Just finished installing Soundgate Aux3. Problem I'm having - XM works great with no volume loss. However, with Ipod installed it seems I have to have the ipod volume all the way up and it still seems quite a bit quieter than the xm radio input. I bypassed the sound gate and it still seems low when going into the xm radio input leads. Are people using line drivers to get more voltage out of the ipod into the xm input? I installed the soundgate in the trunk too.

Thanks

 

I think this is typical, and not really a Soundgate problem. I've hooked up my iPod in the same way and have come to the same conclusion.

Are you using the headphone out or the line out (via a Sik Din or similar dongle) of the iPod? I'm using the line out and it seems the feed just isn't as "hot" as the XM feed, so it will seem quieter at the same volume level. My solution is to simply crank the volume to an acceptable listening level. My "max" volume settings for the various inputs are as follows:

iPod 28-30
XM 18-20
CD 15-18
AM/FM 15-18
DVD-A 22-25

You can do a line driver to try to even things up a bit, but you may not be pleased with the distortion you introduce into the system. Since the line levels of CD vs. DVD-A vs. XM are so divergent anyway, I've just gotten used to making volume adjustments before I switch inputs.