Rockbox Interface With Car Stereo?

[NeoDestiny]

Does Rockbox have any way of interfacing with certain car stereos that have USB interfaces, or will those USB ports always interact with the standard OS?

I'm using an 80 gig iPod, by the way.

Thank you!!

~NeoDestiny

[GodEater]

That will mean your iPod will reboot into disk mode when you connect it to the stereo - so you'll just be seeing it as a big hard drive full of music. This means your car stereo will only play the formats it recognises, so you'll not be able to access all the weirdand wonderful formats that Rockbox supports.

[NeoDestiny]

Is a line-in audio jack (like a two-way headphone jack) a good means of sending a signal to the stereo?  I know that USB is probably the best connection, but a two-way headphone jack would allow me to still control things from my iPod and play formats like FLAC (right?).

I wouldn't want to shoot myself and use the audio jack if the sound quality is substantially lower.

~NeoDestiny

[Febs]

Yes, a line-in jack is the best way to send a signal from an iPod to the car stereo.  It will result in substantially better sound quality than a cassette adapter or FM modulator.  For best results, either a line out dock connector that allows you to use the iPod's line-out instead of the headphone jack.  If you use the headphone jack, set the volume on the iPod to 0 dB.

[NeoDestiny]

Yes, a line-in jack is the best way to send a signal from an iPod to the car stereo....For best results, either a line out dock connector that allows you to use the iPod's line-out instead of the headphone jack.

First question: A line-out is better than a USB connection?  Or are the connections virtually identical?

And the second question: A line-out dock connector..?  Would that be like something that attached to the BOTTOM of the iPod as opposed to the head phone jack?  (I think that's what you were talking about).

Thank you again for your help!

~NeoDestiny

[saratoga]

Yes, a line-in jack is the best way to send a signal from an iPod to the car stereo....For best results, either a line out dock connector that allows you to use the iPod's line-out instead of the headphone jack.

First question: A line-out is better than a USB connection?  Or are the connections virtually identical?

USB just sends the files over, line out sends the audio over.

[NeoDestiny]

USB just sends the files over, line out sends the audio over.

I know, but if the USB sends the actual file itself over then you run 0% risk of losing any audio quality via the transfer of the file from the iPod to the stereo, right?

~NeoDestiny

[saratoga]

Of course.

[GodEater]

I know, but if the USB sends the actual file itself over then you run 0% risk of losing any audio quality via the transfer of the file from the iPod to the stereo, right?
~NeoDestiny

Yes - but then you've got to rely on your car stereo knowing what to do with the file when it gets it. It doesn't matter a tiny little bit if all the data made it there 100% okay if you stereo then looks at that data and goes "huh?" - you won't hear anything

[Flid]

For best quality (on the cheap), I'd suggest a getting a dock-connector with an inbuilt line-out socket. You can get these with a charger that plugs in to the cigarette lighter socket. There are loads of manufacturers of these (such as Belkin & Griffin).

If you want to spend a bit more money.... you can get an interface that provides a powered link from you car stereo's cd changer connection (at the rear of the head unit). These also allow Play/Pause/Mute/Fwd/Rwnd control from headunit or stalk controller. Some units will even display track info on the headunit aswell. Unfortunately, that level of control is only available with Apple iPod OS. No remote control ability has been achieved with Rockbox (yet).

I have a purpose made CD Changer controller unit that I've had for over a year, but Dension do a good range for most stereos these days (approx £100).

I definitely wouldn't recommend one of those Headunits that allows you to use USB connection. I just wouldn't trust it not to corrupt anything on my iPod. You're also reliant on the headunits playlisting and playback control (as well as codec support etc etc).

[NeoDestiny]

I definitely wouldn't recommend one of those Headunits that allows you to use USB connection. I just wouldn't trust it not to corrupt anything on my iPod. You're also reliant on the headunits playlisting and playback control (as well as codec support etc etc).

I've been using one for a long time and there doesn't seem to be a problem for me.  But yes, I do agree that relying on the head-unit to scroll through 4k + songs is more than a tad ridiculous.

Alright, for everyone, let me rephrase the question that I had specifically.  I am VERY anal when it comes to sound quality (I have a $1,000+ speaker system in my car, not that factory shit).  My original question should have been much more specific.

To my knowledge, for 100% transfer of an audio file from the iPod to the car stereo, there is a 0% loss.  I KNOW the stereo can lose some audio quality and I KNOW that the speakers can lose quality etc...etc...

That is not what I'm asking, though.  I just want to know if a line-in audio jack from the iPod to the cars 3.5mm headphone jack will result in a 100% transfer of music quality.  There is NO reason for me to have such an expensive system in my car if I'm going to lose 10% of the audio quality right at the jack, you know?

I'm sorry if I sound like an ass, I really appreciate all the responses so far, honestly!  I should have made my first question just much more specific.

Thanks again for all the responses so far and for continuing to put up with me.  ^^

~NeoDestiny

[Febs]

The line out will lose 2.958774% of your audio quality.





Seriously, this is an impossible question to answer.  If you want to use Rockbox in your car, then a line-out/line-in connection is the best way to go.  As long as you are using a decent cable that is not unreasonably long, there should be no appreciable loss.

[NeoDestiny]

No no, it's not impossible to answer at all.  From what you say, then, there should be no loss in audio quality.  I wasn't looking for an exact answer, I was just wondering if there was a loss.

The question is comparable to someone else asking "If I convert this FLAC file into an mp3, will I lose any audio quality?"  Of course you can't give them a specific answer, but the answer is, most definitely, yes.

But, from what I can gather from your sarcastic answer :b, it sounds like there should be no loss in audio information, so thank you for your response.

^^

~NeoDestiny

[Llorean]

You suggested that you wanted an answer that gave information as to how much was lost.

Being an analog signal it is an absolute certainty that some will be lost. Whether you can hear it in a car or not is a matter of debate, odds are very good it will be impossible for you to hear going from line out to line in, unless you've got a particularly shoddy receiver or cable.

He answered that way because you were giving numbers, and it's a given that an analog signal is imperfect, though not necessarily so in a manner that you can hear. Someone who's spent this much money on expensive audio products should be aware of this fact without having to be told, so the assumption was that you were aware of it and wanted input as to how much might be lost, rather than if any would be.

[NeoDestiny]

I'm aware that any amount of transferring of any signal to anywhere will result in a loss of audio quality, of course, but that amount is so miniscule that it is irrelevant (as opposed to converting a file from a higher quality lossless codec to a more compact one).  I was just wondering if the loss when using an audio-out was a significant one, but it sounds like it's not.

Thank you for the answers!

~NeoDestiny