Mixing 2 or more audio sources with the Aux-in mod?

Having just installed the Jazzy Aux-In mod, I decided one Aux-In port wasn't enough and tried putting a splitter on the input so I could have more than one audio device hooked up at the same time and switch between them on the fly without having to mess with the wires. Problem is, as soon as I plug two devices in to both the Aux-In and my car's electrical system, bad things happen.

 

For example, when either my iPod or Fire/EMS scanner are plugged in by themselves, they sound great. But, as soon as they are both simultaniously hooked up, the signals don't seem to be going where they're supposed to. The scanner stops coming in on the right-channel and both sound a little distorted.

 

Anyone know if there's some sort of inexpensive off-the-self or easy to build device which could mix the two audio signals an eliminate this interference?

the y split is ok, just dont run them at the same time.

Or you could look into a source switch.

iPods sound distorted in the first place.

splice in a line kill.

You need to add impedance between the two sources so that they don't draw eachother's signals down...I don't know of any off-the-shelf device out there that does that unfortunately...

 

Other than that, your only choice is an audio switch.

This will do the job nicely:

 

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_cleansweep.php?prod_id=388

iPods sound distorted in the first place.

 

Try one of these:

http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=2132 ([ame=http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Cable-Ultra-Low-AICHG2-IP/dp/B00015GYTU]amazon.com currently has it for $9.97[/ame])

 

It's got a 1/8 plug coming off the dock connector. It bypasses the noisy amp in the headphone jack, and the sound quality is much better. From what I've seen, levels are about the same as having your ipod at 75% volume.

 

Of course, it won't fix the poor quality of MP3s. I'm seriously considering re-ripping a large portion of my library using the apple lossless format:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lossless

 

I've heard that an 80 gb ipod will hold about 3,000 lossless songs (as opposed to the 20,000 promised by apple for regular mp3s). Hard disks are cheap these days and I figure the ipod refresh expected this fall will include more capacity.

My iPod sounds as good as a CD player when playing back files in Apple Lossless format... I use the dock connector line-output into a CL-SES switch and then into the aux input of my CleanSweep CL441dsp.

 

The iPod's headphone jack is for headphones, not for line output.

Try one of these:

http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=2132 (amazon.com currently has it for $9.97)

 

It's got a 1/8 plug coming off the dock connector. It bypasses the noisy amp in the headphone jack, and the sound quality is much better. From what I've seen, levels are about the same as having your ipod at 75% volume.

 

Of course, it won't fix the poor quality of MP3s. I'm seriously considering re-ripping a large portion of my library using the apple lossless format:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lossless

 

I've heard that an 80 gb ipod will hold about 3,000 lossless songs (as opposed to the 20,000 promised by apple for regular mp3s). Hard disks are cheap these days and I figure the ipod refresh expected this fall will include more capacity.

 

Looks like that will work ok, I just don't use the iPod in the first place. It has no read out on the head unit or nav screen. You cannot change tracks while driving since it is stuffed in the cubby. Doesn't turn on and off with the car. It has crap for battery life and horrible sound quality (both fixed by the cable you mentioned). The UI is horrible and difficult to use in a car. The iPod just is not a good car audio device.

 

Right now I just burn mp3 cd's with highest quality variable bit rate using lame. The audio is much better than playing the same mp3 on the ipod and line out, it shows the track (sorta) on the head unit, I can use my steering wheel buttons to adjust volume and tracks, and I do not have to worry about battery life. Only thing is that the track names don't scroll (only shows first few chars, you can't search by artist or track, it won't stay on shuffle if you turn the car off, and I can fit less than 200 songs on a disc. Even my chevy hhr had all those features (except song limit), but it had a hard time playing some mp3's and it was very slow at reading or cataloging the discs.

 

I will eventually just put a media center in the trunk running linux and wire it in to the battery, nav screen and stereo, then either use a remote or see if I can capture touch coordinates from the navi screen.

 

Thanks for the tip on the cable though, it might be useful to have just in case I wan't to use the iPod on a road trip or something.

I hacked a simple 2 input AV switch, stuck a couple of modified buttons on top and placed it in the console as seen below. Works great, but I would've gone with the JL switch if I knew it existed at the time.

I had the same issue. I fixed this yesterday, so that I could use/charge my iPod, or use the music on my CarPC (CarPC only was my original intention). I originally did the "splitter" method, but I had the same thing that you got. When both were plugged in I could hardly hear them (even if functioning seperately). Once I un-plugged one of the inputs, it went back to normal. So, I had to do it differently, AND I didn't want to have an audio switch.

 

So I have the "Pro Kit" I think from Jazzy.

 

My setup came like this:

1/8" stereo male (plugs into speaker-out from CarPC) cable that is attached to a GLI (Ground Loop Isolator) on the other end, with red/white RCA female outputs

RCA red/white male cable (ends plug into GLI) from GLI to Jazzy-mod in head unit.

 

I did my mod for 2 reasons, 1) I wanted to use both my iPod and CarPC as mentioned and 2) The GLI seemed to be stripping my bass from songs on my CarPC (confirmed by passing my iPod through the GLI).

 

So, this may sound confusing, I:

 

1) Cut the cable coming from CarPC about 6" infront/before the GLI

2) Unplugged and removed the GLI from the system

3) Cut the male RCA ends off of the cable that went from the GLI-out to the HU

4) Soldered on female RCA ends where the males were just a second before

5) Soldered on male RCA ends on the wires that were originally attached to the GLI

 

Then I got two of these: "Gold Series Audio Y-Adapter, Mono Phone Jack to RCA Plugs" Model: 274-881 from Radioshack.

 

6) I plugged one of these into each of the female ends of the cable that was hooked into my HU.

7) Then I plugged both the (iPod and CarPC) male Red RCA plugs into one connector, and both the male white RCA plugs into the other connector.

8) Done!

 

Now, those y-adapters are labeled mono, which is bad, but it's fine because you're not passing it a stereo signal. You're passing one connector both Left outputs, and the other connector both Right outputs.

 

I did this just yesterday, and didn't have any problems today. Best of luck!

Edit: Tried to make a drawing using text, but forgot that being html, it removes the spaces. Would have been too time consuming to correct. Sorry guys, but I'm sure you can get the idea. If not, I'll post a pic.

I hacked a simple 2 input AV switch, stuck a couple of modified buttons on top and placed it in the console as seen below. Works great, but I would've gone with the JL switch if I knew it existed at the time.

 

 

Brilliant. Now thats my kind of engineering. Taking stuff not meant for something and re purposing it for something else. Its so simple and brilliant. Why reinvent the wheel when its already there for you to use.

when mine is hooked up only thew ipod sound nice. The salellite radio sounds bad and has no volume. But when I unplug the splitter and hook it in the other plug the sirius sounds great. I got the premium kit for both to work and not switch them back and forth. Really annoyed

dpes this happen to anyone else? when i turn volume up to high the sound get distorted.... here is how i have it connect

 

 

.............................................rca for schoshe bluelife

stereo-jazzy-ground loop<

.............................................1/8" aux jack in

lol sorry for crappy diagram

Try one of these:

http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=2132 (amazon.com currently has it for $9.97)

 

bought two of those, and it is noticeable better, not as good as cd still, but bass response is better and highs are not distorted. thanks for the tip.

dpes this happen to anyone else? when i turn volume up to high the sound get distorted.... here is how i have it connect

 

 

.............................................rca for schoshe bluelife

stereo-jazzy-ground loop<

.............................................1/8" aux jack in

lol sorry for crappy diagram

 

Some of us CarPC'ers think that it's the Ground Loop Isolator creating those issues.

 

I took mine out and can crank the stereo with no quality loss. With the GLI in place, my "20" volume would sound louder and better than my "30" volume.