Leptronix Aux-In

I just did mine a month ago it took me about an hour and a half just take things slowly and its actually really easy just a little time consuming.

Installing this unit was the first time I had ever done any soldering before. I decided to use an old PC card I had lying around to do some practice runs to get a better feel for how much solder to use and how everything would work . The contact point you have to solder the wire to is small, but keep your hand steady and you will be fine. Just position the wire on the contact point, heat the wire with the gun, and then add some solder. I only used the equivalent of 1 drop and mine has stayed connected with no issues (even with a high milage stock suspension and Michigan roads).

 

Give yourself enough time, have a small tip soldering iron, and practice first. You should be fine.

Since I installed the board in the middle of winter, I never took the time to mount the switch anywhere.... it was just kinda hangin out the side of the middle console at the carpet. Today was a fairly nice day so I took a few minutes to mount it.

 

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/200304_573659630062_72100768_32033492_4820621_n.jpg

 

I had to cut the spade connectors off of the wires and solder them directly to the switch because of the tight location, but I like it because it looks OEM. The aux-in cable is still just resting between the passenger seat and the console for now.

Hello all,

 

I'm currently ordering new pcb and parts for more units! The last 12 I had have been sold out in two weeks! Amazing!

 

Please don't hesitate to place an order if you wish to. I will ship as soon as I have new stock.

I am so tempted to do this but I worried about taking everything apart. I work in the IT field and I could field strip a Dell workstation down to 30 pieces in 5 minutes but something like this, scares me lol.

I sent this to Leptronix directly but wanted to post here as well:

 

Here is my issue: after playing the blank CD for 5 years my cd player died on me. Seems the gears got out of sync somehow and it jammed up. I removed it and the stereo still plays just fine. Would I need some kind of CD player installed for this to work or could I use your board with no CD player installed at all? If it requires the CD player there could I just put my broken one back in there?

Just installed mine last night. Just wanted to say thanks for an excellent product. My 11 hour road trip tomorrow will be much nicer sans CDs

I just want to say, and I am not knocking the product as I love my aux-in mod, you may want to think about using a different male to male stereo cable than the one provided. Mine has been in use for less than a year and if I tug slightly at the end which plugs into my ipod (tug the cable away from the metal connector housing) I lose my left speaker channel and it makes some VERY loud pops/static which could potentially damage the speakers.

 

The reason I see for this is that the cable runs into the middle of the metal connector housing and allows the cable to slightly twist inside of the housing itself, potentially putting stress on the smaller signal lines within. A cable that has the housing molded into the cable (think of a rubber headphone connector, where the rubber housing around the metal stereo jack is almost molded into the same rubber as the cable) might not succumb to the same issue.

 

However, I appear to be the only person who has had this problem, and I do not consider any of my use to have put excess stress on the cable. Could have just been a freak one-off issue.

 

Just putting this word of thought out there for others who would not want to take their stereo apart again for a failed cable, as it appears I will need to (or solder a new head on the cable).

Got mine installed today. Took an hour and half including lunch break in between. Sounds great. Must do mod for music junkies!

Units are back in stock!

 

All pending orders will ship Monday May 2nd.

 

Don't hesitate to place an order for a unit since I will be able to ship within two days after I have received the order.

Is the ON/OFF/AUTO switch necessary? I understand it's functionality, just wondering if it is a MUST.

Can the board be operated without it? I am not looking at it from a cost perspective, rather invasive install.

 

LE: found my answer

3) Is the remote switch removable? If it's removed what 'mode' (Auto/On/Off) is the aux-in unit in? Yes the switch is removable. The design is made such that the switch is optional. So when the switch is not connected, the unit operate in "auto" mode. I suggest you to install the switch because it gives you more control over the device.

 

Still not sure though if I should get it or not. Basically the absence of the switch makes the unit stay in auto mode. If I play iPod, it switches to it, when I stop it, it resumes normal functionality?

If so, I think I can skip it altogether.

 

Here is another question which I apologize if I missed. Can I use an iPhone dock connector as audio in, instead of standard headphone jack?

Edited May 4, 2011 by fishbone

do you have music that could be very quiet, or have long pauses of silence? i have lots of live music that, if in auto mode, cuts out between tracks because it gets quiet

snow is right. I highly recommend of using the switch. Should you don't want to make a hole for it, just hide it in the armrest or ashtray.

 

You might use ipod/iphone connector, however, my unit cannot charge/control ipod. You must use a separate 12V source in the car to charge your ipod. Also, make sure that the audio output of your ipod charger, or of any devices, is headphone style (1/8" stereo male connector), since this is the only audio connector on the aux in module.

Last thing I am debating on, as I formulate future purchase, is the audio cable. Undecided if I want to get the one from you or look on my own for a high quality shielded one. I definitely want a high quality audio cable for this. Preferably a male to female and the female end with a plate so that I can screw/mount it flush and then be able to plug in another cable in it.

Thanks for all your help. I am definitely a future customer.

 

LE: something like this. I ought to be able to just cut one end of the shielded audio and hook it up without loss in quality. Are these things created equal?

And n00b question #2: when I splice it, how do I figure the wires, left/right?

Edited May 16, 2011 by fishbone

Hi all,

 

I'm very glad I came across this great forum with a wealth of information. I've looked through most of the posts and it seems most people who have purchased the Leptronix Aux-In have a disc changer CD player. Will this product work on a standard 1 CD player? The vehicle is a 2005 2.5i Single Disc.

 

Thanks in advance, will buy if it works for my vehicle.

Yes the unit will also work with the single disc unit.

 

For the ones that want to have access to a female connector, you may cut the male connector off the audio cable and solder the wires to the female connector. Most audio cable haves a red and white wire, the red is for the right channel and the white is for the left.

I already purchase both male and female jacks. My plan is to find a good quality shielded cable and solder the two ends. I like to take the hard route

Pic#1: I installed the Leptronix kit in my 2005 Outback Wagon with a single CD unit over the weekend. Kudos to Sebastien for such an excellent product!! It works great and I had fun installing it.

Pic#2: The Leptronix board in the single CD unit with the remote switch and audio cable attached.

Pic#3: The location of resistor R291, which needs to be removed (for the single disc unit only). Refer to the 2.5i installation manual in the Leptronix website for details.

Pic#4: Thanks to CatInTheDryer's idea, I put the remote switch in the cupholder. I highly recommend the remote switch. Without it, you have to wait about 30+ seconds for the "auto detect" to switch between radio and aux-in, which feels like forever.

Pic#5: Cut some plastic off from the cradle for the seat-warmer control to get clearance for the remote switch.

Pic#6-9: Thanks to absolutsnwbrbr's idea, I installed an audio jack (from RadioShack) next to the 12v outlet in the armrest compartment.

Edited May 25, 2011 by tlo

Resistor? The instructions don't mention removing any resistor. I am assuming that is something for the single CD unit.

Nice idea for the switch, but I am worried about the aux-in. There may be clearance issues if you plug something into the outlet at the same time, especially if you don't have a skinny jack.

Edited May 25, 2011 by fishbone

Yes, the removal of the resistor is just for the single CD unit. There is no clearance issue for the "non-skinny" jack as shown in the last picture. Could you share where you got the skinny jack? Thanks.

I got mine off Amazon, still waiting to receive it.

Just did a quick search and found these alternatives to the audio jack from RadioShack:

 

http://www.markertek.com/Connectors-Adapters/Audio-Connectors/3-5-2-5mm-Mini-Connectors/Calrad-Electronics/30-712.xhtml

 

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=090-317

The one in your second link is the one I got off Amazon.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ML4A2Q]Amazon.com: 3.5mm Stereo Panel Mount Jack: Electronics[/ame]

pm sent

I got one of these for a surface mount 3.5mm jack:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/PAC-iSIMPLE-IS335-3-5mm-Dash-Mount-Aux-Input-Kit-/110617063401?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c14a6fe9

 

Fits really well, looks good, and has enough cable length to get to the headunit. Mounted it in the same place as tlo, and no clearance problems here.

 

I also got this cable so I could use the PDMI plug:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Black-USB-3-5MM-INTERFACE-AUX-CABLE-iPOD-touch-2-3-/250657820107?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item3a5c5ecdcb

 

I use a 12v-USB adaptor for charging from right beside the input jack. I find if I use the PDMI cable though, the output volume level is too high and starts to distort at anything above volume 3 on the headunit (like when you have the iPod volume at 100%, rather than the recommended 75% when using the headphone jack). I've only seen one other person on here use this setup - any issues? Redfloyd, do you know if there's a way around this?

Edited May 30, 2011 by rng
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