I've seen similar question popup on forums from time to time, but never seen a detailed answer to it.
I would like to install mp3 player in my Acura TL 2001 without changing the whole audio system. The easiest way, I think would be to connect mp3 player to CD changer input of the stock system.
I'm sure some of you have done that. I would appreciate if you share the details with me.

 

I have done this. I have an MP3 player made by a company called xeenon, the player works great the company's support, however, blows. I have been using this combo for well over a year now and love it. My unit is the Hard Drive style Shuttle II, and I have a 30GB hard drive that contains close to 5000 files. It is mounted in the trunk just below the rear deck to the right of the Navi control unit. It has a control and readout unit that runs up to the front that I mounted on a felxible cellular post.

Before I was able to get the audio in to the stock head unit I used a cassette adapter. This actually gave pretty good sound considering. I eventually tired of the wire running in to the cassette decl, plus it began to make a little noise as the tape wheels spun. From the time I got the MP3 player, I have been looking for a better way to hook it to the head unit. My though was to connect in using the CD-Changer input.

Problem was, you can't just supply left and right audio to the chager input and have it work. The changer input has login circuits so it knows if a changer is present, it supplies the changer with power, knows what disk and track the changer is playing and sends commands to advance tracks or disks to the changer. What I really wanted was a small black box that just imitated those logic circuits, pretended it was an alpine changer playing track 1 of disk 1 and then have a nice input for me to supply my own left and right audio. Nobody made this type of device for the TL, and to my knowledge, they still don't. The closest I was able to find was at this http://www.stinger-aamp.com/peripher...index.htm?72,9 the universal expediter dream product.

So what was my solution? It is a pretty expensive work around, but I actually purchased a CD-Changer. I hooked it up to the system, and it worked just fine. I then took the leads for the changer that were for left, right and common ground and ran them instead to the MP3 Player. The changer supplied the logic the head unit needed, and the actual audio is suppled by the MP3 player. Since I don't actually have the need to used the changer EVER, I didn't worry about this next part, but if inclined, it would be fairly easy to install a 3 pole relay that would allow the switching in of either the changer or the MP3 player. I didn't because I don't intend to use the changer.

All in all, I am very satisfied ith the result, however, I paid way too much to get this to work. It was, however, the only method I could get to work without using either a cassette adapter or a FM modulator.

Good Luck!

 

That does sound like quite a bit to pay for workaround. I am looking for an inexpensive solution. If someone figures it out let me know
Thanks

 

Pollstar.com was talking about a MP3 player for the car from a company called phatnoise. Don't know much about them, but it will be compatable with Acura, Honda, and many other cars CD Changer controls. I put the article here that I read. THe website they have is phatnoise.com. It is not that bad. Kind of have to do some searching to find out answers. I finally found them in the FAQ. I am looking foward to getting a MP3 changer for the car. Only thing I wonder is how hard is it to find the song you wish to listen to using the Acura display.


4,000 Tracks And The Open Road
Updated 08:07 PST Sat, Jan 06 2001
Cruising in your automobile while listening to your favorite tunes gets a hi-tech millennium upgrade next month. An MP3 player that can turn your existing car stereo system into a 4,000 track traveling music extravaganza is about to be introduced.
Created by PhatNoise, the PhatBox gives the music fan the capacity to store and play up to 4,000 tracks. That's right, more than 500 hours of music, making it possible to drive from California to New York and back, without repeating a single song.
"PhatNoise's mission is to provide the products and handling technology to enable consumers to move their media between multiple environments and multiple devices," said Dannie Lau, CEO and founder of PhatNoise.
Here's how it works. The user connects a portable cartridge, called the PhatCart, to the PC via a Universal Serial Bus cradle. After loading the cartridge with music files, the user inserts the cartridge into the PhatBox, a special in-vehicle music player that can be positioned in your trunk. It's also small enough to fit under a car seat and can connect to any car stereo system that is compatible with CD changers.
The PhatCart, which contains its own 30 gigabyte hard drive, is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.
Loading 4,000 tracks into the PhatBox is one thing; managing those tracks is another matter. That's where the PhatMan Music Manager comes in. It's a powerful software package also developed by PhatNoise that makes managing all those tracks a breeze.
"What we created is something we call the Dynamic Playlist," said Lau. "An example of this technology is that the user can use the FatMan Music Manager to create a playlist called ‘Newest 40 Rock Songs.' What the software does, is it automatically searches through your hard drive and finds the 40 newest rock songs. All the user does is supply the criteria and the software generates the playlist for the user. As the user downloads or encodes more music, that playlist will be updated."
Lau added that the FatMan Music Manager's Dynamic Playlist technology also works with existing MP3 personal players.
"The software synchronize the Dynamic Playlist with other devices. If I go jogging every morning with my portable player and I always want my newest 10 songs on my portable player, the software can synchronize the newest 10 songs with the portable player so every morning when I go jogging I'll have the 10 newest songs."
Unlike several other MP3 personal players, the user doesn't have to replace all the tracks already stored on the PhatBox in order to add one new song.
The PhatBox supports MP3 and Microsoft's Windows Media Audio (WMA) formats, and can be upgraded to accommodate future software codecs.
How do you get your hands on the PhatBox? PhatNoise will start selling the device, priced at $549, to consumers through the company's Web site in February. Automotive electronics company Visteon has licensed the PhatBox technology and will market it to the automobile aftermarket, under the name Mach MP3 Jukebox, starting in the third quarter of this year.

 

I waited for a long time for phatnoise to ship, but so far, it's vaporware. They claim that boards haven't gotten in, etc.! Great concept, shitty implementation...........

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You don't know the power of the Darkside.....

 

Have you read any articles on the Phatnoise? I have not read anything on them and was wondering what the reputation is for the company. I just wonder how much of a pain in the ass it is going to be to get to a song you wish to hear on the Stock acura system. They should have a display you can put on your car. I don't want to put it through the FM part on the car that would make the music sound worse wouldn't it?

 

Anyone know of an HU that uses IBMs 1GB Microdrive?
http://www.storage.ibm.com/hardsoft/.../datasheet.htm

You can copy MP3s to the Casio Pocket PC (http://www.casio.com/personalpcs/product.cfm?section=19&product=3553) and if you could pull our the MicroDrive in some HU that would rock!