how many of you guys have mp3 players like ipods in their cars? specifically guys with coilovers. do you ever get any skipping? im looking into getting a creative zen touch but im wondering if it will stand up to a beating being in a car with stiff suspension. any input appreciated. thanks
They can not skip for there are no moving parts.
if they are skipping they are broke
Technically there are moving parts in an iPod, or any other hard drive based mp3 players for that matter, but Benson is right… if your MP3 player is skipping there is something very wrong 
I run my iPod in my car, and its super duper… just need more music (my 60gb is only about 1/4 full).
I have an iPod in my car and a reugular CD/MP3 deck. Buy a deck with
good anti-skip protection and it really shoudln’t be a problem, although
I have noticed my deck skip a few times playing regular CDs.
If you listen to music a lot get an iPod (or equivalent) rather then spend
lots of money on a fancy deck.
How are you guys interfacing you “ipods” with your decks? Is it hardwired or is there some bridge like an FM frequency or something?
My ipod doesnt skip @ all, there is some intererence with the input wire tho, I assume because its a crappy non-shielded wire.
I have it hooked up thru a belkin charger/amplifer that plugs into the bottom of the ipod, goes to the ciglighter (to charge/power it), then goes from a lineout (like a headphone jack) to the headunit.
Some headunits have a line-in jack in the front of them, some of them have a line in jack in the back of them (usually labeled for a cd changer) that works too.
I have a Pioneer DEH-P4700, and a Pioneer CD-RB10 RCA Adapter, which allows me to run my iPod in full stereo sound through the dock connector, via this crappy Logic3 RCA cable. The cable is the only weak point, but I’m thinking about dismantling it and adding some thicker guage wire.
Check if your deck has an auxillairy input. Most wil have an RCA style
input as auxilliary.
My Alpine deck has a special input that requires a cable has that’s
supposed to cost $20USD but ended up costing me like $60CAD after
custom+shipping. :run:
Make sure to select good grounds for your deck and/or run a ground loop
isolator to avoid that whining noise.
And my iPod doesn’t skip at all. I just lay it right over the ashtray and
since I have that rubber iSkin, it doesn’t slide around one bit.
I wouldn’t be too worried in having the iPod skip… My regular CD deck hasn’t skipped in the 3-4 years that I’ve had it (first in my Celica, now in the 240). However, I’ve seen some OEM decks skip, like on my mom’s Hyundai and my buddy’s Lancer.
my deck is a sony casette player deck. The aux input on the back of mine is for the changer, and isnt standard. to upgrade that with the cables, would have costed me about the same as Gonad’s solution.
I added an input through an FM modulator, similar to this:
It plugs into your antenna receptacle on your deck, and then you plug your antenna wire into it. Then you select a frequecy.
There would be a VERY slight decrease in quality, but I’ve never heard it. And I’m quite happy, because I can this Modulator and use it on a new deck if I switch.
The hard drive players wont skip right away, but try to lessen the impact on them. the iPod, Zen and others will eventually have a hard drive failure from being scratched from the floating heads.
Hope this helps,
Renny
fm modulator’s are weak.
mine is plugged directly into my amps and works like a champ. don’t even need a deck.
Werd.
I just run mine to an EQ, then the EQ goes to the amp. One channel for sub, one channel for front speakers. No muss no fuss.