cbeeching Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 So why do they not make 1/8" jack connections a standard feature on car radios .. Is it a ploy to make people to buy overpriced FM transmitters from Halfords? Discuss!
BTCC_Fan Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 A ploy to make you buy overpriced transmittors that never quite work properly you mean! They seem to fit them with USB ports rather than the jacks or just not bother.
samba_man Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 You want to get yourself an old Citroen Xantia, thought of everything they did. 1/8" jack even before the word "MP3 Player" and "iPod" were first muttered!
sted Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 if its a recent ish ford it should either be fitted or a cheap job to fit usually about £10 of parts iitc
synaesthesia Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 my head unit has both USB and headphone style jack. (1/8"? ) Very useful, although the latter is a bit pointless with a 40GB usb hdd plugged into it
EduTech Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 I have an AUX input on my car also very usful Good job i have an Intel 12v > USB Converter for my iPhone so the battery dont go flat! James.
michael2k6 Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 A lot of headunits if they dont have a 1/8" jack on the front will have aux input on the back. Sometimes its RCA but you can convert that to 1/8" with a single cable and run it into the glove box or center console somwhere. The recent Fords usually have one just inside the glove box. I've moved mine to the center console.
Dos_Box Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 You do of course mean the 3.5mm jack which is what the rest of the planet calls them? 1
synaesthesia Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 thats the jobby, what's all this "inch" rubbish
AngryTechnician Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 The recent Fords usually have one just inside the glove box. I've moved mine to the center console. This is pretty much only on the 2005 models and onwards. I unfortunately have a 2003 Fiesta and the stereo in it not only has no way to connect anything to it, but is also almost impossible to replace because of the proprietary centre console. Annoyed the hell out of me a few years ago after several car audio places told me "Oh yeah, we can fit these to anything," then I'd point out of the window and they'd say "... ah, except those."
sted Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 This is pretty much only on the 2005 models and onwards. I unfortunately have a 2003 Fiesta and the stereo in it not only has no way to connect anything to it, but is also almost impossible to replace because of the proprietary centre console. Annoyed the hell out of me a few years ago after several car audio places told me "Oh yeah, we can fit these to anything," then I'd point out of the window and they'd say "... ah, except those." Fiesta MK6 Single DIN SAT/NAV Radio Bezel (RHD) - Parts Shop - FordPartsUK allows fitment of std 1 din audio
EduTech Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 Fiesta MK6 Single DIN SAT/NAV Radio Bezel (RHD) - Parts Shop - FordPartsUK allows fitment of std 1 din audio £58 for a piece of plastic! Jesus...
sted Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 £58 for a piece of plastic! Jesus... i believe its possible with a hacksaw/dremmel
michael2k6 Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 Halfords sell them dont they? Surely they dont cost £58, its just a bezel? And yeh... 3.5mm i've always known them as 3.5mm and 1/4" depending on obviously which one... lol. Never cottoned on that 3.5mm was 1/8th". And yeh about the 2005 stuff. It depends which headunit you have too.
maniac Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 My head unit takes SD cards, but only reads up to 2GB ones which is a shame. Also has a 3.5mm jack on the front, but I've never used it. It doesn't have a CD player! Mike.
glennda Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 (edited) mine has usb input plus 3.5mm jack and also bluetooth for handsfree calling aswell as wireless music playing Toby Edit: its a Sony MEX-BT3800U cost me a £180 when i purchased it tho- but was cheaper then a parrot thing Edited March 29, 2010 by glennda
cbeeching Posted March 29, 2010 Author Posted March 29, 2010 Yeah it's annoying.. when I had my good old corsa, with my premium quality argos 50 quid stereo system (HaHa!), I could have my Ipod going direct in through the 1/8" auxilliary connection (3.5mm psh!). Just got a new little nissan on lease as my corsa died, and it's got an in-built system, but no jack port... It does play MP3 Cd's, so i'm having to resort to that atm. But its just not the same as leaving your ipod on shuffle for endless hours of fun.. Plus the MP3 cd player doesn't do seamless playing so you get gaps in your album!! I might have to have a little look under the hood.. but as it's a lease car I can't really make any lasting changes to it. I've heard the FM transmitters are a bit pants too?
Arcath Posted March 29, 2010 Posted March 29, 2010 i used to use an FM transmitter and it worked rather well, occasionally got some distortion but other than that it was okay. Mine was a 12v powered one not a battery powered one. Dont use it anymore cause i got a fancy stereo with a jack port on it
sidewinder Posted March 29, 2010 Posted March 29, 2010 You do of course mean the 3.5mm jack which is what the rest of the planet calls them? Thankyou, thought it was just me! I had to google 1/8 jack to make sure thats what it was
Andrew_C Posted March 29, 2010 Posted March 29, 2010 Have a look on the back. My Jazz didn't have the 3.5mm fitted, but does have a SIL socket on the back that carries audio and has a connection that tell the head unit that an external source is connected. Mutes my mp3 for traffic announcements which is a real bonus! The pin-out was on the web, so I'd bet you can find almost anything out there!
sted Posted March 29, 2010 Posted March 29, 2010 the other one to look for is if the std player has a cd multichanger option as these can sometimes be co opted into becoming an audio input as the l/r audio chanels are already there i used to use an FM transmitter and it worked rather well, occasionally got some distortion but other than that it was okay. Mine was a 12v powered one not a battery powered one. Dont use it anymore cause i got a fancy stereo with a jack port on it tied that from my tom tom and it was worse than useless
fiendishlyclever Posted March 30, 2010 Posted March 30, 2010 At least a jack won't go out of date. Not convinced that USB etc are the best way to go. I've got a USB port (for flash drives etc) and an ipod interface in my car. The ipod interface won't charge an ipod touch or iphone without an adaptor which means I usually stick my old ipod in the car because I don't have to worry about charging it (or shell out even more cash). If I want to listen to anything on my phone or another device I have the jackplug to fall back on and I know it will work.
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