Possible To Link Ipod To Pioneer Stereo W/o Cd?

[Egraphic]

I searched the appropriate forums, and could only find reference to a third party company (http://www.mp3yourcar.com/) that might offer a solution - but I wanted to see if anyone has done it here before, using the Pioneer radio/cassette (no CD) found in the 1995 SC300. Perhaps an electrician can run a wire directly into the unit (since I see no pre-amp in at the back of any unit diagrams I've seen). I DON'T want to go the cassette insert for FM route - quality is not good.

Any ideas would be much appreciated - I really don't want to invest the dollars in a new system!

Thanks.

Bob

[Egraphic]

Hi, just checking to see if anyone had any thoughts - I did a search, and was unable to find any earlier posts on the topic of linking an iPod to a stock installation of the Pioneer CD-only unit.

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

BW

[option00002]

FWIW, I was just at a 'Tweeter' store the other day and asked their installer if he knew of anything. He did not. I had seen something on Craigslist which was what promted the question, but have not seen it again. Though I don't know that he is correct he was allegedly certain that such an item does not exist for our application.

Hth.

[jonesmatty]

Hi, just checking to see if anyone had any thoughts - I did a search, and was unable to find any earlier posts on the topic of linking an iPod to a stock installation of the Pioneer CD-only unit.

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

BW

I did some research and came up with an FM Modulator. I got the Audiovox one from Circuit City for $50, however the one at Crutchfield.com was only $30. Hooked it up and it works perfectly. No more fuzz or noise, just crisp Ipod music coming out. I live in Miami where the FM transmitter, the itrip, just wasn't cutting it, where every frequency has something on it.

FM Modulator, saved my sanity!!

[JIBBBY]

I have been using the Belkin AM/FM transmitter to connect my Ipod to the stock Lexus head stereo unit......Perfect sound quality, much better then the tape and wire connection...

I have tried 3 other brand name transmitters and none worked as well as Belkin... Ebay has them for cheap, something like $30.... I have them in both my cars...

[SonoraMike]

I think so, I'm working on it now - using the 4 relay plus switch that has been written up in here (somewhere, searching now) as the basis for the change

edit: the link to the relay info is here

the FM modulators still pipe in the digital audio via FM which kills a lot of the clarity, but they are a quick and easy install and work good

will keep you posted as i make progress - I'm out in the driveway now looking at the wiring on the pioneer amp that I've pulled from under the carpet on the passenger side of the trunk

found this post at another site too, uses a single 4 pole relay and a relay socket board: http://my.is/forums/f103/another-successfu...roadyxt-277880/

on the amp in the passenger side of the trunk the wiring is:

<plug view looking at the face of the plug, pin 1 in the top left, going L -> R across the plug face>

top row:

1 - red w/white stripe

2 - black w/ white stripe

3 - blank

4 - brown (a larger sized wire)

5 - pink w/blue stripe

6 - white

2nd row:

7 - grey

8 - blue w/yellow stripe

9 - no pin present, clip for plug retention into socket

10 - no pin present, clip for plug retention into socket

11 - red w/black stripe

12 - black

next job is to pull head unit and see which plug on the back matches the colors. I'm guessing that the scosche kit has the info on the pinouts for the 4 channels noted, I'll see if my local walmart has one in stock

should be a matter of

1) pulling HU and finding correct plug

2) determining which wire is which signal (LF+, LF-, etc), might need someone to dig this out via service manual since I can 't find a scosche kit # for the SC400

3) determine viable spot to install relay board behind the HU in the dash

4) find a decent power switch at the shack

5) find a spot to install the switch

6) install it

[menappi]

What pioneer deck do you have? Personaly if you want to keep your head unit, i'd get a modulator. I use this pyle one, it's hard wired and only cost 25 bucks on amazon and works perfect, near cd quality (search amazon for pyle dvd fm modulator).

[JIBBBY]

I get pretty good clarity with my FM belkin ipod transmitter....However a direct wire interface would be your best bet...

You know they also have the tape and wire transmitter hookup for the Ipods...However, then you are going thru your tape deck for sound.

[bounce]

I get pretty good clarity with my FM belkin ipod transmitter....However a direct wire interface would be your best bet...

You know they also have the tape and wire transmitter hookup for the Ipods...However, then you are going thru your tape deck for sound.

Hmm, that's odd, I've found the exact opposite to be true in my vehicles. The FM transmitters are really not good quality sound that I've tried (up to $70) and the cassette adapters I've used sound MUCH better. I'm sure a direct connect bypassing the cassette play head option would be better (most likely) however.

McKay Garner

Bounce Inventive Audio

Los Angeles

http://www.b-oz.com

[JIBBBY]

I had used three different type fm transmitters before discovering the Belkin fm transmitter....Belkin is the only transmitter I could live with the others all distorted...I still use the Belkin on both of my cars for years now...Quality is good... I would still rather a hard wire hookup though....

[SonoraMike]

What pioneer deck do you have?

the stock unit, this is all new to me. if there are multiple stock pioneer HU's then I'll look more closely

Personaly if you want to keep your head unit, i'd get a modulator. I use this pyle one, it's hard wired ...

an FM modulator is not hard wired, since if it was hardwired it wouldn't be an "FM" modulator. it broadcasts an FM signal that comes in thru your antenna. much different (poor) signal quality vs wiring the ipod/mp3 player (digital quality) directly to the amp as a line level input

have the dash off now, tracing wires. should know something soon

[SonoraMike]

have identified the plug that carries radio power and signal, wires are diff colored, will need to do some further investigating

[SonoraMike]

ended up buying the $10 tech manual subscription, but for the purpose of understanding the radio/amp setup it was worthless. the schematics are incorrect - at least for my setup.

so I ended up pulling the radio out and tried to bring the signal in via the cassette deck head. in hindsight I should have checked to make sure that the cassette unit was operative before starting because it never really seemed to work right. I was able to find the output wires off the head and connect the aux jack off of those wires but the tape button never kept the tape side active (even after tearing most all of the cassette mechanism out so that all the switches that I could find would be active) so going for an aux port off of the cassette head was a whiff for me.

I did manage to find the speaker out wiring stenciled onto the PCB in the radio so I'm going to have another go at it with a relay setup, and I think that the scoshe wiring kit for the toyota (pn ta021 I think) might work - it came with 2 plugs and iirc they seemed to be shaped correctly.

I sacrificed a tape deck to the mp3 gods, hopefully the next round will bring some better success

[decemberist ring]

You may have already tried this, but I use a philips tape converter, they sell them at walmart, and it works pretty well. I had my ipod wired auxilary on my 4runner, and the tape sounds about the same.