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I know there has been a lot of great info on sourcing and installing aux-in interfaces but I was looking on Amazon (Canada) and found a couple of products that are pretty inexpensive.
I know there is the list of tried and true devices, but I figure there's got to be a few options now that we are in 2018.
The latter one appears to let you plug in a USB drive and control it - though Acuras aren't on the compatible list, seems to me the equivalent Hondas are...
I remember spending about $200 for a DIY device to get an AUX line into my 2001 Civic. My phone doesn't have a headphone jack but that's another problem>
If you want inexpensive, and your phone doesn't have a headphone jack, then why not opt for a Bluetooth receiver along with the aux input. You can just stream your music.
Yeah, I guess Bluetooth FM then. Is the sound quality ok? This is in the spirit of finding 2018 solutions!
My OEM bluetooth was disconnected by the original owner because of the battery drain issues.
I'll throw in my $0.02, as I actually just installed something along these lines this morning and have tried various other Bluetooth options in the past
I picked up a PAC AAI-HD3 box to replace my XM radio function in the head unit. Overall similar to the two devices that OP included links to, but somewhat a more open canvas in how you use it exactly. So far I am really happy with the results! I can be listening to the radio and hit the XM button and my music will be playing pretty much instantly
This route DID require the effort of pulling apart the dash to get to the back of head unit, so not the easiest option but I'm happy with the outcome and like this level of project. It works really well, I just hit the XM button (which I never used or intended to ever use) and it now connects to the PAC box instead. I just left the XM receiver harness disconnected and tucked away carefully. You can also hook it up where you retain the XM radio use and can swap back/forth with the PAC box's AUX function, but I saw some negative commentary on this and my preference was to just get a dedicated head unit button for an AUX set up. Can also be setup in a similar way to swap functions with CD/Tape player. Part of my preference for a device that plugs directly into the back of the head unit was that it gives a lot of opportunity to hide away the wiring of things. The only thing showing in my setup is a short length of my phone's charging cable and the Bluetooth adapter's control from where it come out from behind the dash, wanted things to look as clean as I could
The PAC box can be used for an AUX input if you prefer to plug directly into a phone or MP3 device, or you can plug in a AUX-in Bluetooth adapter (as I did). The box has two stereo RCA ports for whatever cable you want to plug into, so allows some versatility. In my case I used a simple Aukey Bluetooth adapter, first plugging in a RCA (red/white) to 3.5mm female adapter and then the Bluetooth adapter plugged into this. Was able to hide the USB power source for the Aukey within the trim and into the power outlet in the car's arm rest. I already owned all the other bits and pieces beyond the PAC box, but if you don't the all-in for something similar to how I did would be about $60 - 70?
This setup is definitely a bit more complicated, but having tried other options I like this one the most so far and hope it holds up well! Previously tried a Bluetooth FM transmitter but there is definitely a trade off in sound quality with these. Not terrible sound quality at all, but it does lose something in my experience (having tried several devices on various cars). Total volume is cut down a bit and you often get a "hiss" sound with lyrics that have more of an "s" sound. Still, FM Bluetooth is about 80% of the performance for pretty little cost and super easy setup. So definitely a good option! Previous owner also had a GROM unit installed that would trick the head unit into thinking the GROM was the CD input. It worked well...when it worked. Had Bluetooth incorporated into the GROM functions as well as an AUX jack, but reliability was the big issue. Sound quality was great and the bonus was it worked with the car's steering wheel buttons, but it would often have issues "kicking in" successfully and sometimes would both fail to connect and lock up the stereo in the process, requiring car to be restarted. And this would happen fairly routinely, so grew pretty tired of the GROM fast. And even when it did work fine, this device takes about 5 seconds to "kick in" when you switched to the CD/Tape setting that the device was taking control of
Last edited by AnthraMetallic04; Apr 21, 2019 at 04:35 PM.
I've used the iSimple for nearly 4 years now and love my Bluetooth functionality. I know you probably don't want to tear into the dash, but the iSimple will provide you with aux, USB, and Bluetooth audio streaming. I think you get what you pay for.
Does the PAC AAI-HD3 box plug into the CD changer or the xm plug-in in the back of the radio? And if I added the isimple aux input, would the steering wheel controls still work for the volume and/or track selection? Looking for a cheap way to play music from either USB or my phone that uses the xm button, if prefer not to use Bluetooth, any suggestions?
Does the PAC AAI-HD3 box plug into the CD changer or the xm plug-in in the back of the radio? And if I added the isimple aux input, would the steering wheel controls still work for the volume and/or track selection? Looking for a cheap way to play music from either USB or my phone that uses the xm button, if prefer not to use Bluetooth, any suggestions?
Isimple plugs behind radio into the XM slot with a Y adapter to retain XM. You can pull back the carpet on driver side and with small hands do it without removing the radio.
You can try to look for USASPEC too but I think it's discontinued.... Both are excellent and allow steering wheel controls when used with a USB cable (not RCA red/white) from iphone/android, etc.
Bluetooth has very limited auto bandwidth and it's compounded more by streaming services. I have the USASPEC and love it. Many folks got the isimple and love it too!
