you may have trialed / errored. I'd like to keep a replacement head unit around the $1k

mark, obvoiusly cheaper if better, or could be swayed more exxy if pros' can be dangled in my face about it hahaha

thanks guys, really appreciate any / all help you guys could offer since I know usually talking to peop here in the know, usually

helps somewhat more than an audio shop trying to palm off whatever unit they're getting the biggest margin on at the time..

Mariooo

[rb26stagea]

I use an Alpine 9887 (I think!) in my Stagea. It is a 1-DIN unit, so for the second slot, I bought the Alpine ipod drawer: works perfectly, every time.

I also purchased the Alpine bluetooth kit for the headunit, and could not think of a single bad thing to say about it: people I have called say that you can't tell the difference between handset or hands free when calling, and it all runs through the head unit: missed calls, received calls, phonebook, etc is all accessible on the head unit's screen, and controlled by the head unit's buttons. It also runs the hands free volume independently of the music volume, which I found quite convenient...

[Blue Arrow]

If you like to maintain your stock unit and just be able to use/integrate your iphone, check out spec.dock (http://www.2point5.com/). I personally haven't tried it out yet but it was recommended by someone in this forum. Might be worth looking into. It is a US site though.

[SupraMario]

nah not too concerned with keeping the stock unit in place... looks dated as it is..

rb26stagea : thanks man, will check that unit out, was just looking at the alpine / pioneer sites, far out they got some really nice double din units!

[turbosuk]

i have a blaupunkt new jersey mp68 installed by chris has everything the alpine has

[SupraMario]

ok, right... i've had bad experience with blaupunkt in the past..

how's its iphone/ipod connectivity ? sound quality with the phone with handsfree calls ?

does that unit do video from the iphone as well ?

thnx man!!!

[andy65b]

If you have the TV tuner get the Spec doc. www.specdoc.com.

You can input to the AUX of the TV and get video and music. Plus a neat console.

[interfooler]

looks like the spec.dock is exactly what I need!

Does anyone know who sells those locally?

[Chris Rogers]

ok, right... i've had bad experience with blaupunkt in the past..

how's its iphone/ipod connectivity ? sound quality with the phone with handsfree calls ?

does that unit do video from the iphone as well ?

thnx man!!!

bt with an Iphone works fine. done several in that fashion. hands free setup decent. it will mute the radio let the call come through and then revert to radio. you can also dial directly off the unit as well. only catch with turbosuk's car was the bose audio and the added DVD unit that needed to be fed back into the system. if you were going to do video from an iphone it could be done with fiddling. audio/video via a lead and BT control for the music side of things.

new blau works fairly well. been a blau dealer for years and the only bad ones were the outsourced low end units. top end worked (5/7 series) flawless.

if the only thing that shits you about the stock setup is the lack of ipod there is a way around it.

[rs73]

If you have the TV tuner get the Spec doc. www.specdoc.com.

You can input to the AUX of the TV and get video and music. Plus a neat console.

does the spec.dock by default only provides audio ipod connectivity, I believe?

how did you rewire the video part, andy?

[andy65b]

does the spec.dock by default only provides audio ipod connectivity, I believe?

how did you rewire the video part, andy?

I haven't done it yet but just about to.

They have 2 options.

1) Control via the Ipod only. This version has three RCA plugs (audio L&R + video) and power.

2) Control via the stereo control. This version uses and PANSI connector and these will only ever do audio.

I am just about to order option 1 once I confirm when I will get my Iphone.

This one: http://stores.homestead.com/2point5/-strse...V2AV/Detail.bok

Cheers

Andy

[rs73]

option 1 sounds handy as I have an RCA lead cable already there just hanging around at the passenger side transmission well... just need to hook it up it'll be a breeze then!

[SupraMario]

bt with an Iphone works fine. done several in that fashion. hands free setup decent. it will mute the radio let the call come through and then revert to radio. you can also dial directly off the unit as well. only catch with turbosuk's car was the bose audio and the added DVD unit that needed to be fed back into the system. if you were going to do video from an iphone it could be done with fiddling. audio/video via a lead and BT control for the music side of things.

new blau works fairly well. been a blau dealer for years and the only bad ones were the outsourced low end units. top end worked (5/7 series) flawless.

if the only thing that shits you about the stock setup is the lack of ipod there is a way around it.

with couple of the alpine / pioneer units I was looking at, they all mention being able to play video from the ipod touch / iphone so going one of these units

would make life somewhat easier i'd presume..

Be interesting to know if the controls on the steering wheel could still be retained ..

then again lets be honest, its not that much effort to move your hand off the gear level and push a couple of buttons heh

[strydes]

I've got the USA-Spec adapter and a spec.dock and absolutely love it.

Plug the phone in, it brings up the ipod app automatically. You can control from the phone, deck or steering wheel, and when you turn the car off it pauses whatevers playing.

I don't have a screen so can't comment on vid integration.

Here's my thread on it. http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Sp...mp;hl=spec.dock

[Walf]

I use a tape to ipod connector without any problems - quality is excellent and it cost me $12. that spec dock looks pretty awesome, let us know how the install goes!

[andy65b]

I use a tape to ipod connector without any problems - quality is excellent and it cost me $12. that spec dock looks pretty awesome, let us know how the install goes!

Ordered mine yesterday, will post some pics when received and installed. (Ordered the RCA plugged one to do video)

I opted for standard international postage ($35US) v's Fedex ($98US) so it may be a week or so.

I will be testing the Iphone 3GS and an Ipod Classic.

Cheers

Andy

[SupraMario]

hmm tape adapter, that the same type of adapter from oldschool tape->discman adapters people used to use?

[rb26stagea]

Andy, please be sure to update when you get yours installed: I am looking at an alternative to the kit I already have installed, and this thing sounds like it would be perfect! Just one query: if you go for option 1, is it expected to be able to display the iphone nav options on the factory V35 screen??

[Walf]

hmm tape adapter, that the same type of adapter from oldschool tape->discman adapters people used to use?

indeed.

That dock would be so good if it did display GPS!

Edited May 13, 2010 by Walf

[andy65b]

Andy, please be sure to update when you get yours installed: I am looking at an alternative to the kit I already have installed, and this thing sounds like it would be perfect! Just one query: if you go for option 1, is it expected to be able to display the iphone nav options on the factory V35 screen??

I will update as soon as it arrives.

on option 1, I don't believe it will display nav options on the screen, but I could be wrong on this as I have not tried and Iphone on this set up. I currently use an Ipod classic 80gb on a similar set up (ie. connected through the plug on the base to a 3 rca plug lead. On the Ipod I have to select TV "on" to make it show on the cars screen when I play movies. There is an auto option but I have not tried this yet.

I know of another M35 driver who bought the option 2, version and I don't know if it will work on his car as he has the single din stereo and I am not sure the PA11 NSI system is compatible. So he may be able to give some advise sooner than me.

Cheers

Andy