Plug n Play Aux-in mod for 2005 6cd radios

Got mine in the mail yesterday. I was very pleasantly surprised that it had the protective wrap on the board AND included a silent CD.

 

Now I just have to get time to do the install.

 

I'll post an update later....

 

Thanks jazzy!!

 

Al:icon_bigg

Wow. I go on vacation for a few days & the forum explodes! Well, several more orders were placed while I was gone & you've eaten up my stock again, but I'll make more and get caught back up in the next day or two. As for all the questions that were asked, it looks like they've been covered pretty well by other users, but I'll rehash just to be clear:

My sister has a forester with the in-dash 6 disc, no options for inputs.

 

Any change this will work on that unit? I don't have the model number in front of me...

Sorry, no chance it will work with the Forester. As Jevans pointed out, there is another mod you can use to get a clean aux in with that stereo though using the CD changer input.

Jazzy sent me a blank CD that contains 2 files on it (a pdf file and the 75 minute blank audio track). The problem is that the data CD is the first track on the CD.

I recently tried a new format for audio+data and had no idea it was having this side effect. Normally it would be just one audio track, but my only other suggestion to achieve what you describe would be for you to create a 75 minute silent track one & a 5 minute silent track two...I'll post a walkthru for that as soon as I can...

i think this question was asked earlier but is the circut board enclosed ? if not how do you suggest we prevent metal contact?

As rony & lang pointed out, there is a thick heat shrink applied to the board to prevent shorts. I started cutting the leads a bit long to aid in soldering and some were close to poking thru, but I've added a step to trim them flush after soldering now so there shouldn't be any problems.

 

Thanks again for all your interest & support for the project everyone. I hope you all had a good Turkey day. I had some white-knuckle driving coming home thru a couple good snow storms, but made it thru in my Scooby unscathed.

 

Oh yea, I also have a question for anyone that can answer it...I've been getting a number of purchases from UK/Canadian owners and don't really know for sure if it works on that stereo yet, so if anyone has succesfully installed it (or otherwise) please post asap. I'd hate to keep sending these out only to find they don't work on that version. Also, if it does work, the customs form for sending out of country requires a phone number so please include it in your order notes or email/PM it to me separately.

my ipod sounds great through the aux mod. i dont charge my ipod while in the car. my sirus sat radio was another story. i had a ground loop noise when the power was plugged into the cigarette lighter or in the arm rest...the whole setup will run you about 30 bucks... ground loop noise finally gone

 

What's the general concensus as far as GLI's go? I wouldn't normally see the need, but have other people needed them? I plan to install my Sirius and iPod with the JazzyBoard tomorrow.

 

Mike

What's the general concensus as far as GLI's go?

It appears to be completely dependant on the situation, and it hasn't been consistent when dealing with two applications of the same components.

 

Bottom line: don't buy it unless you you need it.

I endded up buying a GLI because I was getting slight alternator noise. $17 later and little work, because I mounted a 1/8" jack in my center console, I had it installed and had no more noise.

Mkay, here's a walkthru for people that want to make their own silent CD, 80 minute single track, two track 75/5, whatever you want.

 

First, download Audacity. It's a free/open source sound editing program that's easily available...I'm sure there's others, but this one works well for me.

 

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/

 

Once you've got that installed, open it up. At the top, click on Generate -> Silence. Chose the number of seconds of silence you want:

5 min = 300

75 min = 4500

80 min = 4800

 

Save the track as a Wav by clicking on File -> Export as Wav & chose a place to save it. Now, open your favorite burning program & start an audio CD. Arrange the tracks how you want them (if you have more than one) & burn the CD. Piece of cake. I hope that helps...if there's any other questions, feel free to ask.

What's the general concensus as far as GLI's go? I wouldn't normally see the need, but have other people needed them? I plan to install my Sirius and iPod with the JazzyBoard tomorrow.

 

Mike

 

Like someone else said you can do the install and see if you need one and open everything back up like i did..... i wish it wasnt that way.... or you can install it from the begining and not worry about it. I havent heard a difference in the sound from my ipod since installing the GLI. My portable JVC sirus unit sounds light years better with the GLI. do you plan on buying a portable sirus unit? Or just want one hardwired for the car? Do you plan on charging your ipod while its playing in the car? For the low cost i would just do it from the begining and be done with it.

Finnished the install -- for now. It took forever. Mostly becuase I had to make a lot of changes and was really stumped by some things. It took no time to get the dash apart, and other than a 30 minute snafu on getting the FM antenna off it would have been apart and back together in no time.

 

One of the reasons it took forever was because I got a 2-into-1 "Y" connection for hooking up satelite and iPod thru the same JazzyBoard. The need to minimize connections is importatn b/c it degrades the audio quality. So, of course I decided to put the 4-inch Y cable right right into the board -- then realized that it was going to take a lot of creativity to get it to reach out the radio. (NOTE: Version two should have the minijack plug facing the OTHER side so it is a more direct route to the hole in the heatsink where the cables will come out of. Also, perhaps some RCA jacks instead?)

 

Ok... that, had it gone perfect, would have been in and out in an hour. Not my style. So I decided to start going kuing-fu on the Cubby to mount my Sirius reciever. It took forever to cut, measure, and wait for the epoxy to dry. Finally it was done and ready to go together. Well I came up with the most awesome, beautiful, trick mounting pad. And when I buttoned it up for a test run I realized a few things. (1) The provided audio outs go minijack-to-RCA, so I had to get a new 1/8 to 1/8 cable. But since space was tight, I needed the 90-degree elbow version included with the kit... So I had to slice cut, splice, and solder it into the other end of the minijack cable to get 1/8 to 1/8 on both sides.... I must have routed and rerouted those cables a dozen times. Then I went to wallyworld to get the one I needed that they didn't have, and that's why I started to solder. (2) Once in its super-fab holder I realized there was no way to slide the thing up off its mount to remove it! So, hours on hours later I realized there was just no solid way to mount the thing and be able to easily remove it and bring it indoors for its home-dock. This was both dissapointing and a big time-waster.

 

It goes on. I wanted to put the iPod in the cubby too... but the two just wouldn't fit. So I had to re-route that cable through the bottom of the armrest cubby. Problem was, that I already made the charge/audio cable (http://www.mindspring.com/%7Epmbenn/iPod/cable.htm) and since it was a bear to make and the wires were VERY small to solder, I didn't want to have to undo it.... So I had to cut a much larger hole to fit the fat iPod plug through. I have no Dremel... and I really wished I did today. REALLY!

 

Then came the Sirius antenna.... this was a nightmare too. I was going to mount it on the front like someone had recommended (sorry, I forgot who!). But I realized that since I was moving sheeit left and right that I might as well do it right and run the antenna out the back and onto the roof (I have the wagon).

 

So I had to run the cable between the liner and the ceiling. First off the sunroof made it look easy, but all those parts made for some wierd 90-degree turns and snaking around. (1) The curtain airbags run the whole length from passenger to driver and are packed into a little space so it was a real nightmare. (2) There is fiberglass lining and I didn't realize it at first so I itch like hell now. (3) The fricken spoiler needs to be partially removed and it is really hard to get the plastic off and to the screws. Some are hidden and need to be gently losened with pliers because they are in a small hole and you'd need the deepest 8mm socket known to man. Plus, I lost (but later found, AFTER it was all buttoned up again) one nut.

 

Man... So it took, literally, from 1 to 11. That included a few hour-long brain storms. Over an hour to run the antenna cable.

 

Now... I must not have gotten the hazzard light plug in solid, so I have to redo that. Also, there is a very subtle whirr from both the iPod and the Sirius. I guess I now need to put a GLI in. Problem being, of course, that they are usually RCA-RCA... and I have minijack times two so I'd need a shite tonne of converter units and/or a bunch of snip-snip, strip-strip, solder-solder, tape-tape, yadi yadi yadi to get it to work.... Perhaps it isn't that big a deal after all?

 

Notes:

The iPod sounds great! The bottome feed patch cable is well worth it b/c (1) it charges when ig'n is on. (2) It auto-pauses when power goes off and (3) it is the perfect line-level volume and sounds clean and crisp.

 

Sirius, however, is much too quiet, even with the volume on the unit maxed out... so you get a lot of that "hush" sound from having the radio turned up higher. Also, it could be partly b/c of that hush, or perhaps not, but the signal sounds like casset. The quality is not great. It has the hollow sounds like when you hear a cheap live garage recording or a recording when the microphone is held next to the speaker. I am hoping that with road noise (I only drove around the block) that it will be much better and the whine noise won't be around.

 

This was a long one, sorry to waste the bandwidth....

When all done I'll start a new thread with a walk-thru for ALL the mods I made and for all the different things I learned... including suggestions.

 

 

Mike

Hey mike, unplug your ipod and see if the sirius volume turns up. I have this problem with mine, so when i'm not using my ipod i just unplug it. As for my setup, i did the same exact thing you did, but instead of mini jack to mini jack, i just used the rca's with a combination of adapters and splitters plus a gli. So far i have no noticable sound degradation and am very pleased with the results.

That's quite the install. I have a feeling Nate is right about the Sirius sound volume - your ipod probably has very low impedance & is sucking the signal down.

 

As far as the GLI...since you're all buttoned up, you could probably wait a few days for an internet delivery & get this one:

 

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-Fc9bvxjFX91/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?search=ground+loop&i=127SNI135

 

That way you don't have to buy any other converters. Post some pics of your setup when you get a chance though, it sounds pretty sweet.

Hi Mike,

 

I was wishing you took lots of pictures during this whole process in order to help some of us that are interested in doing something similar, specially with the satellite radio install.

I just put in Jazzy's board also a couple of days ago, and am soon getting an XM commander, which I would like to install in the cubby. I also do not have a dremel, how did you make the wholes in the cubby? Did you drill it?

I did the same thing as far as connections go, I installed the Y splitter right off the board and agree the plug should have been facing the other way, but I can't complain (jazzy, you rule!), now I just have to take out the heatsink next time.

Anyways, I might ask you more questions in the future as install time comes around.

 

Luiz

That's quite the install. I have a feeling Nate is right about the Sirius sound volume - your ipod probably has very low impedance & is sucking the signal down.

I thought of that, except I'm not using the normal audio-out jack from the top of the player.... I am using the pre-amp version that plays out of the dock plug from the bottom. iPod volume changes have no effect on the o/p of this signal... and alas the signal strength is the same with or without it.

 

And thanks for the link.. I think I'll get that one... then again I still have 2 sources so I'd still need to pull the radio, take it apart, and plug it in between the Ycable and the JazzyBoard... still a worthwhile 'easy' fix overall. EDIT: Sold out for another 2-3 weeks, plus 1wk to ship.

 

Mike

Regarding ground loop noise... GL is caused by different ground locations being used in a complex Aud/Vid circuit where and small induced voltages exist, right? So if I relocate the (-) or GND end of the power unite to the Sirius tuner to the same GND as the radio... will the problem be solved?

 

Mike

 

EDIT: Lots of pics taken... Will post them when the workweek slows down.

Regarding ground loop noise... GL is caused by different ground locations being used in a complex Aud/Vid circuit where and small induced voltages exist, right? So if I relocate the (-) or GND end of the power unite to the Sirius tuner to the same GND as the radio... will the problem be solved?

Logically, that makes sense, but a few people have tried that, using every concievable place to ground (chassis, radio, battery, cigarette lighter, etc.) and none of them seemed to make a difference.

 

Personally, I think it has more to do with what transformer you're using and AFAIK, the XM Roady2 is the only one that has escaped the ground loop problem completely, although I wouldn't be suprised if that was also proven untrue.

 

Basically, once you've got ground loop noise, aka alternator noise, your only hope to eliminate it is to install a GLI.

Logically, that makes sense, but a few people have tried that, using every concievable place to ground (chassis, radio, battery, cigarette lighter, etc.) and none of them seemed to make a difference.

 

Personally, I think it has more to do with what transformer you're using and AFAIK, the XM Roady2 is the only one that has escaped the ground loop problem completely, although I wouldn't be suprised if that was also proven untrue.

 

Basically, once you've got ground loop noise, aka alternator noise, your only hope to eliminate it is to install a GLI.

 

I took steps to prevent a Ground Loop. Like tieing the ground of the power outlets to the radio ground and car chassis. Niether worked, I still had a ground loop. I only resolved the problem by installing a Ground Loop Isolator.

 

I'm not 100% sure, but if I had to guess, I would say this is caused by the radio having a floating ground. /shrug

Done... Finally. Got it in just now. I did have to completely remove the radio and take it apart and put the GLI right into the JazzyBoard, then the Y-splitter and then the iPod and Sirius tuner cables. Took much less time this time, maybe an 1 to 1.5 hours. I also had to do a lot more soldering and splicing since the GLI is RCA all around and we are mini-jack here.

I coulda used converters but that would have added feet upon feet of cable and more room for transmission loss... so some simple soldering and splicing kept it clean on all fronts.

 

2 things I learned...

(1) Both items had ground noise... so I couldn't isolate it to the Sirius. Well, I should say that it was only present with the Sirius unit playing, but if both things were plugged in the iPod would contribute. That is to say put the GLI on the Sirius when it's alone and noise is gone. Plug in the iPod but keep playing only Sirius and it comes back. Play just iPod with or witout both plugged in and the noise is gone. So, it was in the Sirius somewhere, but the iPod still had an effect.

 

(2)... Yes, the iPod is sucking volume out of the Sirius... unplug it and it sounds much better. Which sucks b/c I cannot charge the iPod and play the Sirius w/o the effect... but it's minor.

I took steps to prevent a Ground Loop. Like tieing the ground of the power outlets to the radio ground and car chassis. Niether worked, I still had a ground loop. I only resolved the problem by installing a Ground Loop Isolator.

 

I'm not 100% sure, but if I had to guess, I would say this is caused by the radio having a floating ground. /shrug

 

 

It's due to the fact that devices like the iPod and Sirius units have their own independent ground that is different from the vehicle ground. Even if you attempt to unite all the grounds you will still have problems. It's almost impossible to avoid ground loop problems with portable devices in cars. And if you're working with multiple portable devices, you probably quadrupled the number of possible ground "leaks".

 

Craig

I completed a relatively smooth install of jazzymt's aux-in today, thanks to his very thorough directions and a very clean design. Also, thanks to all the previous posts for various hints along the way. The most valuable advice to me was to just clip the ground wire that goes to that miserable overtightened screw on the mounting bracket (shown on the bottom of pg. 4 in Jazzy's manual) - there's no way that screw was coming out short of drilling it. The tips and photos at http://www.n8gray.org/blog/2005/10/10#aux-in were also very helpful. In addition to protecting the various trim pieces that others have noted, I found it also important to protect the shift knob, since I frequently wound up balancing the HU on it.

 

My Nano lasts many more hours on a charge than my typical drive time, so I didn't bother worrying about hooking it into car power. I just routed the patch cord between the HU and its driver-side trim section, at the upper rt-hand corner of the trim, just below and to the left of the cubby. There's enough flex in the plastic trim to easily accomodate the cord. I mounted the Nano on the left hand edge of the closed cubby with a couple black squares of sticky-back velcro.

 

Although the Pocketdock combi unit provides a very convenient line-out (http://www.sendstation.com/), I don't hear any difference between this vs. straight into the Nano headphone jack - the line-out sounds indistinguishable vs. the Nano headphone jack at full volume. Either way produces great sound, with sound quality and level comparable to a CD.

' Always happy to hear about another successful install. Thanks for the post Jeff & enjoy your new audio solution in good health

 

I've also built up a healthy stockpile of boards again, so I should be set for several weeks to fill orders immediately. Also, I've been recruiting some help from old friends and/or may even organize and fund the "next generation" design as a senior EE student project through my old school...not sure about that yet. Anyway, long story short, this further investment is starting to hurt, and as fun as it once was, assembling, soldering & packaging even the small boards is getting to be a bit more than a hobby. I don't mean to sound greedy, but I've made a whole lot of these suckers & if I'm going to keep doing it, I need a bit more padding between spending & selling parts.

 

So...the price of the board will increase to $40 on 1/1/2006. That's $45 with shipping. Plan accordingly.

thanks, Jazzy! i got this installed relatively easy with your great walk through! works fantastic so far... no complaints and the sound quality is very very good.

It is worth twice that.

I had an FM mod. $45-50, metra cables $20+/- , GLI $18.00. It still sounded like Sh!t.

 

Jazzy Mod at $35 or $45 = priceless!

 

Thanks again for this great mod.

I just want to send out a big kudos to Jazzy for insanely prompt customer service. I placed an order for my board on Sunday and honestly didn't expect to get it until next week. It showed up yesterday. Very impressive Jazzy...you're putting other vendors to shame! Now I just have to wait for my Belkin ipod car charger to show up so I can tear it apart and hardwire the thing in at the same time I do this install.

 

Chris

Look into the SiK iPod car charger, it's the bomb too. Also, get the GLI.... I think it should be a standard recomendation now... for $16 at the Radioshack it's good "insurance" against ground noise and subsequeint uninstall/reinstall.

As was mentioned in other posts, I installed this with my jazzy board, and it works great. they also have some other great products.

As was mentioned in other posts, I installed this with my jazzy board, and it works great. they also have some other great products.

 

That's a good idea. I may have to get this to use with the board when it arrives. Did you just use an RCA-to-mini adapter ala Radio Shack?