One Very Happy Camper
 

Well, I have just completed my latest quest, and couldn't be happier.

As you may recall, this past Christmas I received Apple's new iPod MP3 player/HDD. Now, I have never been "into" MP3's, and was having trouble getting excited about this little gizmo at first. Before long, that changed. When I realized that it would hold the majority of my 300 CD collection, and would transfer them all in less than 10 minutes, I became fascinated. After transfering 665 songs to it, I became obsessed.

My mission was to figure out a way of connecting my iPod to the Sony Xplode stereo in my truck. I bought one of those dinky little FM transmitters, and that kinda worked, but it sounded no better than a weak FM station, and was really just a tease. I did some research, and found that my Sony has the ability to control a multi CD player, so I figured there must be a way to hardwire the iPod to it.

Well, there is, but it wouldn't be easy. It requires a Sony part, called a Source Selector XA-107, and nobody has them anymore. I even called Sony, and they said there is no current order for them to have any more made, but that if they did, it would be 6 to 9 months before they were available. Joy.

I searched the web for days, and although I found several places that listed it as an item they sold, they all had it listed as being on backorder, with no anticipated delivery date. I also stumbled across a website devoted to the car audio enthusiast, and there was a story there about a guy who installed an old PC in his trunk, along with a power convertor, and used it to store his MP3's on. It then connected to his Sony car stereo through an XA-107 (which is why the story came up in one of my searches). The story was dated 2 or 3 years ago, but there was an email address for the author, and I figured I had nothing to lose, so I emailed him. A few days went by, and then I received an email from him. As it turned out, he bought 2 XA-107's when he built his system, and he still had the second one, brand new and in the box. he offered it to me for a fraction of what I was willing to pay, and shipped it to me via Priority Mail (thank you PayPal!!!).

It arrived yesterday, and within 30 minutes, was installed in the F-150. It works killer. Now I can just plug in the iPod, and instantly have access to 665 of my favorite songs, in top digital quality. Made me feel like a kid again! For the first time in years, I just wanted to drive around aimlessly so that I could listen to the stereo! Silly, I know, but very rewarding.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share.

Take care,
-Chris

Man that freaking rocks----literally. I wish i could have all my songs ready for me at the push of a button in my car. Between my 317 at work and my 584 at home I would have quite the playlist in the truck.

Just remembered. I have a mp3 input on the front of my cd player. Would one of those things work. Its a JVC cd player but its a real good one.

Brad

The iPod's output is through it's mini headphone jack. It can be plugged into anything that has a mini jack or RCA inputs. I carry an adapter cable with my when I'm out that goes from a mini jack to RCA's, and then have my music available to play at friends houses as well (I've only done that once, but it was cool). Best part is that I have used 4 of the 5 gigs of space on this thing, and my MP3's are all set to the highest standard. If I made them at the middle setting, I could fit well over 1000 songs on it.

Take care,
-Chris

Ha ha. :)

Good job PKRWUD. That is what I call determination. I probably would've gotten annoyed and given up (well, depending on how badly I wanted it).

Thansk Chris. My cd player has a headphone looking input jack on the front. I think it's just a regular oone and mot the mini jack. So anyway, where did you find your or was it a present? I am going to start looking this week? How much are these little technologic wonders?

Brad

Here, go read what PC magazine said about it. It will give you a PC biased opinion. iPod Review

It was a gift from my Mother. She hadn't gotten me anything by December 23rd, so she went big when she finally went shopping.

This is the Apple iPod ordering info page, for further info.

Take care,
-Chris

Crapofreakinola. I thoiught there would be somekinda software I could buy that I could use on my compaq that would accomidate the Ipod but there isnt any that I can find. Do you guys have a suggestions to other mp3players I could get. I didnt realize you could fit so many songs on them. I have a bunch no I just have to find what kinda player to get that is compatible with my hardware.

Brad

Cool story!:)

TJR-
Thanks man! :)

Pony_Power_90-
There are several available, and some have an even larger capacity than the iPod, but I haven't seen any yet that were FireWire equipped. Most are USB. If you're not familiar with FireWire, comparing it to USB is exactly like comparing DSL to a dial up 56k. What I can do in 10 minutes would take several hours with USB. I also haven't seen one as small as the iPod. At least not one with a 5 gig hard drive. It's about the size of a deck of bridge playing cards. It's been rumored that Apple may release some PC software for it, but probably not for another month or two. I figure there will be PC iPod clones by then, so just hang on a little bit longer.

Take care,
-Chris