Accessories Need a bluetooth stereo adapter for my car.

[SgtBaxter]

Here's my dilemma:

I've got an '02 Altima with the Bose stereo. This system has an AUX in, which is in the form of an 8 pin DIN plug on the back. I purchased an adapter from Active Tuning originally to hook an ipod to, which has stereo RCA plugs for line-in.

I bought an M2 mount for the phone, which looks super clean. I can route a mini jack out through the air vent and up the back of the M2 mount, but then I got thinking are there any bluetooth stereo adapters instead, but so far what I'm locating are adapters that are stereo specific - i.e. an Alpine, Jensen, etc that mate to those specific brands of receivers.

What I'm looking for is an adapter that would output to either a mini plug or stereo RCA jacks to the line in on the Bose. Most of the "universal" adapters I find however are simple speakers for handsfree calling which isn't what I want.

Does such a thing exist?

 

[zanix]

Like this?
Amazon.com: Sony DRCBT30/BLK Headphones (Black): Electronics

I just searched for [bluetooth to headphone adapter] in Google.
This was just the first result so if you look a bit more, I'm sure you can find something

 

[SgtBaxter]

Something like that might work, although it's going to be installed behind the dash so it'll need to be charged with a 12V source instead of a 115V AC. That looks like it charges with a USB cable.

Going to initially hook it up this week with a 3.5mm 90 degree cable.

thanks!

 

[Carys]

I bought the Jaraba speaker phone for my car. Honda's dont' have the input jack that most others do and the Jaraba uses an FM channel to put your music through your car speakers as well as any incoming calls.

 

[gotmydroidx]

I have the same problem...my nav system does not support streaming via usb (i forget the protocol) so for now I'm using the aux input which works well. It even does the nav voice commands through the stereo (output not input).

 

[SgtBaxter]

I found two units that are pretty much what I'm looking for...

Google the Scosche BTAXS (shipping in a few weeks) or the Scosche BT1200. Both are universal streaming audio and handsfree kits for cars with aux inputs. A little more than I wanted to pay though (the BT1200 is $200).

 

[gotmydroidx]

Yowza!! $200 is a lot more than the $5 aux input cable I'm using now.

 

[cypherx82]

I just got a Jawbone.

You can use it in the car and out. Walmart has the Icon Thinker for $60.

 

[SgtBaxter]

Yowza!! $200 is a lot more than the $5 aux input cable I'm using now.

Yeah, I was trying to avoid having to plug the phone into a cable every time I get in and out of the car. It's okay for awhile though.

The headphone adapters look like a good choice, as I can plug it in and keep it in the glove box and charge it once a week. I wonder however how the sound quality would be.

That BT200 would offer the best integration with the stereo, would certainly sound the best, and if I don't stick the phone on the car mount I can still control the music. If I bought a new head unit with bluetooth integration it would be at least that much anyway.

 

[Center]

How about this? Although it's for the BlackBerry, there're reviews saying that it works with the iphone 4.

Amazon.com: BlackBerry Remote Stereo Bluetooth Gateway for BlackBerry 8100…

 

[gotmydroidx]

Thanks for sharing Center. looks fantastic.

 

[Draiko]

What about this? Bluetooth Accessories A2DP Streaming Audio motorMOUTH II - Handsfree & Streaming Audio Car Kit

 

[GoreX5]

How about this? Although it's for the BlackBerry, there're reviews saying that it works with the iphone 4.

Amazon.com: BlackBerry Remote Stereo Bluetooth Gateway for BlackBerry 8100…

Ordered this from Amazon.com based on this mention and so far its works fine with my car speakers and Droid X.

 

[SgtBaxter]

Ordered this from Amazon.com based on this mention and so far its works fine with my car speakers and Droid X.

How does it sound?

 

[GoreX5]

How does it sound?

Actually, I've had some more time with this device and have experienced issues: 1) sound is fine when playing music stored on the device however, when playing streaming music, sound is poor and there is alot of backround noise and hissing because the volume level has to be set to max on my car (not sure if this issues is only with my cars audio system); 2) after receiving calls on my phone, music playback silences and you have to reset the unit.

I've read the reviews on Amazon.com and most everyone that is using it seems to be pleased. Could be an issue with my cars audio system (which is a BMW 2009 3 series) or it could be an issue with the Droid, not sure but my guess its the unit itself.

If anyone else has any experience, please let me know.

W.G.

 

[Center]

Actually, I've had some more time with this device and have experienced issues: 1) sound is fine when playing music stored on the device however, when playing streaming music, sound is poor and there is alot of backround noise and hissing because the volume level has to be set to max on my car (not sure if this issues is only with my cars audio system); 2) after receiving calls on my phone, music playback silences and you have to reset the unit.

I've read the reviews on Amazon.com and most everyone that is using it seems to be pleased. Could be an issue with my cars audio system (which is a BMW 2009 3 series) or it could be an issue with the Droid, not sure but my guess its the unit itself.

If anyone else has any experience, please let me know.

W.G.

Hmm, I was hoping to get the unit. But I have the 07 3-series and I recall that before I had the ipod dock installed in the glove dept, whenever I plugged in my ipod to the aux jack in the armrest, I had to jack the volume on the ipod up to near max.

Right now I'm renting a Ford Explorer (bimmer's in the shop ), but to play music via a2dp on the Explorer, I have to raise the volume on my DX to near max as well.

 

[gotmydroidx]

You may want to check the settings on your radio. My boat radio has aux in and there is a setting so that you don't have to max the volume on the input device.

 

[GoreX5]

I've maxed out the volume on my radios setting as well as the phone itself and still hear alot of hissing, especially with streaming radio like last.fm. I found another device Bluetooth Accessories A2DP Streaming Audio tuneSTREAM - Stereo Bluetooth Transmitter for Universal MP3 players and have emailed them to see if they are aware of any issues. Hoping to get a reply, but this unit, although pricer seems better since is 2.0 compliant.

 

[gotmydroidx]

You may also want to look into the jabra clipper which sells for $60 (I used my 25% off coupon to get one for $45 today) - it's not advertised to do what you need but it does exactly this. It's marketed as a way to turn any stereo headphones into bluetooth headphones and for this purpose it works fantastic.

Since it has a 3.5mm jack for you headphones it can also accept a 3.5mm cable connected to the aux input on any stereo. Here is my write up:

Ran the clipper streaming pandora on my way home...connected to the aux input of my factory head unit in my car.

Connection was solid - no fading, no skips and no background hiss. You do have to put the volume up a bit louder on the radio.

Now the bad news - the sound is on the flat side. I tried to adjust the settings on my radio but they are digital controls and it did not make much of a difference. Not much bass and not a lot of treble.

The nice thing is I could stop and advance to the next song using the clipper which is much easier than trying to use the touch screen on the droid - you don't have to look at the clipper to do this.

Got home and connected the clipper to my skull candy ear buds - sounded a lot better with good base and decent treble.

Then connected to one of my stereo's using aux in and it sounded really good. Lots of bass and treble. It was nice to sit on the couch with pandora streaming to my stereo and I had my droid in my hand the entire time so I could check email and surf the web. Can't do that (easily) with docking station. And my stereo is 15' from my couch so it would be impossible with a docking station or 3.5mm cord.

I did not try the clipper with my a/v home theater stereo....I hope I have more control over the sound - if so it would be a huge winner.

So all in all I highly recommend the clipper if you want to use it as advertised. If you want to use it as a bluetooth stereo gateway (like the blackberry device which sells for $60) your mileage may vary. If you can control the bass and treble then I'd highly recommend it.

I'm keeping it really cool product.

 

[SgtBaxter]

1) sound is fine when playing music stored on the device however, when playing streaming music, sound is poor and there is alot of backround noise and hissing because the volume level has to be set to max on my car

What music streaming are you referring to?

I've noticed the same thing, only with the phone directly plugged in. AAC's in cubed sound great (although not as loud as CD's in the changer), but Pandora is not nearly as loud. Slacker radio however is just as loud as the AAC's.

 

[davbak]

You may also want to look into the jabra clipper which sells for $60 (I used my 25% off coupon to get one for $45 today) - it's not advertised to do what you need but it does exactly this. It's marketed as a way to turn any stereo headphones into bluetooth headphones and for this purpose it works fantastic.

Since it has a 3.5mm jack for you headphones it can also accept a 3.5mm cable connected to the aux input on any stereo. Here is my write up:

Ran the clipper streaming pandora on my way home...connected to the aux input of my factory head unit in my car.

Connection was solid - no fading, no skips and no background hiss. You do have to put the volume up a bit louder on the radio.

Now the bad news - the sound is on the flat side. I tried to adjust the settings on my radio but they are digital controls and it did not make much of a difference. Not much bass and not a lot of treble.

The nice thing is I could stop and advance to the next song using the clipper which is much easier than trying to use the touch screen on the droid - you don't have to look at the clipper to do this.

Got home and connected the clipper to my skull candy ear buds - sounded a lot better with good base and decent treble.

Then connected to one of my stereo's using aux in and it sounded really good. Lots of bass and treble. It was nice to sit on the couch with pandora streaming to my stereo and I had my droid in my hand the entire time so I could check email and surf the web. Can't do that (easily) with docking station. And my stereo is 15' from my couch so it would be impossible with a docking station or 3.5mm cord.

I did not try the clipper with my a/v home theater stereo....I hope I have more control over the sound - if so it would be a huge winner.

So all in all I highly recommend the clipper if you want to use it as advertised. If you want to use it as a bluetooth stereo gateway (like the blackberry device which sells for $60) your mileage may vary. If you can control the bass and treble then I'd highly recommend it.

I'm keeping it really cool product.

How does the Jabra Clipper charge? Is it just a USB cable?

 

[Jbeabs]

Just curious but has anyone seen a good FM transmitter that is relatively cheap. I have a 06 Ridgeline that does not have an aux in and i was looking for something so I could stream Pandora or something through the stock head unit. I don't care if its Bluetooth or not but I was wondering what you guys had found available

 

[gotmydroidx]

Davbak - it has the same size charging plug as the droid x. My car charger is able to charge the clipper but the clipper wall plug does not put out enough juice to power the droid.

 

[davbak]

Davbak - it has the same size charging plug as the droid x. My car charger is able to charge the clipper but the clipper wall plug does not put out enough juice to power the droid.

Perfect. I was mainly wondering if it's something I could charge off a 12v charger in the car. Sounds like it will work fine.

 

[GoreX5]

What music streaming are you referring to?

I've noticed the same thing, only with the phone directly plugged in. AAC's in cubed sound great (although not as loud as CD's in the changer), but Pandora is not nearly as loud. Slacker radio however is just as loud as the AAC's.

I was listening to Last.fm and the sound was really horrible. I've been reading about the Jabra clipper and it appears to be a better solution. I'll give it a try and post my impressions once I get it.

W.G.