ice-link alternative?

[racostan]

I'm looking forward to connect my new iPod 4G (20GB) to my VW Jetta 2002.
I don't want visible cables in the car and really don't like the sound quality of the FM transmitters.
The only solution that make sense is the iceLink form Dension, but the price seems to be pretty steep. c'mon... more than $200 for A CABLE? (that's almost the cost of the iPod)
Does anybody know of an alternative?
Will I save any money if I buy the adapters in crutchfield.com or a similar store?
What should I look for?
I have the time and basic knowledge to do an installation by myself, and just want to save a few bucks.
BTW the idea is to have the iPod hidden in the box between the front seats (easy access), so it really doesn't matter if I can't control it from the head unit.
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance for any hints.

RA

[teambrownz]

The aux-box, also by dension is a little cheaper than the auxpod or ice-link, and is strictly a cable which fools your head unit into thinking the ipod is a cd changer. While it does not allow your head unit to control the ipod, it offers the same other features : charging while playing, and perfect audio quality thru the dock connector.

it can be found for around $65.00 to $75.00 at most online stereo stores...

http://www.audiowarehouse.peachhost.com/ct_PRaux-box.htm

[DrewT]

if you got an aux input adapter and the belkin auto kit, you could achieve the same thing, and possibly cheaper, but I'm not shure.

-Drew

[racostan]

Hey thanks teambrownz!
This is exactly what I was looking for. (Decent price, good quality and simple)
The only question I have left: you said it will charge the iPod when connected, but do you know if it would shut the iPod down when you turn the radio and/or car off?
I will order one asap.... (the "possible" part of that could be one or two weeks, though)... I will post feedback then.
Appreciate your info. Thanks again.

RA

[PortableCow]

Originally posted by teambrownz
The aux-box, also by dension is a little cheaper than the auxpod or ice-link, and is strictly a cable which fools your head unit into thinking the ipod is a cd changer. While it does not allow your head unit to control the ipod, it offers the same other features : charging while playing, and perfect audio quality thru the dock connector.

it can be found for around $65.00 to $75.00 at most online stereo stores...

http://www.audiowarehouse.peachhost.com/ct_PRaux-box.htm

Hmm, I just see RCA connectors on this thing. I thought you said it went through the dock connector?

[PortableCow]

Also, the Aux-box is by PAC, not Dension

[Gamma]

Seriously save up your cash and get the icelink. I have had mine installed for a week now and cannot imagine any other option. The sound quality is top notch and having the head unit control the iPod is fantastic. I have mine mounted in the glove box, so that I can keep it in the car, locked up. Installation was easy once I pulled out my head unit.

[racostan]

Originally posted by PortableCow
Hmm, I just see RCA connectors on this thing. I thought you said it went through the dock connector?

One end goes to the CD changer port in the trunk.. check the adapters for each car http://www.audiowarehouse.peachhost.com/ct_CGaux-boxandcables.htm
With the RCA plugs at the other end you're all set. Just need one of those monster cables with one 1/8" stereo jack at one end, and two RCA at the other. Just plug the iPod. (please correct me if I'm wrong)

I guess the price difference between this and the ice-link is a breaking point. I (personally) don't see the need of spend +/-$120 more for the ability of control it thru the HU. I plan to have it right betwwen the seats. (and I don't have radio controls on my steering wheel) so I rather use that money in better speakers for instance.

Thanks everybody!
(I'm still open to other options that make sense though):D

[PortableCow]

The Aux-POD and Icelink are too expensive in my opinion, but they are convenient in that they just use the dock connector for both audio and power connections. With the Aux-BOX only set up as you have described, racostan, you're going to have one cable coming out of the headphone port and if you want to charge the iPod, another out of the dock connector. Too messy in my opinion.

[GavinD]

I got one off www.mp3yourcar.com ??? it???s similar to the one BMW uses and the ice-link. I researched the Neo iON and found nothing but good things said about it. Best of all it costs less then the other units and the quality is excellent.

[racostan]

Originally posted by PortableCow
The Aux-POD and Icelink are too expensive in my opinion, but they are convenient in that they just use the dock connector for both audio and power connections. With the Aux-BOX only set up as you have described, racostan, you're going to have one cable coming out of the headphone port and if you want to charge the iPod, another out of the dock connector. Too messy in my opinion.
mmmm good point!
maybe you can't charge the ipod with this one after all.... (that would be -10 points)
I'd better give them a call and see what they say.
Thanks

[GavinD]

Originally posted by racostan
mmmm good point!
maybe you can't charge the ipod with this one after all.... (that would be -10 points)
I'd better give them a call and see what they say.
Thanks

The one I got off www.mp3yourcar.com charges.

[racostan]

Originally posted by GavinD
I got one off www.mp3yourcar.com ??? it???s similar to the one BMW uses and the ice-link. I researched the Neo iON and found nothing but good things said about it. Best of all it costs less then the other units and the quality is excellent.
Looks pretty good, thanks!
Better price than the ice-link, but sill a little more than it ought to be. I think they are charging too much because it is a new item and they are taking advantage of the market. In a few years those cables will cost 50 buck at most.
I think this is ranking high in the list.

Do we have more options???
I'm still listening!!!:D

[GavinD]

The other options kinda suck. You either need to be a car audio installer or you can buy a device that is going to sound like doo do. I look at it like this ??? I spend a lot on my car ??? I spent a lot on my iPod ??? I am not going to get something cheap / poor quality to connect the two. :)

[PortableCow]

The Neo iON is the exact same thing as the Aux-POD, except the Aux-POD is $14 cheaper. Maybe someone needs to list out your options that have been mentioned so far to make it easier... here they are...

Aux-BOX by PAC (www.pac-audio.com)
$65 (http://www.audiowarehouse.peachhost.com/ct_PRaux-box.htm)
It provides a stereo RCA connection so that you can connect your iPod through the headphone port on the iPod. Since it is just a simple audio connection to your headphone port, you cannot control the iPod from the headunit. To charge the iPod you are required to purchase a separate unit, such as that made by Belkin, that will plug your iPod in to the cig lighter.

Aux-POD by PAC (www.pac-audio.com)
$175 (http://www.audiowarehouse.peachhost.com/ct_PRaux-pod.htm)
It connects to your iPod's dock connector which provides your car stereo with a direct audio line from your iPod while charging your iPod, bascially its just like plugging your iPod into a dock at home that's connected to a stereo. It also allows control of the iPod from your headunit.

Neo iON by MP3 Your Car (www.mp3yourcar.com)
$189 (http://www.storecare.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=NEOION01)
Basically the exact same thing as the Aux-POD, actually I think its the same piece of hardware made by whoever manufactures the Aux-POD.

ICELink v1.1 by Dension (www.densionusa.com)
$239 (price at www.densionusa.com, it may vary by car)
I'm not sure what makes the ICELink so much better than the Aux-POD or the Neo iON because it basically does the same thing as the other two. It does however give you the option of choosing a dock to mount your iPod or iPod mini in the car. Also, the adapter for your car's headunit is included in the price, with the Neo iON and Aux-POD, the adapters are sold separately.

So there you go... if anyone else has other options similar to these, please add :)

[DrewT]

The Aux-POD does NOT allow control of the ipod from you're HU. (edit: well, according to the website it DOES allow this, but you said you don't need it, so read on anyway. sorry, should have checked my facts again :) )

Alright, here's what (I think) would be best/chepest for you:

1) Buy an aux-box for you're car. This will provide an auxillary input for the ipod, which provides the best sound quality.

2)Buy the auto kit from belkin. This not only charges you're ipod, but it also provides a line out (ok, ok, not a true line out, but it's pretty darn close, and with a simple mod, it would be a true line out), as well as pauses you're ipod when you're car turns off (if you're lighter socket is wired to turn off when you're car turns off)

3)Buy a cheap 3.5mm to RCA cable from wal-mart. Really cheap, works fine. $5.

So, you'd have $65 (if portablecow is right) for the aux-box, the belkin auto-kit, which is $40 from the apple store, and a cable, which is $5 from walmart. That totals to $110, cheaper than the AUX-POD, which would do the exact same thing.

Now, if you take a little time to use froogle, you can find the Aux-box for $57.47 (http://www.sjgreatdeals.com/pacauxbox.html), and the Belkin auto-kit for $17.59, which has free shipping to the US (http://www.pickyourdeal.com/idf8v7058apl.html), and (if you REALLY want it cheap), the cable for like $0.75. So, you'd end up with a grand total of $80.06 + shipping for the aux-box (probally $10 or so), plus a trip to wal-mart to but the cheap patch cable (cuase ordering it from the 'net is just stupid)

The $80 solution looks best to me!! In fact, that's exactly what I did in my car, except the aux adapter only cost me $12, since I have an alpine HU.

If you want to clean it up a little, then you can install the charger behind the dash too. That's what I'm gonna try to get done this weekend. There are probally 2 or 3 (at least) tutorials on how to do this already, plus I'm gonna add one more sometime soon. It's really not hard at all.

so, there's something that will work like the $175 aux-pod, for about $90. Not too bad!

-Drew

[PortableCow]

Thanks for the input DrewT...

I like the method DrewT describes the best, mainly because its cheap :D. I had still planned on controlling my iPod via the iPod directly, not the head unit. Furthermore, you can work around having to plug the audio cable in the headphone port by just mounting an iPod Dock in your car. So if you add what, $30 for the dock on ebay to DrewT's quoted price you have a $110 setup that works very well :)

[hybrid racer]

After doing some research I decided to give the people at www.mp3yourcar.com a call about the Neo iON. I told them that I could get the Aux-POD for less but I had heard a lot of good things about their product and company. To my luck they matched the price and also gave me free shipping. They also shipped it out today so I should be getting it very soon. They seem to be really good people to deal with and answered the few questions I had. If you give them a call just tell them that you would like them to match a price and they will take care of you. I am really looking forward to installing this in my 1999 Honda Civic SI.

Later
hybrid racer

[DowntheRoad]

I just installed the Neo Ion in my car yesterday, those guys are very customer service oriented and are a pleasure to deal with. I am kind of upset that they matched the price to the aux-pod, I didn't even think of that. How much did you pay for it? Oh, yeah it sounds great in my Tahoe.

[Bejamn123]

I bought the AUX kit from Ice-link as a cheaper alternative. What a bad idea that was. First off, I paid a little over $20 to ship it 2-day air because I was moving for the summer and needed it before I left. It took it 8 days to arrive and they had no excuse for me. Second, the AUX kit was not even compatable with the CD player that I had. So after waiting an extra 6 days for it to arrive and drilling 4 holes to mount the Ice-link I had to return it. I returned it in mid July and still to this day I am trying to get my refund "processed". Also I thought you should know that the overall quality of the Ice-link dock was not good. It is made of plastic and came unsnapped when I was mounting it. So overall I would never do business with them again unless no other options are avialable. I am thinking of upgrading to a new 2004 model Alpine head unit with the Ai-net function. This allows you to buy a $100 box that directly links your ipod to the head unit. You can find the info here: http://iweb.alpine-usa.com/pls/admn/item_info?p_item_name=KCA-420I&p_category=10&p_subcategory=50&p_main=10

[DrewT]

Originally posted by PortableCow
I like the method DrewT describes the best, mainly because its cheap :D. I had still planned on controlling my iPod via the iPod directly, not the head unit. Furthermore, you can work around having to plug the audio cable in the headphone port by just mounting an iPod Dock in your car. So if you add what, $30 for the dock on ebay to DrewT's quoted price you have a $110 setup that works very well :)

Yeah, i did it cause it's cheap too!

Actually, you don't need the dock, since the belkin auto-kit has an output on the lighter part. It gets sound out of the ipod throught the dock connector too.....

The iON thing sounds cool, and I've heard good things about them. Tell us how that works out Bejamn

-Drew

[webslog]

I'm sort of surprised that no one has mentioned the all-in-one solution by enfig (www.enfig.com). They build an adapter that smerges both a Belkin car kit and a blitzsafe (www.blitzsafe.com) audio adapter together. The result is a dock connector line and nothing else in the cabin of the car (all the guts are tucked behind the head unit.) Line out sound, charging, the ability to switch myPod's backlighting to on all the time to match the blue instrumentation lights of my car. After 3 weeks of excrutiatingly detailed research, I'm ordering mine today.

I plan on mounting the thing with a panavise mount (71385-200) that will hold the 'Pod low and out of site and on that mount a ultra-clip to the panavise bracket so I only need to drop my pod (which live in an Xtrememac leather flip case into the clip, plug in the dock connector and let 'er rip.

I've heard too much on the iceLink related to build quality and was looking for a very stealthy install that essentially vanished when the 'Pod isn't in the car.

I'll report back later. BTW, if there are any VW owners on these fora (which there must be at least one because "iPassat" was already taken as a screen name) make sure you head over to www.vwvortex and www.clubb5.com. Both have veeerry detailed iPod installs with pix.

[GavinD]

I was thinking about doing the same set up but that???s a lot of parts and trouble. You really don???t save very much money either. I got the neo ion because it was easy to install, has good reviews, and if I have a problem with it they will give me my money back. It???s also very stealthy when I remove my iPod. Good luck either way, let us know how it turns out if you give it a shot.

[threefromthekey]

what about the sik-imp...thats a lot cheaper and seems to do the same thing that all of these others do without the incredibly steep price?

or am i missing something here

[webslog]

SiK's imp, as well as the belkin unit and the other ciggy lighter powered options put more wires and gear into the cabin than I want. In essense, it's worth 70 more bucks to me to have all the wiring hidden away and the 'Pod intall look "stock."

[bugless]

neo ion sux. so do spammers.

[psamo]

My understanding is the Neo Ion enables you to still use your cd player if you want to, but the Icelink and AuxPod do not. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[psamo]

My understanding is the Neo Ion enables you to still use your cd player if you want to, but the Icelink and AuxPod do not. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[psamo]

My understanding is the Neo Ion enables you to still use your cd player if you want to, but the Icelink and AuxPod do not. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[fredly47]

I have the neo ion installed on both our cars and it is fantastic. Thr company has the best tech support that I have ever dealt with. you always get to speak to a live person. Even had trouble with the installationa and they had me send my radio to them and they installed it for nothing and the shipping was paid by them. the rock

[GavinD]

Originally posted by webslog


webslog

Update?
Did you get the parts and do the install? How did it work out?

[webslog]

Hola GavinD:

No reponse from me as I've been too busy figuring oout reasons to go driving in my car. The enfig adapter has arrived and I've done a rough install. The bracket is on backorder and I'm waiting for it to arrive before doing a how-to in excruitiating detail. Suffice it to say, the sound is great and I can now share Space Cowboy by the Jonzun Crew on my 7-year -old, who loves the line "He's bad, he's number one, he's a space cowboy with his laser gun."

Anyway, look for a link to a full install guide shortly.

[jessica.]

The price difference is less than $15.00 between the aux-pod and the iON, how much of a discount did they actually give you?

[Carphunter]

I'm looking to get an iPod for xmas (it's kinda funny, I'm a Mac support guy at a Univ. and still haven't bought one of these things yet :)

Anyway, I've been reading this forum and on VWVortex for my options.

I believe I want to do either a PIE or a Blitsafe aux connector for my trunk CD port. (I don't want to go the head unit in case I buy another car...because it will quite possibly be a VW with a DD unit...where the connectors aren't the same...but the trunk connector is)

I was going to get an extra dock and go through the options to hook that up and pump the audio out through it's line out.

I've read some of the stuff here... but what is the diff between belkin's auto kit line out and the line out of a dock?

Any diffs between the PIE and the Blitsafe? I've seen the one you can wire yourself...but I'm not a good solderer. Where's the best online place to get these cheap? Has anyone found a BestBuy, etc. that will sell those things for closer to their cost?


K, nuff said. Good post. Exactly what I needed.