2G AUX output

[kendrid]

Yesterday I setup my Touch. Besides WPA wi-fi (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1703504&tstart=15) not working for me, I just ran into another issue that really irked me.

I hooked my 2G touch up to my car this morning before I left for work. I have an iPod line out cable that plugs into the big port on the bottom. I prefer this as it bypasses the headphone jack and the volume slider is ignored.

Well, with the 2G the line out cable does not work. The sound comes out of the internal speaker.

My current thought is that the cable I have isn't powered (it is audio only) and maybe if it were powered the sound would come through the cable instead of the speaker. I have the ability to hook up a USB cable to that cable to power it. I am going to try tonight.

Does anyone have a speaker dock, line out with power, etc that works with the 2G touch (by work I mean you get sound via the line out and not the headphone jack). Thanks!

[pfriedel]

Yeah, my crunchy old Belkin 12v+AUX adaptor provides Line-Out capabilities that works. The charging side of it doesn't work because it's firewire-spec and not USB spec, but the line out part is golden. I just ordered a Griffin AutoPilot to regain charging capabilities, we'll see how well it works.

[kendrid]

If you unplug the charging part of it does the line out continue to work?

Thanks

[js0012]

I have the issue with no audio from the dock connector. The device I've tried is a dock to mini RCA cable for my car stereo.

[pfriedel]

If you unplug the charging part of it does the line out continue to work?

Unfortunately, for whatever reason if I unplug the Belkin device from my cigarette lighter jack, the line-out jack stops working. I don't know if there's some level conversion circuitry going on in there, or if it's something else, but it's always been like that, even on my old 5th Gen.

[boombaby]

The dock connector audio is not working on my touch2G either. I use an ipod dock connected via USB to a power brick and connected via headphone/RCA cord to my stereo. I like listening to my tunes through my stereo at home, using the line out on the ipod. Only it's not working on the touch2G. Works fine on the touch1G. Any ideas?? Apple???

[Zamboni Guy]

Any solution to this? I have the same problem....I hook up my Sendstation Pocket dock in my car to get the line out and the sound comes out of the speaker. Whats up??

[kendrid]

I finally got around to messing with my line out cable.

My cable has both RCA and a USB cable for charging. I had hoped that when I hooked up the USB cable the Touch would know that it was docked and send the audio via the line-out.

No such luck. It does charge the iPod but the sound still comes out of it's internal speaker. This is stupid.

I bet the expensive Apple cable works fine...

[kornchild2002]

More than likely, your audio cable uses the firewire specs and not USB specs. This was fine before as it was a way for 3rd party companies to use older technology (ie less money) to continue to make their products. Now Apple has completely locked out anything using the older firewire specs meaning that some accessories won't work with a 2G iPod touch.

Apple's newer cables use USB standards, not firewire so that means that they will work. I have yet to find a 3rd party car charger with a line-out/auxiliary output that is fully compatible with the 2G iPod touch. It is only a matter of time before 3rd party companies conform to the newer standards.

[ascian]

I have an autopilot and touch 2g. It charges and plays just fine through the lineout connection. It will play through just the lineout of the ipod if i plug the cable directly from the aux connection to the headphone port. I have to go to class now, I'll see if it works without the charger, but still going lineout through the griffin unit.

My deck is a Pioneer DEH-5900 or something like that. Just ran the aux from the rear down to the bottom of my center console.

[kornchild2002]

Griffin's website lists the Autopilot as being compatible with the original iPod touch (1G) and the 4G iPod nano along with all the older dock connector enabled iPods (not the 3G though).

Your statement is the first that I have heard of a 3rd part car charger with auxiliary output that both charges and transmits audio when connected to a 2G iPod touch. I am not saying that you are wrong, I am just saying that it is the first that I have heard.

[ascian]

Just got back home, while the ipod connected directly via the headphone port to aux-in works, and it works with the autopilot's pass-through (while charging), if for some reason you were to unplug the power, it does stop working.

Also I noticed that though the dock connector pass-through ignores the pod's volume, this seems like a bad thing, I have to nearly max my head unit's volume for an acceptable volume, forget being loud.

And yes, this is a 32gb 2nd gen, it all works fine. I hope I'm not wrong, it's bound to happen sooner or later, but I don't think this is it.

[pfriedel]

Also I noticed that though the dock connector pass-through ignores the pod's volume, this seems like a bad thing, I have to nearly max my head unit's volume for an acceptable volume, forget being loud.

Have you flicked the aux out switch (on the autopilot) from Low to High? That's what it took to get an acceptable volume out of mine, although it's still not quite as hot as my old Belkin 12V+aux adapter was. And I thought that line out was sort of defined that the volume is controlled by the final device and not the initial device. The touch is sort of odd there, anyway. The volume slider does nothing in my car with the Autopilot, as is appropriate, but it's perfectly happy to adjust the volume when it's docked and using line out. I assume the accessory detect pin is controlling that behavior (otherwise the dock remote wouldn't be able to control volume), but it's weird just the same.

And I'm about 50/50 for the touch picking the right output when I dock it in the official apple dock, regardless of whether it's currently playing music or not, so there is something wonky going on in the output detection routine.

[ascian]

pfriedel: i forgot all about that switch. thanks for the reminder! i'm sure that will help out.

<edit>
this did indeed fix it, i moved it from low to high, the difference is night and day. more than acceptable.

[tonepod]

Your statement is the first that I have heard of a 3rd part car charger with auxiliary output that both charges and transmits audio when connected to a 2G iPod touch. I am not saying that you are wrong, I am just saying that it is the first that I have heard.
It could very well be possible--I am currently using a Griffin AutoPilot (the AUX out version) with my iPhone 3G; other than the initial Airplane Mode message--which you can safely ignore or tap "No"--it charges my phone and transmits audio via the dock connector cable to vehicle AUX input just fine. As such, I can imagine that the 2G IPT should work w/ the AutoPilot, given that it and the iPhone 3G are somewhat similar in hardware layout, seeing how both have internal speakers and solely use the USB pins for charging.

Unfortunately I don't have my 2G IPT w/ me at the moment...otherwise I would be able to tell you right now if the AutoPilot works w/ it.. ;)

[kornchild2002]

That is good news that the AutoPilot works. I have an older Belkin car charger+auxiliary output that won't charge my 2G iPod touch but the audio output still works. I went to Best Buy to pick up an AutoPilot, they had it priced at $49.99. I might as well go out and purchase Honda's dealership installed iPod control system as I can get that for only $59.99. That way I could just copy music to my 5G 60GB iPod and keep it in my glove compartment or just stick with my old Belkin unit. I am sorry but I refuse to pay $50 for a car charger with auxiliary output even if it is the only one on the market that works with my 2G 32GB iPod touch.

I will look on Amazon and other sources for the AutoPilot. I know why the unit is more expensive as it offers controls from the power adapter. I could care less about that as all I want to do is charge my iPod and play music through the auxiliary output.

[ascian]

It could very well be possible--I am currently using a Griffin AutoPilot (the AUX out version) with my iPhone 3G; other than the initial Airplane Mode message--which you can safely ignore or tap "No"--it charges my phone and transmits audio via the dock connector cable to vehicle AUX input just fine. As such, I can imagine that the 2G IPT should work w/ the AutoPilot, given that it and the iPhone 3G are somewhat similar in hardware layout, seeing how both have internal speakers and solely use the USB pins for charging.

Unfortunately I don't have my 2G IPT w/ me at the moment...otherwise I would be able to tell you right now if the AutoPilot works w/ it.. ;)


I love how my input just doesn't count. I obviously have no idea what's going on, that must be it.

Anyhoo, for the person looking at the price, i got mine from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WKW6HS for $30.85. I ordered it right after the 2g were announced.

[kornchild2002]

I saw the cheaper price on Amazon. I am going to have to order it as soon as I renew my Amazon prime membership. That is about $20 cheaper than Best Buy's ridiculous price of $50.

[tonepod]

I love how my input just doesn't count. I obviously have no idea what's going on, that must be it.

Anyhoo, for the person looking at the price, i got mine from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WKW6HS for $30.85. I ordered it right after the 2g were announced.
Naw...I saw your post--my post was an attempt to back up your finding that the AutoPilot does/should work with the 2G IPT...which BTW I was able to confirm that it does work w/ my 2G IPT, so now there are two pieces of anecdotal evidence showing that it does work. ;)

[kendrid]

Does the AutoPilot use the line-out or headphone jack. The image on Amazon looks like it uses the headphone jack.

Thanks

[kornchild2002]

It uses a auxiliary output on the adapter, it does not rely on the iPod touch's headphone output. None of these devices use a line-out anymore as the volume can be adjusted. A line-out means that the audio comes out at one level and then the volume is adjusted on the device where the audio is being sent. The AutoPilot has an adjustable volume with two settings: low and high. This means that it is an auxiliary output. Additionally, older products (such as the older iPod dock before the release of the 5G iPod) that used to provide line-out signals no longer do so as the volume on an iPod adjust the volume of the output. Before, one could adjust the volume on the iPod but the volume of the line-out wouldn't change.

It seems that Apple changed things with the release of newer iPods as adjusting the volume on the iPod will adjust the volume coming out of the dock connector. This used to be an issue with 5G and 5.5G iPods but hardware manufacturers would find a way around it. I have a friend who uses a Monster car charger with line-out and their 5.5G 30GB iPod, adjusting the volume on the iPod does nothing to the volume coming out of the Monster unit. I can plug in my 1G 16GB iPod (haven't tested my 2G 32GB iPod and probably never will), adjust the volume on my iPod, and it will change the volume coming out of the Monster unit.

ascian, I don't think anyone was trying to discredit your post. tonepod was simply backing up what you were saying and I was just trying to get the point across that your post was the first that I had heard. No one was saying that your input didn't count or that you didn't know what was going on. This whole mess is confusing (it was confusing when the 1G iPod touch was released as we couldn't find any line-out units, only auxiliary ones) and people are just trying to make sense of it.

[chriswei]

Just to add my $0.02...

I received a 2G Touch for my birthday. I used a SiK imp dock connector charger/line out and a 3rd-party volume/playback control 'remote' with my old iPod Video, and neither works with the Touch 2G for charging or line out. I emailed SiK and got a reply that said that they're working on a 2G-compatible imp that should be available next month.

I realize Apple changed the charging capabilities to USB-only (and notified accessory developers of such a change), but why did they need to change the line out capability of the dock connector? I'm just glad I didn't invest in an "iPod-ready" car stereo. Given that iPods seem to last around 2 years, it's getting expensive to have to repurchase a host of accessories for each new iPod.