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

No, I'll manage the dough myself. There's a chance I could still fail and I don't want a bunch of donations riding on that if I do. What I'm really short on is time, but hopefully that will mellow out over the next couple weeks now that my kitchen is finally functional again (spent the last two months ripping it down to studs, built my own cabinets & put it back together...time consuming to say the least). Work has been insanely busy too, but it looks to be mellowing out some as well...I shouldn't say that though, cuz just when you think everything is ok, the chit hits the fan again.

Anyway, I'll try my best. Once I get the simple boards reordered (yes, I'll also fix L/R channels) I'm gunna order a VDC radio and tear it to pieces. Whatever I can't find via info sheets on the IC's I'll have to figure out on the scope (fingers crossed).

...Once I get the simple boards reordered (yes, I'll also fix L/R channels)...

So ARE the channels L/R swapped on all the boards? I am wondering if mine is... If so, could I just mod the mini-plug cable to have L/R swapped? (or I guess I could just swap the RCA red and white plugs on the out huh?)

Installed my board a few weeks ago, and have been using it with my Audiovox XR9 XM receiver. So far everything sounds great, except that I had been noticing quite a lot of ground noise. Whirring, clicking, and humming increasing and decreasing with engine rpm.

I hardwired the power adapter to the clock power harness. Reading over the service manual this morning I discovered the problem.

Neither the clock harness, the cigarette lighter harness, nor the accessory plug harness share the same ground as the radio. The radio has it's own unique ground.

I removed the radio and spliced the power for the XM receiver into the radio's power and ground wires (I used the single ground wire, rather than the ground in the harness). The ground noise is almost completely gone. It's still there, but only audible at volume levels above 20 or so.

If you're going to install the board and hardware an accessory at the same time, wire into the radio's power and ground wires to avoid the ground loop noise and save yourself a GLI and the headache.

 

Due to the resounding success of this board, I'm also committing now to make every possible effort to develop a next generation. One that is still 100% plug and play, and takes no silent CD...those are the only certainties so far. I'd like to also include:

1) Adjustable autosensing (1s, 5s, 10s or something like that for nav vs. music)

2) Song name display & control of iPods. I'll have to look into compatibility between the mini, nano & standard generations, but this is still a goal.

3) Serial in/out for mp3, dvd, mpeg4 or whatever control + display for the carputer folk (this is dead last on the priority list, but I'd like to use it myself some day)

 

Ideally, this will all be on a somewhat modular board so that I can get a working aux in first, then add other stuff to it like ipod & carputer compatibility with plug in, or solder on additions without holding up the show for people that just want a simple, clean aux-in and nothing more.

 

Thoughts, suggestions, comments are welcome... ?

I'd be extremely interested in the ipod controls and the song name display, if you make it i will buy it, guarenteed. I'm sure many others will share the same interest, keep up the good work.

Jazzy,

I've been meaning to send the aux board you sent me back but just haven't gotten around to it. I'll try to send it to you tomorrow. I ended up getting the Metra kit and installed an Alpine headunit. You can check out a photo of it here: http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21160&page=2&pp=15

Thank,

Bryan

However, I've plugged my Belkin adapter into the cig lighter in the armrest and haven't had any ground-loop noise at all. I wonder if there's some isolation circuit in there after all. It seems like people who "hardwired" it have had problems but people who just plugged it in haven't. Let us know if you have evidence to support or contradict this theory....

I took your advice and bought the Belkin kit from Best Buy yesterday, but I still had the same problem. It's pretty faint so you might not always notice it depending on your MP3 volume, but if you press pause and turn your radio up to 15 or so (with the silent CD in) you should hear a whine that changes with the engine speed. I ended up returning the Belkin kit and sticking with my incase.

So, it doesn't seem to be the adapter that's making a difference - if you're not having the ground loop issues, I wonder if you got lucky with the plugs/cords you picked out? Who knows.

In the meantime, I found a pretty easy fix: The incase adapter still gives you line out even when it's not powered, so I just don't plug it into the lighter and there's no ground loop noise =D

As a side note, when I first tested out the system I thought that Jazzy's board had somehow corrupted the sound quality of the regular FM radio stations, but I couldn't figure out how. Then I realized that my EQ settings had been reset when the radio was taken out =P

Just to put another positive down

Requested a board Mon. AM, got response and paid Mon. pm. Got said board Wed - how awesome is that!

Install went very well except for one problem - the ribbon cable that came with the board was put in backwards. I didn't even notice until I looked into the headunit and saw there were connectors on only one side of the socket and the wires were on the other - lol. No big deal - I can't believe he put together so many to begin with....

I hooked it up and voila - it's terrific! I did need the gli with my ipod - I picked one up at Radio Shack for $17. Got a couple of adaptors and I've mounted my ipod to the right of the shifter, sticking out from the end of the emergency brake. I can see the display and hit forward/reverse w/o any problems.

I almost want to say thanks to Subaru for making the head unit impossible to switch out, because I don't really want a new one, and if you could swap it, no one would have gone to the trouble to develop this alternative

Thanks Jazzy!!!!!

A small update...I've run out of boards Not to worry though. I have more on the way from my fabricator which should be here in a week or so. I'm also shopping around for a spare headunit to start working on the next step in this evolution. I hope you all had a good weekend.

What is the next "evolution" you are hoping for? Just curious.

BTW, I just received my board in the mail today. Awesome shipment and quality I might add!! Depending on my schedule, I might perform the installation this weekend. Just need to visit Radio Shack for some cable and adapters!

Once I install it, I will post back with my experience.

-S

 

Due to the resounding success of this board, I'm also committing now to make every possible effort to develop a next generation. One that is still 100% plug and play, and takes no silent CD...those are the only certainties so far. I'd like to also include:

1) Adjustable autosensing (1s, 5s, 10s or something like that for nav vs. music)

2) Song name display & control of iPods. I'll have to look into compatibility between the mini, nano & standard generations, but this is still a goal.

3) Serial in/out for mp3, dvd, mpeg4 or whatever control + display for the carputer folk (this is dead last on the priority list, but I'd like to use it myself some day)

 

Ideally, this will all be on a somewhat modular board so that I can get a working aux in first, then add other stuff to it like ipod & carputer compatibility with plug in, or solder on additions without holding up the show for people that just want a simple, clean aux-in and nothing more.

 

Thoughts, suggestions, comments are welcome... ?

A small update...I've run out of boards Not to worry though. I have more on the way from my fabricator which should be here in a week or so. I'm also shopping around for a spare headunit to start working on the next step in this evolution. I hope you all had a good weekend.

You revised the board and re-routed the L/R traces, right?

Yes, I fixed the L/R channels. It cost me significantly extra to fix, & it really makes no difference to me personally which channel is coming out of which side, but I did it...for the consuming public On future boards, they will be correct.

On the current boards - Can I just swap the red and white rca inputs that lead out to my ipod?

On the current boards - Can I just swap the red and white rca inputs that lead out to my ipod?

Installed your board last week and it rocks! Really easy and great instructions, but I did have to flip the ribbon cable around (first time I tried it - nothing), but after that it worked like a charm! I get some ground noise, but since my kid is in the car with me most of the time, I don't play the music that loud anyways.

Thanks Jazzymt for one of the best mods for the moola!

I took your advice and bought the Belkin kit from Best Buy yesterday, but I still had the same problem. It's pretty faint so you might not always notice it depending on your MP3 volume, but if you press pause and turn your radio up to 15 or so (with the silent CD in) you should hear a whine that changes with the engine speed. I ended up returning the Belkin kit and sticking with my incase.

Unfortunately, I have to revise my "no ground loop noise" claim. I will instead say that the ground loop noise is quiet enough that I didn't notice it until I paused the iPod and cranked up the volume, but it is there after all. My previous experience with ground loop noise was impossible to ignore, so I was expecting much worse. As it is, the noise is so faint I'm probably just going to leave everything as is. I've never once noticed it while listening to music, so until that changes I'm not going to worry about it.

Installed your board last week and it rocks! Really easy and great instructions, but I did have to flip the ribbon cable around (first time I tried it - nothing), but after that it worked like a charm! I get some ground noise, but since my kid is in the car with me most of the time, I don't play the music that loud anyways.

 

Thanks Jazzymt for one of the best mods for the moola!

Is there a way of determining if the ribbon cable needs to be rotated?

-S

Is there a way of determining if the ribbon cable needs to be rotated?

 

-S

Yes, there is. Follow Jazzy's directions exactly in the setup and check the head unit circuit board. The directions are dead on perfect - but the cable only has pins on one side and the connector in the head unit only has pins on one side. If the cable is backwards, they pins won't line up. When I got the board, the cable was in backwards, and it took a while for me to figure it out. However, once I noticed that, it worked like a charm.

I cant help but notice that Jazzy is dancing around the "whats instore for the future" question.

Come on spill it!

I think that not only is Jazzy an electronic wiz but hes also a marketing genius!

Thanks again for all your hard work.

Jazzy's board has been sitting on my desk for a couple of weeks while I found the time. Saturday, I found the time. I followed the directions (including using the "magnetic retrieval tool" - thanks for that tip) and everything worked perfectly the first time. I swapped the left and right channels where they went into the ground loop isolator I added.

My Zen Xtra sounds wonderful.

Thank you for a great mod!

- Rob