Chas2

Yeah, I finally got around to ordering mine, too, almost entirely due to sasair's review, and replies to other threads on competing products.

They seem to be jumping the price up by $10 every time I look at the site. $148.99 one day, 158.99 another, and now you say 168.99. They have some kind of promotion, where they are selling 10 Honda version NEOs, then the price goes back to 199.99. Sounds like the price will gradually increase until it is list.

flar

Some of the receiver docks want to reflect part of the UI on the receiver front panel or on the TV screen which goes beyond what the car adapters do. On the Acuras there is no text display of the song or album so their needs should be simpler than the receiver dock's needs. All they need is a dock connection for audio and to send "prev/next track" commands to it.

kthlex

I just purchased the neo last week and the price was $199, think I should call them on it?

econman

Car Toys quoted me $75/hr at which they estimated one hour.


I'm considering taking the plung and doing it myself. Doesn't seem that hard.
Nevertheless, some significant disclaimers on Neo's site.


Radio Removal
If you are thinking of installing our adapter and want to find out how to remove the radio, the best way is to search on Google for your type of car and see if there are postings on how to remove the radio in your car. You might be surprised at how much is out there. If you aren't finding anything for your car, it might not have been posted yet, but try different variations of what words youre searching by. The more specific the better.


Here are some good websites for radio removal instructions:

www.carstereohelp.com/stereoremoval.htm
www.installdr.com
Search in "Internet Forums" that cater to your car.
Post on Forums and Message boards for help, people will respond with steps/tips/pictures/etc.


Thinking of having an installer do it? Remember, ANY installer can install our adapters. Our adapters are plug and play (they simple just plug in). So the install is mainly removing the radio. If the installer can remove the radio, they can install our product. We want the install to be convenient for all of our customers. You do NOT have to have a Neo Dealer complete the install. If we have a Dealer close to you, thats great, use them! We do not have dealers in every city, so if there isnt a Dealer close by, do NOT go out of your way to drive to a dealer of ours to have in installed. Simply go to your local car audio shop and have them complete the install. Feel free to see more dealer/install info in our terms and conditions.

Please note: Neo Car Audio Inc. recommends that all of our products be installed by a professional. We do realize that some of our customers choose the "do-it-yourself" approach which is great if you can save some money and do the install yourself. If you are going to try and install this yourself, here is what we recommend: Once you get the adapter, read the instructions, search online for radio removal steps and take a look at what you think it will take to install the kit. If you arent comfortable doing it yourself, take it to an installer. If you get halfway and cant complete it, take it to an installer. The majority of our kits simply plug in, so installation of our product is usually quite simple. (remove the radio, plug the adapter in, reinstall the radio). Usually the hardest part of the install is NOT connecting our adapter, its REMOVING the radio. Our products, installs and radio removal have many different levels of installation difficulty and you should always yield to a professional if you are not comfortable after attempting an install. Feel free to see more install info in our terms and conditions.

zosomagnus

I tried going to the "MP3 your car" website to get more information on this adapter, but I am having trouble finding the compatible adapter. I tried using the wizard and selecting a 2007 RDX, but no products were found for that search criteria. How do you find the right adapter on this site? Is there an adapter for another car model that works?

zosomagnus

Another quick question. Is it possible that this Neo Adapter can be further updated to take advantage of the RDX tech package audio controls? For instance if you put an mp3 cd into the changer you can nav through all the folders with album and song titles on screen. If this adapter is treated like an external CD changer then it should be able to view the files in the iPod in the same manner. Is this technically possible?

sasair

No this is not possible. The CD Changer port does not have the ability to transfer text information. This is a limitation of the head unit, not the adapter.

Try looking at www.neocaraudio.com for purchase. They have the RDX listed and they know exactly what you need.

zosomagnus

Thanks, I'll check it out.

flar

Sasair - you mentioned that you routed your cable to the center console. Are you referring to the large storage area by the driver's right elbow, or somewhere else on the dash? Where does it come out?

I'm thinking of getting one this weekend and want some install ideas. I like having it come out in the center console storage area rather than the glove box since that location is more centrally located for allowing passengers to use it and it can still remain hidden, but the down side is that there would be a cable sprouting out of one of the walls of the otherwise smooth box of the center console storage. That might get in the way if I put something large in there. I also was thinking I would run an extender cable there instead and plug the docking cable into the socket on the end of the extender. That would give me some flexibility in being able to remove the extra cable and restoring the storage to its smooth-walled state (modulo the socket of the extender cable which I could hopefully mount flush), but I'd lose iPod connectivity in the process. If you have a reasonable way for it to come out in the center console and not be in the way of the storage I'd love to hear it.

In any case, your suggestions and experience would be valuable for me to consider my options.

[Oh, and pics would be awesome, but a decent description would be quicker and easier...]

pittpanther

I have the same question for sasair - how did you route cable into the center console?

backfire

I ordered the Neo from neo audio and I am disappointed, not with the device but them as a business. The neo doesn't look any different than the USA spec device. Looks like they just put their sticker on USA SPec product. The cable even has printed on it USA spec. Neo audio web site shows one product and sends you something that looks identiacl to USA spec. Usa Spec device is cheaper.

sasair

I just answered your PM about this, but I'll post it here too. I routed mine to the large storage/armrest in the center console. I cut a hole right above the light inside the center console. This way you can't see the hole when the compartment is open.

sasair

If I'm not mistakin', I have read that the two units operate differently in some aspects. So you are upset that they use the same case? Could it be that Neo just gets the cases from the same place? Why reinvent the wheel type of thing. I don't have a USA spec adapter so I couldn't tell you definitively what the differences are.

On a side note, I'm not sure where USA spec adapters are made, I'd guess in the US. I know when I got my Neo, I had to wait a while because the shipment of Neo's for the RDX were being held in customs. not sure if this means anything or not!

c_hunter

For a while, Neo and iceLink (from Dension) were selling the same products for many vehicles. There were slight differences (one included a cable, the other a dock) but they were otherwise identical. Not surprising that companies are still sharing or re-labeling products I guess. These interfaces are fairly complicated to engineer.

pittpanther

Thanks for the info sasair...

I was hoping to bring it in lower, but after some investigation, I think I am just going to drill a small notch on the side of the existing hole for the convenience light - just big enough for the cable to sit in. If you pull the light out, you can feed the cable's fairly large connector through. We'll see how it goes!

c_hunter

Good idea! I bet you could just file a small notch for the cable with a round file. Let me know how it goes -- this is definitely something I will reference for future use.

pittpanther

c_hunter - it worked out pretty well - I am very happy with the results. I started with a file, but switched to a drill bit, followed by the file. Not the biggest fan of velcro, but wound up applying a small strip underneath the Neo to eliminate it from sliding around in the cavernous console.

Thanks again sasair for the recommendation - I am much happier with this solution over the MusicLink and the insane Text to Speech garbage.

pittpanther

BTW, the vertical divider closes with the cable, but it is snug. To lift the divider back up, I have to hold the cable in place (to prevent it from pulling the cable up).

sasair

Very nice install job!

pittpanther

Thanks sasair...!

flar

This is not new. The Neo adapter I bought 3 or 4 years ago for my Audi came with a cable that had a Neo sticker that peeled off to reveal a silk-screened Dension cable. ;-)

All of these adapters look very close to each other, and some are sold by the same distributors, but they all also have different capabilities. In my research I came across a Dension, Neo, DICE, USASpec, P.I.E., Peripheral Electronics (only makes units for older Acuras), and of course, the Acura.

We've all heard about the problems with the Acura MusicLink which tries to be all fancy with voice prompts and just gets in your way and bloats your iPod library.

Right now the Neo product seems to be the simplest out there and should be the least problematic to use for most people. You get prev/next tracks, auto-pausing, full iPod control, and it seems to work well from the feedback in this thread.

Today I'll be going to talk to a local car audio place that installs the DICE units as I want playlist browsing capability and don't like the design of the Acura unit. The DICE unit also has the iPod interface work at all times, but it also lets you hit the disc buttons to change whether the prev/next buttons switch by song, album, artist, or playlist which will give me the access to the playlists that I want. The DICE units sell from the manufacturer for $159 list (not on sale) so they are cheaper than the Neo units, even at today's sale price. The local dealer wants to charge more for the unit, but I'll try talking him down. I've heard that the DICE units can be prone to skipping from another board, but the local dealer says that he installs a lot of them and has no problems so maybe those were early units.

flar

Very nice install job pittpanther! I was thinking of mounting the unit behind the dash and only bringing the iPod control cable out, but this looks like a more flexible solution as you can still unlink the iPod for those days when you need all of the volume of the storage bin. I didn't realize that the radio cable was so long that the brain could sit in the center console.

I'll still toy with my stealth install with just a socket for the iPod control cable visible in the wall of the storage bin, but that will take far more labor to accomplish...

flar

Just got back from the local installer - the DICE units, while compatible with the R3 interface on the radio, apparently have an electrical incompatibility with the RDX.

When you start the car you have to do it just right or it spikes the unit and the unit refuses to play until you unplug it and plug it back in (behind the dash). He's been waiting on a fix since December and will call on Monday to see if they have updated units ready yet. Unfortunately, since it is an electrical issue, not a firmware issue, it's not like they can install it and let me do a firmware update later - I have to wait for the new units to be shipped.

If they did a center console storage bin install like pittpanther then I guess I could do my own plugging/unplugging until an updated unit is out, but their radio cable is very short and not suitable for running in the open (a bundle of separate wires, not a nice molded cable).

The cable from the brain to the iPod is also pretty short - about 24 inches long so I'll want to investigate a longer iPod cable before I do this anyway. My serial cable extender is compatible with the cable they use for the iPod, but is much thicker than the iPod cable so it would be unwieldy to use for anything other than "behind the dash/console" extensions.

pittpanther

Thanks flar...

Interesting info - I was not aware of the DICE units. I was about to recommend the Neo to 2 friends of mine - one with an 03 Accord, the other with an 05 RL, but I will also have them investigate the DICE solution as well.

pittpanther

Actually, from the DICE website, it is not compatible with the 05 RL, but is for the 03 Accord.

flar

I'm not sure what is up with the compatibility guide on the DICE web site, but I find these things frequently out of date, having used a few of them on several sites and finding that many of them don't list any compatibility for any car newer than 2005.

I believe that DICE Electronics is just a distributor for the unit. One installer said that the unit is actually manufactured by Dension, but they could be confused as well. As Sasair and c_hunter alluded to earlier, there is a history of remarketing and sharing of parts going on in this field. At one point there was a company called "Densionusa" that was the distributor for Dension in the US and then they started distributing DICE, and now if you go to densionusa.com you can see that they have ceased operations.

It's probably best to just email them and ask. The RDX has a standard "Honda R3" interface in the terminology that most of the adapter manufacturers seem to use. It may also be that they haven't actually tested on that car and don't want to list compatibility until they can test. If the "electrical problem" that the one installer told me about is real then that could be why they don't list the cars until they test them out as the interface alone isn't the be all and end all of whether the unit is compatible.

(And I will certainly report back here if I hear back from DICE or one of the installers on the compatibility...)

mav3556

So what are the differences between the DICE, US-ASPEC, ICE-LINK, AND NEO PROLINK??? Which is better?? and which one is most reliable?

c_hunter

Nice install pitt!

So sasair, where did you locale your neo module?

flar

They all offer different capabilities. It depends on what you need the adapter to do for you. Some of the ones with more advanced capabilities can be a little harder to use since they try to offer those capabilities with the limited "pretending to be a CD changer" controls.

All of them should charge the iPod when connected and should also pause it when the radio/car turns off or is muted. They all also offer some control from the radio and steering wheel controls to change tracks and control the volume. Beyond that is where they differ. They should all also offer similar sound quality since they all vector the "line out" signals from the iPod dock connector to a direct sound input on the head unit.

Some leave the iPod UI active so you can choose between using the controls on the radio/steering wheel, or controls on the iPod. Others disable the iPod UI - the screen shows a Logo for the device and the controls do not respond while the iPod is attached.

Some give playlist, album and artist browsing. This is where they can get overly complicated if they outthink themselves.

None of them will give album, artist, song name text on the display - that is a limitation of the Acura head unit.

Specifics of each of the units:

The Neo Prolink from newcaraudio.com is very simple in operation and appears to be very reliable from the reports here. It has all of the next/prev track, charging, pausing, direct audio connection features and it leaves the iPod UI intact. It would be hard to be confused by the operation of this unit since it sticks to the basics and has no real "modes" to get lost in. The Neo also offers another aux input so you can do an in-dash satellite radio install or something similar.

The iceLink Plus from Dension has two different operating modes. The iPod UI mode leaves the iPod UI active, and offers features similar to the Neo Prolink in that mode. It also has a mode that disables the iPod UI and provides several advanced browsing features, but in a clunky way. This mode provides very simple access to 5 playlists by using the Disc1-5 buttons to access the first 5 playlists on the iPod. With clever naming (use numbers 1-5 as the first character) you can control which playlists map to the disc buttons. It also offers more advanced playlist and album style browsing if you hit disc 6, but it requires multi-tiered menus that are hard to navigate - you might as well switch to the iPod UI. Finally the iceLink Plus is the only adapter I saw that offers video out behind the dash if you eventually want to hack your system to tie that into the Nav screen.

I didn't research the USASpec very much, but its feature set sounded very similar to the iceLink Plus.

DICE offers lots of flexibility in a different way than the iceLink. It always leaves the iPod UI fully active so you can always use that regardless of what you do with the radio controls. It uses disc1-4 to control whether the next/prev track buttons affect the choice of playlist, album, chapter, or song. There is no feedback as to which mode it is in or which item you have chosen other than to listen and figure it out from which song plays. It also can translate the random, repeat and scan features of the radio into the appropriate iPod mode. It also offers an aux input on the control unit like the Neo.

Acura MusicLink offers the most "flashy" set of features - if you install their software then it can speak the initials, and then the names of the playlists and albums and artists in your collection - but, the software runs slowly, you have to convert your iPod synching to "manual updating" and the voice iteration of the items on the iPod can be slow and requires your attention to hit a (non-intuitively chosen) button at the right time. It also locks out the iPod controls so you have to use its flashy but clunky control system.

My thoughts?

The Neo is the most straightforward to use and should never confuse. It offers what most people probably want.

The iceLink (and probably USASpec) can be the most straightforward way to get some control over playlists - if you want to live in the mode where the iPod UI is disabled. And it does offer the iPod UI mode, but you have to climb through a mode menu to get at it. Once you do that, though, I think it stays in that mode until you put it back into the Dension mode so at that point you essentially have a Neo for all practical purposes.

The DICE is probably the most flexible (on par with the MusicLink) and while it should be much simpler to use than the MusicLink without having to deal with all of the voice prompts, the added features mean having to deal with getting your bearings every once in a while. At least it leaves the iPod UI active all the time so you can go there if you don't know where you are and leave the advanced browsing features for times when you want to say "I'm tired of this album, what's the next one?"

Finally, I can't think of much positive to say about the MusicLink even though I've never used it. It was an ambitious idea, but it sounds like it was executed incredibly poorly. Just reading the manual sent shivers down my spine (how the heck am I going to remember that, much less do it while driving?)

sasair

I installed the adapter box inside the center console right below where the nav unit would be installed if you have a tech package. This way I can still access the box if I want to use the RCA inputs via the nav access panel. I'm assuming the base model doesn't have this panel which would makes sense to want to mount the adapter box in a more accessible location.

zosomagnus

I was inspired by Pitt's install and did the same thing. It was a lot easier than I expected. Thanks sasair, pitt and everyone on this discussion for their advise. My only question now is regarding the charging feature of the Neo adapter. It seems like the adapter continues to charge the iPod even after the car has been turned off. I'm concerned that if I leave it plugged in after leaving the car it may drain the car battery. Is this a valid concern, any suggestions?

kthlex

I have had the neo installed for about 3 weeks. This last week I started noticing that on just morning startups that my radio will switch from CD to neo source. It does not do this any more through the day, but sure enough the next morning the sources change without any intervention from me. Any ideas?

pittpanther

kthlex - I have noticed some random source switching as well (sometimes when playing the iPOD, the source will switch to XM, and vice versa) - but I have not been able to relate it to any specific reason.

I am thinking that maybe I ran my cable to the Neo adjacent to some higher amperage drawing cables, potentially inducing some sort of electromagnetic interference (noise), but I am still in the monitoring mode to try to relate its occurrence to something.

sasair

do you take your ipod out of the car at night and plug it in in the morning? When you connect the ipod up to the neo, it will automatically switch to the ipod from whatever source it was on before.

kthlex

I leave it in the car all the time. It hasn't been disconnected since the install. It didn't happen this morning. Of course it is warmer today then it has been the last two weeks. This is really odd.

I was beginning it could be how I installed. I directed the Ipod cord into the center console without drilling any holes. The cable is routed between where the console storage and the flat console piece part. The cable (or plastic) is slightly bound but not by any means pinched.

sasair

Probably just the cold is freezing the battery of the ipod, so it is just like disconnecting it since it loses all power.

kthlex

Thanks... I will keep an eye on the situation and the temp to see if I can draw any correlations.

gdynia

Hello there,

Got my Neo ProLink for RDX tonight and getting ready to go at it in the next few days. I was wondering if those of you, who actually managed to install this adapter properly could post step by step instructions ... I do have the MusicLink manual but outside of instructions on removing the radio I don't see one-to-one relavance to Neo installation.

Please post some installation pictures too...I saw a few and greatly appreciated them. Very cool!

Cheers.

anthonys

Looks like neo car audio has an updated Neo adapter for Acura/Honda; website says it now provides TEXT capability; sale price is up 10 bucks for last week.

tony

sasair

I sent an email to the guy I dealt with at Neo to see if this has actually been tested on the RDX. Their website mentions that you'll have to disconnect the satellite radio in order for the text capability to work. But on the RDX there is no satellite radio module to disconnect, so I'm not sure they have done all their homework before saying that it is compatible with the RDX for this text function.

All that aside, I'm not sure having the text capability is worth giving up the satellite radio. Even though I haven't even renewed my satellite radio since it expired two months ago.... I think I'd rather get the proclip mount and mount the ipod next to the nav screen. Then I can see all the text I want on the ipod display.