ipod/mp3 modulator ****Install w/Pics****

I've tried several different FM transmitters for my '05 LGT and was never satisfied with the quality. Finally I came across the Scosche Modulator that connects directly to the factory stereo antenna, which turns it into a direct line into the stereo. For more information check out Crutchfield... http://www.crutchfield.com/p_142FMMOD01/Scosche-FM-MOD01-Modulator.html?tp=121

 

 

Here's the walkthrough....

 

The Unit.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana002.jpg?t=1230969899

 

 

You'll need to get the Subaru antenna adapters.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana007.jpg?t=1230970332

 

 

Take off the center plate around the gear shift. Unplug the cigarette lighter connector.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana003.jpg?t=1230970389

 

 

Undo the 6 screws around the stereo and slide it out.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana004.jpg?t=1230970444

 

 

Locate the antenna. It's the Black wire on the bottom, and is connected to the connector with the green mark on it.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana006.jpg?t=1230970617

 

 

Closeup of the antenna connector.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana005.jpg?t=1230970772

And how do you like it?

 

Sorry I did not know you were still putting the post together.

Disconnect and connect the Subaru's antenna adapters.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana008.jpg?t=1230970905

 

 

Another view of the adapters.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana011.jpg?t=1230970983

 

 

The modulator comes with a on/off switch which you can place anywhere in the car. I found it a perfect fit in the cigarette lighter.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana013.jpg?t=1230971037

 

 

Unscrew the cigarette lighter housing from the back, cut the black and red wires going to it, pull the lighter out, and then undo the small bolt on the back. Taking out it's core.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana014.jpg?t=1230971182

Another view with the on/off switch attached. Fits perfect.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana016.jpg?t=1230971395

 

 

Pull the wires from the switch through the bottom hole and reconnect them to the modulator wires. Make sure to not to mix them up when reconnecting them.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana018.jpg?t=1230971467

 

 

Then connect the power and ground wire to the cigarette lighter wires. Remember red to red and black to black.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana019.jpg?t=1230971600

 

 

I taped up the antenna wires and placed in the far back, then put back the radio.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana017.jpg?t=1230971722

I placed the modulator to the far back right.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana020.jpg?t=1230971863

 

 

Reinstall the center gear shift plate.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana021.jpg?t=1230971917

 

 

The final look.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana022.jpg?t=1230971991

 

 

Slide the ipod/mp3 wire connector from under the center console.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana026.jpg?t=1230972022

 

 

And now I can enjoy my mp3 player.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/F1inspireLGT/Ipod%20Modulator/CassandraandKiana027.jpg?t=1230972179

Final thoughts....

 

What a huge difference in sound quality, it's just like listening to the cd player. The sound is clear and crisp with no static at all!!!!

 

The modulator is $29.99 and the antenna adapters are $15 bucks each through Cructhfield. For a total of $60, well worth it considering other adapters cost well over $100. Best bang for the buck IMO.

And how do you like it?

 

Sorry I did not know you were still putting the post together.

 

Not a problem. I love it, and I can't believe I've wasted my money on those other FM transmitters.

Nice idea and install on the switch. I will have to pick one of these up. The one thing i would change,if i can find the right cable for.

 

I use an ipod and am not a fan of mic level output cables. Currently using a 30pin dock connector to 3.5 cable,which gives me line level output. I will have to find the same cable with RCA's.

That's gonna be a hard search to find 30pin to RCAs. I did a quick search and found this.... http://www.theistore.com/apple_composite_av_cable_for_ipod?model_id=0&page=3

 

This might work.

I may be on my way to audio / video. Or at the very least audio.

 

http://www.cablestogo.com/hi-res_image.asp?sku=35509&image=35509-1.jpg

 

I have factory nav which has an unused video input.

 

Thanks for the cable look up.

i have yet to open up the console and look, so maybe it's pretty clear, but could you clarify how or what the subaru adapters are being connected to please?

^ The factory antenna input on the '05s is a proprietary "clip" type, not the standard plug (male Motorola, seen in F1's first pic above, just above the green toggle switch).

 

Thus, you've gotta splice in the adapters, in order to get this modulator to hook into the stock head-unit's antenna input.

I've been thinking about installing an FM modulator so that I can listen to my ipod in the car. Just curious though, would the ipod cable referenced by F1inspiredlgt, provide better sound quality than using the supplied headphone jack/2 rca plug wire? Obviously you wouldn't hook up the video jack, but I am thinking that it is a direct line and the signal to the modulator would be much cleaner?

 

BTW, great install, I like what you did with the power switch! Curious though as to why you didn't route the headphone jack into the armrest console cubby. By doing that you could simply set up your player and then stick it in the cubby and forget it! Also thieves would see it if it were hidden in the cubby. Just my 2 cents!

 

Cheers!

just got the install done. works like a charm! thanks

subscribed for later reference!

I've been thinking about installing an FM modulator so that I can listen to my ipod in the car. Just curious though, would the ipod cable referenced by F1inspiredlgt, provide better sound quality than using the supplied headphone jack/2 rca plug wire? Obviously you wouldn't hook up the video jack, but I am thinking that it is a direct line and the signal to the modulator would be much cleaner?

 

What you "must have" if you are using an Ipod and doing this modulator is

one of these cables.

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=614&sku=35507

 

The sound improvement over the headphone jack output is like AM vs FM.

I have another version of this cable which ends in a 3.5 jack instead of RCA. We use it in another car we own with a

factory AUX in jack. It works really well.

Nice idea and install on the switch. I will have to pick one of these up. The one thing i would change,if i can find the right cable for.

 

I use an ipod and am not a fan of mic level output cables. Currently using a 30pin dock connector to 3.5 cable,which gives me line level output. I will have to find the same cable with RCA's.

 

As part of the sale of my vehicle I told Subaru I needed some sort of Aux-in for my iPod. They told me they'd install an FM transmitter and I told them that wouldn't cut it. So they gave me a credit to Car Toys to install an FM Modulator and the one they installed was an Audiovox. They also supplied an iPod compatible to RCA jacks cable. The thing I really like about that is that it also charges the iPod while it's plugged in.

 

The sound quality is very good IMO, but not great. It seems as though some of the signal is definitely truncated for some reason. For example, there is a very big discrepancy when listening to a song on a CD in the HU versus listening to that same song through the iPod/FM Modulator. The CD version blows the FM modulator version away.

 

But I just look past that as the convenience factor for having 2000 albums at your disposal. Not to mention, it is FAR better than an FM transmitter. Here in the Denver metro area, you could never... I mean NEVER find a frequency to work without major interference.

Curious though as to why you didn't route the headphone jack into the armrest console cubby. By doing that you could simply set up your player and then stick it in the cubby and forget it! Also thieves would see it if it were hidden in the cubby. Just my 2 cents!

 

Cheers!

 

speaking only on my behalf, obviously, I too have the cable running out the center console in the same exact spot as his... this way the passenger can control the tunes if they want, I have enough slack so that if I'm holding the iPod (switching tracks or what not) I can easily still hold on to it and shift gears at the same time and lastly I always disconnect the iPod if I'm leaving the vehicle and tuck the cable down between the center console and the passenger seat so that you can't see anything.

Some people were saying it would be nice if it changed. I made a solution to that in my car. I have an aux in (after marked head unit). What I did was buy the 30-pin iPod plug. I had a black cable lying around with a bunch of pins. Then I created a custom iPod power supply. Finally I looked up the pinout to the iPod connector, soldered it all up with some resistors to make it so that the iPod would go on and off with the car. You could do something like that with your setup pretty easily. (easy if you know how to solder and design electronic circuits.... )

as far as cables go this would be a better option for ipods because it charges as well. i use this with my cleansweep and 60gb ipod video. works great. for some reason it will not charge my iphone. looking for a similar cable that will....

http://www.beachaudio.com/Metra/Aip-Rca-p-125339.html

speaking only on my behalf, obviously, I too have the cable running out the center console in the same exact spot as his... this way the passenger can control the tunes if they want, I have enough slack so that if I'm holding the iPod (switching tracks or what not) I can easily still hold on to it and shift gears at the same time and lastly I always disconnect the iPod if I'm leaving the vehicle and tuck the cable down between the center console and the passenger seat so that you can't see anything.

 

That's the reason I did it this way. I didn't want to be lifting up the arm rest everytime I want to search for a new song. This way I can just pick it up from the passenger seat/cup holder/lap and easily change it. When I leave car I just place the wire between the seat and center console.

just got the install done. works like a charm! thanks

Nice:)

Update:

 

I just replaced the 3.5/RCA cable that came with the modulator with a better one..... http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=181-591 . The sound quality is better, and the bass is cleaner and louder now.

nice walkthrough.

 

IMO tho the jazzymt mod offers nearly perfect sound quality with no chance of interference.. you just have to run a blank CD.. which is fine for ipod users.

 

the installation is not difficult to do at all.

 

Having used FM modulators similar to the one detailed here in the past, its highly dependent on the radio itself and how well it handles signals (which tbh the subaru radio seems to do quite well) but overall FM tends to be a little lower quality than CD even in the best radios.

subscribed so I can find again when it is time to do mine - thanks for the great write up!