Neither my Philips EXP used 8 cm CD's nor the iRiver iFP390 provided any suitable interface for a car radio. They both worked on batteries and phone output.

Ever since I got my first iPod I wondered how to get it working in my car.

A workable solution would be one that allowed the iPod to be powered and easy navigation between songs.

I have been using iTrip for a while but often got problems with interference and distortion if the output volume was not accurately set. Nevertheless the iTrip did what it was supposed to do and reliably provided sound in my car - however of mediocre quality.

When I "upgraded" to the iPod mini 2G it only took a few days before the iTrip broke. Got both the iPod and the iTrip replaced - within a few days same thing happens again! Conclusion: iPod mini 2G and iTrip are incompatible and I was left with no iPod sound in my car.

Searching for a solution on the internet, that did not require me to buy a new car or replace my car radio, revealed few options when living in Europe. However Dension ICELink came up and was highly recommended. It uses the CD changer input of your car radio and allow you to control your iPod from the radio.

I ordered Dension ICELink for my car, but was unsuccessful in getting it to work. All cables fitted well. All instructions where followed to the letter. All support options where attempted. All to no avail. Finally the supplier admitted that there could be some problems when using the product with my make of car radio.

I got a full refund from the German supplier, but wasn't to happy as I spent a lot of ressources on my failed installation and postage. Still no iPod sound in my car.

For a while I used my iPod with regular headphones while driving, but it can't really be recommended. The wires is a hazzle in combination with the safety belt. Besides it sort of kills the conversation when you don't drive alone.

I the meantime Dension released a new product called ICELink FM. It is very different from their ICELink plus. You will use your iPod to control iPod playback and the sound passes through the arial to your car radio. Sound is not as good as when using CD changer input, but way better than when using products like iTrip.
So now I'm happy. Personnally I prefer iPod interface to any car radio interface I have seen. There is no interference and the iPod is charged while used in the car.
Only drawback is the ICELink FM disables RDS and traffic information will no longer automatically interrupt music playback.

Those interested can check out the pictures I took during the installation:

Installing Dension ICELink FM


Note to the moderators: I started this thread to share my experience with getting a workable solution for using a DAP in a car.

Should you feel this does not below at Hydrogen Audio just move this thread to the recycle bin at your convenience.

I couldn't really tell from the pictures if the Denison has a dock connector. If so, that's pretty cool. I debated for a bit on whether I wanted to go the route of having a statically mounted solution or something I could transfer from car to car as I travel a bit. I ended up with a Kensington unit that charges the iPod and can tune to 87.9 (via a trick). The transmission on this thing is so good, I've not had the inclination to check out anything else.

http://us.kensington.com/html/6402.html

The Dension do have a dock unit which will fit iPod mini as well as any of the larger iPod's with dock connector.

Dension ICELink FM

Anyway, the Dension solution is not one you want to move from car to car.

If you travel a lot and want to use your iPod in your rental car a solution like the one you suggest is perfect.

BTW how do you make it use 87.9 MHz and how will the radio be able to pickup that signal?

I have an Alpine headunit, Alpine iPod adaptor. Just plug the iPod in and it charges and has full control from the headunit

Tuning up/down button on the left, station presets on the right... Hold down the two right-most preset buttons and at the same time use the station tuning selector. Kind of a pain, but my car has always-on cigarette lighters, so I leave it plugged in. It resets at power-off and you can't preset anything lower than 88.1, but it's no biggie.

I've seen that setup in action and it's very sweet. I, unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, have a company car and no desire to spend money on something that doesn't belong to me. No doubt though, that Alpine setup would be on the short list of stuff for car/iPod integration.

I installed my iPod in my car a bit before they had adapters like this. So I used a dock.

http://ottodestruct.com/images/index.php?g...mpala&num=index

Yes, it's not controlled by the radio controls or anything, but meh.. I usually stick the iPod in while playing a shuffled playlist and let it run.

Hmm, looks a bit like my company car. (Ooh, doesn't Cingular have the patent on that now?)

Your company car is probably not as fly as my Pimpala.

I also have an Alpine head unit (CDA-9851) and a KCA-420i and it is good, however it forgets the shuffle setting and it takes ages to scroll through playlists/artists. Perhaps that is just my model headunit though?

The 2006 Alpine family has ipod integration built in, no converter box. Just a cable running from the head unit (xtra 29.99). The only model numbers I recall are the CDA-9857 and the CDA 9856. The whole line ranges from I think 180 retail to 400. The navigation is supposed to be way faster than the old converter box solutions. They call it "real time" searching, although I hear it doesn't quite live up to that. I'm hoping for some reviews from people that have these heads. There is a string over in the ipodlounge about this. Just search CDA-9856. The Best Buy near me is supposed to have a working demo soon, so, I'll try that as soon as possible.

The 2005 range have the glidetouch thing which is better than the 2004 range which used the volume knob for control as it will speed up and slow down depending how fast you move your finger across it

Does it have a tape deck? Those adaptors are surprisingly good with a good deck. Very little hiss and fairly good frequency response - far better than a tape or FM (integrated or otherwise)