Hi,
I have researched the Jaguar ACM but that seems rather expensive and probably getting hard to find now. I was wondering how people have been using there ipods in x-types? I am not a big fan of drilling holes through my car. Is there any Bluetooth device that can be transferred to the CDC button on our cars?
If I cant do Bluetooth, where can I find the cheapest ACM from Jaguar?
Thanks,
Mike

 

I did this:
How-To: DIY headunit hack for AUX-IN (on tape deck).

However, your X is -07 so I'd imagine it has a CD player, and so far there's no info on whether that hack is doable with the CD player as well.

 

No hacking needed just get an rf transmitter. This will plug into your cig lighter hook to your ipod or other device and then Transmits that signal to your radio. They dound like its playing off a cd. Have a search on ebay you should find some just make sure it has the 3.5mm hookup so you can plug it to your device. Some may not have that hookup and play mp3 directly.
Best thing they are dirt cheap!

 

From my personal experience, RF transmitters (tried 2, a Nokia N900 which was nigh-tolerable and a Belkin which was crap) have the poorest sound quality of all the possible methods. Even a two dollar chinese cassette adapter was far superior, and in fact a very acceptable solution. However, the direct AUX-IN utterly trounces both by far.

Another advantage with the AUX-IN solution is, in addition to possibly being the cheapest (cost of a random audio cable if you have the tools already), is that you can route the cable to the ashtray or the armrest or wherever, which allows you to keep everything nicely hidden. I myself have the AUX-IN cable routed into the ashtray, which is where my mp3 player & car charger reside, and the ashtray lid can be closed completely so everything looks pleasantly unmodified.

 

I just ordered one of these........

FM Radio Transmitter Car Charger For All IPod Touch IPhone Music MP3 3G 3GS 4 4S | eBay

 

That's strange I've used them before (not expensive one) and it sounded like if you pick up a perfect St. signal on FM radio. I'm sure some will say that sounds nothing like a CD but it does to me lol
M9G, Let us know how that little thing works out for you. Not like you will be financially ruined if it doesn't work out.

 

Invest in Parrott MkI9200. Give you: hands free cell,Bluetooth streaming audio (like pandora), iPod connection, line in. When listening to music if the phone wrings music mutes... I just put a unit in my wife's car too.

 

I looked into the Parrot MKi9000/9100/9200 or something like that, one has no display, one has small display and one has a big colour display. It does give you line in, but it uses the Parrot's built-in amplifier and I heard from somewhere that it may not be enough if you upgrade the speakers at some point. Not that that's a big issue for most.

The big turn-off for me was that while Parrot has a device called Unika which is meant to allow you to control the MKi9X00 with the steering wheel controls, but Parrot states it is incompatible with the earlier X-Types. To my knowledge there is no real difference in the controls between the old and new type steering wheel, but I wasn't keen on having the whole shebang installed just to find out I can't control it with the steering wheel controls.

 

Which is the one without the screen?
Thanks

 

The displays are fairly unsightly I would probably mount the controller on the roof console because buttons on the roof console are airplane-like and cool.

 

Everyone is so "hep" to play their music library from clipped, poor quality MPEG files stored on their cellphones, and I just don't get it.

My hearing isn't all that good, yet even I can hear the relatively poor quality of such compressed music files.

Methinks burning and copying your various playlists or albums from high-quality sources to CD's and simply using your stock Jaguar CD player is the way to go.

It might be nifty to have 2,000 songs stored on your phone or MPEG player to choose from, but really - how many of those can you listen to when driving between point "A" and point "B" ???

I vote for high-quality CD's either purchased or burned on your computer.

Also, it is much safer to use the CD player than to be reading the tiny screen on your cellphone or MPEG player, punching through menus, etc etc as you drive down the road.

Distracted Driving Kills People!

// Bruce shakes old man cane at the kids, yells "Bring back the 8-track!" and "Get off my lawn!"

 

I'm a fanatic for audio fidelity as well and I've made this argument so many times before. However, my collection is all lossless audio and the ability to take all of it with me wherever I go and choose from the vast library on a whim is something I could never go back to doing without. As always though, people need to be responsible with technology. You shouldn't be messing around with your iPod while driving, and that's why the factory firmware on the ACM locks the device's screen while it's plugged in.

That being said, the title of this post asked for the "best method" to play music off an i-device in one's X-Type and as far as I'm concerned the ACM is it. Yes there are other ways, but none will give you the quality of sound you get from the ACM and none will install as neatly therefore making the ACM the obvious "best method." Yes it's a bit pricey, but once you have one you'll quickly forget about the cost.

 

One problem with that, for some at least, is that the stock CD player/changer only support normal CDs which limits you to about an hour or so per CD. If some of your favourite songs are 8-13 minutes long, you can't get many on that space

Regarding audio quality, many mp3 players (like my Sansa Clip+ with Rockbox firmware) have FLAC decoding support and the AUX-IN mod should be just as high quality as the CD input.

 

It's not safe to be changing CDs while driving. And as for quality, it's really irrelevant to the question. Whether or not you personally feel that someone needs to do something or not is irrelevant, and frankly 320kbps MP3 actually sounds pretty decent. The main limitation at that point becomes your car's system. But by your logic, nobody should leave the house without a fully upgraded car system with lossless quality audio, or a live band in the trunk. You're entitled to your opinion but frankly it's of no use to anyone reading this thread.

 

Whoa. I didn't even need to take my eyes off the road to get hit by that truck!

"He was driving a two-year old thread, Officer, and listening to a tinny-sounding radio..."