My setup consits of an Apple Ipod dock and a RCA> Ai-Net adaptor. I don't have it setup to charge, because I dont want to be continously charging the ipod since you maximize battery life by only charging when the battery is low.

By using the dock, you take advantage of the line-level output and dont have to use the headphone output. You can't control track and playlists from the HU, but you can control volume. Since my dock is in my ashtray directly below the HU, using the ipod controls is essentialy the same as the HU

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ODEEBEE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">fcm - I'm curious about this "RCA pigtail". Would that allow a simple connection via an RCA- mini adaptor that is run from behind the HU? Could you tell me some currently available mid-range models that have this? I never gathered that this feature existed from looking at the descriptions posted on manufacturers and retail websites.

"fumbling with an iPod . . ." O.k. I kinda suspect that you don't own an Ipod. The point I was making there is that leaning back in your normal driving position, pulling it up near your line of sight and operating it with only your thumb as usual is way better than "the same way you control anything on the HU". People leaning forward and looking down at their HU's to change stations or CD's on your typical setup is actually a very common cause of accidents. I can see why someone might not think The Ipod is easier at first but it's something I defintely noticed and stand by from my experience with both setups. Also, I'm not messing with the charger/adapter thing because, yeah, that would be a bit much.

</TD></TR></TABLE> There are lots of HU out there with RCA AUX inputs, Panasonic, Sony, Eclipse, Alpine, Pioneer and JVC and others, and yes a simple RCA to mini phono jack would work, and you can get them everywhere, but using the headphone output of your Ipod for signal into a HU is not going to get you the best sound, using the iPods "docking port" and any adpt., [not just Alpines] will give you a preamp sig. and much better SQ.
Look at the HU, look at the iPod, your still not looking at the road, and anything but looking at the road, [with both hands on the wheel] is a very common cause of accidents. 94

 

An option for those wanting to utilize the line ouput of the dock connector, without paying hundreds of bucks to upgrade to one of the HU interfaces is the Sendsatation Pocketdock. It's a little gizmo that plugs into the dock connector and gives you a miniplug output for line-out and a firewire port for charging. Then all you need is whatever adaptor is required by your HU for an auxillary input. I think they also have a USB (instead of firewire) version out now that retains the line-output capability.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by red92s &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">An option for those wanting to utilize the line ouput of the dock connector, without paying hundreds of bucks to upgrade to one of the HU interfaces is the Sendsatation Pocketdock. It's a little gizmo that plugs into the dock connector and gives you a miniplug output for line-out and a firewire port for charging. Then all you need is whatever adaptor is required by your HU for an auxillary input. I think they also have a USB (instead of firewire) version out now that retains the line-output capability.

</TD></TR></TABLE> Now that would work! 94