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ipod integration with factory mcintosh head unit, yeah boy!


elarbee

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ok finally got around to looking at this and here's the 411..

 

there is a very easy solution to integrating your ipod with the factory mcintosh head unit. you'll still have full six cd stacker function and this is hardwired, not fm modulated so it should sound better.

 

mcintosh is owned by clarion (i'm pretty sure) so we sourced a clarion EA1251 CeNet iPOD interface. About $200AUD / $100USD go google it.

 

pull out the head unit. on the back you'll notice a black CeNet cable connecting the head unit to the cd stacker, remove it.

 

my EA1251 came with a Y CeNet cable ( part no. CCA-519 ) but it may be optional so make sure it's included or that you buy one. it also came with a CeNet cable to connect an ipod to it.

 

first, the Y CeNet cable - plug the single end into the head unit CeNet plug, plug each of the other two ends (the split cables from the Y cable) into the cd stacker and EA1251 respectively.

 

second, the ipod CeNet cable - plug the black CeNet end into the EA1251 and the white end into your ipod.

 

now the fun part, turn the head unit on. you should see a clarion logo come up on your ipod.

 

to access the ipod and listen to it's treasure trove of audio goodness, you just need to press the DISC button on your head unit ( bottom right ) the DISC button is what you use to switch between iPOD and CD Stacker

 

once you press the DISC button you should notice a CHR or CHG light on the top left of the head unit display. this means your on iPOD input. funny how they don't use CHR/CHG for the oem stacker but anyway...

 

ok now you're on iPOD input as opposed to cd stacker input, you should hear some music playing from your iPOD. if you can't hear anything but can see track 01 playing, then you either need an iPOD firmware update or you're using an ipod not supported but most models are supported.

 

here's the weird part...

 

when you're in CHR/CHG iPOD input mode, your disc access buttons become very important (1-6 under the display) when 1 is selected the head unit will play every frickin song on your ipod from the beginning of the song listing. when you select 2,3,4,5 or 6 the head unit will play playlists (up to five) from the beginning of the song listing.

 

playlists... in itunes you need to create up to five playlists and label them clarion1, clarion2, clarion3, clarion4, clarion5 and clarion6 otherwise the mcintosh headunit won't recognize the playlists.

 

the left knob will fast foward/rewind the current song or skip the next/previous one just like it would on a cd. the steering wheel controls work as well.

 

because you're controlling the ipod from the head unit, there's no need to keep the ipod anywhere in sight.

 

no it doesn't recognize ID3 tags or any text info, all you'll get is a track number (up to 99 from what i can gather) and the playing time, just like a cd.

 

it sounds great and is very easy to install. takes about an hour, most of which is pulling the gear shift facia apart.

 

no you don't need any blank cd's, you get full six cd use like you've got now.

 

err, that's all i can think of. if you got questions let me know.

 

pics? yeah i've got some but they're on my phone and i'm using my girls ibook - too bad so sad for you. i'll post em later (not that there's much to look at)

 

hope that helps :)

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a couple things i forgot...

 

title display, the clarion EA1251 does support ID3 title, artist etc tags but you'll only be able to read them on a head unit that supports cd text. i don't believe the mcintosh unit does, but i haven't spent any time on that.

 

when you press the disc button and swap between ipod and cd stacker, it pauses the ipod song until you go back to it.

 

it works on ipod 3G, ipod 4G, ipod mini and ipod photo. i also tried it on an ipod nano but no sound :( a firmware update might fix this but i haven't tried yet.

 

oh and yeah, it charges the ipod as well.

 

 

whew, i'm tired going to bed, later

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man you are making all of us Americans who do not have the Mcintosh system really mad!

 

You guys are lucky. Congrats on figuring it out!

 

ah don't be, i think mcintosh head units suck donkey balls! they sound great but for fark sake they're so behind in features :p

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pics.. well sort of cause all i had on me was my camera phone :(

 

http://www.myfoto.com.au/Photo/amyliam/liberty/mcintosh_screen.jpg

 

http://www.myfoto.com.au/Photo/amyliam/liberty/mcintosh_ipodyes.jpg

 

http://www.myfoto.com.au/Photo/amyliam/liberty/mcintosh_ipodno.jpg

 

http://www.myfoto.com.au/Photo/amyliam/liberty/mcintosh_clarion.jpg

 

http://www.myfoto.com.au/Photo/amyliam/liberty/mcintosh_cable.jpg

 

 

 

 

here is the CeNet plug on the back of the head unit / cd stacker

 

http://www.myfoto.com.au/Photo/amyliam/liberty/mcintosh_cenet.jpg

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So is it the case then that all that can be played are the contents of these 5 clarion1, clarion2, etc... playlists? If so then as much as I love the idea of having an iPod directly connected with my head unit (I have an Australian 04 Liberty GT) I don't see how I can make this work given I have 300+ CD's on my iPod. I can't cram all my music into 5 playlists.
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pics.. well sort of cause all i had on me was my camera phone :(

 

http://www.myfoto.com.au/Photo/amyliam/liberty/mcintosh_screen.jpg

 

http://www.myfoto.com.au/Photo/amyliam/liberty/mcintosh_ipodyes.jpg

 

http://www.myfoto.com.au/Photo/amyliam/liberty/mcintosh_ipodno.jpg

 

http://www.myfoto.com.au/Photo/amyliam/liberty/mcintosh_clarion.jpg

 

http://www.myfoto.com.au/Photo/amyliam/liberty/mcintosh_cable.jpg

 

 

 

 

here is the CeNet plug on the back of the head unit / cd stacker

 

http://www.myfoto.com.au/Photo/amyliam/liberty/mcintosh_cenet.jpg

 

Once again blocked by Army Firewall.

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So is it the case then that all that can be played are the contents of these 5 clarion1, clarion2, etc... playlists?

 

pretty much.

 

i know being limited to five playlists makes it difficult. what i've done is create five playlists each with a different genre of music ie folk, hip hop, lounge, house and polka (ok well not polka but anyway..)

 

there are much better ipod ready head units/solutions out there but they all require replacing the factory head unit, which i really didn't want to do.

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SO.... what you are now saying is THIS IS A GO ?????

 

THIS IS F.... FANTASTIC...

So in brief what do we need.

Ada///M.

 

:) very happy....

 

fo shizzle :p

 

all you need is

 

1 x Clarion CeNET iPod interface EA1251

1 x Clarion Y Adapter for multi changer connection CCA-519

 

My EA1251 came with the Y cable listed above but the manual says it's sold seperately, so just check whether or not it's included from your supplier.

 

if you need somewhere to get it easily, i recommend 'audio art & technologies' speak to yanddy or chris

 

http://www.audioart.com.au/

 

otherwise ebay?

 

then just some time to pull apart the head unit facia. being careful should take you about an hour all up.

 

easy peazy

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Coming to Melbourne any time soon....... group install lol.

Thanks again for going to all the trouble.

Seriously U have been great.

All the best.

Ada///M.

 

PS I might do some R&D on the Clarion parts here in Melbourne and Sydney for local installers as Im sure Im not the only one that is a little freaked about pulling the STi apart during the first month of ownership.

Ada///M.

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Coming to Melbourne any time soon....... group install lol.

Thanks again for going to all the trouble.

Seriously U have been great.

All the best.

Ada///M.

 

PS I might do some R&D on the Clarion parts here in Melbourne and Sydney for local installers as Im sure Im not the only one that is a little freaked about pulling the STi apart during the first month of ownership.

Ada///M.

 

lol, funny enough i was just in melbourne a few weeks ago and am moving over in six months!

 

install shouldn't be a biggie. if you don't want to do it yourself, any good installer should be able to get it done within an hour. all plug and play :)

 

 

 

if you want to get a group buy going, call chris or yanddy at audio art & technologies in perth. tell him liam sent you, seriously ;) otherwise you should be able to pick this up any clarion or mcintosh dealer, or ebay?

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Also, where do you have the iPod sitting in the Scoob, how do you have it setup ATM. Oh and what about charging the iPod too. Apologies for the Noob questions.

Ada///M.

 

no worries noob :p jk

 

i thought about creating a nice spot for the ipod to sit but then once i realised i couldn't use the ipod to control what's playing, i figured i'd just stick somewhere out of the way. so i ran the ipod cable behind the head unit and into the back of the glove box. so my ipod just sits in there loose.

 

the clarion cable also charges the ipod so no worries there :) schweeeet

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