Hi!

I noticed a few of you had iPod & iPhone questions and in case some of you didn't check the main audio/video forum, I asked to post in here.

So, does anyone have any questions about iPod & HD radio integration? It doesn't necessarily need to be about DICE, my library of knowledge is open to anything. I'll be in Lake Havasu this weekend so if you ask anything Friday night til Sunday my answers may be a little sporadic til Monday.

 

Apparently with the Dice you can only have Ipod data on the screen IF you disconnect the XM - which also means no XM traffic I assume.

 

Yep, you're right. It's not a DICE limitation however, it's Honda/Acura's. Until they add the software for CD text from external devices or something like that the limitation will always exist. So far we are the only ones who's figured out how to do it at all and put it to market.

 

No - I didn't think it necessarily was a limitatioof the Dice - I had noticed that it was the only one that did that, but then found the condition that the XM be removed. If it wasn't for the loss of the traffic info, I would do that I already have an XM receiver with the recording ability and will likely keep that anyway.

Maybe at some future date it wil change, but I wouldn't want to bet on it.

 

So - just so I am clear on this - with a Dice Ipod kit - it is taking the digital output of the Ipod and putting it into a Digital input in the car audio system?

 

The iPod is not a digital payback device. It does not have a digital decoder (and neither does your car), such things cost many hundreds of dollars. For your fyi.

But, it is a clean audio source. You're not using a headset jack, it's a pure data connection.

 

Well - I do have a background in electronics.

If it ain't digital, then it is analog - and that is electrically the same as using a headphone jack out of the Ipod into the aux jack in the center console as far as audio goes. Maybe on the Ipod side it is a lower level fixed output that is bypassing an amplifier circuit in the Ipod for earphones (but that doesn't happen in the Ipod dock that I am aware of), and you are going into the preamp input of the car audio system - but I don't think it is going to be a head and shoulders difference.

I guess what you mean by a data connection is for the control of the Ipod from the car audio system and the ability to see ipod text info (if the XM is disconnected). That I think I can live without, since I don't want to disconnect the XM.

 

It does use the pre-amp, but it's at a fixed level from the iPod, which is the case for anything that uses the data port on the bottom. You're correct on what we can do with the connection. Text display & headunit/steering wheel controls allow you to control the iPod without touching it. If you keep your XM, everything else will work correctly except you won't have text. That's the only real difference in keeping XM and getting rid of it.

 

OK - I have an aftermarmet cigarette lighter power adapter that has an audio output on it, so that would be the same then (neat adapter - is also is a 110VAC charger with a plug that folds out of the side). I have never used that audio out as my car has a problem with using casette adapters so I have to use a RF modulator - it is a diesel van so sound quality is not such a big of an issue.

 

Assuming that their sound processor is up to par with ours, then I guess you could say up to that point it's the same thing. The more critical part would be the way the music gets to the radio. Even in your van you would notice a difference in sound quality vs. a direct connection.

 

Not with all that ambient noise.

 

You mean because the diesel car doesn't have all that extra stuff a modern unleaded engine has? Not so. FM doesn't have the ability to carry the range of sound a CD or the iPod produces. You miss out on alot of highs and lows, and the background sounds of a song.

 

Yea - but with the noise of the diesel running, you can't hear them

 

I get it now. You just need to turn up the volume. :o

 

Is there a way to insert the iPod as a pass-through between the XM and the rest of the system, thus gaining iPod text display and keeping the XM, as well? MAybe a switch to choose iPod vs XM?

 

No. Each device needs to be registered when the car's computer boots up. If you were to install such a switch, you would first have to flip it to the other source and then restart the car to actually use it. If you were to go back to the original source, this would have to be repeated each time.

 

Mick, that would not be a problem. For example, I could decide to deactivate the XM, and use the ipod's text display. Then, before the next restart of the car I may decide to re-enable XM. Is that what we are talking about?
Many thx.

 

Pretty much. Seems like a pain, but if you installed a physical switch for the interface wires you could do it.

 

I just got an ipod and called the dealer (NY area) for the ipod kit. He said that there were issues and they were not selling them anymore. He did say that they were hoping for a new kit that when installed by the dealer will work properly. The dealer (parts dept) did not know what the timeline was but would get notification up on their website when they had the new kits in stock.

 

That's the factory kit. The DICE kit is one of 2 or 3 aftermarket kits. As I recall, it may be the only one that displays the iPod info on the Acura system - BUT you loose XM.

In a post above I referenced an AC/DC adapter for the Ipod that plugs into the bottom of the Ipod and has an audio output on the cigarette lighter plug. A small patchcord from that to the jack inside the center console satisfies my needs until someone figures out how to not loose XM - If I had to choose between the Ipod and XM - I'll take XM.