Pioneer ipod integration
Car: Saturn ’03 L200
Stereo: Pioneer DEHP6800MP ($260)
iPod brain: Pioneer CDIB100II ($50)
iPod: 5G 60GB Black
Wire/Harness: $30-$50 (depends on your car, and if you have an after market head unit in there now)
Install: Free at Circuit City (free install with any head unit $99+ sale, generally runs all summer)
With a 45 min commute between home and school and now the possibility of multiple road trips up to Chicago (3 hour drive one way), when I purchased a new car the first thing I did as soon as I got paid that summer was to get a new cd player with some sort of AUX input. On my previous car I had just a plan aux port with RCA hookups in the rear, when I purchased it I got a Y cable and had them run it out to the front. Worked well, but it was annoying on the interstate to poke at the ipod and check what song was playing.
The Pioneer head unit that I purchased has 2 AUX ports (one in the front, and the other you can get the optional kit to install in the back), optional bluetooth connection, optional ipod interface, radio tuner, and cd player that can do mp3 cds (it can read AAC files, although not DRMed ones).
Radio:
The channel preset switching process kind of sucks, but nothing else of note about the radio.
CD player:
Nothing of consequence.
MP3 CD feature:
The random function isn’t as…random…as I’d prefer, but not horrible. You can have the artist and song title display. You can navigate easily through the folders.
Front aux port:
Ok, this I admit is a bit odd. First, you have to ‘activate’ it in the odd sort of start menu thing, until then you’ll spend hours cursing at it wondering why the hell it doesn’t work. Second, it’s a 2.5mm port, so you’ll have to get a 2.5->3.5 adapter (about $5 a radio shack if you don’t have one for your phone). Third, it’s a front port, but on the bottom of the faceplate. As you can see in the picture you have to make the faceplate angle out so that you can actually get to the port. Works well, you get used to it, but just be careful to not thwack it too hard and break your faceplate mechanism off.
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iPod integration:
It has some quirks, yes, but overall I’m very happy with it. You can have the iPod cable run where you want, but the glove compartment seems to be the best choice as you don’t need to touch the iPod after connecting it.
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After connecting the cable, the iPod will display ‘Pioneer’ on it and charge. It will start playing whatever has been paused, or nothing if nothing has been playing. The nice thing is that it will resume whatever you’ve been listening to automatically, so it’s a pretty seamless transition from walking around and listening to it with headphones and then listening to it in your car.
If you press the ‘list’ button next to the gigantic main button the regular ipod main screen shows up listing playlists, artists, songs, options, etc. Select one of those and it takes you to a list of them. The other problem that I have is in this area. If you have playlists ready to go, they’re very easy to find. However, if you want to pick a song out of your entire list it will take forever to spin the big wheel around to find it if you have a lot of music. I have about 20GBs of music, so you can imagine my artist list. Horrible. It’s easier to just find the artist or song you want to listen to on the ipod and then reconnect it. This integration works well if you assemble a bunch of playlists beforehand.
When you turn off your car the ipod is automatically paused when you turned it off, so I’ve found this to be wonderful when running errands around town.
As far as the display, this is my only true pet peeve. I love the mp3 cd display for showing the song/artist, this makes sense right? Well, for whatever reason (maybe I’m just doing it wrong) the closest I can get is artist/cd, or song/cd name. I just keep it on song/cd and suck it up.
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Overall, I’ve extremely happy with this unit. My SO has a new jetta with the VW ipod kit. Remember what happened to the fax machine at the end of Office Space? Ya? Well, that’s exactly what I want to do to this thing. Horrible. But that’s another story.
There is another Pioneer head unit that runs around $200 that still works with the iPod brain. This is an expensive solution if you don’t have a head unit that supports a preexisting brain. You can find head units at $100 (sony makes them) with front AUX ports, all you have to pay for are the needed wires/harness and install if you can’t find a free intall deal. All I’ve heard about FM transmitters is that they all suck. So, if you’re about to drop the $80 on a decent one, go ahead and take a look at a real solution such as an AUX port or iPod integration.
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This is somewhat of an annex to my LiveJournal with all my posts on tech stuff. I’m just a general user, but sometimes I require a little bit more out of my stuff. If you see somewhere I’m wrong, leave me a comment, I like to know those things.
If you find anything here useful, please comment that you did! I always try to respond to questions or comments, and I like to hear feedback.
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about how long does it take for the head unit to recognize and start playing from the ipod from a dead start?
i got the new alpine setup a couple months ago where it plugs directly into the back of the stereo with no extra boxes. it takes about 2-3 seconds after i turn the car on for it to start playing.
Adam,
There is no delay in playing.
i have that same cd player and it shows artist/song u just have to press display until it shows
Papa nieto, I figured that, but I’ve done that and it has never offered that option, no matter how many times I cycle through the options.
Can you still control your music VIA iPod?
Je61,
No, you don’t touch the ipod once it is connected to the system. If you press the center ‘list’ button it takes you to the main menu of the ipod. Once a song is playing you can control the volume, track forward, backward, etc with the big button.
Thanks for the review. How fast does the Pioneer scroll through the ipod songs? Is it seem like it goes pretty smooth, or does it have to constantly reload the list?
Thanks
Kimo
Kimo, it goes pretty fast, it does have to load the next names, but it’s only an issue in very long lists. I got around this by just making lots of car playlists.
Can you browse through songs by genre?
Andrew,
Yes, you can browse songs the same way you would browse through them on the ipod.
Cool. A few more questions, after you select a song, can you go back to the album or artist list or do you have to restart from the beginning by pressing the “list” button? If so, does it memorize where you left off or doest it take you to the beginning of the list?
Andrew,
If you press the ‘list’ button it takes you to the ipod menu on the screen, there you can mess around in all your settings, lists, etc. If you press list again it will take you back to the ‘now playing’ screen, so it can multitask between playing and you looking at playlists and such.
Hey – I have the Pioneer DEHP4800 and I have the iPod adapter installed in the rear behind the dash. I have had trouble with the controls on the iPod itself. Sometimes I can control the iPod through the iPod itself, and I prefer this, but sometimes all I can control is through the radio. I don’t like this much since it’s a lot slower. Do you know what’s up with that? Thanks!!
Thomas,
it is a lot slower, somewhat. Well, if you have the first version of the ipod brain it is much slower, versus the second (denoted with the ‘ii’ at the end of the model number).
It is slower while scrolling through long lists, but I’ve found no other complaints with any delays.
I do have a large library, about 3500 songs, so trying to find a specific artist and such can take time. I have several ‘driving’ or ‘interstate’ playlists, but mainly I just shuffle all songs and skip whatever ones I don’t particularly want to hear.
I’ve never tried to control the radio via the ipod as it lives in my glove compartment, but I’ve never had a problem adapting to any quirks.
I understand – my iPod is a 30Gb Video iPod – I’m not saying that it is slow in the menu screen on the Pioneer, I’m just saying that it’s faster and easier to see on the iPod screen. I know that when the screen looks like what your does, with the Pioneer logo on, you cannot control it from the iPod – but that’s what gets me, sometimes that screen goes away, and the iPod will take control. Very cool, and I prefer it.
Thomas,
I will have to try that, thanks!
Have you tried your iPod? I don’t have the owners manual for my iPod. Do you know where I can get it online? Maybe a PDF file or something?
Thomas,
The manual for the ipod? Pretty much google at this point, but ipods tend to be my specialty, what do you need to know?
I have had trouble importing music to my iPod from iTunes. Also, putting videos on it. Some have had no problems, but some will not go on there at all. Also, when I try to add the videos to the icon on the left in iTunes, I can’t drop it straight in unless it’s on a playlist. I also have to Motorola SLVR w/iTunes built in and a lot of my songs won’t go in there either.
Thomas,
Check to make sure your file formats are correct with the videos. iPods will play mp4 files with either no codecs or only H.264. As far as dragging and dropping into itunes with video, I just got used to it. With your SLVR, I believe there is a 100 song cap you can store on the phone, no matter what size of memory card you add. This can be hacked, but it voids any warrenty you have.
I don’t have too many songs – only 37 right now. I just seems random which ones it chooses. Some in my collection are WMA and the others are mp3 Also, I am using Videora iPod Converter to change to videos to mp4 format. mpeg4 320×240 768kbps stereo/128kbps Is there some settings in iTunes I should check? Remember, I don’t have an owners manual. Thanks for all the help!!
Thomas,
The owners manual is about three pages long and tells you how to turn on the ipod and where to go for the rest of the help.
Are there any online sources I can check out? Any good programs to use?
Thomas,
Just pop your issues/questions into google, there are plenty of places. I’ve always had good luck with http://www.ilounge.com
Wow, this is nice. but, do you think it’s worth my 300 bucks? Quite expensive, I hope it really has the works, just as it’s stipulated here.
Roanne,
This is a good question. To every person $300 is different. I love thi system, but I’ve used others and found them not horrible. What I suggest is to go into one of the box stores and have a chat with a salesman. Play around with a few of the head units and make your choice. I’d say go for it if you can, but there are certainly some other great options.
I had a Pioneer iPod interface once and had the retailer take it back. As you say, if you have playlists ready before hand it sort of works. But it you want to search for something on your iPod and listen to it while driving… you’re seriously putting your life in danger!
On the other hand, I have to admit there are few iPod car integration solutions that actually perform well:
http://fplanque.net/Blog/itTrends/2006/09/25/ipod_car_integration_not_quite
Have you any problems with the IPOD music plays but sounds doesn´t to to car speakers ? Only to earphone jack?
Willians,
No, I’ve never had any problems, you might want to check your connections and make sure that the ipod is actuallly connecting to the ipod brain.
I just installed the pioneer ipod interface for my deh-p6700mp and thought it was great until i started messing around with it. wow! Not sure if i like it at all! 1. you can’t have skip and fast forward both at the same time… its either one or the other. 2. The text will scroll in the functions menu after you turn that feature on, but doesn’t scroll on the display screen and only shows like 6-7 charc! so if you have multiple songs by one artist you have to listen for a few seconds to see if thats the song you want to hear then skip to find it. i’m wondering if connecting via my RCA’s in the back would be a better bet… then buying a car charger to charge it with. what do you guys/gals think? thanks!
This is the mod I did to install a Dension IceLink in a 2000 MKIV Jetta VR6 – enjoy….
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3021294
I just installed the Ipod adapter to my 7700 Pioneer deck. Everything starts up, the check mark and Pioneer on my Ipod, and the track is playing on my deck screen, but there is no sound…. Does anyone know what might be wrong. I hooked it up myself and am by no means a professional in wiring. It does look like everything is wired correctly though. I need some help.
hi but any of you guys tried using the ipod video and played video on your Head Unit?? thanks
John,
The world does not work that way. You might be able to get it to play the sound to the movie, but the head unit will not play the video. For many, many reasons.
I have this exact head unit. Do you have to have the ipod brain to play your ipod through the stereo? I have the cord to hook into the aux port in the front, but it doesn’t recognize the ipod when I plug it in. If you do need the brain, what is the point of the aux port in the front?
Michael,
You have to ‘turn on’ the aux port to have it recognize (if you’re talking the front port). I do have the ipod brain.
Oh okay, so thats what you meant by “activate” it. How do you do that? I don’t see anything about that in the manual.
Thanks for the help.
Michael,
Go into the area where you change the time, then follow the directions from the manual as to activating it.
Hello
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Bye
Hello
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hi i have connected an aftermarket ipod cable direct to the back of my pioneer unit. its the headunit with bluetooth also. it is charging my ipod but doesnt seem to register with the head unit at all? any ideas?
Just wanted to say thanks for writing this review i have the same stereo and was considering getting the ipod adapter for it. It was great to see a real example of how it works.
i just purchased a car with this stereo already installed. I just happened to find the ipod wire in the glove box after i purchased it. Anytime I plug the ipod in it just says “pioneer ok to disconnect”. How do I use this feature? I was planning on buying an fm transmitter for it until I found the wire. Can anyone help me out? Thanks.
Michelle,
Your ipod has been successfully hooked up to the system. You need to change the input on your head unit to the ipod. This generally involves pressing the ‘input’ or ‘source’ button until it says ipod. Check your manual to be sure.