How will a CD Reciever/Deck react

[Chadian22]

So I'm just curious, if I buy a deck for my car, and alpine or kenwood or w/e, i stick my ipod in to it thru aux, will it just play straight to the speakers? i was wondering if there was a way the deck could read the ipod like a form of storage. rather than just passing on the audio. So it could read the mp3s off the disk, handle the id3 tags and playlists or what not, im guessing the answer for compatiablity of that degree between the 2, is no. But if someone could just explain what number of solutions there are, and how the it refers to the deck, and what i see on the screen / interact with the device. THANK


Chadian:cool:

[Chadian22]

Hmmmm I guess either nobody cares, or doesn't know. Im guessing the first part, because there's tons of smart people on this board.

[jhansman]

Well, it's a good question, but I have no answer. It would seem, however, that the tagging info from a track would have to be output by the iPod along with (obviously) the audio. If it was, the head unit would then have to be able to read the data as such. Since many head units can play CDs with raw MP3s on them and display the tag info, the idea seems possible. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to find out whether either or both of these conditions exist. Let us know what you find.

(Big help, huh? I figured you could use a reply);)

[Chadian22]

Thanks. Yes, now the question is how does the iPod connect to the cd receiver and send a format other than just audio that it can understand. It seems as it would take work from both apple/ apple device inventor (belkin , etc.) and a cd reciever to come for a standard of a sending and recieving the signal. for cd's the sending of the storage is mp3's which is universal, because they all have mp3s, and the laser interupts the data and the receiver understands the info and id3 tags it gets from the disk....
so i dont know if its possible. I just thought it'd be cooler to have all the text and stuff on the receiever so it was in this big bold text and i wouldnt have to look down at the ipod..... thanks for listening. Please Post, even if you dont have an answer, just maybe add extra questions or possible solutions. thanks

Chadian22

[Chadian22]

i love how 75% of the posts are from me. Maybe i answered my own question, if I did, please someone, confirm it or something? thanks

Chadian

[bluntman]

I have an Alpine headunit (CDA-7894) and I've just connected my 3G iPod to it using a special AUX input adapter (one that lets me keep my Ai-Net CD changer as well as have an AUX input).

My headunit is a CD/mp3 player but it doesn't read the ID3 tags off the iPod. That would be great, instead of having "AUX" displayed on my headunit while the iPod is playing! It shows the tags when an mp3 filled CD is playing.

Aftermarket headunit manufacturers would have to allow for external mp3 players to have direct access to their mp3 decoding circuitry/software built right into the headunit, so I don't think a third party manufacturer like Belkin would have access to something like that.

[kman1666]

Come on guys, the only way a head unit could ever operate like that is
1) It was build specifically for the ipod
*which could happen
2) It is made for mp3 players in general
*which will never happen because there is no universal connection that all mp3 players have in common that could send the id3, except maybe usb.

For now, and probebly for the next couple of years we will only be able to play the sound through the speakers. I bet they will use hard drives in the car and stuff like that before we can do anything else.

[IPODDiesel]

I think this can be done. Neo makes an adapter for their Jukebox to intergrate their system with select makes of aftermarket stereos. I think the Neo adapter might be able to translate the information necessary for an aftermarket deck.

I know when this piece is used with Neo's jukebox the aftermarket deck treats the MP3 storage device as a CD changer. It can be completely controled by the head unit as well as display the Tags.

Now what I do not know for sure is the compatibility to the two piece. It will take some custom intergration to get the two pieces to work together but I think I should work.

I do not know enough about the IPOD to to determine if it will work. I have made the assumptions that the Tag info should be the same for both devices. Therfore displaying the Tag info on the deck should not be a problem. However, I cannot make any assumption pertaining to the control of the IPOD through the Neo adapter??? Maybe somebody else will have some input.

I might just have to buy the adapter and see if I can get it to work.

By the way here is the link to the Neo adapter I am talking about: http://www.ssiamerica.com/products/neo35/neocdc.shtml

[davecuse]

either that... or you could just look at the iPod... which handily displays all the tags already. If you're looking for something to read the IDv3 tags from your MP3 files get an MP3 playing head unit.
I wish that there was a head unit that worked directly with the iPod... the Ice-Link is the closest thing. In case you don't know it allows you to control the iPod from your factory head unit and steering wheel controls. I want to get it, but it's $200, a little too rich for my blood, plus it plugs in through the top.

[jhansman]

either that... or you could just look at the iPod... which handily displays all the tags already

Ha! What an idea. ;)

[IPODDiesel]

The idea is remote location. IE. the abilty to mount the IPOD in the console and view selections on the aftermarket head unit. As a result you do not have a cheezy 1980s cell phone holder attached to your dash with 3" dry wall screws and 2 different wires coming out from each end.

The greatest benefit comes from being able to control the IPOD with the aftermarket head unit. This way all audio controls are done through the exising head unit and could be controled with the head units wireless remote.

[jhansman]

The merging of these two technologies can't be far off. As soon as an engineer/designer for one of the major car stereo companies buys an iPod, that's when they'll give the same folks at Apple a call and say, "Hmmm, what if....."

[Chadian22]

Well, Again, the text is kinda small on the iPod when im driving, and the cd reciever has nice big bold FONT , and the Eq on the cd reciever will no doubt be better. I still think for an in car solution, the equalizer would offer a better of playing playlists, maybe not for browsing thru 600 songs or something.

[breakaway1029]

This would be a great idea but....Apple spends a ton of money making the iPod be able to decode mp3's and have them sound decent, so I doubt they would then go and just send the raw mp3's to a head unit's mp3 circuitry. Being able to view the id3 tag info on a head unit would be awesome, and I think I have an idea for how it could be later implemented. If Apple ever decides to make an lcd remote, they will need to develop a protocol for sending the id3 tag information from the ipod to the remote. If Apple then liscensed this protocol to car stereo manufacturers they could easily display id3 tag info on the stereo. This idea lets the iPod still control the actual decoding of the mp3's, but also allows car stereos display the id3 tag information.

[Chadian22]

I'm so happy people actually started talking about this subject. I understand more of what needs to happen, another idea, correct me if im wrong, the device would just have to support the iPod removable firewire driver, and it could scan the iPod for mp3's as it does for a disk, so then it wouldnt be going thru the iPod software, just looking at the iPod as an external storage.

[IPODDiesel]

In my paticular case (Alpine 7878 head unit) I do not need a raw mp3 feed. In fact I think it would be very difficult to feed raw mp3 data to the head unit because the hardware does not exist on the head unit. As someone mentioned before you would have to have a head unit with firewire capabilities.

By utilizing the AI-Net cable the hardware exits to make this successful. I am just not familar enough with either unit to determine what needs to be done. The fact that NEO has already accomplished this feat leaves me to believe it could be done fairly easily.

I sent an email yesterday to Ice-Link to see if they were working on something and I will post once I get a response.

[Chadian22]

Awesome! thanks for all the work and questions. I knew that this would be an intresting topic once it got fired up a bit. Yes, Either the firewire port, or perhaps that port on top (one used by the iTrip, or the remote control), but i bet more bandwidth sakes, the firewire would be a better option.