IT works for me. The only thing thats flakey is the steering wheel fast forward. Sometimes it skips tracks, sometimes it doesn't and I have to hit the fast forward button twice to get the unit to change tracks. I also have to turn the volume on the iPod way down or I get distortion from the speakers.

Its pretty good and I am satisfied.

 

Well I got my Smartdeck tape adapter yesterday from apple and it works in my TL. The only thing is that the quality of the sound is really bad. First, it is really noisy when you go from track to track and the music sounds really really bad.
Has anyone noticed this and is this happening only with this smartdeck or is it the same with other tape adapters too??

 

I've found you have to turn the volume level from the iPod WAY down. Much further down than the SmartDeck itself turns it down.

Once I did that, the audio improved.

 

Turn it down?? How do you turn it down. When you plug the adapter to the ipod you can't adjust the volume from your ipod, or can you??

Please let me know... thanks...

PD: I'm thinkin of going and having it changed for the regular adapter, the one that you plug to the headset outlet.. any comments??

 

Just turn down the volume on the iPod like you would if using headphones.

The SmartDeck uses the headphone jack, unless you have the newer dock connector one. I have the one with the mini connector/serial connector.

 

i got my smartdeck with dock connector, and its DOA, just spins then ejects, i've tried putting it back in 10-20 times, and same results, tried flipping the side selector, everything.... doens't work so i'm sending it back...

I have a regular cassette adapter and that works fine, but the Smartdeck with Dock connector doens't work....

mine's on a '06 TL with Navi

 

I have an '02 TL, and although my Smartdeck (with dock connector) doesn't always skip tracks correctly using FFWD/REW, it sounds fine and pauses the ipod when the car is turned off, the radio is turned off, the radio is turned to a different mode, or the tape is ejected. This is nice because the ipod will eventually power down.

Also, when the tape is started again, the ipod will turn on and begin playing right where it left off.

Kris

 

I just ordered one, Smart Deck with Dock connector for my Ipod Nano, will let ya all know how it goes. I have an 05 TL

 

I just got a 5th gen for Christmas and went out and bought the smartdeck with dock connector. The sound quality really blows!!! I turnded the ipod down all the way and the vocal vibrates the speakers. It's really distorted! At this point, funtionality to me is not as important as the sound quality. Does anyone know if the regular adaptor works better as far as sound goes or should I try the aux mod? I'm really disappointed with the sound, it's worse than regular fm radio! The junk about the "high quality" head as advertised is bullsh_t!!!

 

Dude, the Smartdeck is junk. I hope they stop making it and selling it. Don't waste your time. It barely works.

Congrats on getting the 5th gen iPod -- I'm thinking of buying myself one. Tough to justify because I just got a 4th gen iPod Photo in Arp '05; maybe I can sell it.

Dennis

 

[QUOTE=Dumont]Thanks, after reading the review and seeing that this one only has upto 512mb of memory I guess it's not worthwhile. I still don't know why Acura didn't just add a simple regular headphone size auxiliary input.


That's easy. Then they could not sell you a $400 (installed) Music Link Adapter.

jjh1234

 

I had the same exact problem with the SmartDeck dock connector. Really disappointed. I have a 30gb Video ipod and a 2005 TL with Nav.

 

what about that X3 kit, how does that work?

 

For those whom have purchased the Smartdeck, do yourselves a favor and return it!!! I returned mine and bought a regular cassette adapter and the sound quality it wayyyy better. I also tried the FM transmitters and although it sounds great in parked, it was awful while driving. I got alot of static with the FM module.

 

I have tried 2 smartdecks in my car. Each was purchased at different locations and neither work. It reads the tape deck, starts to fast forward it, and then spits it out. I have an 04 with navi. Tried with an ipod nano and then a video. I also tested the first one in a 2002 Passat and it did the same thing. Just a FYI.

 

Guess I lucked out with my SmartDeck. Its been pretty reliable for me.

 

Yeah, I think you are basically the only one to have one that works.

 

my order got delayed till feb, I cancelled it ! :-(

 

It worked for me as well, but didn't sound very good. The regular adapter sounds way better! It may seem like it works well for you because you haven't tried a regular cassette adapter other than smart deck. I'm sure your smart deck doesn't sound very well. You may not want to admit

 

So you are calling him a liar?

 

I find the SmartDeck to be a bit bass-heavy compared to my old cassette adapter. Its prone to distortion if I'm not careful and turn the output on the iPod too high.

My old cassette adapter had what I would call a more balanced sound across the spectrum, but the integration with the car the SmartDeck gives me is great. I'm always playing on random play on my iPod, so easily skipping tracks is important. And having the iPod pause during a phone call or when I change audio sources is great

The old adapter had very good sound but no integration with the TL. The SmartDeck has pretty good sound and excellent integration with my TL. I'll probably go back to the old adapter to compare, now that I've used the SmartDeck for a few weeks.

In the best of all possible worlds, I'd get Acura's iPod adapter. Since its not currently 'officially' supported for the 04 TLs, that isn't an option.

 

If you're willing to spend the money..........



After looking at Acura's weak attempt at iPod integration I decided to go with the Harman-Kardon Drive + Play solution. I just had it installed. You can see my intial thoughts here:

https://acurazine.com/forums/ramblings-12/truepoker-com-128199/

I'll post pictures soon.

 

Pictures of my Drive + Play set-up are posted here:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...45#post1360945

 

I wasn't calling him a liar. I just implied that he probably did not try another adaptor to see the difference in sound. Maybe he is content with the quality. Many others and myself are not.